Lawrence David Kusche (born November 1, 1940) is an American author and pilot. He had been a commercial pilot, flight instructor, instrument-rated pilot, instrument instructor and librarian by the time he wrote The Bermuda Triangle Mystery - Solved (ISBN 0-87975-971-2) (1975) and The Disappearance of Flight 19 (1980).
Larry Kusche was born in Racine, Wisconsin, but grew up in Phoenix, Arizona. In the early 1970s he became interested in the Bermuda Triangle mystery while working as a librarian in his hometown, as he was confronted by numerous queries related to the Triangle. This prompted him to start gathering information from varied sources. When he began his research for the first book, he claims to have thought the Triangle truly was a mystery, but says that his research convinced him that virtually all the incidents had been caused by storms or accidents, or they happened far from the Triangle, or no proof could be found that they ever occurred at all. His conclusion was that the Triangle was a "manufactured mystery," the result of poor research and reporting, and occasionally, deliberate falsification of facts. [1] However, Kusche's research has been criticized by another Bermuda Triangle researcher, Gian Quasar. According to Quasar: "There are no more mistakes in Charles Berlitz’s book, The Bermuda Triangle than there are in Larry Kusche’s book The Bermuda Triangle Mystery— Solved. Berlitz had inaccurate information upon which he based aspects of the theories. So did Larry Kusche for his solution."[2]
Kusche wrote The Disappearance of Flight 19 after studying the Navy's report of the investigation, interviewing many of the Navy personnel who were involved at the time, and flying the route himself. At the time, the lost flight of five torpedo bombers was said to be a victim of the mysterious forces in the Triangle. He explained why, in his opinion, the flight leader erroneously thought he was in the Florida Keys, why he said his compass had failed, and why no wreckage has yet been found. However, according to Gian Quasar: "Not only is Kusche’s flight plan apocryphal, this and his analysis are so wholly illogical it staggers the mind."[3]
After publication of the books, Kusche became a Fellow of CSICOP[4] - the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal.
Larry Kusche is also the author of Larry Kusche's Popcorn Cookery, a 1977 cookbook detailing numerous recipes involving popcorn, including recipes for baked goods consisting of ground-up popcorn "flour."
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