From what I recall without re-researching, Taylor, the flight leader of Flight 19, was known for being weak in navigational skills, and had convinced himself that the flight was somewhere in the Gulf, west of Florida, and he was wandering to the north and east hoping to hit land. Actually, he was somewhere near Bermuda, and expended his flight's fuel, fate unknown. The weird thing is , 5 TBM Avengers were found on the ocean floor in that very area a few years back, and none of the serial numbers matched the lost flight, nor was there ever an explantion by the Navy how 5 similar planes came to be lost in the same area.
I remember years ago, when Spielbergs "Close Encounters of the First Kind" came out, the opening scene was of the 5 Avengers found in a desert, brought back by the aliens......gave me chills...
