Lake Hartwell, a sprawling man-made lake straddling the Georgia-South Carolina border, is known for its serene beauty and recreational draw. But beneath its placid waters lurks a mystery that has captivated locals for decades—a WWII-era bomber that vanished without a trace.

It was a crisp January afternoon in 1958 when a B-25 Mitchell bomber, soaring northward from Tampa, Florida, radioed a distress call. Engine trouble had struck just as the plane neared Lake Hartwell. With fuel running low and survival hanging in the balance, the pilot and five-man crew made a fateful decision—they would attempt a water landing.

As the sun began to sink over the lake’s shimmering surface, witnesses saw the bomber make a low pass over the water. What they didn’t see was the dramatic escape that followed. The crew, one by one, leapt into the freezing winter air, parachutes flaring in the twilight. They watched in awe as their crippled plane glided over the water, engines sputtering, before it slipped beneath the waves. The men were safe, but their B-25 was gone—swallowed whole by Lake Hartwell.

Rescue teams quickly sprang into action, combing the surface for signs of wreckage. But as days turned into weeks, a strange truth emerged: the bomber had vanished. Divers scoured the lakebed, sonar boats scanned the murky depths, but nothing substantial ever surfaced. The plane, it seemed, had disappeared into a watery grave without a single trace.

Theories swirled, each one more perplexing than the last. Was the bomber buried under a thick layer of silt at the lake’s deepest points? Had its wreckage been scattered, disintegrating in the cold darkness? Or—more tantalizing still—had something more mysterious happened? Local legends began to brew: whispers of secret military cover-ups, the supernatural, or even alien intervention. While these claims stretched the imagination, they did little to quell the growing fascination with the bomber’s fate.

For decades, treasure hunters and amateur divers have been drawn to Lake Hartwell, their hearts pounding with the hope of solving the mystery. But the lake has kept its secrets well. Small parts of the wreckage have been recovered—rumors persist of twisted metal or an engine buried beneath layers of silt—but the bomber itself remains elusive.

Some divers, entangled in the lake’s murky bottom, have claimed they feel the presence of something massive resting deep below—a ghost of the past waiting to be unearthed. Others speak of eerie encounters while searching, strange noises, and an unsettling feeling that the lake is hiding more than just an aircraft.

To this day, Lake Hartwell guards the final chapter of that ill-fated flight. The B-25, now a ghost story woven into local lore, rests somewhere below, lost in the shadowy depths. And every time a boat passes over, some wonder if they might be floating just above the bomber that Lake Hartwell refuses to give up.

The lake is quiet, but the mystery endures.

Sources: Anderson Independent Mail, Clemson University Archives.