Great Lakes features mystery triangle blamed for disappearances. Is the legend true?

A shipwreck of the Frank D. Barker was discovered in northern Door Country, Wisconsin near Rowley's Bay off Lake Michigan. (USA TODAY Network)

By USA Today via Reuters Connect

September 11, 2025

Beware when heading out onto Lake Michigan—legend says ships are known to vanish in what’s known as the Lake Michigan Triangle, or do they?

The area of Lake Michigan waters between the shores of west Michigan and Wisconsin includes the Great Lakes’ mysterious region known as the Lake Michigan Triangle, drawing comparisons to the infamous Bermuda Triangle, the Milwaukee Sentinel Journal reported.

While that doesn’t quite hold true, the Great Lakes—and certainly Lake Michigan—have witnessed an estimated 6,000 shipwrecks, including 1,500 in Michigan waters, according to the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy. Many wrecks remain on the lake bottom waiting to be discovered.

The Great Lakes represents the world’s largest freshwater system and are a major shipping hub, with maritime travel dating back several centuries and perilous nautical conditions marked by navigational challenges and seasonal weather.

Here’s what to know about the mystery.

What is the Lake Michigan Triangle?

Mythology holds that a triangular region on Lake Michigan is a mysterious spot where ships, people and planes have been known to disappear, in many cases never to be found, according to the Great Lakes Museum.

Some have dubbed the area the “Bermuda Triangle of the Great Lakes,” an allusion to a similar mysterious spot in the western North Atlantic Ocean between Bermuda, Florida and Puerto Rico, also famous for alleged disappearances of people, planes and ships, according to NOAA’s National Ocean Service.

Where is the alleged Lake Michigan Triangle?

The alleged Lake Michigan triangle covers an area from Manitowoc, Wisconsin, to Ludington, Michigan, and Benton Harbor, Michigan.

How did the legend get started?

The idea was popularized in a 1977 book by Jay Gourley called “The Great Lakes Triangle,” according to Wisconsin maritime historian Brendon Baillod. It later gained traction in the early 1990s by Chicago ghost hunter Richard Crowe, who gave supernatural cruises on the Chicago River around Halloween, Baillod said.

Do ships, planes really disappear in the Lake Michigan Triangle?

No, contrary to popular tales, people, planes and ships don’t magically vanish in the so-called Lake Michigan Triangle. Some contend mythologising such events does a disservice to those who lost their lives in maritime disasters.

“It’s not just harmless ghost stories, especially when you’re talking about where people die,” Baillod said.

Lake Michigan is home to the most shipwrecks of all the Great Lakes, data shows, but that’s attributable to the lake’s status as a commercial shipping hub between cities of Chicago, Gary, Indiana, and Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and ports on other Great Lakes or even international destinations. Seasonal weather conditions also play a role, according to the David Swayze of the Great Lakes Shipwreck Database and the Michigan Shipwreck Research Association.

“We don’t need to craft aliens or supernatural things,” said Valerie van Heest, a Michigan-based author and explorer who has documented many Great Lakes shipwrecks. “These lakes are dangerous bodies of water, and that’s why they’re called the inland seas.”

Disappearances attributed to the Lake Michigan Triangle

The Great Lakes Museum and Double Action Dive Charters say many high-profile incidents were attributed to the mysterious Lake Michigan Triangle’s supposed power:

One of the earliest disappearances in the Michigan Triangle was of Le Griffon in 1679, the Great Lakes Museum says.
Captain George Donner’s disappearance remains a mystery to this day, the museum said. In 1937, Donner was headed towards Port Washington, Wisconsin, with a cargo full of coal. One night, he retired to his cabin and instructed his first mate to wake him when they neared their destination. When Donner entered his cabin, he locked the door from the inside. The crew had not heard or seen from the captain in some time and decided to break down the locked cabin door. However, when they entered the cabin, the captain was nowhere to be found.
Flight 2501 in 1950 was traveling from New York to Seattle. The DC-4 plane and its 58 passengers disappeared over Lake Michigan. A full-scale search was launched; small debris from the plane was found in the water, but there was no sign of the actual plane. The Coast Guard continued to search throughout the water, but after some time, it was declared that there was not enough evidence to determine what happened to the flight since nothing could be found.
In 1921, the schooner Rosa Belle left Milwaukee heading for Chicago with 11 passengers. A few days later, she was found capsized off the coast of South Haven, Michigan. Her hull was mostly intact, but no one was found. No bodies, no lifeboats, no explanation. Just a ghost of a ship.

What are the theories about the triangle?

The usual suspects play a big role in the triangle: paranormal, aliens and magnetic anomalies, for instance. Other more mundane explanations of disappearances include weather, such as rogue waves, human error and more.