The Lake Michigan Triangle | Ep. 68

Welcome to another episode of Believing the Bizarre. Who would’ve thought the United States had its own little version of the Bermuda Triangle?

The Michigan Lake Triangle, stretching from Ludington and Benton Harbor Michigan to Manitowoc, Wisconsin, has an eerie history of strange occurrences. From missing people and ships to UFO experiences and even weird rock formations, the Michigan Lake Triangle is quite the paranormal hot spot.

But, how believable is it? Listen now to find out!

What could cause so many mysteries in a single body of water? What happened to Northwest Flight 2501? Could there be a secret alien base in Northern America?

This week we dive into the Triangle of Lake Michigan.

What’s up Bizarros. This week we’re covering the Lake Michigan Triangle. It is a hotbed of paranormal activity. It covers most of the top and the right of Lake Michigan, the top-left point of the triangle touches Manitowoc, Wisconsin, then it shoots over to Ludington Michigan, while the southern point touches Benton Harbor, Michigan. 

Lake Michigan is known as one of the most dangerous lakes in the United States.

It spans over 300 miles in each direction, and the shores run parallel with each other creating unique wave shapes leading to severe riptides.

The area is also known for squalls, which are high winds and can be accompanied by very intense but localized storms.

As one can see Lake Michigan, without paranormal activity, is a dangerous place. Adding the bizarre makes the triangle an even more dangerous place.

What happens in the triangle stays in the triangle… especially ships.

The Triangle has claimed many watercraft.

The First Ship

Our first ship experience on Lake Michigan is near Milwaukee around January 1881.

A steamboat, the St. Albins, was completely abandoned by its crew and left in a sinking condition.

While the crew got away safe and sound, this wasn’t the end of St. Albins.

Just a month later in late February, fishermen began seeing something out on the lake. Something that looked like a steamboat that fit St. Albin’s description. But, it had no crew, it had no smoke coming from its stack.

It just aimlessly floated.

In response to the fishermen’s claims, authorities investigated the lake, but neither found a ghost steamboat nor the remains of the St. Albins.

Ship Number Two

In 1883, there was a wooden tug boat by the name of Mary McLane out of the Chicago Harbor. One day, they witnessed something insane.

On a cloudless day while out on the lake, they claimed that for an entire 30 minutes, massive blocks of ice began falling from the sky. 

Bigger than hail.

The ice blocks were so large that they were denting the boat’s wooden surface.

Fearing that people wouldn’t believe them, they took one of the ice blocks, put it in a cooler, and showed people when they got back to shore.

Ship Number Three

In 1891, there was a ship named the Thomas Hume that was traveling across Lake Michigan to gather and transport lumber.

However, once entering the Lake Michigan triangle, Thomas Hume and its crew was never heard from again.

Sailing alongside the Rouse-Simmons to Muskegon, the boats hit a nasty storm – which led to the Rouse-Simmons to turn around and head the other way.

The Thomas-Hume opted to continue their journey.

The seven sailors vanished completely, along with any trace of the ship.

When they didn’t reach their destination a search team was sent out, but not a single piece of the wreckage was found.

Ship Number Four The Rosa Belle ship mystery

The Rosa Belle had a crew of eleven people and was sailing across Lake Michigan. Of course, it found its way into the Lake Michigan Triangle.

Unlike many of the other ship stories surrounding Lake Michigan that mysteriously vanished, the Rosa Belle was found. However, the condition it was discovered in is still chilling.

The ship was found floating and overturned. 

The cause appeared to be a collision, as there were significant damage marks that showed some type of major impact had been made. More than just being overturned by a wave or anything like that.

There was no sign of the 11 crew members, either dead or alive.

The strange thing is that there had been no reports of any other ship being damaged in a collision. 

No other ship or boat was nearby. There was no visible debris from anything other than the Rosa Belle itself.

So, what happened to the Rosa Belle, what had it collided with, and what happened to the crew?

Ship Number Five The Disappearance of Captain Donner

Another unexplained boating mystery in the Lake Michigan Triangle involves Captain Georgie R. Donner.

On April 28th, 1937, Captain Donner was guiding his ship, the O.M. McFarland toward Port Washington, Wisconsin.

Exhausted from the journey, Captain Donner told his crew that he was going to rest inside his cabin, but he wanted them to come and alert him when they were getting close to their destination.

The crew followed his instructions and about 3 hours later as they got close to Port Washington, they went to retrieve him.

They were not able to enter, though, because the door had been locked from the inside.

After calling the captain’s name and banging on the door, the crew members got worried and busted the door and entered the cabin, only to discover that it was empty. There was no sign of Captain Donner.

They searched and searched but found no clues to his whereabouts or how he disappeared. 

Or why for that matter.

The cabin was locked from the inside. So how did he escape? And why?

But ships aren’t the only vessel that experiences problems in the Triangle. Planes have seen their share of misfortune as well. 

The disappearance of Northwest Flight 2501

One of the most mysterious cases over Lake Michigan happened in 1950 when Northwest Airlines flight 2501, which was carrying 58 people, crashed into Lake Michigan.

Along the plane’s way and over the great lake at about 11:30 pm, the captain of Flight 2501, Robert Lind, radioed in that they were flying at 3500 feet but requested permission to descend and cruise around 2500 feet.

Now, to be clear – Captain Lind made no mention of why he wanted to descend, but it was assumed he asked because they were flying directly into a major electrical storm with high-velocity winds. He expected unsafe levels of turbulence were bound to occur.

However, the request was denied because of nearby air traffic and Flight 2501 continued on its way at 3500 feet.

That radio was the last time any heard from or made contact with the flight.

Just minutes later, the plane completely disappeared from radar.

The plane never made its stop in Minneapolis. It was never found. Just completely vanished.

Now, naturally, you may be thinking the storm caused the plane to crash into Lake Michigan, but in the 70 years since the disappearance, countless search times have scoured Lake Michigan looking for any remnants of the airplane.

A few artifacts from the plane were found floating in Lake Michigan and washing ashore, but the plane in its entirety and the bodies of the passengers were never recovered.

To make matters even stranger, about two hours after the final communication with flight 2501, two police officers reported seeing a strange, unusual red light hovering over Lake Michigan – then completely vanishing.

What do you think bizarros? Ships and planes go missing, or are capsized after colliding with an unknown object? What is Lake Michigan Triangle? What is causing these events?

Is it a portal to another dimension? Are there aliens conducting experiments? Perhaps an electromagnetic anomaly?