Is it truly possible for someone to just disappear without a trace? One of the greatest mysteries of all time seems to be centred on one such event. A seemingly blossoming female pioneer of her time, Amelia Earhart, in June 1937, set out on her journey with her navigator Fred Noonan, only to never be heard from again only a month after. To date, their disappearance has remained a mystery. However, over the years, many theories have been developed but none yet proven as to what really happened to Amelia Earhart. Some speculate that her plane crashed on Nikumaroro Island in 1940 (Jantz) , and some that she was held captive by the Japanese (Katz 2017, Smithsonian.com), but the official position from the US Government is that Earhart crashed into the Pacific Ocean (History.com).
At the age of ten years old Amelia Earhart saw her first air show but was not impressed. However, at the age of almost twenty years old after witnessing a stunt flying exhibition, she became quite entranced with aviation (“The Official Licensing Website of Amelia Earhart.”). For years she practiced continuously, testing her skills against that of her male counterparts. She had a dream of being the first female solo pilot to fly the Atlantic and then the world. Her earlier dream was soon realised and, at the age of almost forty years old she received the chance to fulfil the latter.
In the year 1937, with the help of her trust navigator Fred Noonan, Earhart set out on her journey to be recorded as the first female pilot to fly solo around the world. It so happens that during her flight, her plane disappeared over the Pacific. Unfortunately, after extensive searching, neither Earhart nor the plane wreckage was ever found. As the mystery of her disappearance continued, and with no actual evidence as to her whereabouts, she was declared “lost at sea”.
In one theory, skeletal remains were found on the Nikumaroro Island in the 1940s which some believed to be that of Amelia Earhart but many believed it did not. In the end, the majority won. Even though the Island is somewhat close to the location where her plane disappeared, assessment done in that time, found the remains to be that of a male. It was never clearly noted whether they thought the remains could be that of her navigator Fred Noonan.
In the book, “Forensic Anthropology”, the author Richard L. Janz rejected said theory as he moved to prove that the skeletal remains found, did indeed belong to Earhart. Janz purported that it would have been difficult at the time to determine whether or not the bones found belonged to Earhart as “forensic osteology was not yet a well-developed discipline.” In the end, after carrying out his own assessment through scientific analysis by analyzing previous documented scientific works, Janz was lead to the conclusion that the bones belonged to Amelia Earhart. Not much emphasis was placed on Janz findings as he himself could not provide enough substantial evidence to back his theory. His measurements and other scientific findings were based on previous recording of Amelia Earhart and during that time, forensic anthropology was not well developed, therefore, the records he would have used would be somewhat limited in details. This theory though, was put aside and soon forgotten as a new lead came into view in the form of a photograph.
A photo that began to circulate in the 1960s brought about the second theory that Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan were both captured by the Japanese. This “idea”, was posited by Fred Goerner, a CBS correspondent, when he published an investigative work titled “The Search for Amelia Earhart (Katz 2017, Smithsonian.com).
The photo was taken by an unknown photographer but the image captured a female and male sitting/standing on a dock. With this new “evidence” persons are justified in saying that Earhart crashed and survived near the Marshall Islands but was later captured by the Japanese. This is due in totality, to the fact that the photo was marked with the Office of Naval Intelligence and labelled ‘Marshall Islands, Jaluit Atoll, Jaluit Island, Jaluit Harbor.’ However, it would not be wise to use this as justification for Earhart’s whereabouts. In those times, the pixilation on a photo was quite poor, even on this photo, thus it would have proven difficult to use it as conclusive evidence that Earhart was indeed alive when he aircraft went down.
On the one hand, the photo could remarkably be depicting Earhart and Noonan, whilst on the other hand; it could simply be another couple who was photographed. In spite of that, the experts (Costello and Arkin) who were called to analyse the photo point the fact that a Japanese ship was towing something that appears to be ’38-feet-long’, the same length as Earhart’s plane. The question thus begging to be asked, is how the measurement was carried out to make such a judgement call. Katz draws attention to the different thinking of a Curator who, being honest, declines to believe the validity of the photograph due to poor pixilation, and questions the legitimacy of the persons who confirmed it to be Earhart and Noonan. New evidence regarding this photo has cropped up to justify that Earhart and Noonan were definitely captured by the Japanese. This is detailed in a documentary done by History.com in 2017 titled “The Lost Evidence” in which a former “FBI official Shawn Henry investigates new, shocking evidence that aviator Amelia Earhart was captured by the Japanese military, including a photograph that purports to show Earhart and navigator Fred Noonan alive after their disappearance. Evidence includes documents containing new information indicating that the U.S. government knew that she was in the custody of a foreign power, and may have covered it up.”
The final theory to be discussed is the official position that the US Government issued. After an extensive and arduous two weeks search for Earhart and Noonan, the Government of the United States of America issued an official statement that Earhart was ‘lost at sea’. It is their belief that Earhart and Noonan crashed into the Pacific Ocean and sank to the deepest depths. The Smithsonian records this as the Crash and Sink Theory, which seems more plausible than all other theories put forward.
It would be easier and more logical to believe that the aircraft simply ran out of fuel as Earhart was unable to source fuel and thus crashed into the Pacific Ocean. This theory can be justified by the diary/catalogue kept by the Commanding Officer in charge of search for Earhart at sea. Within the National Archives Catalog record of the Commanding Officer’s detail search can be found. In the last entry, he made note that a search was being made near and around the Howland Island as it was believed that Earhart’s aircraft went down within that vicinity.
Despite the numerous speculations and theories surrounding Earhart’s disappearance, no tangible evidence has been found to make clear the mystery that is her disappearance. Certainly, each theory is correct in its own right. Nevertheless, the most logical ones that seem to bear some reality is that either Earhart’s aircraft crashed into the Pacific Ocean, or she was indeed captured by the Japanese on the Marshall Islands. One of the greatest mysteries of the twentieth century, Earhart’s disappearance has remained unsolved for over eighty years. It can thus be concluded that until substantial evidence is found, then Amelia Earhart’s disappearance will continue to remain a mystery.
References
- A&E Television Networks, LLC. “Amelia Earhart 2017 Full Documentary (The Lost Evidence)
- .” YouTube, YouTube, 28 July 2017, www.youtube.com/watch?v=sCS4s4Io9lc.
- Jantz, Richard L. “Forensic Anthropology.” Amelia Earhart and the Nikumaroro Bones: A 1941
- Analysis versus Modern Quantitative Techniques, vol. 1, no. 2, pp. 1–16., doi:DOI 10.5744/fa.2018.0009.
- Katz, Brigit. “Smithsonian Curator Weighs In on Photo That Allegedly Shows Amelia Earhart in
- Japanese Captivity.” Smithsonian.com, Smithsonian Institution, 11 July 2017, www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/smithsonian-curator-photo-allegedly-shows-amelia-earhart-japanese-captivity-180963964/. Accessed March 25, 2018.
- National Archives and Records Administration, National Archives and Records Administration,
- catalog.archives.gov/id/305240.
- Pruitt, Sarah. “Was Amelia Earhart Captured While Spying on Japan?” History.com, A E
- Series: World War II Action and Operational Reports, 12/7/1941 - 1946, and Record Group 38:
- Records of the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, 1875 - 2006. “U. S. Navy Report of the Search for Amelia Earhart, July 2-18, 1937.” NATIONAL ARCHIVES CATALOG, Department of the Navy. Office of the Chief of Naval Operations. Intelligence Division. Office of Naval Records and Library. (1922 - 10/10/1945) , 12 July 1941, catalog.archives.gov/id/305240.
- “The Official Licensing Website of Amelia Earhart.” Amelia Earhart, CMG Worldwide,
- www.ameliaearhart.com/. Accessed March 25, 2018.
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