Allan W. Eckert & The Frontier Fraud

 

[Here she be, The conclusion—A villain’s name is revealed! IF YOU HAVE NOT READ PARTS 1-3, well, it’d be silly to consume the blow that follows.

Parts 1-3 set the stage for what is the reality as compared with the hoax of the so-called Devil’s Triangle.

The origins of this hoax bear directly on a series of Frontier Historical volumes that many use in good faith to inform their knowledge of early frontier ways, Early American history, and combat matters.

While, initially, the first three parts of this series may seem to be nothing more than an exploration of the hallmark case of The Bermuda Triangle, but it has a direct link to a blackmark on Frontier Historical Combat Research—practically every resource I see on early tomahawk “fighting” and like Eastern Woodland Warfare matters are implicated in this hoax. I know all this seems unrelated but stay with me—the Warrior-Scholar will be rewarded. Now, dig in, as I’ve been putting this together for a long time, a lotta work here and the revelation, well, stay with me, you’ll see.]

“Science must begin with myths and with the criticism of myths.”—Karl Popper, Philosopher of Science

The Story Thus Far

·        27 men died the day Flight 19 was lost.

·        All subsequent military inquiries confirm pilot error + compounding weather effects.

·        Pilots within Flight 19 itself point to this as the causative factor.

·        Maternal and amital love led to the military altering the record slightly to preserve the sensibilities of two litigious women.

What the Story DOES NOT Say

·        There is no reference to supernatural phenomenon that day from pilots, rescue crews, or crew on the ground.

·        There are no anomalous radar images pointing to some extraterrestrial involvement.

·        There is zero, absolutely zero mention made of anything hoodoo like from any of the lost flight crews.

Quite the opposite, nothing but mundane radio chatter and confusion over bearings.

The events of Flight 19 occurred on December 5, 1945.

Flash Forward 17 years to April 1962.

That is the year American Legion Magazine published a brief article titled “The Mystery of the Lost Patrol.”

The article begins with this paragraph.

“On December 5, 1946 a flight of five TBM Avenger propeller-driven torpedo bombers took off from the United States Naval Air Station at Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. For all intents and purposes it was a routine patrol flight differing not in the least from dozens of other patrol flights having originated there. This particular flight, however, was destined never to be forgotten because it flew directly into one of the greatest and most incredible mysteries in the history of manned flight. A mystery no closer to being solved today than it was 16 years ago.”

Right off the bat notice that the date is wrong by a full year. So much for accuracy.

But, let us carry on.

Those last two sentences in this opening paragraph are the beginning of the assertion that this was some unsolved mysterious occurrence.

Nothing of the sort was ever reported the day of the tragedy or in the 17 years that followed and yet the author of the article assumedly peered into the record to say something no one had ever said.

The article’s author goes on to offer dialogue from the radio communication between the ground and Flight 19.

Some of which we find in the official transcripts and other bits of dialogue, well, it occurs nowhere but in this article, only to go on and be trumpeted by other purveyors of the mysterious who never bothered to go to the original source. Rather all decided that it’s more fun to stick with the mysterious than go the extra five minutes to test counter-factuals regarding the lives of 27 lost men and their grieving families.

We are treated to such made-up dialogue as…

"We cannot be sure of any direction . . . everything is wrong . . . strange . . . the ocean doesn't look as it should."

Again, the above is not in the record, but our article author frames this as the beginnings of, “Ah, something mighty mysterious is occurring!”

We are also treated with this paragraph of fantasy…

“An immediate investigation of the strange occurrence was made by the Navy. After exhaustive study of the entire incident, the Naval Board of Inquiry reported in detail all that had transpired and then summed up with this succinct phrase : "We are not able to even make a good guess as to what happened."

I repeat that final line: "We are not able to even make a good guess as to what happened."

Sounds like a kicker for a fine unsolved mystery.

The only mystery is where this succinct phrase is found. The author claims it is in the official Naval Board of Inquiry record.

It is not.

The author then goes on to detail other “mysterious” losses within the Devil’s Triangle, all of which [ALL] if one bothers to check the record have zero unknown circumstances surrounding the losses.

In one single article the author is constructing an entire myth of mystery out of thin air.

Perhaps feeling that maybe this is all a bit too much he then adds a “source” for his material.

Wise to the fact that anyone with a brain would want to check his story, he assigns the source a pseudonym and cops to the fact that the source is not quite real—a composite-- then switches from straight reporting to novelistic reconstruction. [This novelistic reconstruction is important—stay with me.]

“Commercial pilots unwilling to discuss the matter are even more unwilling to have their names connected with opinions regarding such disappearances. Yet, most of them have very strong opinions which are basically alike. In dozens of coffeecup interviews, here's what a composite pilot—let's call him Captain Jimmy Drake — had to say on the subject:”

Bullshit Scorecard Thus Far

·        Incorrect dates regarding the subject of your own article.

·        Manufactured dialogue claiming to be from the official record. It is not.

·        Manufactured dialogue from men who lost their lives. Despicable.

·        Claims of intrigue and mystery where there are none.

·        And now, a fake source created in novelistic form, complete with gestures and shakes of the head to lend some sort of personal patina of reality to the BS “Captain Jimmy” will spew.

Let’s hear from this fake “Captain Jimmy.”

"There are a great many things about this old world we don't know yet. Some- times when you're way up there alone you get to thinking about it and you almost feel you don't have a right up there, knowing as little as you do about things. A lot of pilots have seen a lot of strange things they can't explain. If they attempt to talk about them or report them, it damages their reputations. More than one pilot has wished he'd kept quiet about what he saw."

“He shook his head. "It's a sad state of affairs when you have to pretend you've seen nothing unusual when you've actually seen things that've raised your hair…

“He looked up sharply. "Let me tell you something. There are plenty who don't believe it and who can't understand why it's considered such a loss of face to admit something has happened that we can't comprehend and have no control over. But, we just keep on flying and hope we won't be next for whatever it is."

Boy, this fake captain Jimmy---What a guy!

All fake, all bullshit.

Cobbled together to sell an article.

To put cash in pocket.

Lies on the backs of the lives and memories of dead men.

The author of this piece that spawned a thousand dishonesties: Allan W. Eckert.

The Frontier Combat Research Connection

Eckert went on to become the author of several books of frontier history.

The titles include The Frontiersmen, The Wilderness Empire, The Conquerors, Gateway to Empire, Twilight of Empire, The Dark and Bloody River, Blue Jacket: War Chief of the Shawnees, and A Sorrow in Our Heart: The Life of Tecumseh.

Why do these titles matter to our exploration of the originator of The Bermuda Triangle lies?

Each of these volumes opens with the following Author’s Note:

“This book is fact, not fiction.

“In ferreting out the truth of history, the researcher finds that some of his most important sources are documents of any nature written during the historical period of which he intends writing. And when, on rare occasions--more rare the further back in history he digs--he encounters material written and dictated by the very people about whom he intends to write, it is indeed a windfall.

·        Hmm, so our manufacturer of lies ensures us that this time he’s telling the truth.

·        This time he’s got his facts correct.

·        This time he’s playing above board.

[Recall our resort to novelistic techniques in the American Legion piece? Eckert goes on to say…]

“In order to help provide continuity and maintain a high degree of reader interest, certain techniques normally associated with the novel form have been utilized. but in no case has this been at the expense of historical accuracy.”

·        Really?

·        This all sounds familiar somehow.

·        How close does the author tend to hew to the truth?

“It should be borne in mind, then, that where the dialogue takes place in this book, it is actual quoted conversation from another source, or dialogue constructed in the matter above described, or in a few scattered instances--historical fact utilized in the form of conversation to maintain the dramatic narrative pace. In no case has there been any “whole cloth” fabrication or fanciful fictionalization.”

·        We are further assured…

“Equally, every incident described in this book actually occurred; every date historically accurate; every character, regardless of how major or minor, actually lived in the role in which he is portrayed.”

So, Did the Bermuda Triangle Myth Perpetrator Turn Over a New Leaf?

Did he change his ways from the Bermuda Triangle Myth he concocted in 1962 to 5 years later when he takes on the monumental task of being “historically accurate” for thousands of pages of “history”?

Well, I am a historical researcher myself and I avidly inhaled Mr. Eckert’s “historical” work decades ago and marveled at how he could marshal such resources.

I thought to myself, I need to be as comprehensive.

My first step in being comprehensive in my own work is to make sure it is accurate. I must confirm my own work only AFTER attempting to Disconfirm it.

That is how science is done.

That is how real history is done.

I took the confirmation/disconfirmation tool to Mr. Eckert’s work to assemble a collection of his marvelously exact resources to have as treasures in my own library.

What I discovered is… Well, you can guess, much like the Bermuda Triangle work, much of it is non-existent, and that which does exist, very little of the details in Mr. Eckert’s work match the selfsame sources he touts.

Much like the Naval Board of Inquiry records, if you have the spare time, you can check.

I checked.

Not the First to Notice

I am not the first to notice Mr. Eckert’s prevarications, there are researchers Larry Kusche, Jerome Clark and a host of book reviewers offering such observations as Kirkus Reviews calling his “narrative biography” “an apparent euphemism for poetic license” and "in its interpretative zeal … strays from … the historical record to the point of being suspect."

It seems, the Kirkus Reviewer was being kind.

What they chalk up to zeal, we know from examining Eckert’s Bermuda Triangle work are not mistakes of zeal but pure OD fabrication of the lowest order.

Historical Research

To be a credible researcher one should read much, gather much, visit sites, marshal experience, synthesize material and before we confirm, we must seek to disconfirm.

Mendacious ones such as Mr. Eckert lead many down wrong paths through sheer deceit.

Others who follow Mr. Eckert down paths do less so out of deceit than placing trust in the wrong guide.

To that I offer my signature sign-off in bold:

Resources for Livin’ the Warrior Life, Not Just Readin’ About It

All historically accurate and viciously verified!

The Black Box Warehouse

https://www.extremeselfprotection.com/

The Indigenous Ability Blog

https://indigenousability.blogspot.com/

The Rough ‘n’ Tumble Raconteur Podcast

https://anchor.fm/mark-hatmaker

The Devil’s Triangle & Fraudulent Research, Part 3

 

[Here she be, Part 3! IF YOU HAVE NOT READ PARTS 1 & 2, well, it’d be silly to consume the blow that follows.

Parts 1 & 2 set the stage for what is the reality as compared with the hoax of the so-called Devil’s Triangle.

The origins of this hoax bear directly on a series of Frontier Historical volumes that many use in good faith to inform their knowledge of early frontier ways, Early American history, and combat matters.

Again, bear with me through Parts 1 & 2 where we set the stage for the Revelation in Part 4. While, initially, this may seem to be nothing more than an exploration of the hallmark case of The Bermuda Triangle, it has a direct link to a blackmark on Frontier Historical Combat Research—practically every resource I see on early tomahawk “fighting” and like Eastern Woodland Warfare matters are implicated in this hoax. I know all this seems unrelated but stay with me—the Warrior-Scholar will be rewarded. Now, dig in, as I’ve been putting this together for a long time, a lotta work here and the revelation, well, stay with me, you’ll see.]

[Oh, and if it’s not already obvious, reading Part 1  & Part 2 is essential to understanding what follows, as the Timeline is continuous in the official military records.]

“Science must begin with myths and with the criticism of myths.”—Karl Popper, Philosopher of Science

THE BIRTH OF THE LEGEND, THE ORIGIN OF LIES

Parts 1 & 2 definitively lay the case for the Tragedy of Flight 19 being a combination of pilot error and poor weather conditions.

All expert opinion, including pilots in Flight 19 itself agree—a bearing error was THE causative factor.

Nothing supernatural.

Nothing extraterrestrial.

Nothing mysterious.

Pilot Error + Poor Weather. Period.

But…cold hard facts never stand in the way of raging ignorance or cold-hearted cupidity.

Some pervert narratives to feel like “They have the real skinny on life as opposed to the rest of the sheeples.”

Some know better but concoct lies to cash checks or enhance stature.

It is the case now; it was the case then.

The Devil’s Triangle/Bermuda Triangle Heyday

1969

John Wallace Spencer self-publishes a book titled, Limbo of the Lost. It picks up on fragments of inferences about “mysterious” doin’s in the region and concocts a book-length fact-free treatise on the fearsomeness of this region of the Atlantic.

1970

The feature-length documentary, The Devil’s Triangle takes the previously fringe belief to a wider audience. The documentary makes an unknown myth/lie/cash-grab to a larger audience. [For more on the odd trend in the 70’s of mendacious “documentaries” see the superlative book Weirdumentary: Ancient Aliens, Fallacious Prophecies, and Mysterious Monsters from 1970s Documentaries by Gary D. Rhodes.]

1973

Mainstream publisher Bantam cashes in on the public’s interest in this nonsense and publishes Spencer’s previously little-known Limbo of the Lost as a wide-release paperback.

The public now has two main pushes into the consciousness telling us the Devil’s Triangle is real!

A “documentary” and a real-live book.

Others jump on the lie-wagon.

1974

Sees the publication of Charles Berlitz’s and J. Manson Valentine’s The Bermuda TTriangle,which goes on to sell five million copies worldwide, making it a bestseller.

That same year our self-published Mr. Spencer returns to the fray with a new book, No Earthly Explanation.

The same year sees a book also released to impressive sales, Richard Winer’s The Devil’s Triangle.

1975

Richard Winer writes a follow-up The Devil's Triangle 2.

1976

Elwood D. Baumann joins the book liars with another tome of lies also called The Devil’s Triangle.

1977

Richard Winer strikes again with From The Devil's Triangle to The Devil's Jaw.

All purport to be full of “Real-live factual reporting!”

The Book That Mattered

1975

Research librarian and licensed pilot, Larry Kusche of the University of Arizona publishes The Bermuda Triangle Mystery—Solved.

The book is a devastating knockdown of all prior books and documentaries on the subject.

Mr. Kusche did what the other authors did not.

He checked sources.

He conducted interviews.

He collated weather data.

What he found was not just misunderstandings of the truth, a failure of the layman to glean the true reality of Atlantic weather, highs seas, the hazards of aviation and sea travel—he found out-and-out lies that in no way, shape or form match the true record of events.

His book is manna for all who are disgusted by, in the words of an Al Franken book title, Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them.

MONEY WHERE THEIR MOUTH IS

Logic dictates that those with money to lose would put the most research into knowing if a particular region was conspicuously hazardous.

The insurance companies that must pay out when losses occur have a bonafide skin-in-the-game reason to know the truth and charge premiums or deny coverage accordingly.

So, what do the people who have money to lose in this devastating region have to say?

In a letter dated April 4, 1975, written to Mary Margaret Fuller, editor of the always credulous magazine Fate, the famous and respected insurer Lloyd’s of London had this to say:

“According to Lloyd's records, 428 vessels have been reported missing throughout the world since 1955, and it may interest you to know that our intelligence service can find no evidence to support the claim that the ‘Bermuda Triangle’ has more losses than elsewhere. This finding is upheld by the United States Coast Guard whose computer based-records of casualties in the Atlantic go back to 1958.”

So, the folks with money to lose see no hazard.

The Coast Guard, folks who risk their lives to search for and rescue others in hazardous conditions, folks who would want to know if a particular region was more dicey than others, they would most definitely want to know if there was anything particularly dangerous about a region as they must send themselves into harm’s way.

Both entities call bullshit.

There ya go.

The Bermuda Triangle, The Devil’s Triangle—Bullshit.

WHAT’S THE HARM?

Some may see these self-aggrandizing books as entertainment.

Some may see the reproduction of lies as a harmless bit of fun.

I get that.

That is the view from the spectator seats.

But…

Let’s assume you are a family member of a one of the men who lost their lives in Flight 19.

A relative of those who perished in the subsequent search/rescue attempts.

I ask you, if it were your father, your brother, hell, your own legacy had you perished---how comfortable would you be with someone perverting the record, skewing facts, manufacturing dialogue for the mere sake of “mystery,” for the thrill of a moment’s entertainment for strangers?

My father perished in an exploding aircraft.

That was personal tragedy enough.

I am grateful I did not suffer any subsequent, “You know your dad was probably taken by aliens” or “You know Mark, likely, your dad’s plane entered a dimensional wormhole” or [Fill in the Blank with Gobbledygook Here.]

Grief is enough.

Grief is not entertainment.

Grief is not a sideshow for hucksters.

THE QUESTION

Now some of you may be asking yourselves, “Just a minute Old Man, is that it? I mean you make us learn all about Flight 19, then you switch to the weirdly persistent myth of the Devil’s Triangle as started in the 70s. What’s that go to do with combat research?”

Great question, to which I offer this question…

What is it that led all of these mendacious authors [or at the very least shitty researchers] what is it that led them down this path of lies at worst or fallacious assumptions at best?

The answer to that question will lead us to a single man.

A man who planted the seed for this myth.

A man who planted far more seeds of deceit in the realm of American Frontier History.

In Part 4, we will name that liar and outline his plot of lies in two domains—The literature of The Devil’s Triangle, and his 11 volumes of frontier history that many of you may have on your shelves right now.

Resources for Livin’ the Warrior Life, Not Just Readin’ About It

All historically accurate and viciously verified!

The Black Box Warehouse

https://www.extremeselfprotection.com/

The Indigenous Ability Blog

https://indigenousability.blogspot.com/

The Rough ‘n’ Tumble Raconteur Podcast

https://anchor.fm/mark-hatmaker

The Devil’s Triangle & Fraudulent Research, Part 2 Mark Hatmaker

 

[Bear with me through Parts 1 & 2 as we set the stage for the Revelation in Part 3. While, initially, this may seem to be nothing more than an exploration of the hallmark case of The Bermuda Triangle, it has a direct link to a blackmark on Frontier Historical Research—practically every resource I see on early tomahawk “fighting” and like Eastern Woodland Warfare matters are implicated in this hoax. I know all this seems unrelated but stay with me—the Western-Scholar will be rewarded. Now, dig in, as I’ve been putting this together for a long time, a lotta work here and the revelation, well, stay with me, you’ll see.]

[Oh, and if it’s not already obvious, reading Part 1 is essential to understanding what follows, as the Timeline is continuous in the official military records.]

“Science must begin with myths and with the criticism of myths.”—Karl Popper, Philosopher of Science

THE RESCUE EFFORTS

No aircraft had been scrambled in a rescue effort as position fix had not yet been established. All that was had to go on was the ComGulf Sea Frontier Evaluation Center guesstimate plotted at 5:50 p.m. which placed them east of New Smyrna Beach, Florida over the Atlantic [likely correct] but this butted against Flight Commander Taylor’s continued insistence that he was over the Gulf of Mexico 100+ miles to the west.

Bear in mind, the chatter overheard by the other pilots of Flight 19 did not concur with Lt. Taylor’s incorrect assessment—the chatter confirmed an “Over the Atlantic” fix.

6:20 p.m.

A Dumbo flying boat leaves Dinner Key Seaplane Base in what is essentially a blind search hoping to establish radio contact and a positional fix for Flight 19.

The Dumbo soon fell out of contact and was feared also lost but fortunately it was a problem with antenna icing.

The problem rectified, the Dumbo continued its search to no avail.

7:07 p.m.

Two Martin Mariners designated Training 32 and Training 49 are ordered to assist the search.

One takes off from east of New Smyrna, the last assumed correct positional fix.

7:27 p.m.

Banana River NAS

The second Martin Mariner takes off.

The pilot of the first Mariner, Lt. Gerald Bammerlin of Flight 32 reaches the last assumed positional fix of Flight 19 and later reports:

“When we arrived in the area of Flight 19’s 5:30 position fix, about 8:15, the overcast was at approximately 800 to 1,200 feet. There were occasional showers. The estimated wind was west-southwest 25 to 30 knots. The air was very turbulent the sea very rough. We flew manually on instruments throughout the night, though whitecaps were visible below.”

Loss of Contact with Flight 49

The second Martin Mariner failed to make radio contact or arrive at its rendezvous point for performing search-grid detail.

7:50 p.m.

The crew of the seagoing vessel S.S. Gaines Mill logs seeing an enormous sheet of fire caused by the explosion of an airplane.

They cruise to the area and report an oil slick, some debris but no survivors.

They gather no debris due to ocean turbulence and deteriorating weather.

A Crew of 13 lives perished.

By this point Flight 19 would have depleted its fuel and would also be assumed down like Flight 49.

A crew of 14 gone.

A total of 27 human beings lost.

Search efforts were called off for the night.

Hundreds of planes and ships recommence the search the next day, but no traces of Flights 19 or 49 are found.

Not unusual considering sea and weather conditions at the time of the losses.

THE INVESTIGATION

April 3, 1946

 

The Naval investigation into the loss of Flight 19 concludes and offers the judgment:

“[The] flight leader’s false assurance of identifying the Florida Keys, islands he sighted, plagued his future decisions and confused his reasoning…[H]e was directing his flight to fly east…even though he was undoubtedly east of Florida.”

Lt. Taylor’s mother and aunt “reasoning” through the lens of matronly love refused to accept the verdict.

They appealed to powers that be to re-open the case.

The protest worked, a second Naval Panel viewed the evidence, and in August announced that they could see no discrepancies in the first panel’s investigation and that after a careful review of the evidence could see no other explanation beyond pilot error. Lt. Taylor to be specific.

The two women were outraged at the outcomes of both investigations and hired an attorney who then secured a third hearing in October of 1946.

November 19, 1946

The Board for Correction of Naval Records amends the two original findings to retract the original verdict and had added into the record that the loss of Flight 19 was due to “causes or reasons unknown.”

Two women, not pilots, or aircraft loss investigators, two women who were not even present on the scene trumped the judgment of all experts, all eye and ear witnesses.

They even trumped the other pilots of Flight 19 who were openly discussing disobeying Lt. Taylor’s orders to save their lies and head due west knowing they were over the Atlantic.

What Should Have Been the End of a Sad and Tragic Tale

The Martin Mariner was assumed lost to an electrical spark within the cabin. The Martins had a history of such mishaps—and were known as “flying gas bombs.”

[Sidenote: My own father perished in such a “spark within cabin” incident. These things happen.]

The lack of debris in 50-foot seas is not considered a mystery.

The experienced know that such wave turbulence tearing across the surface of windswept seas and the concomitant beneath surface roiling can take a downed craft to the bottom in seconds.

The story should end here, even the sad story of perverting the investigation outcome.

But…sadly, maddeningly, it does not.

This tragic mundane tale would morph into a cascade of lies.

Lies, not mistakes, of the historical record.

Those lies matter because the truth matters.

Those lies matter because 27 lives were lost, and telling a good tale for the sake of a few bucks is reprehensible.

Those lies matter, that invented dialogue matters, those invented facts matter.

In Part 3, we will discuss those lies and…link it directly to a foundational lie regarding Historical Frontier Research.

The connection is no metaphor.

It is a direct and causal link that calls into question much “research” into early Frontier History.