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Is there any substance to the claims that a statistically significant number of planes and ships have disappeared within its area?

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No. The coastguard says Bermuda Triangle does not have a greater number of unexplained accidents or disappearances compared with anywhere else; and none of these have been due to any extra-ordinary or supernatural causes. Shipping insurance and US Naval records confirm that the rate of accidents and disappearances is not greater than other locations.

In addition, the exact location of the triangle is not consistent. These different triangles are determined post-hoc. That is, the legend creators look at the accidents and disappearances and then draw the triangle to fit. Post-hoc analysis is a very weak, and is generally recognized as a poor, statistical method. It amounts to: "if you look hard enough for a pattern, you'll find one." Good science would require that based on some model (e.g., meteorological) a prediction of an accident-prone area be made, and then measurements be made. If the model predicts at a level significantly above chance, then the statistics are considered reliable. Of course, it is even better if the model makes predictions in multiple situations.

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The Bermuda Triangle is an invention by Charles Berlitz, in his book The Bermuda Triangle from 1974. It consists basically of a collection of unverified and sensationalist stories of various "mysterious disappearances".

The librarian Larry Kusche wrote the final word on this already back in 1975. His book, The Bermuda Triangle Mystery Solved hasn't, unfortunately, stopped the Bermuda Triangle from becoming a legend, even though the triangle simply doesn't exist.

Kusche goes through all the "mysterious disappearances" reported by Berlitz, and demonstrates that none are mysterious, some of them didn't even occur in the "Bermuda Triangle", and in some cases did not occur at all!

The book is highly recommended for skeptical purposes, and a very good read.

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