The Bermuda Triangle mystery--solved

by Lawrence David Kusche

What is this strange area in the Atlantic that seems to swallow up ships and planes without warning? Finally, thanks to Larry Kusche, a reference librarian at Arizona State University, we have a plausible answer to this most perplexing enigma. Intrigued by the many requests for information he received, Kusche went on an intensive hunt for knowledge. He gathered everything he could find about each incident from sources as diverse as the military, insurance agencies, and newspaper reports. The truth is in here—and it’s logical, smart, and backed up by evidence.

Genres: Nonfiction, Paranormal, History, Science, Skepticism, Mystery

317 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1975

Reviews

[Christopher Saunders · Rating 4 out of 5]

Larry Kusche’s The Bermuda Triangle Mystery - Solved is a classic work of paranormal debunking. Kusche, a research librarian at Arizona State University, was so inundated with requests for material on the Triangle (a supposed zone in the South Atlantic where ships, planes and people mysteriously disappear) during its phenomenal heyday in the early ‘70s that he compiled a comprehensive bibliography, then began investigating the phenomenon himself. Kusche quickly found that the legend of the Triangle was largely hype, a lumping together of mundane crashes and sinkings, genuine mysteries and a few outright hoaxes into a gallimaufry of lost civilizations, UFO abductions and interdimensional time rifts by sensationalist journalists and irresponsible writers. Kusche does not “solve” every individual case, conceding that cases like the disappearance of the Carroll A. Deering’s crew or the loss of Flight 19 remain genuine mysteries - but that the commonly stated version of these events either invents details (a fully prepared meal waiting in the galley for the former, spurious radio messages from the latter) or ignores ones that contradict the “unsolvable” label. Often, ships claimed to vanished in “calm weather” disappear during a storm; planes who “suddenly” vanished had a history of mechanic trouble or radio malfunctions. Some, like the Raifuku Maru, weren’t mysterious at all but were mundane tragedies sensationalized beyond recognition. Kusche’s book has some minor shortcomings - he doesn’t seem terribly interested in probing the origins or development of the Legend, one or two entries have incorrect information (the Ellen Austin, which allegedly lost a salvage crew aboard a derelict, was renamed the Meta when the incident supposedly occurs). Perhaps the modern reader would like an update to a book first published in 1975. But since Kusche wrote in the mid-’70s, the Triangle legend has largely died out, kept alive only by a few fringe investigators who still think there’s something to the idea of Atlantean power crystals or cursed “vile vortices” that send sailors to dimensions unknown. One supposes that, considering some of the other misinformation pervading 21st Century media, these delusions are relatively harmless. But it’s still nice to have Kusche’s work available as rebuttal.

[Evan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Did you know that the weather hundreds of miles off-shore could be different than those in Florida? Who knew! Apparently not a lot of Bermuda Triangle legend re-tellers. This book debunks so many legends merely by looking at weather records and ship logs that it's rediculous. Now whenever i see a TV special on the Bermuda Triangle i yawn. The real mystery is why so many people can get their facts so wrong and how so many other people have taken these stories at face-value without any serious fact-checking. Gotta love the long shelf-live of untested urban legends. I wish more people would read this book.

[Don Munsil · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's sad that this book is out of print. The problem is that reality is boring. The truth about the Bermuda Triangle is that there is no Bermuda Triangle. There is no specific area of the ocean where there are more mysterious or unexplained losses of ships or planes, and while there are some number of ships or planes that sink or crash and are never found, there aren't really that many.

This is the only book about the Bermuda Triangle written by a trained researcher. Kusche went back to primary sources and investigated every case that had been attributed to the Bermuda Triangle. And every case turns out to have a simple, prosaic explanation. In many cases the "lost" ship or plane is not a mystery at all. It's completely clear what happened to them and the wreckage was found. In other cases the ship or plane wasn't even lost.

Basically sensation sells, and truth is unexciting. Sad, really.

[Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

An exhaustive account of the “Legend” of the Bermuda Triangle, which is sort of the Holy Roman Empire of mystery regions—like the HRE, it's not really a triangle, not particularly mysterious, and often nowhere near Bermuda.

Kusche was a reference librarian at Arizona State University who saw increasing numbers of requests for information about the Triangle. He decided to gather all the information he could, going to primary sources whenever possible… only to find fairly good evidence that the “Legend” is manufactured, misinterpreted, or just plain malarkey.

The book is basically just an itemized list of the main incidents (as of the early Seventies, but I don't think the Triangle gets much play in the age of GPS), starting with the “Legend” claim and continuing with quotations from primary sources and Kusche’s own conclusions or summaries. Mostly he sticks to a “neutral point of view” but in some cases he can't resist throwing shade:

The Legend failed to mention one “small” point about the disappearance of Al Snider—the gale that struck the small skiff as the men were fishing in the dark. [p. 147]

Another time he just duplicates, for emphasis, a mystery-dissolving quote from a primary source.

So not only is this a triumph of library science over pseudoscience and sensationalism, it has other merits. First, it demonstrates some key patterns in “unexplained” urban legend-making. The writers who promulgate these modern myths tend to be anomaly hunters, willing (perhaps unconsciously) to fudge details (like the location of the disappearance) or add cosmetic embellishments if it makes the tale spookier. They also tend to source each other rather than check back with primary references, which would clear up many of the so-called mysteries. This also means that they omit key details (like stormy weather) and proceed to assume that everything was otherwise fine.

Second, it gave me an appreciation for how risky it was to traverse the Atlantic even until the Fifties and Sixties, and conversely, how amazingly safe traveling and shipping is in the modern day.

Third, there are some genuinely interesting stories in with the otherwise mundane losses and wrecks. Including a couple happy endings!

Overall this is a great book to read for anyone interested in the Bermuda Triangle, skeptical inquiry, urban legends in general, or even just fans of librarians. It might be particularly valuable in the current age of memes and fake news.

[David Rank · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not only does Kusche debunk the nonsense about the so-called Burmuda Triangle, he outlines how facts and history can be distorted, manipulated, ignored and outright lied about to create from whole cloth a sinister controversy, conspiracy or whopper of a fairy tale to entertain for fun and, most pointedly, profit.

[Matīss Mintāls · Rating 5 out of 5]

In my opinion this is the most credible report on Bermuda triangle disappearings. No mystery, just dry compilation of facts which speak for themselves.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a philosophy teacher noted, it says something about society that this book went out of print, whereas, a book, like that of Berlitz's The Bermuda Triangle, which is little more than the re-telling of legends, has had numerous re-prints. What is more important to us -- truth or legend? If truth is more important to you, then read this book.

[Marc Pressley · Rating 4 out of 5]

While Mr. Kusche's book may not explain everything, it's a highly rational examination of the facts and sources behind some of the most enduring Bermuda Triangle tales. All in all, the book takes away quite a bit of the mystery responsible for the legend of this region in a well-reasoned and well-presented manner.

[Andy · Rating 4 out of 5]

The impression you quickly get is that the real mystery of the Bermuda Triangle is how people can be so stupidly credulous. About half of the ships that supposedly met their fate in the Bermuda Triangle actually sank or were abandoned hundreds or thousands of miles from the Triangle. (One of them sank in the Pacific Ocean.) Another substantial chunk of the legend are ships that never actually existed.

I read through the entry for Flight 19. Reading the evidence presented in a sober manner makes it undeniable that the flight commander got lost because he mistook the Bahama Islands for the Florida Keys, turned the flight north and east in search of Florida, and stubbornly refused to admit his mistake and turn west again, in spite of numerous radio calls from people who recognized the mistake.

The book was written in 1975. I did some spot checking to see if there was more recent information for a few of the incidents. I didn't really find any. My guess is because the Bermuda Triangle ceased being a thing a long time ago.

[John W. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book when it first came out and was fascinated by it. The author examines the popular books of the time and researches all of them. Many events attributed to the Triangle were not in fact in the Triangle. One ship was actually in the Pacific Ocean. The most reported instance if the squadron of planes that disappeared. He actually read over 2000 pages of transcripts from the official reports and found no mystery. The squadron leader was recently transferred from the Florida Keys and while leading the squadron saw some islands the resembled the Keys and he became disoriented and thought he needed to head north to get back to the base. Many of the students kept asking why they didn't just follow the compass.

I loaned this book to a friend that was a firm believer in the Triangle and he "lost" it and later claimed that he never had it.

This is a book that I would love to re-read.

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's just too bad that so few people take the time to do research and find out the real story behind most of the garbage woo-woo stories that are spread around (the internet, the dime store paperbacks, the b.s. e-mail forwards, the blasted History Channel). If only this book were checked out more or as often than the Berlitz-type books, the world might be something of a better place.

[MohamadSaleh NooraniZadeh · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think this books doesn't really answer any questions. Just ONE answer for everything repeated and repeated all over the papers: "They were late, so they didn't find any clues, and there's nothing special going on. Go Get A Life!"
Personally I like to see a bit of mystery in life, so this book was a huge disappointment for me.
Wouldn't recommend it.

[Michael Hill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kusche has checked on details as far as possible of voyages and trips in the area going back to Columbus and the nineteenth century onwards. He has found hugely contradictory stories, hoaxes, crazy guesswork, fictions presented as facts and so on and tried to keep his decisions as neutral as possible, leading to most stories being debunked while a few others have reasonable conclusions showing nothing strange in the disappearances.
Yes, the mysteries have been solved.

[Theodore · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amazing work, clear cut cases, even when we don't know what happened(!). A must for any skeptic.

[Clayton · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's not exactly an engaging read, but the philosophy behind this book and the research the author did is absolutely perfect.

[Steven H · Rating 5 out of 5]

THE DEFINITIVE SKEPTICAL ANALYSIS OF THE BERMUDA TRIANGLE LEGENDS

Author Lawrence David Kusche wrote in the Preface to this 1975 book, “The Bermuda Triangle has received much attention in the last decade… According to all accounts, there is something very strange going on out there. My interest in the Triangle began in 1972 when, as a reference librarian at Arizona State University, I was frequently asked to help someone find information on the subject… A new reference librarian … [and I] spent several months advertising in journals and writing letters to various government agencies, research organizations, and libraries along the east coast to see if anyone could suggest any sources… Nobody, it seemed, had been able to find much on the Bermuda Triangle… I realized that the Bermuda Triangle mystery was much more than just an account of the strange disappearance of a large number of vessels… New incidents were continually being incorporated into the tale… I decided to investigate the mystery further; to collect all the information that could be found on each incident, to see if there might not be an answer here and there.” (Pg. xi-xii)

He recounts ‘The Legend of the Bermuda Triangle As It Is Usually Told,’ with statements such as: “[the] geographic characteristics of … the Bermuda Triangle that make it an ideal path for rocket launchings might also make it an idea channel for landing approaches by vehicles from outer space. Perhaps a power source or signal device left in the area many centuries ago by a scouting party from another planet continues to send signals into space, showing the followers of the earlier explorers the best landing approach to this planet. The device might operate only occasionally, which would account for the fact that most ships and planes that traverse the area do so without incident.” (Pg. 14-15)

He notes, “No account of sea mysteries would be complete if it did not include the Mary Celeste… So many stories have been told about the famous derelict … that it is almost impossible to determine what is fact and what is fiction. Dozens of solutions to the mystery ranging from the very simple to the bizarre had been proposed, but no one knows, and no one will ever know, what actually took place.” (Pg. 31) He admits, “today the fate of the occupants of the Mary Celeste is as much a mystery as the day the ship was found deserted at sea.” (Pg. 35)

Of the 1921 disappearance of the ‘Carroll A. Deering,’ he acknowledges, “What took place on the Carroll A. Deering between the time it passed Cape Lookout and when it was found, stranded and empty, several mornings later? Could it have happened as the Coast Guard assumed, that the captain and crew abandoned what they felt was a doomed ship, only to be lost at sea in their lifeboats? The story of the Carroll A. Deering is unique in maritime history, and it can truly be said that the more that is learned about it, the more mysterious it becomes.” (Pg. 73)

Of the 1946 case of the City Belle, he states, “[It] was found deserted at sea on December 5, 1946. She was perfectly seaworthy, and everything was in order, even to the lifeboats still hanging in their places in their places… Had the case been pursued it might have been found to be as baffling as the Mary Celeste or the Carroll A. Deering… the [newspaper] coverage was adequate to show that the incident… was inaccurate and sensationalized. The newspaper reports also contradict the frequently stated observation that the weather has never been bad during an incident, and that there have never been survivors in the Bermuda Triangle.” (Pg. 123-124)

Of the 1948 disappearance of the airliner the ‘Star Tiger,’ he comments: “The disappearance of the Star tiger thwarts all explanations as each of the suggested solutions seems too unlikely to have occurred. It is truly a modern mystery of the air. Although the reason for the plane’s loss is unknown, the failure to find any trace of it cannot be considered a mystery. The weather was deteriorating during the latter stages of the flight, winds were increasing… and the sea was growing boisterous… The Star Tiger could have gone down as many as five hours before the radar-equipped Fortress arrived in the area…” (Pg. 137)

Of the KB-50 plane in 1962, he observes, “The missing KB-50 is another case where a long delay in beginning the search may possibly have contributed to the lack of its success.” (Pg. 182) Later, he adds, “Like many … disappearances, such as the Star Tiger, the Star Ariel, and the Marine Sulphur Queen, a long delay in starting the search may have contributed to the failure to find any traces of the missing planes. Of the three planes that disappeared in the ‘black week’ of January 1967, the crash scene was found only in the case of the Chase YC-122, in which a search was initiated minutes after it became overdue.” (Pg. 214-215)

Of the 1967 disappearance of the 23-foot cabin cruiser ‘Witchcraft,’ he notes, “the weather was rather rough and continued so for several days. The wind was strong enough to form whitecaps a mile out at sea, and the waves were forecast to be as much as six feet high. Without the use of engines the boat would have had no power for maintaining the proper heading into the waves, and could easily have been swamped… It is not likely that the Coast guard would announce that the boat was ‘presumed missing, but not lost at sea,’ after having searched in vain for it for five days. Many of the statements attributed to the Coast guard and the Navy in accounts of the Bermuda Triangle have proved to be untrue in the cases where the accident reports are available.” (Pg. 218)

He explains, “The Bermuda Triangle is not the only area where ships and airplanes disappear at a rate well beyond the laws of chance. Southeast of Japan is the treacherous Devil’s Sea, which has long been feared by the Japanese because of the many strange disappearances that have occurred there.” (Pg. 251) He points out, “The writers of the Legend do not know the size of the Devil’s Sea or even where it is located. Some say it is 70 miles off Japan’s east coast (which part of the coast?). Others place it near the Myojin Reefs, which are about 300 miles from the coast. Still others place it near Iwo Jima and the Bonin Islands, or about 750 miles from the coast… It appears that the Devil’s Sea, known in the United States as a counterpart of the Bermuda Triangle, is virtually unknown in Japan. The story is based on nothing more than the loss of a few fishing boats twenty years ago in a 750-mie stretch of ocean over a period of five years. The tale has been repeated so many times that it has come to be accepted as fact. No one, until now, ever took the trouble to ask the Japanese about their Devil’s Sea. It was hard to find anyone who could remember ever having heard of it.” (Pg. 259-260)

He argues, “There is no possible way that vague, estimated input can lead to precise, accurate answers. How, by plotting the estimated positions of a number of vessels that disappeared in unknown locations, would it be possible to compute lozenge-shaped areas, all tilted up at the same angle and evenly spaced around the world?... the Atalanta … might have sunk anywhere on the 3,000-mile voyage to England. Was it assumed that it sank in the Bermuda Triangle?” (Pg. 264)

He concludes, “After examining all the evidence I have reached the following conclusion: There is no theory that solves the mystery. It is no more logical to try to find a common cause for all the disappearances in the Triangle than, for example, to try to find one cause for all automobile accidents in Arizona. By abandoning the search for an overall theory and investigating each incident independently, the mystery began on unravel.

“The findings of my research were consistent. 1. Once sufficient information was found, logical explanations appeared for most of the incidents. It is difficult, for example, to consider the Rubicon a mystery when it is known that a hurricane struck the harbor where it had been moored. It is similarly difficult to be baffled by the loss of the Marine Sulphur Queen after learning of the ship’s weakened structure and the weather conditions as described in the report of the Coast Guard investigation. 2. With only a few exceptions, the mishaps that remain unsolved are those for which no information can be found. In several cases important details of the incident… are fictional. 3. Disappearances occur in all parts of the ocean and even over land… Although the disappearances that took place in the Bermuda Triangle are the ones that have been widely publicized, some losses that occurred elsewhere have been ‘credited’ to the Triangle…

“If all the locations of ‘Bermuda Triangle’ incidents were plotted on a globe … they had taken place in an area that included the Caribbean Sea, the Gulf of Mexico, and most of the North Atlantic Ocean. The Bermuda Triangle is hardly unique… 7. Contrary to the Legend, the weather was bad when many of the incidents occurred. In several cases highly publicized hurricanes were responsible… 9. Many of the writers who publicized the events did no original research but merely rephrased the articles of previous writers, thereby perpetuating the errors and embellishments in earlier accounts. 10. In a number of incidents writers withheld information that provided an obvious solution to the disappearance…

“The Legend of the Bermuda Triangle is a manufactured mystery. It began because of careless research and was elaborated upon and perpetuated by writers who either purposely or unknowingly made use of misconceptions, faulty reasoning, and sensationalism. It was repeated so many times that it began to take on the aura of truth.” (Pg. 275-277)

This book will be “must reading” for anyone seriously studying the Bermuda Triangle, the ‘Limbo of the Lost,’ etc.

[Dennis D. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I haven't read this book for a long, long time, but I was reminded of it when recently reading a book debunking some Great Pyramid myths and suggesting a plausible explanation for how it was constructed.

I went through a period of intense fascination with the Bermuda Triangle when I was a teen, and this well-researched book came along at the tail end of it. It pretty much rips holes, case-by-case, in every "In Search Of..." and made-for-TV special that suggested some supernatural (or extraterrestrial) forces were at work.

When I say "case-by-case", Larry Kusche actually started each chapter with a brief, or occasionally not-so-brief - for the more sensational ones - recap of the individual legends: Flight 19 (the five USAF avengers), the USS Cyclops, the SS Marine Sulphur Queen, the Carroll A. Deering, the Mary Celeste...and so on, and so on. Then he proceeds to fully debunk where possible, or at least come up with much more rational explanations for each 'mystery' than the conspiracy theorists ever bothered to attempt. In many cases, it's obvious the legends were exaggerated to heighten mystery, or that contradictory evidence was flat-out ignored.

[Velta Gūtmane · Rating 2 out of 5]

Man patika un vienlaikus arī garlaikojas šī grāmata.

Interesenta ir uzzināt, kā tapa šī folklora par bermantas trīsstūri, un bija arī citās pasaules valstīs, piemēram, kā Japānā, kur arī bija līdzīgi stāsti par jūru, kur pazūd kuģi un lidmašīnas.

Interneti, ka ne visi, kuģi, kur tika dēvēti, ka pazuduši cilvēki tiešām pazuda. Komunikācijas aizkave, atklāts vairākas reizes viens un tas pats kuģis.

Garlaicīgā pusē ir lasot šos visus kuģu stāstus, vienmuļi. Kaut arī stāsti atšķiras ar laiku paliek garlaicīgi šos stāstus lasīt.

[Мартин Венциславов · Rating 5 out of 5]

Превъзходен роман! Има много информация за Бермудския триъгълник и изчезналите самолети и кораби, дори понякога е малко прекалено.
Куше е хвърлил много труд в тази книга. Извадил е всички катастрофи и корабукрошения, които са станали около Бермудските острови, но и също така имаме карти и снимки на корабите и самолетите.
Мисля, че няма да се хареса на всички и дори някои ще я сметнат за скучна, но това са документални случаи, в които се съдържат само данни.
На мен ми беше много интересно да я чета и някак си ме разведри. По-разл��чно четиво е, не е чиста документалистика.

[Syed Saqib Mumtaz Hashmi · Rating 4 out of 5]

IN this Book Larry Kusche has downplayed the hype of Bermuda Triangle mystery as mere result of careless reporting and sensationalism. While the book was published first time in 1970s but myth stills live on.
Explanation of events of Flight 59 is also very comprehensive but one wonders why the mystery still attracts the people around the world.

[Kempton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Methodically written and well-researched, this book is worth a read, but is a little too clinical at times in its presentation. If you're someone who enjoys the mystery behind the Bermuda Triangle, but is after something more than conspiracy theories, this is a nice bit of debunking research.

[Veeral · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really good analysis of many disappearances that happened in the Bermuda Triangle. I don't know why the mystery still persists decades after this book was published.

[Kevinjwoods · Rating 4 out of 5]

This takes about 50 of the most common disappearances blamed on The Bermuda Triangle and examines the truth behind them, revealing that in some cases there was no record of them in others they appeared again late, in the majority of cases they disappeared during major storms and hurricanes so that there was no mystery about them. In the end there turns out to be only a few cases where there was good weather, a full investigation, and no likely reason for the disappearance and these occurred approximately once a decade so while there are some mysterious disappearances in the area there are nowhere near enough for the Bermuda Triangle to be anything unusual.
Anybody interested probably should read this.

[Tintin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lumayanlah, buat iseng-iseng di hari libur mbaca info-info trivial seputar misteri segitiga Bermuda. Jadi hilangnya kapal-kapal dan pesawat-pesawat di kawasan "segitaga" itu ada penjelasan ilmiahnya. Bahkan ada yang hilangnya jauh dari kawasan itu juga diklaim sebagai korban segitiga Bermuda.
Wah, bisa-bisa hilangnya Adam Air itu juga diklaim ilang di Segitiga Bermuda itu juga yak? For further reading, silaken buku-buku lain yang berthema Misteri Segitiga Bermuda. Pasti penulisnya akan berargumen "Menurut sumber yang bisa dipercaya..." Blaaah..!

[Ed Zirkwitz · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is like reading a series of mini-mysteries to do with missing planes, boats and ships
linked to an area called the Burmuda Triange. After reading this book it may prompt 1the reader
the examine how some legends are born. The author, a librarian, was asked for information many times about the Bermuda Triangle thus eventually setting himself on the road to discovery of
the many mysteries involved. There is a bonus chapter about "The Devil's Sea: sometimes
refured to as Japan's Bermuda Triangle.

[Read1000books · Rating 3 out of 5]

As I recall, the author did not write this book borrowing info from other books. He did his own original research: interviewed witnesses, checked Coast Guard records, found original newspaper accounts, etc., and in the process gives a rational explanation for every disappearance in the Triangle up to the time of its publication. Too bad things are still disappearing down there :)

[Allam · Rating 4 out of 5]

tentang segitiga bermuda , ada banyak gambarnya juga,foto2 kapal dan pesawat yang hilang , tapi ada juga orang yang mancing di pantai dekat bermuda hilang . Anehnya waktu Colombus lewat situ nggak hilang , tapi waktu nglewatin wilayah bermuda triangle nya banyak kejadian aneh di kapalnya colombus .

[Adam Henry · Rating 1 out of 5]

What a bait-and-switch, POS book this was. There’s a reason this “writer” is a laughing stock among scientists and authors of the subject. Don’t waste your time or money, this man shouldn’t profit any more from this.

[Krista the Krazy Kataloguer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting, and at the time I read it the methane theory hadn't been thought of yet. I lean toward the latter myself.

[Art · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author believes bad weather and human error are enough to account for the area's strange disappearances.