CRASHES AND RUMORS OF CRASHES
Can you help solve a Maine aviation archaeology mystery???
MAINE'S MOST HISTORICALLY IMPORTANT AVIATION MYSTERY- DID NUNGESSER AND COLI MAKE IT TO MAINE ABOARD THE "WHITE BIRD"??? On May 8, 1927, two weeks before Charles Lindbergh's successful crossing of the Atlantic Ocean aboard "The Spirit of St. Louis", Charles Nungesser and Francois Coli departed Paris for an attempted crossing to New York aboard their plane "l'Oiseau Blanc". They were never seen again. The most likely scenario is that they crashed at sea. However, several witnesses have reported seeing or hearing the aircraft over Newfoundland and eastern Maine. There are several high profile ongoing searches for this aircraft, and several local researchers are currently following new leads.

Possible solution to the White Bird Mystery? Did Nungusser and Coli crash into the sea after all?  William Nungusser, Charles Nungusser's grandson, has obtained a Coast Guard radio message regarding a white aircraft wing located out at sea east of Chesapeake Bay, presumed at the time to be the wreckage of l' Oiseau Blanc.
A BOMBER CRASH NEAR NARRAGUAGUS LAKE??- We have had verbal reports of an "old 2 engined bomber crash" in this area of Hancock County. It is often reported as a B-25, or PV-1 near the "old Army Road" and was reportedly listed on older USAF/CAP crash locators. I have no record of such a crash (yet). This could possible be a rumor generated by the  crash of an F-89J nearby in East Franklin in the late 1960's.
MISSING F-84F OVER EASTERN MAINE- In the fall of 1954, newspapers along the east coast carried the story of the USAF search for a missing F-84F from Langley AFB Virginia, along the coast of Maine. No USAF inquiry into such a missing aircraft exists in the microfilmed records.
MILITARY CRASH NEAR MUNSUNGUN LAKE?- Over the years, we have collected many reports of a WW II aircraft discovered in the North Maine Woods in the 1950's. In several cases it is rumored that an Avro Anson or similar bomber went down near Munsungun. A guide has provided a reliable report of finding a WW II vintage radio headset along a brook in this area. While there was a famous civilian aircraft disappearance in this area in the 1950's, we are unable to document a military mishap in this region.
I-95 MYSTERY WRECKAGE- Over the years, there have been persistant rumors that a WW II vintage plane wreck was removed when I-95 was constructed through the Medway area. No record or solid lead can be found. One photograph that occasionally surfaces of this wreck has turned out to be a forced landing in New Hampshire. Details of the accident, in these rumors usually line up with the discovery of Sea Fury TF 997 in 1968 (while I-95 was being constructed in this area) or a Vickers Delta that landed on a nearby lake in 1939 and disappeared until 1958 shortly thereafter.
THE JOHNSTON POND WRECKAGE- I have a verbal report that the wreckage of a missing aircraft was found by the staff of the Great Northern Paper Company experimental forest camps in this area (near Jo-Mary) in the 1950's. Aircraft type and incident history are unknown.
Please e-mail me if you have any information, or even good rumors related to these incidents.
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