SCI FI CHANNEL EMBARKS UPON UNPRECENDENTED EXPEDITION IN THE INVESTIGATIVE SCI FI DECLASSIFIED SPECIAL 'THE BERMUDA TRIANGLE: STARTLING NEW SECRETS'

NBC News' Lester Holt to Host Exploration and Search for Legendary Flight 19 on the 60th Anniversary of Famed Disappearance

Premieres Sunday November 27 at 9:00PM ET/PT

NEW YORK -- November 11, 2005 -- SCI FI Channel continues its ongoing commitment to explore areas where science fiction meets science fact with a brand new, 2-hour SCI FI Declassified investigative special 'The Bermuda Triangle: Startling New Secrets,' premiering Sunday, November 27, at 9:00PM ET/PT. Hosted by NBC/MSNBC news anchor Lester Holt and produced by NBC News Productions, the investigation follows new leads and employs the latest tools of modern science in an effort to unravel the decades old mystery of the Bermuda Triangle and the unexplained disappearance of the famed "Flight 19."

On the afternoon of December 5, 1945, five Navy Avenger torpedo bombers took off from Fort Lauderdale Navel Air Station on a short routine flight. Less than two hours later, the flight leader alerted the control tower that they were lost and unable to tell in which direction they were flying. The bombers were never heard from again. A Mariner rescue plane on a mission to find the missing bombers also vanished shortly after takeoff. The largest search in maritime history could not turn up a single piece of debris. All six planes and 27 crewmen vanished without a trace giving rise to the legend of the Bermuda Triangle.

The Bermuda Triangle continues to confound the experts with a long history of unexplained disappearances and strange phenomena dating back to the 15th century. Utilizing the latest in satellite imaging and underwater technology and marine sciences, under the supervision of the Nautical Research Group lead by nautical scientist David Bright, SCI FI has sponsored this unprecedented expedition in an attempt to uncover the truth behind the disappearance of Flight 19 and the Martin Mariner rescue plane. Armed with new leads from extensive research and incorporating compelling first-hand accounts and all-new interviews from surviving family members, theorists and scientists, 'The Bermuda Triangle: Startling New Secrets' hopes to answer the question... What happened to the missing men and planes?

In the special, Flight 19's training run is meticulously recreated using an actual vintage 1940's Navy Avenger aircraft. To support 'The Bermuda Triangle: Startling New Secrets,' SCI FI Channel's award-winning website, SCI FI.COM, will offer an exclusive minute-by minute podcast by pilot Rick Siegfried as he re-traces the exact flight path.

Over the years many theories have been put forth in an attempt to explain the strange phenomena of the Bermuda Triangle. Magnetic vortices, space-time warps, extraterrestrial activity and an ancient energy source from the lost city of Atlantis have all been proposed as potential causes. The Bermuda Triangle: Startling New Secrets explores them all.

Lester Holt is the co-anchor of NBC's 'Today, Weekend Edition,' the nation's top rated weekend news program. Prior to joining 'Weekend Today,' Holt was the lead anchor for daytime news and breaking news coverage on MSNBC. Holt also served as a primary anchor for MSNBC's coverage of the biggest news events of the last several years, including Operation Iraqi Freedom, the war in Afghanistan, and he was the lead daytime anchor for MSNBC's coverage of Decision 2000. Holt also served as anchor of 'Countdown: Iraq,' a nightly news telecast concentrating on the latest developments surrounding the war with Iraq, from October 2002 through March 2003.

'The Bermuda Triangle: Startling New Secrets' is an NBC News Production for SCI FI. NBC News Productions is an in-house production unit serving NBC News, NBC's Entertainment Division and all of NBC-owned cable channels. Recent productions include 'Biography of the Year,' a People Magazine 'People of the Year' special, and the seven-hour 'Greatest American with Matt Lauer' special. In addition, the in-house production group oversees a DVD division that works closely with Universal to produce bonus material included in new DVD releases.

SCI FI Channel is a television network where "what if" is what's on. SCI FI fuels the imagination of viewers with original series and events, blockbuster movies and classic science fiction and fantasy programming, as well as a dynamic Web site (www.scifi.com) and magazine. Launched in 1992, and currently in 85 million homes, SCI FI Channel is a network of NBC Universal, one of the world's leading media and entertainment companies.