Lake Michigan Triangle
From the UAP Encyclopedia, the open encyclopedia of UFO and UAP history · 📍 Place
Contents 4
| Type | Place |
|---|---|
| Also known as | Michigan Triangle |
The Lake Michigan Triangle is a modern legend that an area of Lake Michigan has an unusual number of unexplained shipwrecks, disappearances and plane crashes. Reports of UFOs and unidentified submerged objects are also part of the legend. The area is usually drawn from Ludington, Michigan, west to Manitowoc, Wisconsin, south to Benton Harbor, Michigan, and back to Ludington. Shipwreck researchers say there is nothing unusual about it.[1][2]
Origins
The idea grew out of the popularity of the Bermuda Triangle in the 1970s. Brendon Baillod, president of the Wisconsin Underwater Archeological Association, traces the first mention to a 1975 newspaper article that jokingly referred to a Michigan Triangle.[2] Jay Gourley's 1977 book The Great Lakes Triangle discussed losses across the Great Lakes, and later writers focused on Lake Michigan.[1][2] Interest faded until the 1990s, when Chicago tour guides began including the story on boat tours.[2]
Incidents linked to the legend
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- Le Griffon: the French ship built by La Salle vanished with her crew in September 1679 after leaving Green Bay with a cargo of furs. No confirmed wreck has been found.[1]
- Thomas Hume: the schooner disappeared with her crew in a squall in May 1891. Her wreck was found almost intact in 2006, and researchers concluded that she sank in a storm.[1][3]
- Rosabelle: the schooner was found capsized with her crew missing in 1921.[1][3]
- George Donner: in April 1937 the captain of the coal freighter O.M. McFarland vanished from his cabin, which was locked from the inside, as the ship approached Port Washington, Wisconsin.[1][3]
- Northwest Orient Flight 2501: the airliner, with 58 people aboard, disappeared over the lake during a storm on 23 June 1950. Debris and human remains were found, but the main wreck has never been located. The cause is unknown, though bad weather is the most widely accepted explanation.[1] Some UFO enthusiasts point to a report that two police officers saw red lights over the lake for two hours afterwards.[1]
- 1998 jet loss: a two-seat Aero L-39 jet carrying Donald Schaller and Donovan Rodriguez vanished from radar near Traverse City on 3 July 1998 and has not been found.[1]
According to the Wikipedia summary of the legend, the first UFO sighting in the area was reported in 1913.[1]
Explanations
Lake Michigan's long, narrow shape can produce dangerous waves and currents, and these are blamed for many wrecks. Compass deviation and magnetic declination have also been suggested as hazards for inexperienced sailors and pilots.[1] Paranormal explanations include ideas of a "negative energy vortex", ley lines and aliens.[1] The Michigan Shipwreck Research Association says the triangle is a myth, with no more wrecks than other parts of the Great Lakes, and attributes the number of losses to heavy traffic.[1] Baillod notes that most recorded losses in the region were not inside the triangle.[2]
References
- Lake Michigan Triangle — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
- Emilie Le Beau Lucchesi, "No, Ships Aren't Disappearing in the Great Lakes Triangle", Discover · discovermagazine.com · archived copy
- "The Legend of the Lake Michigan Triangle", Milwaukee Magazine (30 Oct 2019) · milwaukeemag.com · archived copy
This page was last edited on 31 October 2026. Articles are written in our own words from the sources listed under References; disputed claims are attributed to the people who made them.
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