Business Standard

Alaska Triangle: Over 20,000 people vanished from this mysterious place

The Alaska Triangle came into the limelight when two US politicians suddenly disappeared while travelling to Juneau from Anchorage in 1972. Here's all you need to know

Image source: Unsplash

Image source: Unsplash

Sudeep Singh Rawat New Delhi

Listen to This Article

Everyone is aware of the mysterious Bermuda Triangle that has been notorious for some of the most mysterious disappearances of people passing through it. But there’s an area called the 'Alaska Triangle', located around roughly three points of Anchorage and Juneau in the south, and Utqiagvik, a northern coastal city, which has resulted in even more such cases of disappearances.
This triangle is reportedly the reason behind the disappearance of over 20,000 people since the early 1970s. According to IFL Science, this area came into the headlines in October 1972 when a plane carrying US House Majority Thomas Hale Boggs Sr and Alaska Congressman Nick Begich went missing. The aeroplane disappeared on its way from Anchorage to Juneau. The plane also carried Mr. Begich's aide, Russel Brown and the Pilot, Don Jonz.
 
A huge search operation was launched to find the four missing people, but neither the plane nor the bodies were found again. 
The case of the two officials was not the only one, apart from them, Gary Frank Sotherden, a 25-year-old New Yorker, travelled to the Alaskan wilderness in the mid-1970s to go hunting but never returned. 
Thereafter, a human skull was found along the Porcupine River in northeastern Alaska in 1997 and its DNA was later received in 2022 and it was concluded that the skull belonged to Mr Sotherdern and he probably died after being mauled by a bear. 
An average of 2,250 people go missing from this region every year and this number is double the national average of disappearance cases. 
Out of many theories, some believe that there is some unusual magnetic activity in the Alaska Triangle, some even believe that extraterrestrial aliens are behind this mysterious place. 
But, the simplest explanation is that it is a vast land full of wilderness and natural dangers which is the reason why people have gone missing and have never been found again. Just like the Bermuda Triangle, this mystery might also never be solved. 

Don't miss the most important news and views of the day. Get them on our Telegram channel

First Published: Sep 05 2024 | 5:48 PM IST

Explore News