There’s a Lake in the U.S. With More Unexplained Disappearances Than the Bermuda Triangle
People have long shared stories about strange places where compasses go haywire and ships vanish without a trace. The Bermuda Triangle usually gets the attention, but another body of water in the United States has lowkey earned an equally unsettling reputation. It sits right in the Great Lakes, where several voyages have ended mysteriously.
Another Mysterious Triangle
Image via iStockphoto/Main_sail
The area known as the Lake Michigan Triangle lies between Manitowoc, Wisconsin, Ludington, Michigan, and Benton Harbor, Michigan. It covers about 3,800 square miles and has been called the “Bermuda Triangle of the North.”
Over time, ships, planes, and people have vanished here in circumstances that inspired curiosity. The first recorded disappearance happened in 1679 when the French ship Le Griffon left Washington Island, Michigan, carrying a load of furs and was never seen again. Historians believe it may have been lost to a storm, a mutiny, or an attack, but its wreck has never been found.
Later, vessels such as the Thomas Hume and the Rosabelle added to the legend. The Hume was later discovered intact on the lakebed in 2006, confirming it sank in a storm, while the Rosabelle was found capsized with no crew aboard, twice in her history, the last time in 1921.
Storms, Shipwrecks, and Strange Disappearances
Through the centuries, thousands of vessels have sunk across the Great Lakes, including about 1,500 in Michigan waters. Modern aviation has also added to the legend. In June 1950, Northwest Orient Flight 2501 disappeared over Lake Michigan during a flight from New York to Minneapolis, part of a route continuing to Seattle. Fifty-eight people were aboard, and although small debris and some human remains were recovered, the main wreckage was never found.
Another mystery occurred in 1937, when Captain George Donner vanished from his locked cabin without a trace, an event that remains unexplained to this day.
Science Offers Some Answers But Not All
Image via Wikimedia Commons/Unknown author
Researchers point to Lake Michigan’s violent and unpredictable weather as one of the biggest causes of disaster. Storms can form quickly while producing towering waves, rogue swells, and fierce winds. The Great Lakes also generate strong rip currents and longshore currents that challenge even seasoned sailors.
Scientists have noted that the lake’s natural magnetic variation of about four to five degrees can cause mild compass deviation. Historians also highlight heavy shipping traffic as a factor because the Great Lakes generally are home to more than 8,000 known shipwrecks.
In earlier centuries, limited technology and harsh seasonal weather made travel treacherous. Some wrecks remain puzzling, with missing evidence and unanswered questions, yet most can be explained by natural forces and navigational error.
Fact, Folklore, and Fascination
Scientific explanations haven’t stopped imaginative theories, though. Some claim the triangle sits over a magnetic anomaly that distorts compasses and electronics, while others describe strange lights in the sky or UFOs hovering over the lake.
In 2007, divers discovered an underwater stone formation nicknamed the “North American Stonehenge,” though its connection to the triangle’s mysteries remains unverified and speculative. Stories from divers and sailors continue to detail accounts of flickering lights, sudden fog, or equipment glitches, but no credible data confirms any supernatural cause.
What’s certain is that the Lake Michigan Triangle continues to intrigue explorers and captivate curiosity. Every day, ships cross its waters unaware they’re traversing one of America’s most storied nautical legends. It just doesn’t have the fame of the Bermuda Triangle.