New Evidence Uncovered About the Fate of Amelia Earhart
9/14/16


The disappearance of Amelia Earhart during an attempt to fly around the world in 1937 has long been an unsolved mystery.

Now, an organization called The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery (TIGHAR) claims that, instead of dying in a crash as some had thought, she and flight navigator Fred Noonan likely ended up as castaways on an island in the Pacific.



According to its website, TIGHAR believes that the plane landed safely around Gardner Island, and the duo sent distress calls for several days afterward.

The group points to evidence of more than 100 of these calls made between July 2 and 6, notes the Huffington Post.



During this time, Earhart and Noonan, if he survived, are believed to have subsisted on rainwater and local wildlife like turtles and fish.

TIGHAR's website states that, eventually, "Amelia died at a makeshift campsite on the island's southeast end. Noonan's fate is unknown."



Meanwhile, the plane, named Electra, is believed to lie "in deep water off the island's west end."

The group plans to conduct a search for the aircraft in the near future.

http://www.aol.com/article/news/2016/09/14/new-evidence-uncovered-about-the-fate-of-amelia-earhart/21471890/
https://tighar.org/Projects/Earhart/AEdescr1.html

I often considered the possibility that Earhart and Noonan could have perished in the crash. Even though they had survival equipment onboard they might not have made it in time to use it. Based on the fact that they had been airborne for around 18 hours, they certainly would have been quite exhausted and if they crashed, their fatigue might have inhibited them from being able to take survival action in time to abandon the plane and utilize their life rafts while awaiting rescue.

On the flip side, as their plane went down, they still could have had a chance at survival, if the crash could have briefly nullified their fatigue and given them a boost of energy to take action in time to save their lives.

guess we'll wait to see if the plane turns up on that search. why do they need to wait to search though? just do it already and that way we know.

Don't they come out with a super similar theory every 1-2 years? Just to continue to get funding for their "research" :/

Don't they come out with a super similar theory every 1-2 years? Just to continue to get funding for their "research" :/

That's what it seems like to me.

Don't they come out with a super similar theory every 1-2 years? Just to continue to get funding for their "research" :/

Hey, you stole my post, although I was going to say every 3-4 years.

Future historians will note a definitive break in Earth eras when there was an Amelia Earhart theory that didn't involve Ric Gillespie.

I think this story fits into the "Cases that will never be solved" basket.

I think they have found some decent evidence over the years (like the piece of airplane sheet metal). However, they are far from claiming this as "solved." I love that press conference back in the 80s or 90s when he basically said "We have found the proof of what happened to Amelia Earhart."

Not quite.

Don't they come out with a super similar theory every 1-2 years? Just to continue to get funding for their "research" :/

THIS ^^^^

I keep waiting for them to say "We have new proof! We found a Nokia flip phone and an empty bottle of Pepsi Clear on the island, which proves they were there. Obviously she would have called for help but the phone ran out of juice, and she nursed the Pepsi Clear until it was gone..." :lol:

The supposed skeleton has been lost and apparently not even photographs exist, but measurement comparisons are interesting. https://tighar.org/Projects/Earhart/Archives/Research/Bulletins/78_EarhartArms/78_EarhartArms.html

So now the skeleton has suddenly turned up?

https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/15/us/amelia-earhart-bones-dna-testing-scn-trnd/index.html?utm_medium=social&utm_term=link&utm_source=fbCNN&utm_content=2019-10-15T22%3A00%3A33&fbclid=IwAR1d-UQv6XGJS8Xk7R4ZSQM2e7jbwqnlPJA10JuV4tRr87zCSrImUe-hXPw

Plane, apparently, has not.

https://www.livescience.com/robert-ballard-does-not-find-amelia-earhart-plane.html

So now the skeleton has suddenly turned up?

https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/15/us/amelia-earhart-bones-dna-testing-scn-trnd/index.html?utm_medium=social&utm_term=link&utm_source=fbCNN&utm_content=2019-10-15T22%3A00%3A33&fbclid=IwAR1d-UQv6XGJS8Xk7R4ZSQM2e7jbwqnlPJA10JuV4tRr87zCSrImUe-hXPw

Plane, apparently, has not.

https://www.livescience.com/robert-ballard-does-not-find-amelia-earhart-plane.html

Thanks for posting this. I have little doubt that these remains will not be AE. I'm positive she and Fred crashed in the ocean after getting lost and running out of fuel.

The National Geographic program was on tonight, I stayed awake during some of it, but unfortunately fell asleep before the end. Did anyone see it?

This search committee says she was not on Nikomuroru but Howland Island, not crashed in deep water but partially submerged in shallow water. When the tides were low and she was able to spin the propellers, she made radio transmissions which were picked up by too many people and too consistent in what they said for witnesses to have been making this up. Now maybe Japanese forces heard this stuff and trucked on over and got her...don't know. She seems to have left a zipper, part of a shoe, a jar of freckle cream, and some makeup on the island...explain how such items of that exact era got there if not by her! They found a tree where someone died at some point but no human remains, just cadaver dogs indicate on that tree and nowhere else. But they don't know whether the deceased is Amelia Earhart, Fred Noonan, or someone else. Radio transmissions indicated Fred was injured or in some distress.

TIGHAR also believed AE remains were consumed and bones were carried off by Giant Coconut crabs on the Island mentioned here - Nikomuroru. I think they had that theory for awhile but I just read the National Geographic a couple of months ago.

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/2019/08/colossal-crabs-hold-clue-amelia-earhart-fate/

I think Amelia Earhart missed Howland Island by about 10-15 miles to the south due to a faulty compass and inexperience with her radio, but she thought she missed it to the north. She turned south to try to hit it, and that's how she wound up near the Phoenix Islands to the south. She and Fred ditched the plane in the water a few miles north of Garner Island, swam for the shore. The air search did not find them because they had not yet made it to the island when the planes flew overhead, they were still in the life preservers heading for there. By the time they made it, the island had already been looked at by air and they did not return, and they died there waiting rescue.

I never believed the Saipan story, they were known to be in the vicinity of Howland at the last transmission. No way they could have made it that far, and I don't see a strong enough motive for the military to cover something like that up.

Also, I've often wondered why they picked Howland Island in the first place. Finding it was extremely difficult in 1937 not only because it was tiny but the lack of other islands which could have served as reference points right near it. There were larger targets in the Pacific Ocean they would have had an easier time finding. Just my two cents though, haven't researched it enough to know for sure why they picked it.

I think Amelia Earhart missed Howland Island by about 10-15 miles to the south due to a faulty compass and inexperience with her radio, but she thought she missed it to the north. She turned south to try to hit it, and that's how she wound up near the Phoenix Islands to the south. She and Fred ditched the plane in the water a few miles north of Garner Island, swam for the shore. The air search did not find them because they had not yet made it to the island when the planes flew overhead, they were still in the life preservers heading for there. By the time they made it, the island had already been looked at by air and they did not return, and they died there waiting rescue.

I never believed the Saipan story, they were known to be in the vicinity of Howland at the last transmission. No way they could have made it that far, and I don't see a strong enough motive for the military to cover something like that up.

Also, I've often wondered why they picked Howland Island in the first place. Finding it was extremely difficult in 1937 not only because it was tiny but the lack of other islands which could have served as reference points right near it. There were larger targets in the Pacific Ocean they would have had an easier time finding. Just my two cents though, haven't researched it enough to know for sure why they picked it.

The Nikomauraro theory has always fascinated me since the first time I saw the story on UM. I think it's the best of the rest of the theories, after "Crashed and sank" which is without question the most likely scenario.

I absolutely despise TIGHAR and how they go about things.

I also have little doubt the bones will not be those of Earhardt.

There's serious question about whether they could have made it to Nikomauraro as well. That is 400 miles southeast of Howland. Saipan is literally impossible based on the fact that they heard transmissions that were very strong at Howland, meaning she was close to it.

https://www.thevintagenews.com/2019/11/04/amelia-earhart-dna/?fbclid=IwAR2U5aT-GQNCG_c5606mdnOEqkkI2ofzAL1IZHR6FMBX61UsY3Lw0BKQWcg

https://www.thevintagenews.com/2019/11/04/amelia-earhart-dna/?fbclid=IwAR2U5aT-GQNCG_c5606mdnOEqkkI2ofzAL1IZHR6FMBX61UsY3Lw0BKQWcg

I forgot one other thing that really sticks a dagger in the heart of the Nikumauraro theory.

George Putnam, Earhardt's husband, specifically requested that the Navy go to Nikumauraro and search the island seemingly pretty thoroughly.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Colorado_(BB-45)

I forgot one other thing that really sticks a dagger in the heart of the Nikumauraro theory.

George Putnam, Earhardt's husband, specifically requested that the Navy go to Nikumauraro and search the island seemingly pretty thoroughly.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Colorado_(BB-45)

I did not know that--just that a Navy pilot flew over shortly afterwards and if the plane had ever been there it was gone by the time he took a picture. Possibly if someone survived for awhile there and then died it had to do with a shipwreck or the war. Can anyone explain the distress calls Amelia sent out if she supposedly crashed into the ocean?

I did not know that--just that a Navy pilot flew over shortly afterwards and if the plane had ever been there it was gone by the time he took a picture. Possibly if someone survived for awhile there and then died it had to do with a shipwreck or the war. Can anyone explain the distress calls Amelia sent out if she supposedly crashed into the ocean?


Explain, no.. Possibly explain.. yes

1) People make stuff up. For multiple and various reasons.
2) People make mistakes. They think they hear something through the static and then believe they heard it.

Remember the "Lost Cosmonauts"?

Do I think all those things didn't happen and people are just making it up or mistaken? Don't know. But, do I fully believe the majority, at least, were people searching for fame, notoriety or just plain made a mistake.

Not wholly unlike TIGHAR.

I absolutely despise TIGHAR and how they go about things.
.

THIS. If I had a dime for every time Ric Gillespie claimed to have found definitive proof and solved the mystery, I'd be very wealthy. I admire the work he has put in over the years searching, but the fact that his "proof" has been debunked over and over again really damages his and TIGHAR's credibility in my eyes.

They've been claiming she landed on that island since about 1990. I think they just keep trying to get the story renewed press attention every few years

I've been fascinated with this case ever since our I did a project on famous aviators for school when I was about nine or ten and once of the aviators I had to research was Amelia Earhart. TIGHAR's initial theories about her landing on the island came out around the same time, so I've been keeping somewhat of an eye on that theory for a long time.

I still don't know what to make of everything. As I've said elsewhere, I find the theory that she and Fred Noonan were captured and executed by the Japanese preposterous. TIGHAR has put together some very compelling arguments for the Nikomauraro theory and have invested a lot of hard work and resources into trying to prove it and I am thankful to them for at least trying to come up with an answer to the mystery. I've read Ric Gillespie's book about her final flight intriguing. I do actually think there could be strong credence to the evidence of radio transmissions received from Amelia Earhart after her plane officially disappeared and, if so, that does tend to suggest that she was somewhere on or very close to land because her radio equipment would not have worked if she was on water

That having been said, much of the evidence that TIGHAR has found is extremely circumstantial and their efforts to find more conclusive evidence seems to just suffer one rebuff after another. The mysterious object that the British explorer/surveyor Bevington caught on one of his photographs on the island was interpreted by some (including TIGHAR) as possibly being land gear but more recent analysis has apparently suggested it could be nothing more than local rocks. Their theory that the plane could be found through an underwater search on/near the island has failed to materialize after an extensive underwater survey (now they've moved the goalposts by suggesting that the plane may have disintegrated and that's why it may never be found). A lot of the artefacts that they've found could be related to Amelia or could have been left behind by either earlier visitors to the island or those who lived there during the subsequent settlement of the island, that lasted until the 1950s or 1960s. I do wonder if TIGHAR is slightly inclined toward "confirmation bias" -they're so heavily invested in their theory that they fit any new evidence found into the framework to suit their narrative. I'm not suggesting any malicious intent on their part but it does happen when you're so convinced of something that you want it to be true

I'm not totally convinced by the latest bone measurement theory put forward by forensic anthropologist Richard Jantz that advocates that he's 99% certain that the remains are linked to Earhart. In the end, they don't have the actual bones and I think that -without them -any definitive deduction on the true nature of its owner is always going to be inconclusive. Different studies of the notes left behind on the bone measurements have produced different results on their gender.

Please note, I'm not saying the Nikomauraro hypothesis is false. In fact I do think that TIGHAR has done lots of good work here and I still think that there is a very high chance that their hypothesis is accurate and they may well have genuinely stumbled on to evidence of its validity. But I note that TIGHAR is now marketing on some of its social media sites that it has "solved" the Amelia Earhart mystery. That's a fanciful claim to make at the current time, in my opinion.

Despite the credence I give to the radio transmissions and the Nikomauraro hyothesis, however, I must concede that I am much closer to accepting the "crash and sink" theory than I would have been a few years ago. Occam's Razor dictates it is probably the most logical and the recent lack of any evidence on the recent underwater search on Nikomauraro and other stuff I've read relating to the finds there have pushed me further and further in the direction of embracing "crash and sink" as the most likely outcome.

I do hope we find an answer someday

I found a short Amelia Earhart documentary on Netflix recently, and a few minutes in I was bummed to see the appearance of TIGHAR! It's nearly impossible to avoid them :lol: My problem with them is that they have been trying to tout this case as solved when it's simply not. Amelia and Fred were off course and missed the mark of their destination while running low on fuel. A giant search was conducted, and I believe if they had crashed on any (known) island in the vicinity, something would have been discovered.

I think her plane went into the ocean and she and Fred either perished on impact, or they abandoned the plane and perished at sea from lack of food/supplies.

As much as I like the UM segment, I don't find any of the theories plausible. She disappeared prior to the US entering WWII, and her fame was international. Why would the Japanese murder her and Fred rather than doing some kind of bartering, especially considering this is prior to US/Japan being at war? And the second aspect of the US army burning her plane and documents? And just what reason would they have for doing that? If these two guys who were interviewed saw a plane being burned, I'm sure it wasn't Earhart's.

I think her plane went into the ocean and she and Fred either perished on impact, or they abandoned the plane and perished at sea from lack of food/supplies.


Anyone logically looking at it has to accept that is the most likely outcome.

But.. It's just not 'sexy'.. So, we like to search out alternative theories. And I'm just as guilty as anyone of this.. I like the Nikomauraro theory and I think it's the second best theory. Even though that means it probably only has about a 10% chance of being fact Even though TIGHAR is the one promoting the theory.

Look at us with anything, and i'm talking humans as a species. It's human nature to almost discount what's right in front of our face. Get 100 people together and 99 of them are going to believe some crazy theory.. Whether it's the Earth is flat, Moon landing was fake, Kennedy was killed by the CIA/second shooter/Castro.. Whatever.

I give credit that we shouldn't accept things on blind faith.. But.. Sometimes we really get carried away with things. Sometimes it's just due to someone spouting bad facts (Moon Landing) and sometimes it's just because we don't want to believe the actual facts (Lone gunman)

Where things get shaky.. I mean, look.. I support the efforts to search Nikomauraro.. While the odds are low.. You never know. But.. Am I being a part of the problem there? That's a fine line to tiptoe.

Where things get shaky.. I mean, look.. I support the efforts to search Nikomauraro.. While the odds are low.. You never know. But.. Am I being a part of the problem there? That's a fine line to tiptoe.

I have no problem with people searching and trying to find out what happened. If they have the time and money, why not? It is a legend, and I'd like to find out what happened as much as anyone. There's an allure about unsolved cases that drives us to ponder the possibilities and desire proof as to what happened rather than accepting the most logical possibilities.

That being said, I agree with your earlier post about disliking how TIGHAR goes about things. Especially spouting that they have proof they've solved the case over and over again when they don't.