July 2, 1937 - Amelia Earhart

[Stearmen]

Vought Planes

Nice to see some great footage of the USS Colorado's Vought seaplanes. I agree about TIGHAR, they have cried wolf so many times in the past, I don't know how any one can believe them. Some meteorologist have gone back and looked at weather patterns at the time, and it looks like they hit some major head winds that Fred was not able to take into account, and they simply ran out of fuel short and died. This is not to put down Fred's navigational skills, he was as good as you get in the day, but one is only as good as the information they have.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

I would like to point everyone in this thread to the following article. The language is rather rough, but it provides some more info on the subject.

http://www.cracked.com/article_18718_6-famous-unsolved-mysteries-that-have-totally-been-solved.html

 

[Deco-Doll-1928]

This might be a stupid question to ask, but if she crashed in the ocean near the island, has anyone tried to find her plane in the water? It would not be unlikely for searchers to find remains of her plane now. Heck, the Titanic (which of course is not a plane) is still down there and it's been down there for almost a 100 years (99 this past April).

I seem to hear a lot about searches on land, but not many in the ocean. Is there anybody leading those expeditions? Are there any other conditions that would not allow her plane to survive the elements?

 

[Deco-Doll-1928]

Yes his voice is a little funny.
As far as TIGHAR I don't put any stock in anything they say. If she had crashed on that island she would have been found along time ago. First of all in Oct of 37 the British sent an expedition there to see if Gardner Island was suitable for colonization and found nothing.
In 1938, Nikumaroro (Gardner) was colonized as part of the Phoenix Islands Settlement Scheme into an economically self-sufficient coconut plantation and a village was established near the north end of the island. The colony lasted until 1963. On the South end of the island TIGHAR claimes to have found a scattering of camp fires built by a castaway. When asked why a castaway would build so many campfires in 7 different places their theory is that they were built to keep the Strawberry Crabs out of the camp site. They have forgot to mention that a colony was on the island for 25 years after she supposedly crashed there.

Thank you for telling me this. I did not know this.

I thought I read somewhere that "remains" were found of a woman (I don't remember where) that could have been Earhart, but were "conveniently" lost in storage. Hmmmm...I wonder how credible that story was.

 

[Rathdown]

In 1959, while teaching us about time & distance, my seventh grade math teacher, Mr. Ralph Mudge, told our class that while in the Army he had supervised the fitting of a camera to Emilia Erhardt's airplane in Australia. Earhardt was to pass over and photograph islands that the US Army thought were being covertly used by the Japanese. The film was supposed to be removed (presumably at Howlin Island, Mr. Mudge didn't say where) when she next landed. It was his opinion that she crashed on land, and was taken prisoner by the Japanese and was probably killed by them.

Now I was 12 years old at the time, and Mr. Mudge's story was seared into my memory (although I had never heard of Emilia Earhardt before). Anyone interested in pursuing this line of investigation (Mudge is probably long dead at this point) should start by tracking him down through the Lynnwood, Washington, school district, where Mr. Mudge taught at Lynnwood Junior High School in the late 50's and early 60's. As I recall he had a daughter and she may recall more of her father's account of the incident.

 

[Story]

The discovery of an old jar of anti-freckle cream on a Pacific island could be a key clue in the disappearance of aviator Amelia Earhart, who disliked her facial spots.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/wor...-1937-mystery-article-1.1087854#ixzz1waW6yR5p

 

[Story]

Dozens of previously dismissed radio signals were actually credible transmissions from Amelia Earhart, according to a new study of the alleged post-loss signals from Earhart's plane.

The transmissions started riding the air waves just hours after Earhart sent her last inflight message.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2012...ble-transmissions-from-earhart/#ixzz1waz3lJoH

 

[Stearmen]

TIGHAR Joke

Can we all agre that if the Electra is not found this time, by TIGHAR and our government, we will stop listing to Ric Gillespie! I don't think that the government and Fox News knows about how thoroughly discredited Gillespie has been by the Aviation press.

 

[Story]

Can we all agre that if the Electra is not found this time, by TIGHAR and our government, we will stop listing to Ric Gillespie! I don't think that the government and Fox News knows about how thoroughly discredited Gillespie has been by the Aviation press.

FOX NEWS jokes get old after awhile and quite frankly, are borderline political commentary. The FOX url simply source Discovery News http://news.discovery.com/

If Gillespie's been discredited by other writers, share the specific source URLs.

 

[Stearmen]

Evidence

Here are a few. I can see how you missed them, it's hard to cut through all the want to believe article on Goggle and find the experts who have discredited TIGHAR and there reverse methodology. So far, non of their finds have been linked to Earhart or her plane. This goes back to the late 80s, with several expeditions, all proclaiming "mystery solved!" The best is unfortunately not on line, just not sensational enough. Please do not bring politics into the discussion, just because you disagree with my finding. The Earhart Discovery: Fact or Fiction?" Air Classics Vol 28, No. 8, August 1992.
http://www.ameliaearhartbook.com/new_page_14.htm http://skeptoid.com/episodes/4295

 

[cookie]

http://media.smh.com.au/news/world-news/the-hunt-for-amelia-earharts-plane-3426930.html

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/wor...t-researchers-set-off-on-1.3m-expedition.html

 

[Stearmen]

The Real Search

This is of far more interest then the TIGHAR expedition! This group has been working with Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, the ones that found the Titanic. They have opened all their survey work for any one that is interested. There is another team that will take up where they left off. I would say they are getting closer. This quote will give you an idea why it is so hard to find Amelia and her Electra! "Locating the wreckage of Earhart’s Lockheed Electra is no easy task. The Electra 10E had a 55-foot wingspan, an overall length of 38 feet, seven inches and height of 10 feet, one inch. Most of the Pacific Ocean surrounding Howland Island is extremely deep, up to 18,000 feet in many areas. Also, considering the aircraft was traveling at 150 knots at the last transmission, the potential search area spans approximately 2,000 square miles. By contrast, the RMS Titanic was a massive target over 882 feet long and 175 feet tall with a last reported position broadcast from a stationary ship. The Titanic wreckage was located September 1, 1985 at a depth of 12,500 feet within a search area of roughly 100 square miles." http://searchforamelia.org/

 

[Story]

The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery (TIGHAR) say that the sonar image above might reveal what remains of Earhart's plane. The image was captured off an uninhabited tropical island in the southwestern Pacific republic of Kiribati and show an "anomaly" at a depth of 600 feet in the waters.

http://gizmodo.com/did-a-sonar-image-finally-reveal-amelia-earharts-plane-510411935

 

[Futwick]

I've heard the stories that Earhart was captured by the Japanese but when you really into the story, there's not much there. Every time some one disappears, it is not at all uncommon for people to come forward swearing up and down that they saw that person after their disappearance. Basically, give me some proof.

This story reminds of Frederick Valentich who disappeared in 1978 along with his plane near Australia while flying over Bass Strait. His last transmission was about some kind of unknown lights zipping around him at very high speeds. His transmission ended abruptly with 17 seconds of what sounded like a metallic scraping sound. Even more strangely, Bass Strait is named after explorer George Bass (1771-1803) who also disappeared without a trace while attempting to set sail to Tahiti.

 

[The Wiser Hatter]

Just wish they would find the plane so this story would have a final ending.

 

[Futwick]

They'll likely never find the plane. It could have gone down anywhere. I believe it just ran out of fuel, they attempted a water landing, crashed and sank. But the ocean in that area is so extensive, it could be anywhere plus there wouldn't be much of anything left of it after all these years. There is likely no chance of finding it. In that vast region of water is the "Pacific Pole of Inaccessibility" which is the point on the earth furthest from any land. Take out a map and look at this area, if you get lost out there--you're lost.

 

[Hercule]

It could have gone down anywhere.

I wouldn't be so sure of that. The evidence TIGHAR offers is quite compelling. You really should read Ric Gillespie's Finding Amelia.

 

[Futwick]

Here's link to a plane that disappeared over Lake Michigan that should have been easily recoverable but 21 years later it has not been found--not a trace. What are the chances that Earhart's plane could be found reasonably intact after several decades in this enormous ocean? I mean, if they found her plane then raise it up, prove it.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?n...DNQAAAAIBAJ&sjid=2VUDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5881,1506190

 

[Stearmen]

At this point, with crying wolf so many times, TIGHAR would have to have Miss Earhart come up and personally shake my hand before I would believe they have actually found her plane!

 

[Story]

Just wish they would find the plane so this story would have a final ending.

Impossible. Miss Earhart's plane - or what is left of it - is no longer in this Dimension.