There is a section of Lake Michigan where mysterious things happen. Boats vanish without a trace. Planes go down. Lights streak across the sky. It’s called the Lake Michigan Triangle and stretches from Manitowoc, Wisconsin to Ludington, Michigan, then down to Benton Harbor, Michigan and back up to Manitowoc.
The Quest for the Northwest Passage
The first strange happening on record occurred all the way back in 1679 when one of the largest sailing vessels of the time, Le Griffon, sailed across Lake Michigan while looking for the elusive northwest passage. The ship vanished while in the Triangle. No wreckage or any trace of the crew was ever found.
Lumber and Christmas Trees
Then you have the tale of two schooners, the Thomas Hume and Rouse-Simmons. In 1891, the Thomas Hume dropped off a shipment of lumber in Chicago then headed back to Muskegon along with the Rouse-Simmons. Not liking the weather conditions, the Rouse-Simmons turned around. Lucky for them they did, because the Thomas Hume and its crew were never seen again. But that’s not the end of the story. The Rouse-Simmons would also meet its end in the Lake Michigan Triangle, just twenty years later. The ship, captained by Herman Schuenemann, was transporting Christmas trees from Michigan to Chicago. But the Rouse-Simmons never made it to Chicago. A year later, Christmas trees washed up along the shore. A fisherman in Wisconsin found Captain Scheunemann’s wallet. That was all of the Rouse-Simmons that was ever found.
The Unexplainable Collison
The Rosabelle is yet another schooner to go down in the Triangle. But it did not disappear without a trace like the ones that came before it. It was found floating upside down. There were signs of a collision on the hull, but no other ships reported an accident. None of the eleven crew members were ever found.
The Vanishing Captain
In 1937, Captain George R. Donner was sailing the O.M. McFarland to Wisconsin when he went to rest for bit in his cabin. When the ship was near to port, the crew knocked on the captain’s door, but Captain Donner didn’t respond. Not only that, the door was locked. Worried about their captain, the crew broke the door down. But their worries were not assuaged. Donner wasn’t in the cabin or anywhere else on the ship. He was never seen again.
Flight 2501
Ships aren’t the only things to disappear inside the Lake Michigan Triangle. One June 23, 1950, the Northwest Airlines Flight 2501 was on its way from New York City to Seattle when it encountered a severe electrical storm and high winds while over Lake Michigan. The plane radioed to ask permission to descend 2,500 feet to avoid the storm and was never heard from again. The bodies of the passengers washed up on shore, but despite decades of searching, the plane was never found.
Weather Anomaly
In 1882 the crew of the tugboat, Mary McLane, lived to tell the tale of their trip through the Lake Michigan Triangle. For thirty minutes, the tugboat was pummeled, not by hail, but large blocks of ice falling from the sky. Thankfully, the ice did not down the boat, but it did leave it worse for wear, damaging its surface. The crew even managed to save a giant chunk of ice in its icebox as proof of their bizarre experience.
UFOs
Strange lights have also been observed over the Lake Michigan Triangle. In 1919, witnesses claimed they saw two large fireballs shoot into the lake. The impact so severe, it caused the earth to shake. Some claimed it was a huge meteor, while others insist it was something paranormal. More explainable lights have been spotted by locals over the years.
What causes so many disappearances in this particular section of water? Weather? Aliens? Something paranormal? Perhaps a portal to another world? For The Mysteries of Ravenrock, I went with the latter. When a storm drives a ferry carrying a group of campers through a portal in the Lake Michigan Triangle, the kids become stranded on a mysterious island called Ravenrock. Not only must they learn to survive in the wilderness, but they must also solve the island’s mysteries if they ever hope to return home.
You can get a sneak peek of The Mysteries of Ravenrock here.