Lost Squadron Captivated Lantana Man

For Halloween, this month’s segments have been dealing with the unexplained. This week: the Bermuda Triangle.

Through the centuries, hundreds of ships and aircraft and more than 1,000 souls have vanished into the world’s most infamous black hole.

The event credited with starting the legend was the disappearance of five Avenger torpedo bombers with 14 men aboard that left Fort Lauderdale Naval Air Station – now Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. It was a routine training mission for Flight 19 on Dec. 5, 1945, but the men never returned. A rescue plane with a crew of 13 went after them but also vanished.

Starting in 1982, Lantana resident Jon Myhre spent $100,000 of his own money chasing the lost squadron. He concluded they became disoriented and ditched near Daytona Beach. In 1991, Myhre and two partners said they had recovered part of an Avenger off Cape Canaveral. But Myhre finally ran out of money and had to abandon his dream. He now lives in Sebastian.

Here are some disappearances with local angles: In October 1944, the Cuban freighter Rubicon was found by the U.S. Coast Guard in the Gulf Stream off Palm Beach, deserted except for a dog. In July 1947, a U.S. Army Superfortress bomber with a crew of six, headed to Morrison Army Air Field, now Palm Beach International Airport, disappeared 100 miles off Bermuda. And in November 1970, the Piper Comanche was lost between West Palm Beach and Jamaica with three aboard.

Read More:
The Bermuda Triangle, by Charles Berlitz.
The Bermuda Triangle Mystery – Solved, by Lawrence David Kursche.
Bermuda Triangle website

Tags: unexplained events