Josh Gates Searches for the Vanished White Bird in Maine | Expedition Unknown | Discovery

People have been driven mad looking for this plane.
You think it’s here in Maine?
Definitely.
Definitely in the backcountry of Maine.
I’m joining a pair of veteran wreck chasers who believe they know where to search for the White Bird, one of the most important lost planes in history.

Make the case. Why is it here?
Well, it starts with the witnesses.
Wait, there are witnesses?
There are witnesses.

May 9th, 1927.
There were a group of people that heard an aircraft pass over, which was a very rare thing in 1927. People have to remember that in 1927, a plane going overhead—
It was a big deal.
Exactly.

So, this is a map of the region we’re in right now.
The first people to hear the aircraft that morning were the Scots, a married couple traveling by car. They heard an airplane approach, pulled over, shut the car off, and got out to listen to it pass by.
No question. That was a plane.
Okay.

Shortly thereafter, we have the Magoons up here on their farm. They actually saw an unusual white biplane come out of the fog, circle their farm once, and then fly off to the southeast.
And the father was concerned enough after the plane flew southeast that he organized a search party of neighbors and went searching in the area where he believed it had crashed.
I mean, that’s really compelling.
What other white biplane is flying around up here in 1927?
Exactly.

And one of the things I’m getting from all of this is that there seems to be a consistency. This plane is flying south.
Yes. Yes.
The Scots, the Magoons, and other witnesses all report seeing or hearing a plane moving in a southwesterly direction.
So, they were on fumes, came in over Newland, and they’re not going to make New York.
Yeah, they’re not going to make it to New York.
It’s possible that the first large body of water they may have seen to land on would be Tunk Lake, right behind us.
This is Tunk Lake.
Tunk Lake lies in line with the direction of the aircraft that the witnesses described.

And there’s another reason Peter and his team have honed in on this location.
Now, I see one other flag on this map.
Yes, down here.
Millet?
Yep. James Millet, which is pointing to this lake.
So, is Millet another eyewitness?
No. He found something really interesting here about 30 years later.
What’s Millet’s story?
Millet was with a group of hunters staying at a camp right here on this lake.
So on one particular day, they go up over a mountain. As they descend down the other side, they decide to stop for lunch. Millet sees a ledge that looks comfortable to sit on, and he discovers part of an engine sticking up out of the ground.
He also discovers some pieces of white canvas.
He discovers a bone that might have been a human tibia.
Did they note this exact location where this happened?
They did not.
How do you pick up the pieces?
Millet left behind some clues for us.
Okay, what did he leave behind?
When Millet and his hunting partner got to the top of the mountain, they found a marker that he said was like a US Geological Survey benchmark. These were markers put out as part of topographic surveys. They’re all over the country these days.
Yes. All right.
Many of the mountains in this area have coastal survey markers on them.

So, obvious question: Do any of these coastal markers exist on any of these peaks?
There are two of them on mountains that are likely suspects.
And so, have you searched them?
We searched one of them.
One of them.
And the other… Are you ready for a hike in the Maine woods?
Hell, yes, I am. Let’s do it.

The wreckage spotted by Millet nearly three-quarters of a century ago was left behind and has never been found. If it is airplane wreckage, there’s every chance it’s from the White Bird.
We board a boat and speed across Tunk Lake toward the peak that may have a geologic marker matching what Millet described.