I was wondering what everyones thoughts are about what happened to Amelia Earhart. Do you believe she was executed in Saipan? Or do you think that the military knows what happened? Let me know what you all think. I would love to hear everyone's opinions.

I think she crashed somewhere in the Pacific, and I doubt what (if anything) is left of her plane will ever be found.

I think she crashed somewhere in the Pacific, and I doubt what (if anything) is left of her plane will ever be found.
I agree with you on that.

We need to find her other shoe

We need to find her other shoe

Hahaha ... Seriously, though, I believe the story that they ran out of fuel and crashed somewhere in the South Pacific. The guy that led that expedition to Nikumaroro really didn't have any definitive proof that the shoe or the piece of the airplane was connected to the disappearance. He really seemed to be grasping at straws in my opinion.

I always enjoy watching this segment. It really is a fascinating story. And I like how they tried to explore every possibility (even though a few of them were somewhat outrageous).

The guy that led that expedition to Nikumaroro really didn't have any definitive proof that the shoe or the piece of the airplane was connected to the disappearance. He really seemed to be grasping at straws in my opinion.

He actually turned up in another (earlier) UM segment pertaining to French aviators who were alleged to have made it across the Atlantic days before Charles Lindbergh. He was searching for another missing plane.

He struck me as a "publicity hound" type.

Hmm gee, Amelia Earhart, I really don't know what to think. She could have crashed and drowned at sea or been executed as those witeness' claim. What's frustrating on the broadcast is the UM crew dug and dug as long as they were allowed to and found nothing. I was hoping they'd find at least some evidence to support the execution stories (maybe it doesn't exist..) Quite an interesting case, one that's not really talked about here alot.

I remember learning about Amelia Earhart in the 3rd grade and I've been fascinated with her case ever since. As a young child I was convinced she was still alive and always told my family how old she would be and it came to be a running joke. Of course now I don't think she survived long after she went missing. I did come across this article last month though that had another theory about her and Noonan that I had never heard of but that was pretty interesting that say they crashed in the Phoenix Islands and were able to survive for a while but eventually died of lack of food. Here it is for those who might want to read about it:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,263087,00.html

crystaldawn, I read this last month too. It appears that the story has taken yet another turn with the discovery of the newsreporter's diary. I was watching a program recently about her disappearance, I think it was on the History Channel, where they included the bits about the two girls picking up her distress calls on their home radio sets. However, I don't recall this being included on the Unsolved Mysteries segment. I have to agree with you that this is a story that has always fascinated me as well. It will be interesting to see if TIGHAR makes it back to Nikumaroro this year, and what, if anything, they'll uncover. I do wish that they wouldn't be so quick to jump to conclusions, though. Maybe Ric Gillespie has good intentions, but it certainly doesn't do anything for his reputation if everytime he finds a piece of scrap metal he's claiming that it came from Amelia's plane. In my opinion, I highly doubt that this mystery will ever be solved unless the plane or some skeletons turn up somewhere.

Aww... what a cute bunny!

I agree that this case will likely never be solved until we find something of substance. I, too, was really into the Amelia Earhart thing when I was younger. Haven't we made a running point of mentioning that in missing person cases, usually the simplest explanation is the truth?

Well, in this case, I think the answer is obvious. She was abducted by aliens. :D

Glad to have cleared that up for you all. :)

While I agree that the most likely explanation here is that Earhart was off course for various reasons, ran out of fuel and perished but I have to ask...

what do you all think of the sightings on Saipan?

Were those witnesses lying? Did they see something else? I always found the officer's (sorry, can't recall his name) multiple sightings of the Earhart plane fishy, but for what reason would he and the little old lady have to lie about something like this?

Aww... what a cute bunny!

I agree that this case will likely never be solved until we find something of substance. I, too, was really into the Amelia Earhart thing when I was younger. Haven't we made a running point of mentioning that in missing person cases, usually the simplest explanation is the truth?

Well, in this case, I think the answer is obvious. She was abducted by aliens. :D

Glad to have cleared that up for you all. :)

Haha ... yeah, I've heard that one before. A few years ago the Weekly World News, being the bastion of truth that it is, ran a story about her still being alive and living somewhere in the U.S., conveniently forgetting the fact that she would have been nearly 100 years old at that point.

While I agree that the most likely explanation here is that Earhart was off course for various reasons, ran out of fuel and perished but I have to ask...

what do you all think of the sightings on Saipan?

Were those witnesses lying? Did they see something else? I always found the officer's (sorry, can't recall his name) multiple sightings of the Earhart plane fishy, but for what reason would he and the little old lady have to lie about something like this?

Just for the record I'm not saying I believe the theory about the Phoenix Islands but it is interesting. Yes I thought the witness in the UM segment that said she witnessed Amelia's execution seemed credible. She didn't seem like the type that would make something up for attention. Her story of what happened to her is as credible as any imo.

I think the Betty Klenck story is by far the most interesting and credible. She still has the original notebook with five pages of her jottings from that day. Plus her father heard the same transmissions and even went next door to check if they could be heard on a neighbor's radio. They could not, apparently because he lacked a long antenna like the 60 foot one that Mr. Klenck had put up in their yard. He contacted the Coast Guard in St. Petersburg, FL that night but was rebuffed.

Here is a link to a website run by that Ric Gillespie group, which includes the pages from the Betty Klenck notebook including translations at left and some brief comments by her explaining the individual segments. Too bad her notes were not more detailed, in complete sentences, or that some of her recent explanations similarly are not more thorough. I did some digging and found an email address for her but I'm sure if I should contact her, or what to ask. She is 84. I'm amazed her story has not been featured more prominently.

http://www.tighar.org/Projects/Earhart/Documents/Notebook/notebook.html

Wow. I didn't even know about this Betty girl or that she kept a notebook of what she had heard. If this is the case, then how come this has not been investigated more clearly? Really strange. I wonder if this mystery will ever be solved.

She is in the Delta Quadrant waiting for Captain Janeway to rescue her. Sorry was to good of an opportunity to pass up.

My guess is that she crashed into the pacfic because of the navigation error from what i remember the segment said she made.

I think she crashed somewhere in the Pacific, and I doubt what (if anything) is left of her plane will ever be found.
I agree. I doubt if we'll ever know the entire truth.

Emilia had a history of crashes and she had a drunken navigator ( litterally )....no doubt, she ran out of gas, and crashed into the Pacific.:(

PBS just ran a special last night that confirmed that Amelia and company had a code word for when Noonan (sp?) was drunk

PBS just ran a special last night that confirmed that Amelia and company had a code word for when Noonan (sp?) was drunk
I saw about the last 5 minutes of that...it was very interesting and I hope they rerun ir.

I was chatting with a friend of mine about this just last night. We talked about the possibility that Earhart and Noonan were taken prisoner, and perhaps even executed. We also discussed the theory that they both made it to some island and died while waiting to be rescued. But we both settled on the original idea that Earhart and Noonan ran out of fuel and crashed into the Pacific. I doubt any real trace of them will ever be found. If they did indeed crash into the ocean, no trace of them WILL likely be found, ever.

There is not a doubt in my mind that Tighar is right on track and that Amelia Earhart landed/crashed on Nikumoraro on July 2, 1937. Tighar has done excellent research based on facts and scientific methodology and not just speculation, which you can read about on their website: www.tighar.org.

I wish I could find the UM segment on AE because I remember watching it as a kid. Bones were found on Nkumoraro in the early 1940s and Gerald Gallagher, the British rep on the island at the time, thought they may have been AE's because of other things found along with them. The bones were examined and determined to be male of pacific origins. However, forensic scientists have reviewed the original examiners findings and now believe they were female.

The latest trip to Niku turned up some things even more interesting, including what has now been identified as being part of a women's compact and rouge dating from the first half of the 20th century. Earhart was known to carry a compact with her on flights. How else would makeup end up on an island in the Pacific?

I truly believe they will eventually solve this mystery....

There is not a doubt in my mind that Tighar is right on track and that Amelia Earhart landed/crashed on Nikumoraro on July 2, 1937. Tighar has done excellent research based on facts and scientific methodology and not just speculation, which you can read about on their website: www.tighar.org.

I wish I could find the UM segment on AE because I remember watching it as a kid. Bones were found on Nkumoraro in the early 1940s and Gerald Gallagher, the British rep on the island at the name, thought they may have been AE's because of other things found along with them. The bones were examined and determined to be male of pacific origins. However, forensic scientists have reviewed the original examiners findings and now believe they were female.

The latest trip to Niku turned up some things even more interesting, including what has now been identified as being part of a women's compact and rouge dating from the first half of the 20th century. Earhart was known to carry a compact with her on flights. How else would makeup end up on an island in the Pacific?

I truly believe they will eventually solve this mystery....


Awesome!!! I didn't know about the TIGHAR website. Thanks for posting the link!

i barely remember watching this case on 'In Search of' with Leonard Nimoy. Im not sure but i remember they mentioned some photograph of a woman taken in that island. The woman had light-colored hair but the picture didnt show her face.
In those days they believed that woman could be Amelia.

I think that her and Fred Noonan perished by crashing into the pacific. They were out of gas, and way off course, not near enough to any island for them to land on. And of course no chance of being rescued, the resources in those days were limited at best. If by some small chance they did happen to crash land on some Pacific Island, they would have had limited food and water and most likely injured, they could not have survived very long in those conditions. But I definitely think it's highly unlikely that they crashed landed on an island. I don't think the plane will ever be located, it's too small and the ocean too large, it would be like looking for a needle in a haystack!

Agreed, they cracked up. I don't know if the story shown on Unsolved Mysteries was concocted by several people or pertained to someone else. Any other white women go missing in that area? And what (besides WILD imagination) would account for the report of the plane being found intact? :confused:

"PBS just ran a special last night that confirmed that Amelia and company had a code word for when Noonan (sp?) was drunk"


That has always baffled me. Noonan was undoubtedly a great navigator but why would you want a drunk navigating especially on such a dangerous flight. Even when not drinking, alcoholics can have severe lapses in judgement.

On another note I know there a lot of people who think that Amelia would have never have been executed due to her celebrity status. You have to remember the time this took place. Nowadays big news stories can travel the world in minutes. Back then there is a good chance that many of the people on those distant islands had never heard of Amelia Earhart. She and Noonan would have just been strange white people who might possibly be spies. I think she probably crashed but I can assure you if her plane did go down on one of those islands she would have not received a hero's welcome.

"PBS just ran a special last night that confirmed that Amelia and company had a code word for when Noonan (sp?) was drunk"


That has always baffled me. Noonan was undoubtedly a great navigator but why would you want a drunk navigating especially on such a dangerous flight. Even when not drinking, alcoholics can have severe lapses in judgement.

Yeah, the same episode of American Experience said another guy whose expertise was vital to the flight bailed due to lack of trust in Noonan, so Amelia and Fred had to try to pick up his slack, obviously without success.

According to Tighar, there isn't much factual evidence to indicate Fred Noonan was an alcoholic, only rumors. They've even disproven the idea that he was so hungover on takeoff for the final flight that he had to be helped onto the plane. Noonan was supposed to be one of the best navigators out there.

However, just because there is no hard concrete evidence that he was an alcoholic doesn't mean he wasn't. I tend to believe that Noonan may have been a drinker but the story has been overblown so that someone could take the blame for the Earhart disapearance. I seriously doubt his drinking led to their demise......

Tighar is preparing for a new Expedition to Nicomaroro. They hope to bring back DNA evidence:

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=8160365&page=1&cid=yahoo_pitchlist

Tighar is preparing for a new Expedition to Nicomaroro. They hope to bring back DNA evidence:

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=8160365&page=1&cid=yahoo_pitchlist

Wow, Ric Gillespie is STILL running about Nikumaroro? Even today he and Elgen Long still disagree on what happened. I remember the "proof" that Gillespie sent back in the 90s, the plane piece and the ladies shoe. I don't think any of that was proven to be Amelia's. I still think she went down in the Pacific.

LOVE your avatar Apostapler!

Thanks! :)

A couple of nights ago I watched a documentary on the National Geographic Channel called Where's Amelia Earhart or something like that. The documentary looked at different theories mentioned here.

I found this article from a few days ago about mission using DNA from an Earhart family member to possibly test aganist findings Tighar comes across.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/aug/02/amelia-earhart-disappearance-nikumaroro

The biopic Amelia which will star Hilary Swank is slated for release in October. I think the movie will probably generate interests in what happened to Earhart and people will again discuss various theories about what happend.

When I watched the American Experience documentary on AE, I was surprised to learn that she was widely viewed as a below-average aviator, skills wise. In fact, they noted that after she became famous, she sponsored and participated in an all female air race, in which she piloted the airplane equivalent of a Ferrari. She finished a distant 3rd and botched the landing. When she completed her solo flight across the Atlantic, many, perhaps including herself, firmly believed she would not make it and were resigned to her death. The fact that she did not possess raw talent makes her achievements all the more remarkable. I do wonder, however, whether she was reckless to the point of having a death wish. It was clear that the leg of the round-the-world flight over the Pacific to Howland Island required someone w/ training in a certain radio navigation technique. As an earlier poster alluded, the person w/ such expertise dropped out, and AE simply made no effort to find someone else. It is remarkable that such an obvious deficiency was not addressed.

All of that being said, I do believe that she survived after crash landing. The Tighar reports appear credible. I never did buy, however, the story of being imprisoned and executed by the Japanese. In 1937, while there was hostility b/w Japan and US, it was hardly as if she were a POW. I don't see given her route why the Japanese would consider her a spy. If they did, wouldn't have made more sense to publicize the capture, ultimately release her and claim to the world that the US was spying?

All of that being said, I do believe that she survived after crash landing. The Tighar reports appear credible. I never did buy, however, the story of being imprisoned and executed by the Japanese. In 1937, while there was hostility b/w Japan and US, it was hardly as if she were a POW. I don't see given her route why the Japanese would consider her a spy. If they did, wouldn't have made more sense to publicize the capture, ultimately release her and claim to the world that the US was spying?

Without a doubt. They never would have executed someone that famous when they could instead boast that they had the world's most famous female aviator as a prisoner.

A GENUINE piece of the plane has turned up, along with a theory as to what happened: http://www.pbs.org/opb/historydetectives/investigations/706_ameliaearhart.html

Zanzibar, I think a lot of what you said could definitely be factors as to why AE's last flight went so wrong.

Maybe she was a bit too daring and adventurous and not as careful with the details as she could have been.

It kinda makes me think of Steve Fossett and all his devil-daring exploits that finally ended with his death, which had similarities to what happened to AE.