Whatever Happened to Amelia Earhart? The Archaeological Evidence
Pioneer aviator Amelia Earhart and her co-pilot Fred Noonan disappeared somewhere over the Pacific Ocean in July of 1937, and people have been looking for her ever since. The new movie Amelia starring Hilary Swank, Richard Gere and Ewan McGregor, has sparked new general interest in Earhart, but several research teams have been actively seeking evidence of her crash landing for many many years. One of the major seekers is TIGHAR, The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery, who over the past two decades has discovered tantalizing clues from archaeological research on Nikumaroro, a tiny island in Kiribati.
Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan. Photo in TIGHAR Collection, courtesy Purdue University Library
The Amelia Earhart Project is an archaeologically-based study run by TIGHAR, whose senior research archaeologist Tom King, a colleague and friend of mine, wrote a piece for us called Amelia Earhart's Fate: The Archaeological Investigation some years ago. Since that time, a few more archaeological field seasons have passed—and Tom has published a new novel based on the evidence called Thirteen Bones. Recently, TIGHAR published a summary of the archaeological and other research to date that makes the case for Nikumaroro.
Archaeological evidence found on Nikumaroro Island which TIGHAR suggests may be from Earhart and Noonan include:
- Aluminum and Plexiglas fragments which are consistent with a Lockheed Electra like the one in which Earhart disappeared;
- Parts of two shoes, one of which is a Blucher-style oxford dated to the 1930s and known as a style used by Earhart;
- Bones were discovered on Nikumaroro Island; they are now missing although measurements survive and were likely from a woman of European ethnic background, about 5'5" to 5'9" in height;
- A sextant box discovered on the island in 1940, also now missing, had numbers strongly suggesting that it held a U.S. Navy sextant of a kind likelyk to have been used by Fred Noonan;
- A broken bottle made in 1933 containing traces of oil and lanolin;
- Two small pieces of thin beveled glass that match the mirror of a 1930s vintage American woman's compact;
- Three small fragments of red material chemically identified as probably cosmetic rouge; and
- Parts of a 1930s brand zipper.
Seeking Amelia Earhart
Amelia Earhart
Photo Credit: Purdue University Library
But the story is much more complex than can be told by a series of bulleted points: for the details, read Tom's summary of the logic behind the search in Amelia Earhart's Fate: The Archaeological Investigations.
In summary, though, after nearly two decades of research, TIGHAR believes that its data indicate that Earhart and Noonan crash-landed on Nikamoraru Island in 1937, and died there a few months later.
- Amelia Earhart's Fate: The Archaeological Investigations , here at About.com from Tom King
- What Happened to Amelia Earhart? The Case for Nikumaroro, details on the most recent findings in pdf form on the TIGHAR page
- Amelia Earhart Eaten By Coconut Crabs?, review of King's book and the movie from science writer Rossella Lorenzi
- 'Amelia' Movie Review, Rebecca Murray for Movies @ About.com
- Tom King.com: Thirteen Bones, publicity blurb on King's new novel
- Overview of the TIGHAR hypothesis at TIGHAR
- Official Homepage of Amelia (the movie)
Comments
The never ending story goes on and on. Fed by myths, and endless speculation.
Gillespie’s Nikumaroro Hypothesis is just that, a hypothesis. The Hypothesis was first mooted by two serving American Military Officers but Gillespie took it over. There is no evidence whatsoever on his claim that Earhart and Noonan ran down a sunline to the then Gardner Island. There are several reasons for this and reasons “why” she would not go there.
1. Earhart already had a contingency plan before she set off from Lae. If she could not find Howland, this plan was to turn back for the spread of the Gilbert Islands which she had passed during the night. On not finding Howland she would do a 180 and head back for the 500 mile spread of the Gilberts. The spread is hard to miss. Why would she change this dedicated plan if she could not find Howland, was unsure of her position and ready to turn back ?
2. The radio call at 1912GMT, “We are on the line 157-337″ is in TRUE degrees and aviators never have worked in True degrees, aviators always work in Magnetic. Even if Noonan was working on a line through Howland he would have converted the TRUE degrees to MAGNETIC degrees and told her to fly on that line which would have been 148-328. If she had called 148-328 we would know that is a Magnetic line. A MAGNETIC line 157-337 through Howland would not run close to Nikumaroro. Earhart said, “We are on the line…” NOT, “We are on the sunline”.
3. Clarence William’s strip map prepared for Earhart for the flight from LAE-HOW show an approach MAGNETIC heading of 068 degrees as the last heading into HOW, NIL wind. We know the wind was from slightly North-East out at HOW at the time, Noonan could have had Earhart lay-off into the wind by steering 067 in the stage of the flight approaching the island to as near as they got. 90 degrees either side of 067 is 157-337, the “Line of Position” or “we are on the line” was nothing more than that, a MAG line at 157-337 at right angles to their last heading. It was not a sunline. It is just pure coincidence that the numbers are the same.
4. You cannot navigate from an “unknown position” to a “known position” you have no way of navigating. Earhart’s 1912GMT “Must be on you but cannot see you” says that “they” THOUGHT they were there, they were not sure they were there. They could have been lateral to the island but could also have been many miles short of the island. They only “Thought” they were there. In other words, they were “lost”. You cannot navigate from “Lost” to “Known”, you have no means of navigating.
5. If Noonan did know “where” they were, why then did he not pass a heading to Earhart and say, “Fly this heading it leads to Howland”, there would be no need to go to Gardner and I would not be writing this……
6. The Tighar Hypothesis totally neglects to say that 11 crewmen from the S.S. Norwich City perished in the surf when the ship ran aground on the reef there at Gardner in 1928. Some of the bodies (not all were found) were buried in shallow coral graves. Some bodies could have been carried by the sea to “anywhere” and one could have been swirled around the island and dumped on the north shore. The bones found could also have been from a lost Pacific fisherman. We read stories of them drifting for weeks on end. Gillespie makes big licks about the presence of the crabs on Niku and these crabs could have unearthed the bones or eaten the cadavers. There are other reports of bones strewed on the beach from later visitors. Undoubtedly the bones found in 1940 came from the S.S. Norwich City.
7. The bones found in 1940 eventually got to Fiji where they were examined by a senior medical staffer there, a Dr. Hoodless. Hoodless pronounced them to be from a Male person of mixed race origin. He examined the bones, they were right in front of him. Tighar, without seeing the bones now says that the bones came from a white Nordic female person. How that can happen with out actually having the bones is astounding.
8. After a zillion trips to Gardner, Gillespie has tried to pass off the slightest whiff of gunsmoke as “real” evidence. Hence the attempt one time to pass of bronze bearing bushes found in an old Carpenter’s shack on the island as “could be bushes from the engines”…. or words to that effect when it is known that carts were used to collect Coconuts in the Copra experiment there. Carts need bushings for the axle bearings on simple carts. The shoe he proudly did proclaim as Earhart’s is about a size ten “man’s” shoe. Not one piece of supposed evidence Gillespie has brought back with him has been proven to have come from the Electra or from Earhart and Noonan.
Despite all this, the shells are being shuffled again…..
Where can one find a coplete transcript of the radio transmissions, both before and after the crash?
Actually, TIGHAR posts the personal story of a survivor of the 1928 wreck, so give them credit for that (and go over to the site yourself for a fascinating read).
They also cite quite a bit of evidence, based on materials analysis of the shoe, sextent, perfume bottle, etc.
They also readily acknowledge-with no attempt to hide-the gap in the analysis of the skeleton.
So while it’s certainly not a slam-dunk case, I think what they have come up with is compelling.