The Bermuda Triangle is a mysterious area of the caribian that has managed to swallow ships, and airplanes without a trace. Boats and planes go in fully crewed, and show up weeks later, empty. It’s a running mystery that has spanned centuries, and I think I have an explanation; pirates.

One clue supporting my explanation is that there were spurts of Triangle disappearances: the 1920s were very big, as were the early 1700s as were the 1980s. These were all times of major smuggling, and the area of the Bermuda Triangle is a haven for smuggling too – whiskey in the 1920s between foreign ports, like Bermuda and US ports: Cuba and Miami. Smuggling has a way of attracting pirates as the smuggler is unlikely to try contacting the coast guard.

Perhaps the first example of this was “The Flying Dutchman” in 1780. Consider the major disappearances and mysteries.

Robert Buxbaum, June 17, 2025