Says He Hooked The UC-64A Norseman In His Nets Three Decades Ago

One of history's great aviation mysteries revolves around renowned bandleader Glenn Miller, whose plane went missing on December 15, 1944 on a flight from England to Paris where he was scheduled to perform. Now, a fisherman has come forward to say that he hooked the plane in his nets 32 years ago, and the story is being viewed as credible.

The plane went down in the English Channel and was never found. Fox News reports that, according to a recent story in People magazine, a retired trawlerman said he is "utterly convinced" that he pulled up the remains of the airplane in 1987, and was advised to drop it back into the water. He did, however, mark the location where he pulled up the wreckage.

TIGHAR, The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery, which has been working for years to discover the fate of Amelia Earhart, calls the fisherman's story "totally credible."

The story was relayed to People by TIGHAR executive director Richard Gillespie, who referred to the man only as "Mr. Fisher." He cautioned that the group understands that human memory "is fallible and can be easily influenced."

He also said that the airplane would likely be "unrecognizable to the untrained eye" after 74 years at the bottom of the ocean.

Gillespie said that Miller's airplane is the only Norseman from WWII that is unaccounted for, so if one is found, it's the right airplane. The group has been investigating Mr. Fisher's claim since December, 2017, according to the organization's website. They are currently in Phase 2 of the project, which will determine whether to proceed with Phase 3.

Finding the airplane won't be easy. If it is where Mr. Fisher says it is, it lies in about 130 feet of water in the English Channel. "It's a crapshoot," he said. "This stuff is really hard and there's a good chance you're going to get skunked."

(Images from file)

FMI: Source report, tighar.org