The Search for Truth: Bermuda Triangle

March 25, 2009 — -- It's one of the world's most enduring mysteries that has lasted for the last three centuries and been charged with the disappearance of more than 2,000 sea vessels and 200 airplanes.

The Bermuda Triangle, which spans from Bermuda to Puerto Rico and over to the Miami-Fort Lauderdale coast, comprises half a million square miles of infamous seas.

Inquisitive minds have questioned whether the supernatural or actual science is to blame for all the area's mysteries. The subject has sparked books, articles and Web sites.

Legend has it that explorer Christopher Columbus was the first to report strange happenings in the area in 1492. According to ship's logs, Columbus said the compasses could not maintain a constant bearing, and that the North Star appeared to move.

Since then, thousands have reported eerie incidents around the Bermuda Triangle, including one last December when a twin-engine plane with 12 people vanished on its way to Mayaguana Island in the Bahamas.

One of the region's most perplexing incidents happened just off the U.S. coast and sparked and enduring legend. In 1945, five torpedo bombers took off into the skies from the U.S. Naval air station in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., on a routine training mission that became the now infamous "Flight 19."

"Five avenger bombers who left Lauderdale on Dec. 5, 1945 -- leave in the late afternoon and they are never heard of again," said meteorologist Dave Pares.

Rough weather, compasses spun uncontrollably by an unknown force and a disoriented flight leader helped seal the aircrafts' fates. The fleet disappeared without a trace.

Like all the other mysterious vanishing acts in the Bermuda Triangle, Flight 19 sparked debate among people who tried to determine what had occurred.

"I believe all of these incidents have scientific explanations," said Hans Graber, of the Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science. He believes rogue waves are to blame.