In Search of Mysterious Unsolved Ancient Mysteries #1
After 750 finds, we finally got around to start hiding them. This one is based on one of the most notorious legends of the Bermuda Triangle. Maybe we’ll make a series of these, since, well, after Rod Serling, Leonard Nimoy, Robert Stack, the X-Files, Invader Zim and that guy with the crazy hair from the History Channel, who doesn’t love the Unexplained? And, maybe we’ll get some Twilight Zones ones too..
Before there was Marvel, and even before there was Patrick Macnee as John Steed and Diana Rigg as Emma Peel, the name Avenger was synonymous with a U.S, Navy torpedo bomber (designated the TBM-1 or TBF-1) in World War II. Its first combat experience was at the Battle of Midway- where it was not a stellar success. It would eventually prove to be a worthy combatant throughout the rest of the war with one of its most celebrated pilots, George H. W. Bush eventually becoming the 41st President of the United States.
It's greatest claim to fame (or infamy), however is one that remains shrouded in mystery to this very day.
On the afternoon of December 5, 1945, five TBM Avenger torpedo bombers of Flight 19 took off from the U.S. Naval Air Station- Fort Lauderdale, Florida. for a routine three-hour training exercise. The flight plan involved heading east to conduct bombing runs and then turn north to Grand Bahama Island and then turning around and flying back to base. Each of the Avengers (with one exception) had a crew of three, most of whom had logged around 300 hours in the air, including combat experience in the Pacific Theater.
The first leg of the flight went as planned. But then strange things started happening. The leader of the flight was convinced that his compass was malfunctioning and that the planes had strayed off in the wrong direction. The weather also became suddenly rainy and windy. This combination caused the squadron to become disoriented. They informed the air controllers that they thought they had crossed over land, they weren’t exactly sure which land it was. If they were in Atlantic, they could fly west towards the setting sun until they reached land. But somehow, the pilots believed that they had flown over the Florida Keys and were in the Gulf of Mexico, so they headed northeast. They would eventually, but only temporarily, recognize the apparent error and turn around, only to turn back again.
Radio transmissions soon grew fainter as the planes flew out to sea- in some direction. Shortly afterwards, the last radio transmissions would be replaced by an eerie static buzz.
The Navy immediately dispatched a pair of PBM Mariner flying boats to search for the squadron. Just 20 minutes later, however, one of them suddenly vanished as well- although this loss would eventually be attributed to a likely explosion (of which that aircraft was notorious for).
The next day, the Navy sent more than 300 boats and aircraft on a search mission for the missing aircraft. This would last for five days and cover more than 300,000 square miles of territory before the search was abandoned. No evidence of Flight 19 was found.
And while there are stories of ominous radio messages claiming “the sea doesn’t look right” and even “..they look like they’re from outer space..”, in reality, Flight 19 probably got lost due to pilot/navigation error. In short, the planes got misdirected, lost and ran out of fuel.. or so was the initial conclusion of the 500 page report from the Navy Board of Investigation.
However, to date, despite numerous claims to the contrary, nobody has ever been able to definitively locate any of the planes or define the fate of their crews. For this reason, the loss of the 5 Avengers of Flight 19 is officially classified as due to “causes or reasons unknown.”
Maybe there wasn’t anything supernatural, or extraterrestrial, involved, but the legend lives on. The planes even appear in Steven Spielberg’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind, but the usually meticulous director made one mistake: the planes are painted in the wrong color scheme.
One thing is for certain, though. The internet is literally saturated with accounts and theories about what really happened to Flight 19. One could spend countless hours absorbing all of it. Trust us on that one.
For this cache:
This multi is located within Hillcrest Park, which is quaintly nestled into a neighborhood in NE Livonia. There is an open field area, wooded areas and some areas that will require a little bit of bushwacking. Deer will likely be encountered here. There is no defined parking area and much of the maintenance is performed by the park’s neighbors.
Regarding the cache itself, it consists of the “wreckage” of a TBM Avenger replica (1/48th scale), which has been cut up and boxed in 5 pieces. The coordinates for the first piece are as stated. This (and subsequent pieces) will provide coordinates to the next piece. You must sign the log at the last piece to claim credit for the find.
In doing so, however, you will have proven yourself to be more successful than those who have been trying to find these planes since that fateful day in December of 1945. Of course, you also don’t have to drive far, have GPS and access to a reliable compass- any of which probably would have kept these planes from getting lost in the first place.
Please do not remove or damage any of the model pieces, and please securely close the containers and return them as found.
Congrats to BocceCrew for FTF on our FTH!
Good luck and happy caching.