Possible wreckage of Amelia Earhart's plane likely to be trees, say researchers
Researchers travelled to a remote Pacific Island to confirm whether an object first spotted on satellite imagery in 2020 solved the mystery of the pilot's disappearance.
Possible Amelia Earhart plane wreckage likely just trees, researchers say
Researchers who had been examining what they believed might be wreckage from Amelia Earhart’s plane on a remote Pacific island now say it is probably washed-up trees.
The team went to a lagoon in the Taraia Peninsula on Nikumaroro, Kiribati, to determine whether a shiny object first seen in satellite imagery in 2020 had solved the long-running mystery of the pioneering pilot’s disappearance.
However, Purdue University, which plays a leading role in the study, said the so-called Taraia Object “was likely a collection of large trees deposited along the peninsula's sandspit”.
By the time the team reached the site, much of the debris had broken apart and been washed away, leaving just a single Y-shaped section, the university said.
Amelia Earhart disappeared over the Pacific Ocean while piloting her Electra plane in 1937
Images of the Taraia Object — which Purdue University said could be seen in photographs dating back to 1938 — prompted researchers to consider whether it might be the remains of a small aircraft in shallow water.
“This mystery has been ongoing for 90 years and the mystery continues,” said project director Rick Pettigrew, speaking from near the site of the object.
“The island has been holding on to its secrets and it continues to do so. I think eventually someone will find conclusive evidence here,” he added.
Earhart’s plane vanished without a trace in 1937 on the third-to-last leg of her attempt to fly around the world.
She had already flown successfully from California across South America, Africa and Asia in her twin-engine Lockheed Electra when she reached Lae, Papua New Guinea.
Earhart and her navigator Fred Noonan had planned to continue toward Hawaii before heading back to California.
But their plane disappeared while attempting to reach Howland Island, a remote uninhabited coral island about 400 miles (644km) from Nikumaroro, to refuel.
One theory is that Earhart accidentally navigated to Nikumaroro, where she ditched her plane and died as a castaway.
The research team spent five days traveling by sea to reach Nikumaroro and then had to remain on their ship for several days because of rough seas and strong winds, which delayed their search on the island.
They spent four days on land investigating the site.