This Theory Connects Atlantis And The Bermuda Triangle
You've probably heard something about the mythical lost city of Atlantis: it was an ancient, highly advanced civilization that (allegedly) sank into the sea a very long time ago. You've likely also heard about the Bermuda Triangle, the area in the Atlantic Ocean off the Southeast coast of Florida-ish, where airplanes and ships are said to have vanished with no explanation. Such mysteries have fueled imaginations and theories for generations. Well, hang on to your proverbial tin-foil hats, because there might be a connection there!
National Geographic elaborates that the vaunted philosopher Plato was the first to tell the story of Atlantis, in 360 B.C. Plato claimed that Atlantis had existed 9,000 or so years before his time and that its legend had gotten passed down via the oral traditions of poets and priests, among others. According to Plato, the founders were half-god, half-mortal, and they built a utopian naval power based in a series of verdant, concentric islands rich with precious metals and all kinds of wildlife. The island at the center housed Atlantis' beloved capital city.
But where was it?
As with most civilizations that contain humans, Atlantis citizens' once-impeccable moral code devolved tremendously as their power grew. The Greek gods who had founded it in the first place got so fed up with the inhabitants' reality-show-level behavior that they canceled the whole civilization by consuming it in earthquakes and fires so great that the islands sank into the ocean in a day and a night.
But where, exactly, had Atlantis been located? That depends on whom you ask. Via an article on History.com, writer Ignatius Donnelly claimed in his 1882 book, "Atlantis, the Antediluvian World," that it was in the Atlantic Ocean, just before the entrance to the Straits of Gibraltar. In a 1958 book, Charles Hapgood claimed it was actually Antarctica. Another theory posits that Atlantis was possibly in the Black Sea. There are many other theories offering up hours of rabbit holes to go down, should you so choose.
The Connection Is Made
But the Hold-My-Beer award of Atlantean theories goes to Charles Berlitz, whose paranormal-based writings in the 1970s agreed with some earlier theories that Atlantis was in the Atlantic Ocean, but Berlitz claimed it was located just off the Bahamas. Again, depending on whom you ask, the Bahamas are either not part of the Bermuda Triangle, or they are, or they could be; the triangle's borders vary wildly in different accounts. Regardless, according to the aforementioned History.com article, Berlitz claimed that Atlantis had been taken down by that alleged oceanic vortex. Though in his 1974 book, "The Bermuda Triangle," Berlitz believed that the triangle was a result of Atlantis's watery demise.
It's a chicken-or-the-egg situation, but don't spend too much time thinking about it, as both Atlantis and the Bermuda Triangle have been thoroughly debunked. Despite many searches for evidence of Atlantis, none has ever been found — but that could also be because Plato was known for spinning many a good morality tale, with Atlantis being one of his crown jewels of a yarn. As reported by LiveScience, in the book "The Bermuda Triangle Mystery — Solved," journalist Larry Kusche said of Berlitz's claims and research, "If Berlitz were to report that a boat were red, the chance of it being some other color is almost a certainty." Kusche went on at length proving that Berlitz's theories were built on sand, at best. So, there's another connection for you.