The Disappearance of Flight #19

By Crusader1307

One of the most famous of "Bermuda Triangle" Cases, US Navy Training Flight #19, disappeared into history on December 5, 1945. The Group consisted of (5) Grumman TBM "Avenger" Torpedo Bombers. A total of 14 men made up the Flight that day. Their Commander, Lt. Charles Taylor, had 2,500 flight hours and combat experience in the late Pacific War. Rach man in the rest of the Flight, had a minimum of 300 hrs. On the date on question, The Flight wad tasked with a routine training "run" that was your leave Ft. Lauderdale Naval Air Station in Florida, travel a distance of 125 miles to a series of Shoals (Code named "Hen" and "Chicken"). From this location, they were to practice Bombing runs. Upon completion, the Flight was to make a 77 mile run to The Grand Bahamas Bank, turn around and head back to Florida. The Flight lifted off at 2:10 PM. Monitored by several Air Traffic Control Facilities, there was no hint of problem - until 2 hours into their run. Lt. Taylor radioed that ALL of his Flight was experiencing problems with their compasses and navigational equipment. The Flight maintained their training, conducting bomb run practice. Owing to the lateness of the hour, Taylor opted to turn back. Fuel levels were reported at "low". At 4:15 PM, Air Control had not received a "check in" from Flight #19. All they got was static. At 5:50 PM. They were declared overdue. Fearing they hadn't "ditched", for unknown reasons - The Navy launched one of the largest peace time searches for the Flight, using Planes and Surface Ships. NOTHING was found. No wreckage, bodies - nothing. Officially, The Navy listed Flight #19 as "LOST".

This is the "official" story. But over the years many theories, including TOP SECRET evidence was released. If confirmed, such information would clearly establish that something other that "Pilot Error" was responsible for the loss of Flight #19. The Navy acknowledges that the Pilot's experienced magnetic anomalies that disoriented their in-flight navigational equipment. Confused, Flight Leader Taylor may had miscalculated his position. And flew his Flight MUCH farther out than they were supposed to be. Naturally running out of fuel - they turned around and began to head home *but "home" was now 300 miles off course). A common flight protocol for combat Pilots running low on fuel, was to make learning a water landing (or "ditch"). With all Planes running low, all Planes would ditch together, staggering their landing. This allowed them to band together in the water, increasing their chances of being seen/rescued. Based on this, it us more wonderful Rescue Ships could not locate Flight #19 - they were looking in the wrong place. This is the "Official" explanation. Next comes the more unorthodox story, which "surfaced" around the late 1960s also a result of "leaked information " of documents - one of which was "Majestic-12". According to this document, Flight #19 fell prey to an Extraterrestrial Contact. A transcription from Air Traffic Control stated that Taylor noted that "the Sea did not look right" and that the "waves and "chops" were "glowing". After several minutes, Taylor came back on air. He sounded frantic and scared. Taylor was heard telling his crews to "move away from Them" and to "tighten up their formation". The last transmission from Taylor was "My God, They're NOT human!" The transcription ended. Naturally, The Government had no knowledge of such documents and Majestic-12 is a major target by skeptics. Still, what happened to Flight #19?

As late as the 1990s, several attempts to locate wreckage has resulted in mostly false claims of discovery. Many Planes were recovered, none were from Flight #19. One interesting side note, in 1968 the wreckage of a TBM (with two skeletons), was found buried in the Swamps of the Florida Everglades. The Navy stated that it did not belong to Flight #19. But they could not say WHOSE flight the Plane belonged to, either! The final story centers around The State of Georgia. Anonymous witnesses claim they "saw" a Flight of Planes (flying on a straight line), crash into the deep Swamps there. Many private Expeditions have attempted to confirm this story. None have been successful. What happened to Flight #19 may never be known. Still, as with most "finds" from history, previously thought of as "lost" are recovered. Maybe Flight #19 is merely awaiting "recovery".