Even before its publication They Flew into Oblivion attracted the national spotlight. Having an early and still-unfinished copy of the manuscript, Larry Landsman, SCI-FI Channel’s Special Projects Director, pushed for a special documentary to be produced by NBC News Productions and then lobbied Congress through Podesta-Matoon, the nation’s third largest lobbyist, for formal recognition of the subject of this book in Congress. This culminated in a Resolution in Congress sponsored by Republican E. Clay Shaw of Florida, which passed overwhelmingly on November 17 at 420-2 votes.
This recognition was unique in that it honored 14 US Navy airmen who had vanished 60 years before. They were the men of Flight 19, those 5 Navy torpedo bombers that disappeared in mysterious circumstances off Florida on December 5, 1945. Gian J. Quasar, the man considered the leading expert in the world on the Bermuda Triangle, paradoxically pulls the flight from the Triangle’s clutches to... More > reveal it as...< Less
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By Micheal Curls
Nov 30, 2010
This has to be the most researched book on Flight 19 ever written. Gian Quasar has researched this subject for many years. He has the ability to write the facts but to make the words flow like a novel. He writes about the pilots and ground crews,and you get to meet the people in the tower and base commanders. His conclusion to this mystery is the only one that could solve the mystery. It will make sense to you why there were no oil slicks,any flotsam or life jackets, or big bright yellow life rafts. Objects that should appear when 5 planes ditch into the sea. Whether you are a newbie or an old salt to this tale you will find it an enjoyable read !!
Anyone with even a passing interest in the so-called 'Bermuda Triangle' will have heard of Flight 19 - five US Navy aircraft that disappeard on a routine training excercise in December 1945. Over the years since then, a great deal of hype and outright fabrication has been written and said about this tragic event. Here, for the first time, author Gian Quasar sets the record straight by exposing the exaggeration and fantasy peddled by others. If you're looking for tales of aliens, sea-monsters, or intervention by the inhabitants of Atlantis, then this is not the book for you. Instead, Quasar presents a sober, detailed investigation of the known facts (the fruits of his 10-year+ research), using the original Board of Inquiry findings, personal interviews with surviving relatives of Flight 19, plus others who were involved at the time. The picture that emerges is one of initial skepticism on the part of shore-based Naval personnel that Flight 19 could have gotten lost on such a simple... More > excercise, leading to shocking instances of incompetence in the efforts to bring the Flight home. To use the well-worn cliche, at times the book reads like a novel. Quasar puts the reader right there in the cockpit with the doomed airmen, helped greatly by the biographical details he provides along the way. In this, he succeeds in puting a very human face on what was hitherto a largely anonymous tragedy. Even the most detached of readers will not fail to be moved as they contemplate the fear and anxiety that must have flown with those men, watching their slowly dwindling fuel supplies run out. Where did Flight 19 fall to earth that fateful night? The popular notion is that they ditched in the sea, somewhere in the Bahamas. As another reviewer has stated, however, Quasar theorizes that they came to rest in the Okeefenokee swamp in southern Georgia. However implausable that may seem to anyone reading these words now, my advice is simple - read the book! There you will find, not idle speculation, but reasoned, documented evidence to show exactly how this scenario is not just possible, but highly probable. You may have read several books on this mystery. How many mentioned the radar reports of an unidentified flight of five aircraft in northern Florida/southern Georgia? These came from an aircraft carrier, the USS Solomons, and from both Jacksonville, Florida and Brunswick, Georgia. Does it seem so implausable now? Actively pursuing evidence of his theory, Quasar travels to the Okeefenokee in search of help and information. I wonder how many readers will be as disgusted as I was, at the attitude of the Federal officers who 'protect' this area. The airmen of Flight 19 were Navy flyers - most of them veterans of the war, who had served their nation bravely on land or at sea. Their final resting place deserves to be verified and recognized, but it seems, to paraphrase the author, "no one must disturb the alligators." Unless a ground-swell of public opinion changes this attitude, that bland statement may well prove the final irony of this tragic case. Read the book, and decide for yourself if you should add your voice to the outrage.< Less
This is a thoroughly-researched, and well-reasoned account concerning the ultimate fate and disappearance of the legendary Flight 19, a tale that has assumed almost mythological proportions and serves as one of the prime incidents connected with the legend of the Bermuda Triangle. The author's theory is that the flight crashed into and was lost deep inside Georgia's Okefenokee Swamp, a nearly impenetrable labyrinth of waterways and dense peat bogs located in Folkston, Georgia. The author comes well-equipped to venture into this tale, having written one of the most important books on the Bermuda Triangle mystery. Without giving too much away, suffice to say that attempts to test the author's theory have been met with opposition from the Federal government (who now owns the Okefenokee), in that more than 98% of the swamp lands are essentially out of bounds for visitors and explorers. Also of interest is a full chapter that aims to both debunk and correct much of what previous writers... More > and researchers have written about Flight 19 in the past. I found that chapter to be most compelling and vital to the true history of the incident. A very interesting read.< Less
I was anxious for the release of this book. I was not disappointed. It is a brisk read and a page turner. At times it reads like Fred Goerner's "Search for Amelia Earhart." Quasar makes his case about Flight 19's final position in Southern Georgia quite well. He has generated a lot of buzz on TV about it, but now that people can have the full thesis in hand I suspect his work will inspire others. I don't want to give any spoilers away, but safe to say this is an excellent example of investigative reporting on a topic that has sadly been in need of it. This is definitely not for the woo-woo alien crowd. Highly recommended!!
