Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan were pronounced legally dead on January 5, 1939, after the two most expensive air and sea searches in American history. The first search for Amelia Earhart started on July 2, 1937, and was led by the U.S Navy and Coast Guard (“Happened”). George Putnam, Amelia Earhart's husband of six years, led a second search of the Phoenix and Gilbert islands which was also unsuccessful (Lovell 290). At the time of Amelia’s disappearance, she was one of the world's most famous female aviators because of her transatlantic flight. As a result of this fame, expectations were high that Amelia would be rescued. For several weeks the public was led to believe there was new evidence, which resulted in a bigger disappointment when
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In the case of Amelia Earhart and the Japanese capture theory there are many issues with the evidence. For instance, the supposed album found on Saipan island was never included on the list of items known to be on the Electra. Also as Mary Lovell states, George Putnam was initially inclined to believe that Amelia may have been on the island but after further investigations, and talking to the eyewitnesses George told his family “he never found a piece of evidence that led him to believe Amelia had ever been there” (352). What is more concerning is how large the group of islands that make up the Mariana islands are, it is improbable that Amelia could have been out of sight of any land for the length of time reported. Concerning the eyewitness accounts which varied in location of the crash, destruction of the plane, how and if the foreigners died. There is not enough similar evidence to agree upon one …show more content…
Also, unlike the other theories where it would have been difficult to get very far off the intended route, Nikumaroro is only 350 miles from the intended Howland island. Nikumaroro lies on the line of altitude that was last known of Earhart “157-337” (Adler). Jerry Adler describes one of the artifacts, “A sheet of aluminum, about 18 by 24 inches, bent, dented, scratched and crisscrossed by 103 rivet holes.” Adler also stated that the he was 98% sure this was a piece of Earhart’s plane because the rivet holes were the equivalent of a fingerprint.The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery or TIGHAR, has been leading many investigations of Nikumaroro and have found many promising leads. A broken jar believed to be anti-freckle cream, is particularly interesting because Earhart was known for disliking her freckles. In addition to the anti-freckle cream, TIGHAR has found a zipper made around the 1930’s and even a piece of a woman’s compact. The most convincing artifact are bones, the bones were found by a British doctor who did not think anything special of them. The bones were later lost but not until after a full detailed report was made. After recent studies of this report, Richard Jantz concluded that the bones are consistent of a female of Earhart’s ethnicity and height (Gilmore). Not all of the evidence is artifacts
In the case of Amelia Earhart and the Japanese capture theory there are many issues with the evidence. For instance, the supposed album found on Saipan island was never included on the list of items known to be on the Electra. Also as Mary Lovell states, George Putnam was initially inclined to believe that Amelia may have been on the island but after further investigations, and talking to the eyewitnesses George told his family “he never found a piece of evidence that led him to believe Amelia had ever been there” (352). What is more concerning is how large the group of islands that make up the Mariana islands are, it is improbable that Amelia could have been out of sight of any land for the length of time reported. Concerning the eyewitness accounts which varied in location of the crash, destruction of the plane, how and if the foreigners died. There is not enough similar evidence to agree upon one …show more content…
Also, unlike the other theories where it would have been difficult to get very far off the intended route, Nikumaroro is only 350 miles from the intended Howland island. Nikumaroro lies on the line of altitude that was last known of Earhart “157-337” (Adler). Jerry Adler describes one of the artifacts, “A sheet of aluminum, about 18 by 24 inches, bent, dented, scratched and crisscrossed by 103 rivet holes.” Adler also stated that the he was 98% sure this was a piece of Earhart’s plane because the rivet holes were the equivalent of a fingerprint.The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery or TIGHAR, has been leading many investigations of Nikumaroro and have found many promising leads. A broken jar believed to be anti-freckle cream, is particularly interesting because Earhart was known for disliking her freckles. In addition to the anti-freckle cream, TIGHAR has found a zipper made around the 1930’s and even a piece of a woman’s compact. The most convincing artifact are bones, the bones were found by a British doctor who did not think anything special of them. The bones were later lost but not until after a full detailed report was made. After recent studies of this report, Richard Jantz concluded that the bones are consistent of a female of Earhart’s ethnicity and height (Gilmore). Not all of the evidence is artifacts