Case file · High strangeness
L'Oiseau Blanc
On 8 May 1927, Charles Nungesser and François Coli took off from Le Bourget to fly the Atlantic to New York in the biplane L'Oiseau Blanc and vanished.
1927 CE · 48.97, 2.44 · status: unexplained
The account
Twelve days later Lindbergh made the crossing. Searches in Maine and Newfoundland, where some heard an engine, have found nothing conclusive.
The researched reading
Two French aviators lost attempting the Atlantic. A crash at sea or in remote forest is most likely.
| Explanation | Weight | Why |
|---|---|---|
| A known natural phenomenon | 40% | A heavy biplane attempting the east–west crossing against prevailing winds and in bad weather, which dropped its undercarriage to save weight, probably went down in the Atlantic or near Newfoundland. |
| Undetermined | 25% | The share a generic explanation had beyond what has been shown for this case: it fits many cases like this one, but has not been demonstrated for this one. |
| A cultural story | 12% | A national legend in France with continuing searches in Saint-Pierre and Maine. |
| Something in the surroundings | 10% | Reports of an engine heard over Newfoundland and Maine suggest a possible crash in remote woods; searches have not confirmed it. |
| Perception, memory or mind | 6% | Witness reports of engine sounds gathered later are unreliable. |
| A hoax or fabrication | 5% | False newspaper reports of their arrival in New York appeared at the time. |
| Genuinely anomalous | 2% | A pioneering crossing lost is a known risk. |
Official position: No official conclusion; searches have found no confirmed wreckage.