Everyone has heard of the Bermuda Triangle and the strange things that happen there, but did you know that Michigan has its own mysterious triangle?
The Lake Michigan Triangle is connected by Ludington and Benton Harbor in Michigan and both cities connect across the lake to Manitowoc in Wisconsin forming the triangle, according to author Linda S. Godfrey in her book Weird Michigan.
The legend begins with sunken ships, but goes beyond that to the disappearance of airplanes and people to UFO sightings. There have been so many sightings of strange objects and ghost planes in that area that the FAA created a special lake reporting service to keep track of them all.
Almost 40 planes have disappeared over Lake Michigan; the one most may know is Northwest Flight 2501. In June of 1950 it left New York heading to Minneapolis, it went down into Lake Michigan near Benton Harbor. There were no survivors and divers weren’t able to locate the plane’s wreckage.
In April 1937, one of the most famous Lake Michigan Triangle legends took place. The freighter O.M. McFarland was headed to Port Washington, Wisconsin. Captain George Donnor decided to head to his cabin for a nap and wanted to be woken around 6pm. When the crew went to wake him, they found his cabin empty. The story claims the door was locked from the inside and nobody knows what happened to him. The disappearance of Donnor happened while the freighter passed through the nexus of the Lake Michigan Triangle.
Skeptics site the massive storms the Great Lakes are known for or the lack of GPS systems as the explanations of it all. But it sure feeds your imagination when you look out across Lake Michigan and wonder what other mysteries are hiding beneath the surface!
The Paulding Light
Just off Highway 45 near Paulding and Watersmeet, in the Upper Peninsula, a phenomenon called the Paulding Light (aka Lights of Paulding, Dog Meadow Lights) occurs.
Just what is the Paulding Light? It’s a light that appears after dark each night, regardless of season, that reportedly hovers and moves along the power lines. The light has also been known to change color; red and white are most common, but blue and green have also been seen.
At the spot where people gather nightly to observe this phenomenon there is a sign that reads:
“This is the location from which the famous Paulding Light can be observed. Legend explains its presence as a railroad brakeman’s ghost, destined to remain forever at the sight of his untimely death. He continually waves his signal lantern as a warning to all who come to visit.
To observe the phenomenon, park along this forest road facing north. The light will appear each evening in the distance along the power line right-of-way.”
The posted legend is only one of the many stories of explanation. Some tell the tale of an Indian ghost that is dancing on the power lines, some believe it’s just swamp gas, and still others believe it is a portal for spirits or to another dimension.
Several amateur studies have been done, but there is still no definite conclusion. Theories of car headlights and taillights are debunked based on reports of the light going back to the early lumber days, long before cars. But only one thing is certain, the Paulding Light does exist.
Melon Heads of Saugatuck
The Melon Heads – said to inhabit the forests and trails near the Felt Mansion outside of Saugatuck – are reported to be reclusive, mean, strange-looking little people with large, bulbous heads.
The Melon Heads appear to have fellow misfit societies around the country, with their lore similar to the Haunchies of Wisconsin and other legends in Florida and New Jersey. In general the feeling is that for some reason there was a colony of deformed children that escaped into the woods from some kind of institution, and even today people have to watch out for them and their descendants.
One legend, explored in a 2013 article in the Grand Haven Tribune, suggests a physician named Dr. Crowe studied hydrochephalus after World War II, creating mutants. The creatures are said to have rebelled and attacked him.
The article also relates a more mundane possibility. The mansion once was used as a Catholic school. Public school kids in the area, who thought the St. Augustine students were arrogant, would call them "big-headed" or "melon heads." After the property left church hands in the 1970s, it was used as a state police post and a correctional facility was built. Presumably the Melon Heads remain.
Lake Serpents
If you’re hanging out on the Lake Superior shore near the mouth of the Presque Isle River, keep your eyes peeled. You may see Pressie, the Lake Superior serpent, showing humps above the water’s surface as it moves along.
Most of the sightings of the creature took place between 1894 and 1930, but a 1977 sighting produced an inconclusive photo.
Of course the most famous mythical lake-dweller on the planet is the Loch Ness Monster in Scotland. That beast is described as having a long neck and a bulbous body, while Pressie is more snake-like.
Great Lakes Indian lore also describes the mishipeshu, an underwater panther with a stripe along its back and a long tail. Maybe Pressie gets around – a similar large serpent also has been reported over time in the Straits of Mackinac.
Another water monster hasn’t been sighted since early in the 20th century. The Lake Leelanau monster, which was sighted in weedy shallows, allegedly extended its neck upright in the water. It appeared to be a log until a boater ventured too close to it. Then its eyes opened and the teenage boater fled as fast as he could row.