THE BERMUDA TRIANGLE

As with potato chips, unsubstantiated speculations about extra-human interference in man's affairs can lead to (mental) bloat. The Bermuda Triangle is the scene of hundreds of mind-boggling disappearances of ships and planes. We look for an explanation among the known sciences, and there is none. A whole flight of five Navy Avengers on a perfectly clear day in December '45 seems to have dematerialized in the area, as did the rescue craft. Hmm, let's say vanished utterly: no wreckage, no oil slick, nada. Ships in sight of shore (as well as passenger planes five minutes from landing at Miami Airport) have suddenly . . . well . . . they've phhtt! in clear water where the bottom was visible. Is there a logical explanation? Spinning compass needles and weirdly malfunctioning instrument panels indicate some kind of magnetic storm or disturbance, while author Berlitz reaches back into pre-prehistory (really far back) for some grabbag explanations about the influences of lost civilizations, leftover lasers still operating, etc. Oddly enough, his later thoughts on UFOs, Edgar Cayce, Egyptian science and occult matters come off with a weightier veracity than his early chapters about real planes and ships that evaporated, or whatever they did. There's never been a single survivor. Frankly, it's spellbinding.