Carolyn Cascio

Carolyn Cascio (May 26, 1942-June 7, 1964?) was a licensed American pilot from Greenville, MS, who, on June 7, 1964, flew her Cessna, with one passenger, from Nassau, Bahamas, destined for Grand Turk Island, of the Turks and Caicos Islands, a flight of 465 miles one way. The events that transpired during her flight have become one of the more popular conspiracy theories concerning the Bermuda Triangle.
The Flight
Cascio left Nassau Airport, traveling southeast toward Cockburn Town, Grand Turk Island, and around her expected time of arrival, she radioed to Nassau Airport, firstly that her compass was "spinning erratically", and then that she could not raise JAGs McCartney International Airport, of Cockburn, on the radio. She apparently left her microphone keyed in the open position, thus enabling JAGs Airport control to hear the conversation between the pilot and her passenger. What follows is an extract from that dialogue.
:Cascio: "I don't understand this. I must have made a wrong turn. This should be Grand Turk, but there's nothing down there, no airport, no houses."
:Passenger: "Right,"
:Cascio: "It's the right place on the map, and the shape is right and all, but this island looks uninhabited. Look, no buildings, no roads, nothing. It has to be Grand Turk, but it's not there. It looks like Grand Turk but it just can't be."
At the same time that she claimed to be circling the island, people in many places on Grand Turk Island claimed to see a small airplane circle the island for approximately 30 minutes.
JAGs Airport, having seen her with the naked eye and on radar, tried desperately to contact her, but was never able to do so. It was assumed that most attempts to do so would fail due to her open-mic position, but several times while she circled, her conversation with her passenger was interrupted by static for 1 to 3 seconds. Airport control took these to be moments at which she was attempting to radio the Airport. At this point, JAGs Airport control knew that something was seriously wrong. Cascio was flying directly above the airport in clear conditions but apparently could not see it. All attempts to contact her over the radio failed.
After half an hour of circling, the airport picked up Cascio's last words: "Is there no way out of this?"
She then apparently made a decision to fly to another island. In bewilderment, the entire airport staff watched as she banked sharply to the left and flew out across the sea. The airplane flew into a low-lying cloudbank, but was not seen exiting the other side. On her return trip, she was able to radio Nassau Airport that she was convinced that she must not be over Grand Turk Island, although her charts indicated that the island below was the exact shape of Grand Turk Island, and where Grand Turk Island should have been. But because she could find no airport at which to land, she was forced to depart. She decided to return on exactly the same course she had taken, northwest for Nassau, Bahamas, placing the afternoon sun at her 10 o'clock position. She radioed that she expected to have sufficient fuel for the return trip, but that in case of emergency, she would land at any airport or airstrip on the way, as she would be in the vicinity of various Bahamian islands for the entire trip. She remained in radio contact with Nassau for approximately 30 more minutes, after which she was never heard from again. No radio transmission from either Cascio or Nassau Airport was picked up by any interposing radio station. An extensive search turned up no sign of airplane wreckage or human survivors. No one on any island, over or near which she passed, reported seeing a return trip of her airplane.
Explanations
Conspiracy theorists generally believe that Cascio flew through a rip in space-time, and arrived over Grand Turk Island at some point in the distant past, before the island had undergone urban development of any kind, or become inhabited by humans. This theory requires that her radio transmissions were able to pass through the rip in space-time and back to Nassau Airport at the present day. This theory also requires that the present-day inhabitants of Grand Turk Island were able to see her plane circle the island for 30 minutes, though it had already passed through the rip in space-time, or was still inside the rip. Because no sign of her, her passenger, or her airplane was ever found, this theory continues that during her return for Nassau, she flew through the same rip in space-time and was not able to return to the present day, thus landing at some point in the past. If this were true, it would still be possible to find the remains of her airplane, but as yet, no wreckage has been found, neither on land nor in the ocean.
An alternate explanation is pilot error, resulting in Cascio mistaking some uninhabited island for Grand Turk Island, and subsequently losing her way due to a faulty compass, and exhausting her fuel. Conspiracy theorists call this explanation into question, arguing that there are no islands in the Caribbean which look even remotely similar to Grand Turk Island, and very few uninhabited islands. Arguments also center on the high unlikelihood that a licensed pilot would lose his or her way due simply to a faulty compass. Her compass had been functioning properly when she departed Nassau Airport, and she did not report it malfunctioning until arrival over her expected destination. Given these circumstances, she should have been able to orient herself according to the sun and find her way quite efficiently.

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