Lost Squadron

During the height of the Second World War, eight military aircraft took off from a secret US army base in Greenland. The squadron, consisting of six P-38 “Lightnings” and two B-17 “Flying Fortresses,” took off on July 15, 1942 on their way to Britain to fight in the European theatre.¹

The weather turned on the squadron, forcing an emergency crash landing on the east coast of Greenland. Fortunately, the pilots and crew members were all safely rescued by dogsled nine days later, but the lightly damaged aircraft had to be left behind. No retrieval effort was made until the 1980’s, not by the military, but by two American businessmen who saw a financial opportunity.

Based on accepted ice core/snow accumulation data, they thought, “All we’d have to do is shovel the snow off the wings, fill them with gas, crank them up and fly them off into the sunset. Nothing to it.”

Well, not only was it harder than anticipated, it also took several more years and several million more dollars. This was mainly because the aircraft were further below the ice than anticipated: a total of 268 feet, to be exact. They had to use a contraption called a “super gopher” that could melt a four foot diameter hole down to the aircraft. Then they disassembled one of the P-38’s and tediously catalogued each part before sending it up the shaft to the surface.

How could they have grossly miscalculated the amount of ice accumulation over just 50 years since the aircraft crash landed?

Conventional ice core dating says that it takes thousands of years for just a few metres of ice to form, so how could the aircraft be buried by over 80 metres of ice?²

The answer lies in a straight-forward reading of the Genesis account which talks about recent creation, and consequently recent ice-age. This real story shows that ice core data is not as old as conventional analysis says it is.

The good news is that in October 2002, the single P-38 that was retrieved, now named the “Glacier Girl,” was finally restored and once again took to the skies.

1. Solly, M. “The wreck of a WWII fighter plane will be unearthed from a Greenland Glacier.” Smithsonian.com, Smithsonian Institution, 28 August 2018, https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/wreck-wwii-fighter-plane-will-be-unearthed-from-greenland-glacier-180970141/. Accessed Feb 22, 2022.
2. Wieland, C. “The Lost Squadron.”, Creation.com, Creation Ministries International, June 1997, https://creation.com/the-lost-squadron. Accessed Feb 22, 2022.