Secrets is Bermuda Triangle review: Documentary attempts to unravel mystery behind the region

The Bermuda Triangle has always invoked a sense of mystery, inspiring books, films, and crazy conspiracy theories. For the uninitiated, it is a roughly defined region between Bermuda, Puerto Rico and Miami in the US. Also nicknamed the Devil’s Triangle, innumerable ships and airplanes have reportedly vanished in this imaginary triangle, without any trace or wreckage. The first two episodes of Secrets is Bermuda Triangle, hosted by Rick Edwards and Ortis Deley, go through the missing USS Cyclops and Flight 19, and attempt to unravel the reasons behind these strange occurrences. [caption id=“attachment_7122121” align=“alignnone” width=“825”] The Bermuda Triangle. Still taken from show[/caption] The USS Cyclops was one of the biggest naval vessels owned by the US and its sinking took with it the largest casualty the country has ever experienced. The ship, carrying 309 people along with manganese, set sail from Barbados but never reached the destination, Baltimore in the US. The hosts dissect the possible reasons behind its sinking, ranging from its structural design to environmental factors, like a rare phenomenon known as the “rogue wave”. The audience is then taken through how modern mariners are trained to face treacherous waters — through simulators. Advancement in technology and communication has increased the ease to navigate through seas, but even the experienced of the lot can easily be at the mercy of nature. By the end of this episode, I had convinced myself to never take a cruise vacation near that area. As for its history, The Bermuda Triangle has been written about since the days of Christopher Columbus. The area got its name first when Vincent Gaddis coined it for his cover story of the Argosy magazine in the ’60s. Its worldwide status was cemented after the release of Charles Berlitz’s book in 1974, who was somehow convinced that these disappearances were linked to the supernatural. Another popular explanation seems to be aliens. Deley also meets an adventurer, more reckless than brave, who set off on a day trip to the triangle, but ended up stranded in the vast ocean without food and water for 16 days. The second episode focuses on Flight 19 in 1945, where a fleet of US Navy planes went off route during their routine training flight mission, never to be heard from again. The 70-year-old mystery still irks many as investigators could never point their finger on the exact reason behind the loss. The second instalment includes a dramatised conversation that did take place between the fleet’s captain and the ground control. It is almost scary to hear how baffled the captain was on his inability to figure his correct location, which may add on to a lot of people’s fear of flying. Human error is a plausible explanation, the fact that the entire fleet’s compasses were malfunctioning and they only had limited fuel. Deley gets into the shoes of the pilots and experiences losing his sense of direction. The various ways rescue teams look for aircraft debris is also explained, a feat next to impossible in the ’40s and ’50s. As for the myths around the Bermuda Triangle, we are told that there have been several sightings of ships floating above the sea. This phenomenon is known Fata Morgana, an optical illusion, as an expert tells Edwards. While Secrets of the Bermuda Triangle is well-researched, it does not seem to offer more information than what is already out there. The docu-series, despite being BBC production disappoints in its visuals and hosts’ commentary in certain sequences is dull and unnecessary.  It does shed light on the insatiable nature of human curiosity and the need to get to the root cause of a problem through scientific analysis. The third episode of Secrets of the Bermuda Triangle will premiere on Sony BBC Earth on 10 August (Saturday).