Lore

Lore 292: Message in a Bottle

November 3, 2025

Key Takeaways Copied to clipboard!

  • The Lake Michigan Triangle is associated with numerous unexplained disappearances of ships and aircraft, leading to various scientific and supernatural theories. 
  • The mystery of the missing *Thomas Hume* was seemingly confirmed by a message in a bottle that accurately described its unexpected route and the presence of passengers, despite initial skepticism. 
  • Lake Michigan's history is rife with unexplained maritime losses, including the sinking of the *Le Griffin*, the mysterious fate of the *Rosa Belle*, and the vanishing of Captain George R. Donner from a locked cabin. 

Segments

Great Bell of Damazedi Theft
Copied to clipboard!
(00:01:10)
  • Key Takeaway: The massive Great Bell of Damazedi, cast in 1484, was stolen by Portuguese forces in 1608 to be melted into a cannon, but sank in the river confluence and has never been recovered.
  • Summary: The Great Bell of Damazedi weighed nearly 600,000 pounds and was gifted to a pagoda in Myanmar by King Damazedi in 1484. In 1608, Portuguese warlord Philippe De Brito attempted to transport the bell via raft to be melted down for a cannon. The raft sank at the meeting point of the Bago and Yangon rivers, taking the bell with it, where it remains lost despite numerous recovery attempts.
Lake Michigan Triangle Mysteries
Copied to clipboard!
(00:03:35)
  • Key Takeaway: The Lake Michigan Triangle, defined by points between Manitowoc, Ludington, and Benton Harbor, is notorious for unexplained disappearances, equipment malfunctions, and UFO sightings reported by pilots and sailors.
  • Summary: Lake Michigan, known as Michigami to the Ojibwe, is a vast body of water responsible for thousands of shipwrecks and drownings. The Lake Michigan Triangle area is theorized to cause vertigo and engine failure in aircraft, with some pilots reporting UFOs. Explanations range from magnetic anomalies in the sand to the presence of a mystical ley line running through the lake’s center.
Disappearance of Le Griffin
Copied to clipboard!
(00:09:54)
  • Key Takeaway: The French ship Le Griffin, named for protection, vanished on its maiden voyage in September 1679 after its captain ignored local advice about dangerous sands and an impending storm.
  • Summary: The Le Griffin set sail in August 1679 loaded with furs, but disappeared after entering Lake Michigan on September 18th. Despite warnings from natives about storms and dangerous sands, the pilot steered as he pleased, leading to its loss. Search parties found fragments, but no bodies were recovered, fueling theories of sinking, theft, or sailing into another realm through a crack in the ice.
The Vanishing of the Rosa Belle
Copied to clipboard!
(00:12:23)
  • Key Takeaway: The schooner Rosa Belle, owned by the House of David cult, was found floating upside down with its hull gone and stern damaged, though the damage was inconsistent with a collision.
  • Summary: The Rosa Belle was purchased by the House of David cult in 1819 and used for supply transport. In October 1921, the pilot, fearing disaster, refused to board, and an outsider took his place. The ship was later found 42 miles off course, floating upside down with its hull missing, and the crew was never seen again.
Captain Donner’s Locked Cabin
Copied to clipboard!
(00:15:13)
  • Key Takeaway: Veteran sailor Captain George R. Donner vanished from the coal-laden OS McFarland in April 1937 while navigating treacherous ice and malfunctioning compasses, despite his cabin being locked from the inside.
  • Summary: Captain Donner was anxious due to failing compasses and ice conditions while transporting coal in April 1937. He retired to his cabin, instructing his mates to wake him after three hours, but was gone when they checked. The cabin was empty, the bed unslept in, the port window locked, and the door had been locked from the inside, making his disappearance inexplicable.
Thomas Hume Message in a Bottle
Copied to clipboard!
(00:17:23)
  • Key Takeaway: The Thomas Hume, which vanished without debris in May 1891, was later confirmed to have been carrying passengers when wreckage matching its size and location was found, validating a message in a bottle previously dismissed as a hoax.
  • Summary: The Thomas Hume, a lumber schooner, disappeared in a sudden storm in May 1891, leaving no wreckage, leading owners to believe it was stolen or sunk. A message in a bottle, signed by passengers Frank Maynard and Wilbur Grover, claimed they were drifting on the St. Joseph course, which the owners dismissed as a prank because the ship ran light on the Muskegon route. In 2006, a wreck matching the Thomas Hume’s size and location on the St. Joseph course was found, containing passenger clothing, proving the bottle’s message true.
Seaweed Charlie Ghost Legend
Copied to clipboard!
(00:32:38)
  • Key Takeaway: The recurring ghost of ‘Seaweed Charlie’ or ’the aviator’ allegedly drowns repeatedly off Evanston, crawls to Calvary Cemetery, and only ceased appearing after the cemetery gates were accidentally left open.
  • Summary: Witnesses claim to have watched the same man drown repeatedly in Lake Michigan off Evanston during the 1950s and 60s. After dying, the seaweed-covered corpse allegedly crawled ashore and vanished at the locked gates of Calvary Cemetery. The ghost is linked to Lieutenant Laverne Naber, a pilot who crashed nearby in 1951, though Naber was buried elsewhere, suggesting the cemetery detail is an organic part of the oral tradition.
WWII Pilot Training on Lake
Copied to clipboard!
(00:35:13)
  • Key Takeaway: During WWII, the Navy converted steamships into aircraft carriers on Lake Michigan to train nearly 15,000 pilots, resulting in the sinking of 100 to 200 fighter planes and dive bombers.
  • Summary: The Navy used converted steamships, the CB and the Greater Buffalo, as flat-top carriers on Lake Michigan between 1942 and 1945 for pilot training. This training resulted in 100 to 200 WWII aircraft sinking into the lake when rookie pilots failed to land successfully. One pilot trained there was George H.W. Bush, the future 41st U.S. President.