On December 5, 1945, at 2:00 pm, a group of 1 took off in perfect weather for a practice flight over the Atlantic Ocean. Two hours later, 2, Lt. Charles Taylor, radioed back that he was "completely lost." He said that the planes' compasses were "going cra2y," and that he could see no land. And then his radio died. The navy sent another plane to 3, but it disappeared too. By the end of that day, 4had disappeared in a mysterious area known as the Bermuda Triangle. This is just one of many frightening stories that people love to tell about the Bermuda Triangle, which is located on the West Atlantic Ocean between Miami, Florida, the island of Bermuda, and the island of Puerto Rico. Over the years, more than a hundred planes, ships, and small boats 5 have been lost in this area. Many of them disappeared in the middle of the day, in perfect weather. And in most cases, to make the stories even more mysterious, 6 have ever been found. The planes and ships have simply disappeared. There is no doubt that there is something strange, perhaps even mysterious, about this part of the Atlantic; the question is, what is it? How can we explain the disappearance of so many ships and planes in this region? In this lecture, we will examine some of the official, as well as 7 that people have offered over the years. The United States Navy does not believe that there is anything mysterious about the Triangle. It says that all the accidents are the result of the 8. These features include the Gulf Stream current, which flows rapidly through the area, 9, and changeable, often violent, weather patterns. In addition, the Triangle 10 that causes compasses in this area to point to true north instead of magnetic north. If the navigator of a ship or plane forgets this fact, he can easily get lost in the Bermuda Triangle. The navy believes that this is probably what happened to the five navy airplanes that I mentioned at the beginning of this talk. In conclusion, the navy believes that the disappearances 11 can be explained by human errors, changing weather, or 12. Some of the other theories concerning so many accidents in the Triangle are a little bit difficult to believe. For example, John Wallace Spencer, who wrote a book called Limbo of the Lost, believes that 13 have established a civilization in the Triangle's underwater canyons, which have never been explored. He thinks that 14human beings for their underwater zoo, and that they caused the disappearances. A similar theory states that the planes and ships disappeared because 15—UFOs—attacked them. People who believe this theory refer to the fact that many of the missing planes and ships reported 16 before they suddenly disappeared. As you can see, there are 17 the strange things that have happened in the Bermuda Triangle. There have been 18 about this subject, and there was even a special exposition at the Library of Congress. Nevertheless, 19 travel to this popular area. Do these tourists ever wonder if they, too, will disappear 20 Bermuda Triangle?