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.

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.

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.

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....

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!

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.