Technology blog

The Truth About the Bermuda Triangle
The Bermuda Triangle's bad reputation started with
Christopher Columbus. According to his log, on
October 8, 1492, Columbus looked down at his
compass and noticed that it was giving weird
readings. He didn't alert his crew at first, because
having a compass that didn't point to magnetic
north may have sent the already on edge crew into
a panic. This was probably a good decision
considering three days later when Columbus simply
spotted a strange light, the crew threatened to
return to Spain.
This and other reported compass issues in the
region gave rise to the myth that compasses will
all be off in the Triangle, which isn't correct, or at
least is an exaggeration of what is actually
happening as you'll see. Despite this, in 1970 the
U.S. Coast Guard, attempting to explain the
reasons for disappearances in the Triangle, stated:
First, the "Devil's Triangle" is one of the two places
on earth that a magnetic compass does point
towards true north. Normally it points toward
magnetic north. The difference between the two is
known as compass variation. The amount of
variation changes by as much as 20 degrees as
one circumnavigates the earth. If this compass
variation or error is not compensated for, a
navigator could find himself far off course and in
deep trouble.