US Navy prepares mission to solve riddle of Amelia Earhart's death

75 years ago pilot Amelia Earhart disappeared somewhere over the Pacific trying to be the first women to circumnavigate the globe.

Now a deep ocean search and recovery ship used by the US Navy has set off to survey the island of Nikumaroro to attempt to find evidence of her aircraft's remains.

The accepted wisdom was that Earhart's aircraft had simply run out of fuel and crashed into the ocean on July 2, 1937, as she searched for Howland Island

While much of the aircraft is likely to have been lost in the intervening years, researchers believe some key components - such as the Pratt & Whitney engines - could still be where they sank 75 years ago.

If the aircraft had sufficient fuel to reach Nikumaroro, which was at the time the uninhabited British possession known as Gardner Island, it could have landed on reef flats before being washed over the ledge.

Earhart and Fred Noonan, her navigator, could have survived on the island for a time, but eventually succumbed to injury or infection, food poisoning or thirst.

The Telegraph

There is evidence to suggest that Amelia Earhart crashed but survived on the island of Nikumaroro for a period of time. Previous searches have recovered aluminium aircraft skin, cockpit plexiglass, a mid-1930 zip made in Pennsylvania, a broken pocket knife that is the brand of pen knife listed in Earhart's aircraft inventory and also a 1930s woman's compact.

Evidence of a castaway of some sort surviving for a period of time on the island also exists. British colonial records in Fiji report the discovery of a partial skeleton of a person who had died some time before the island was first inhabited in 1938. The remains of the skeleton were found under a shaded tree, while a number of small fires which appear to have cooked fish, turtles, birds and rats have been found.

It is thought that much of the castaways skeleton had been carried away by crabs.

The comments section of the Telegraph article is of interest. Two commentators state that Earhart had no experience of flying across oceans (all her previous flying had been over land), she didn't know how to use the radio properly and her navigator was a last minute stand in who was an alcoholic.

To successfully make that stage of the attempted circumnavigation of the globe, Earhart and her navigator were attempting to find a dot of an island in the middle the Pacific ocean.

This is great im actually related to Amelia Earhart, I believe she is my 4th cousin and look forward to hearing more!

Originally posted by Foxy1
This is great im actually related to Amelia Earhart, I believe she is my 4th cousin and look forward to hearing more!

that's a pretty cool claim to fame! did any more of your family go into aviation?

Originally posted by Foxy1
This is great im actually related to Amelia Earhart, I believe she is my 4th cousin and look forward to hearing more!

Yeah. I believe I'm actually a ultra super secret space soldier from the 6th dimension. I really believe I am.

It will be very neat to have finally solved one of Aviation's greatest mysteries. My Great Grandmother was the first female pilot in the State of Wisconsin. Since her I am the only person in my family to have the aviation bug. I have had it bad for decades and am currently a commercial pilot.

The weird part? I did not know my Great Grandmother was a pilot until well after I started flying.

reply to post by ladyteeny


yes my great grandfather was a pilot as a hobby

Originally posted by Jepic

Originally posted by Foxy1
This is great im actually related to Amelia Earhart, I believe she is my 4th cousin and look forward to hearing more!

Yeah.

I believe I'm actually a ultra super secret space soldier from the 6th dimension. I really believe I am.

She is the reason I have traces of German in my blood line because it was her father who first came to America on my german side.When I say "I believe she is my 4th cousin" it means IM prety sure she isnt my 5th. But thanks for the skepticism. really makes me love this site.
oh and welcome to earth btw, we earthlings usually help you 6th dimension types get acclimated with a lil something we call lithium

Originally posted by Foxy1

Originally posted by Jepic

Originally posted by Foxy1
This is great im actually related to Amelia Earhart, I believe she is my 4th cousin and look forward to hearing more!

Yeah.

I believe I'm actually a ultra super secret space soldier from the 6th dimension. I really believe I am.

She is the reason I have traces of German in my blood line because it was her father who first came to America on my german side.When I say "I believe she is my 4th cousin" it means IM prety sure she isnt my 5th. But thanks for the skepticism. really makes me love this site.
oh and welcome to earth btw, we earthlings usually help you 6th dimension types get acclimated with a lil something we call lithium

edit on 3-6-2012 by Foxy1 because: (no reason given)

Alright you didn't get it. On ATS there is this thing we call evidence or it didn't happen.
Just claiming something does not make it real.

Originally posted by Jepic

Alright you didn't get it. On ATS there is this thing we call evidence or it didn't happen.
Just claiming something does not make it real.

Isn't this issue rather beside the point? All the person was doing is saying why he/she had an interest. My fifth cousin is Jesse James (the robber guy, not the bike guy). I can prove it, but the fact is, people that remotely related are no big deal. This thread is not about proving yiour genealogy. The interesting thing here is that they may have found where she crashed.

lol exactly its not a big deal that she is my 4th cousin so why would I waste time and money to prove to a stranger that she is? Thats like you asking me to go dig up a dead relative and take pics for you because I told you the color of the suit they were buried in. You seem like the kind of person who will attack any claim posted jsut for the sake of doing so, then when pics are uploaded you would claim they were photoshopped or paid actors were used.
But I guess I should expect this type of paraniod sacrastic personality types from a conspicacy website lol