A strange phenomenon occurs in a triangular shaped area in Alaska: people disappear at an alarming rate. Over the last 50 years, it is estimated that more than 20,000 Alaskans, travelers, hikers, hunters and small plane pilots have disappeared without explanation. This curious series of missing persons has led some to wonder what lies in the wilds of Alaska that keeps taking lives, never revealing the secrets.
The Alaska Triangle goes from the northern town of Utqiaġvik due south to Anchorage then southeast to the capital Juneau.
From 500 to a few 1000 people go missing in Alaska every year, more than twice the national average. It's all the more alarming as Alaska only has 740,000 people.
Hundreds of search and rescue missions are performed each year for people who head out on short excersions hiking, boating, or snow machining and are never seen again.
One of the most mysterious and high profile disappearances happened in 1972 when an airplane carrying two prominent Alaskan politicians, along with an aide and the pilot, mysteriously vanished in the region while on their way from Anchorage to Juneau aboard a small plane.
Tlingit cultural speaks of the Kushtaka, half-human half-otter creatures that lure those in the wild to their deaths by imitating a baby crying or a woman screaming to bring them toward danger.
There are many predators in the Alaskan wilderness that could account for the disappearances, as well as the harsh weather, but the number of missing people is still unusually high.
Whether something is lying in the woods that takes people without any evidence or the wilds of Alaska are just that unforgiving, the mystery of the Alaska Triangle remains.
