Lake Michigan Triangle

Hello all. I recently moved up here to Michigan from Ohio last year. Ohio has tons of mysterious places and stories that I grew up with. Now that I'm in Michigan, I have been trying to discover any cool stories or locations for paranormal activity. I came across and article written by James Donahue listing a number of unsolved mysteries in an area dubbed 'The Lake Michigan Triangle".

When you search through Great Lakes lore by sifting through the dusty microfilms of old newspaper files, that area of Lake Michigan indeed offers its share of unsolved mysterious disappearances of men, ships and aircraft. There have been other strange happenings there as well.

The triangle, if it must have a shape, is said to generally run from Ludington, Michigan, south to Benton Harbor, west across the lake to Manitowoc, Wisconsin, and back to Ludington. The shape, in my mind, however, might be more of a distorted rectangle, with one corner stretching south from Manitowoc toward Chicago.

During personal research over the years I have uncovered the following oddities, mostly occurring in this boxed area of the lake.

Among the strangest of the mysteries was the disappearance of the schooner Thomas Hume, which disappeared without a trace in a Lake Michigan gale on May 21, 1891, while sailing empty from Chicago to Muskegon, Michigan to pick up a load of lumber. Seven sailors, including Captain George C. Albrecht, were lost with the ship. Even though the lake was searched thoroughly, not a stick of lumber or piece of flotsam from a wreck was ever found. Old sailors speculated that the Hume, a wooden vessel, could not have sunk without some wreckage floating away. To this day, the Hume’s disappearance remains unsolved.

The wreck of the schooner Rosa Belle and the loss of 11 crew members and passengers, all members of the Benton Harbor cult House of David, shocked the nation in the fall of 1921. The wreck was discovered on Oct. 30, floating upside down by the Grand Trunk car ferry Ann Arbor No. 4. The captain of the ferry said it appeared as if the schooner had been in a collision with another vessel. But no other ship was found to have been in a collision that week. The aft section was smashed, the cabin was wrenched away from the deck and the ship’s rigging was floating loosely about the hull. The mystery of what happened to the Rosa Belle was never solved.

Strange too was the fact that it was the second almost identical wreck for the Rosa Belle. The vessel capsized in the same area and drifted ashore near Grand Haven, Michigan, in August, 1875. Ten crew members were lost. The wreck was recovered at that time and rebuilt.

In 1937, a ship didn’t disappear but her captain did. Captain George R. Donner, skipper of the freighter O. M. McFarland, retired to his cabin after the vessel cleared the ice-choked Straits of Mackinaw and turned south through Lake Michigan toward Port Washington. When the steamer neared its destination a crew member went to Donner’s cabin to summon him, but found the room empty. No trace of Captain Donner was ever found.

At least one aircraft, the Northwestern Airlines flight 2501, flying from New York to Minneapolis, also went missing over Lake Michigan in that same area. The four-engine DC-4 had 58 occupants aboard when it vanished shortly before midnight in bad weather. It was last recorded flying over Battle Creek at 3,500 feet. The only trace of the plane was a blanket with the airline’s logo on it, recovered by the Coast Guard.

Then there was the story of the St. Albins, a steamer that was abandoned by its crew in sinking condition off Milwaukee on January 30, 1881. Then in late February, fishermen began telling stories about a ghostly steamship floating without a crew or smoke coming from its stack off the Fox Islands. Was the St. Albins still afloat? How could that happen? A search of the lake that spring failed to find a trace of the lost ship. What were the fishermen seeing?

In the evening of Nov. 26, 1919, people in southeastern Michigan, northern Indiana, northeastern Illinois and the southeastern corner of Wisconsin witnessed a brilliant light in the sky over southern Lake Michigan. They said two large balls of fire fell from the sky into the lake, exploding on impact. This was followed by a deep and prolonged rumbling and a shaking of the earth. Many thought they witnessed a large meteor that broke up as it entered the Earth’s atmosphere. But was it that?

Yet another odd aerial phenomenon occurred on July 12, 1883 aboard the tug Mary McLane, as it worked just off the Chicago harbor. At about 6 p.m. the crew said large blocks of ice, as big as bricks, began falling out of a cloudless sky. The fall continued for about 30 minutes before it stopped. The ice was large enough to put dents in the wooden deck. The crew members brought a two-pound chunk of ice ashore with them that night, which they stored in the galley ice box, as proof that they didn’t make up the story.

reply to post by jtrenthacker


I grew up on the shores of lake Michigan, and remember reading and hearing about these things when I was growing up in the 70's.

Lot's of weird goings on, but, just think back a little over a week ago, and how Sandy even affected the great lakes! Who would have thought?

When you are out away from shore in any of the great lakes, it feels like you are in the middle of the ocean!

And...the strangest of them all:

www.shipwreckmuseum.com...

The legend of the Edmund Fitzgerald remains the most mysterious and controversial of all shipwreck tales heard around the Great Lakes. Her story is surpassed in books, film and media only by that of the Titanic. Canadian folksinger Gordon Lightfoot inspired popular interest in this vessel with his 1976 ballad, "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald."

reply to post by Sissel


Yup. I knew about that one only because that's my favorite beer from Great Lakes Brewery. Well, maybe second to their Christmas Ale.

Ever see anything strange growing up around the lakes?

I live in The Harbor and work near the lake. Sometimes storms come up fast. Never heard of the Rosa Belle The HoD had a lot of boats and ships . The Morning Star sank but had survivors tat were all members of the HoD. Seems there might have been more than 1 Morning Star.

Originally posted by jtrenthacker
reply to post by Sissel

 

Yup. I knew about that one only because that's my favorite beer from Great Lakes Brewery. Well, maybe second to their Christmas Ale.

Ever see anything strange growing up around the lakes?

Very much so. I was always terrified of getting too far away from shore, for this reason:

www.seagrant.wisc.edu... etails.aspx?PostID=694

Storm Surges Storm surges are temporary rises in water level caused by storm winds blowing across miles of open water and dragging some water towards the down-wind shore. This causes a build-up in water level along the down-wind shore. The temporary rise in water level may also be called a storm set-up, wind set-up, storm-induced rise, or storm rise. Storm surges occur on ocean coasts as well as on Great Lakes coasts. The image below shows an extreme storm surge in the southern end of Green Bay at the City of Green Bay,

I can remember being at the Glencoe beach while still very young, and having my Mom come and yank me out of the water by my arm because a wave suddenly appeared out of nowhere on a calm day.

I grew up in southeast Michigan. I remember most of these tales, although I lived on lake Erie, we had our own little mysterious things. And when I say "I lived on lake Erie",I was 200 ft from shore.

My dad would tell me about how there was boats that disappeared when trying to cross the lake in late october early november. Not just fishing boats, because most people by this time had their boats set up for winter storage. He would talk about freighters leaving a port, some where up north and head out only never to be heard from again. Well as kid I was freaked out by this, my mind ran wild. I thought lake monsters, aliens, or giant holes ate the ships. When I got a little older I became intriged by these stories. I started looking stuff up in libraries about missing ship/planes/people around the Great Lakes region. I read about the Edmund Fitzgerald, and even made my dad take me to White Fish point, where the Edmund sank. I been to the little sailors time muesem in Detroit.

So doing little digging on the Great Lakes Triangle, I came across this PDF (a teachers guid?) . Not sure what to make of it. But anyway there is book on the subject matter, Gourley, Jay. The Great Lakes Triangle. New York: Aaron M. Priest, Inc., 1977.

that might be an interesting read.

Originally posted by Arrancar
I grew up in southeast Michigan. I remember most of these tales, although I lived on lake Erie, we had our own little mysterious things. And when I say "I lived on lake Erie",I was 200 ft from shore.

My dad would tell me about how there was boats that disappeared when trying to cross the lake in late october early november. Not just fishing boats, because most people by this time had their boats set up for winter storage. He would talk about freighters leaving a port, some where up north and head out only never to be heard from again. Well as kid I was freaked out by this, my mind ran wild. I thought lake monsters, aliens, or giant holes ate the ships. When I got a little older I became intriged by these stories. I started looking stuff up in libraries about missing ship/planes/people around the Great Lakes region. I read about the Edmund Fitzgerald, and even made my dad take me to White Fish point, where the Edmund sank. I been to the little sailors time muesem in Detroit.

So doing little digging on the Great Lakes Triangle, I came across this PDF (a teachers guid?) . Not sure what to make of it. But anyway there is book on the subject matter, Gourley, Jay. The Great Lakes Triangle. New York: Aaron M. Priest, Inc., 1977.

that might be an interesting read.

edit on 7-11-2012 by Arrancar because: add some stuffs

Awesome find! I will check it out!

should always include an image so people can get an idea of the area in question




found it here
naturalplane.blogspot.com...

Then, there are the sightings of UFO's and other strange anomalies in the sky. In fact there have been so many sightings of strange objects and phantom planes that the Federal Aviation Administration created a special lake reporting service to catalog the reported sightings.

I think most of the problems reported about a plane or what not disappearing is mostly due to the type of weather that can occur very quickly on the lakes. I have ridden out my fair share of squalls on Lake Erie, and trust me going from 1-2ft waves to 3-6ft waves in an 18' aluminum boat is not fun. This would be just small storm. The worst was about in 93 or so, was in a canoe with my friend in September putting around out on the lake. Probably was only a mile off shore, and the water was flat, no wind then out of nowhere a storm rolled up on us. Either we stopped paying attention (probably the case), but either way it went from flat to 5-6ft swells in 5 or so minutes. I honestly didn't think we were going to be able to get the canoe in.

I think a lot of the problems occur in fall time frame when the "Witch of November" appears. Most people who lived on the lakes no this type of storm. It can be devastating. Not only that, the clouds can be so thick and low to the ground (not fog but there is that as well). I mean clouds, will seem like they are only 10ft above your head. It’s a strange and frightening experience.

I know what i am talking about does not have to do with too many UFO's or lights in the sky. This is more of the bad weather phenomenon that happens around the lakes.

I have seen some weird lights before. A group of us were out at Pointe Mouillee State game area just north of Stony Point. It was late at night probably close to 2am. I think we were around 19 or so. We was having fun out there, scaring the crap out of each other, and generally just b.s.ing around. Well we all jumped in the van and drove down to another access point. As we turned into the spot, there was this huge white crane, eating some fish. Before I knew it my buddies jumped out the back and ran toward it. I jumped out to yell something; there was a flash of red light. Me and my one buddy probably the most rational of the group looked at each other, and same time said WTF! Before i could even jump back in the van the other couple of friends, were already in the van, cowering like they had seen a murder or something. I got in and so did the guy on the other side (driver’s side). I told him to gun it, and get the hell out of there.

So a few years had passed i forgot about the incident out there. One day while shooting pool me and buddy started talking about some the crap we pulled as kids. He looked at me and said “do you remember the crane.” I looked up at him, and said “yes but what about that red light. What was that?” He said “I don't know. i was hoping that was just a figment of my imagination.” Needless to say, i just chalk it up as just one of them insane nights me and my friends had. I don't think anything sinister happened to us or anything crazy. I think we might have just been having a little too much fun (no drugs or alcohol), and just thought we saw something that was not there.


Sorry for the long post. I just want to share some of the personal stories I have had around Lake Erie.

reply to post by Arrancar


Cool stories! Thanks!

I think if you look into it it, the fifties hold some pretty wired air dissapearances over the lakes.......
I hear tell UFOs were involved in one airliners dissapearance....
I also think theres more spots like your triangle to be found around the whole great lakes area.....
many more interesting anomalous dissapearances and wrecks....

The reason why ships sink round the real Bermuda Triangle is because of methane hydrate-clathrate bubbling away and adding bubbles to water thereby temporarily lowering the waters density long enough to cause boats to sink (as tested in labs scaled models),
rationalwiki.org...
Lake Michigan is 281 meters deep –that’s 28 atmosphere of water pressure, which is enough to cause methane hydrate to form. The fireball-explosion witnessed in the past could have been caused by a natural, or unfortunate ignition of this methane.

I don't know if you just want ideas for the lake aspect but traverse city mental hospital grounds are good! ecspecially the tunnels. Not sure if you are allowed in them anymore but my son had some rather scary stuff happen to him, He was with some friend and they heard voices and tons of crying. It saddened him to think of how those people suffered! Grand Rapids MI is another spot that is good. If I can think of anywhere else I will let you know!

Originally posted by seekingpeace
I don't know if you just want ideas for the lake aspect but traverse city mental hospital grounds are good! ecspecially the tunnels. Not sure if you are allowed in them anymore but my son had some rather scary stuff happen to him, He was with some friend and they heard voices and tons of crying. It saddened him to think of how those people suffered! Grand Rapids MI is another spot that is good. If I can think of anywhere else I will let you know!

Cool! I did find some cool stories of the now defunct mental hospital in Mt. Pleasant. Check it out below.

www.abovetopsecret.com...

I grew up a Mile and a half away from Lake Michigan. Some snow storms are bad... But, the thunderstorms that come off the lake, the sun will be shining one minute, then a crash of thunder.....Love the thunderstorms up there.. Sorry, I was reliving my childhood......anyone else??

Interesting post!

I grew up and still live within a mile of Lake Michigan but have only actually been ON the lake a in a boat or ferry a handful of instances. I remember many of the stories mentioned by the OP and we have an exhibit in our local museum with crude iron ship wreck items from our local Wind Point, notorious wreck site in years past which always grabbed my imagination as a kid. I would stand above a cliff watching the water smash land below and daydream tall ship scenarios.

Waterspouts are an interesting thing to see in October/November and sometimes during a summer storm if the colliding temperatures are right, but I think they are too weak to do significant damage to boats/ ships / barges. We are warned about rip tides every summer when we lose a couple of swimmers due to currents. Maybe a one-two punch of waterspouts and rip tides / currents could sink a ship but interesting to know that not much debris were found of some wrecks. If a waterspout could yank a plane out of the sky, you'd have more than one blanket as debris and the waterspouts I've seen didn't look tall enough to affect an aircraft.

Other than the mass terror in swimming the lake that all had when Jaws came to theaters, I have never witnessed anything unusual with the lake except wicked winter storms.

I have seen storms go over the lake where you can actually visibly see water being sucked up off the lake and into cloud/ atmosphere not as a waterspout. More like a curved sheet. I do not know what this meteorological phenomena would be technically called.

I was always interested in all the stories I heard about lighthouse attendants going mad!

I'm really suprised you hadn't got more responses on this...this is a little off topic, but I love Lake Michigan, almost drown in it once, I can't remember the month, but I think it was the 18th. I was attending a company party in Beverly Shores. The lake was real rough that day, I got caught by an undertow, and anyone reading this, you ever get in the same situation, try to float, don't try to swim, it will take you further out.
I realized I was on shore, when my face was pummeled in the sand. Anyone who has swam in the lake will know what I mean. People on jet skis were looking for me, but they didn't go far enough to see me. I washed up like almost a mile from where I started. An 18 year old from Illinois did drown in the lake that day.
My favorite thing to do back in the day, before you had to pay to get in, I'd fill a cooler and go sit on my dune, off to the right from the entrance, and sit in the dark, and listen to the waves roll in. It was very soothing.

Originally posted by thepolish1
I'm really suprised you hadn't got more responses on this...this is a little off topic, but I love Lake Michigan, almost drown in it once, I can't remember the month, but I think it was the 18th. I was attending a company party in Beverly Shores. The lake was real rough that day, I got caught by an undertow, and anyone reading this, you ever get in the same situation, try to float, don't try to swim, it will take you further out.
I realized I was on shore, when my face was pummeled in the sand. Anyone who has swam in the lake will know what I mean. People on jet skis were looking for me, but they didn't go far enough to see me. I washed up like almost a mile from where I started. An 18 year old from Illinois did drown in the lake that day.
My favorite thing to do back in the day, before you had to pay to get in, I'd fill a cooler and go sit on my dune, off to the right from the entrance, and sit in the dark, and listen to the waves roll in. It was very soothing.

Thanks for the story and glad you made it. I'm not sure why this thread hasn't got a lot of attention either. I've made several other threads dealing with haunted or strange locations that haven't gotten much discussion either. Kind of frustrating but I just chalk it up to being a new member. I would've thought most on here were like me and sick of all the political bull and Would want to read about something else. Oh well.

reply to post by jtrenthacker


Thank you for the post, I'd have to agree the political BS on here is getting a little out of hand, I feel the same way, I started a thread "your take on what will happen on dec.21,2012" you might give that a ponder. More on topic, about haunted places, look up Wolfstead mansion in South Haven Indiana, it is supposedly haunted, heck, if you like to take day trips, it would be a fun trip. The last I heard a chiropractor owned it, but that was years ago. Happy hunting!!

I own a boat out on Lake Superior and have seen a lot of things out there. So I may be able to shed some light on the strange appearances, losses, and etc.

As some of the prior posts note it, I have personally seen the Witches of November. The seas are nothing short of massive, but the real issue is the frequency of waves / wavelength. On the Great Lakes, waves are close together unlike the ocean where they are farther apart. If you are on a boat, you need to watch out for that because your bow dives into the next wave, you get swamped, and that's that. Some people call those waves "The Three Sisters" because one causes your deck to get awash, the next hits while your deck is trying to she'd the water from the first, and the last one does you in. It is said that the Arthur Anderson was hit by a set of the three sisters. By the time they would have reached the Fitzgerald, was when the Anderson lost contact.

The storms also kick up very fast, and disappear just as fast. I have been through a number of them, and that is just life on the lake. Now a days NOAA radio does a good job though, so you can get safe harbor rather quickly.

Rogue waves are not silly tales from crazy mariners. In July of 2013 I was going through 2 foot waves... Nothing serious. However, up out of nowhere came a ten footer. It literally came up out of nowhere. Thankfully I was moving forward through it and it did not strike the beam. Had I been going at a right angle to it, I likely would have capsized, that is he steep it was.

The oddest thing I have ever seen though are "loomings". You know what a mirage is? Same thing, but instead on the water. I have seen freighters in the distance and they were split in half where the bow appeared to be separated by a mile from the stern. I have seen islands floating in the sky, when I should not be able to see them at all because they were below the horizon. I have also seen lights floating where there should not be any lights. Sometimes the looming is just as clear as can be, and sometimes they are VERY HIGH above the water, and appearing not to move.

An old timer was once telling me about a lit channel buoy on a very dark night that was five miles away from where it should have been. It was so clear he said that through binoculars he could see the number on it. Everything in his being told him that it was not correct as he didn't think his chart and compass was that far off. Had he changed course and kept on going using that light to guide him, he would have piled into the rocks.

Long story short, there are reasons for strange things like this. And like I said, the oddest are the loomings.