Tag: amelia earhart

US National Archives releases Amelia Earhart records promised by Trump  

The US National Archives on Nov 14 released several batches of records related to the 1937 disappearance of famed aviator Amelia Earhart over the Pacific, following US President Donald Trump’s recent order to declassify and release all such material held by the government.

The release of 4,624 pages of documents, including logbooks of US military vessels involved in the air and sea search for Earhart, was announced by National Intelligence director Tulsi Gabbard.

Earhart and her navigator, Fred Noonan, were last seen taking off in her twin-engine Lockheed Electra airplane on July 2, 1937, from Papua New Guinea en route to Howland Island, some 4,000km away, during an attempt to fly around the world.

Radio contact with the plane was lost hours later after Earhart, 39, reported running low on fuel.

Enduring mystery

A massive naval search, the most extensive ever at the time, was unsuccessful. Earhart’s fate remains one of the most enduring mysteries of the past 88 years.

The Trump administration’s sudden interest in Earhart, and the President’s Sept 26 order to declassify and release records about her, came as he faced growing criticism for withholding files related to the late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Keep reading

Is THIS Amelia Earhart’s missing plane? Expedition this month will finally confirm if the ‘Taraia Object’ in a lagoon on Nikumaroro Island is her Lockheed Electra 10E

In just a month’s time, one of the greatest modern mysteries could finally be solved – the disappearance of Amelia Earhart. 

Scientists are about to embark on an ambitious expedition to Nikumaroro, a five-mile-long island in the western Pacific Ocean. 

There, they will investigate the Taraia Object, a ‘visual anomaly’ in a lagoon that they think could be Earhart’s missing Lockheed Electra 10E plane.

Amelia Earhart was flying the aircraft with navigator Fred Noonan when it vanished near Howland Island on July 2, 1937. 

At the time, she was attempting to become the first woman to complete a circumnavigational flight of the globe. 

What exactly went wrong, and where her plane landed, has been a mystery ever since – but experts think they’re on the verge of finally solving it. 

Richard Pettigrew, executive director of the Archaeological Legacy Institute (ALI), is part of the expedition team traveling to Nikumaroro Island. 

‘Finding Amelia Earhart’s Electra aircraft would be the discovery of a lifetime,’ he said. 

Keep reading

Now Trump demands release of Amelia Earhart files and says world must know fate of missing aviator

Donald Trump has demanded the release of any classified government files on the missing aviator Amelia Earhart.

Earhart disappeared over the Pacific Ocean while attempting to become the first female aviator to successfully circumnavigate the world in 1937. 

Ongoing investigations into a possible crash site have continued to keep the story alive in the public imagination, but no trace of Earhart has ever been found. 

Trump said it’s an ‘interesting story’ that has ‘captivated millions.’ He said people have asked him whether he’d consider declassifying and making public everything the government has on her. 

‘She was an Aviation Pioneer, the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean, and achieved many other Aviation `firsts,´’ he wrote on his social media site. 

‘She disappeared in the South Pacific while trying to become the first woman to fly around the World.

‘Amelia made it almost three quarters around the World before she suddenly, and without notice, vanished, never to be seen again,’ he continued. 

‘Her disappearance, almost 90 years ago, has captivated millions. I am ordering my Administration to declassify and release all Government Records related to Amelia Earhart, her final trip, and everything else about her.’

Keep reading

Breakthrough in search for Amelia Earhart’s plane after ‘wreckage found on seabed’

The mystery around what happened to Amelia Earhart – the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean – may be finally solved.

Divers believe they have finally discovered her plane lying on the bottom of the Pacific Ocean near where the American aviator vanished in 1937.

Since her disappearance – during her most ambitious journey – millions of dollars have been spent on finding the wreckage.

Experts have long wondered where the missing adventurer lies – and this may be a huge breakthrough in he case.

After scanning 5,200 miles of seabed near Earhart’s last known position, surveyors Deep Sea Vision believe they may have located her Lockheed 10-E Electra.

Keep reading

Nuclear Scientists to Examine Potential Earhart Evidence for New Clues

A pair of nuclear scientists in Pennsylvania is applying their expertise to a piece of metal that may have come from Amelia Earhart’s doomed aircraft in an attempt to glean new insights into the legendary pilot’s disappearance. Director of the Penn State Radiation Science and Engineering Center, Daniel Beck reportedly had his interest piqued when he saw a cable TV documentary on the case last year and, on the program, they showcased some intriguing potential debris from the aviatrix’s plane and mused that perhaps someday modern science could unlock clues hidden in the material. “I realized that technology exists,” he recalled, “I work with it every day.”

With that in mind, Beck connected with Earhart researchers who were intrigued by the possibility that neutron radiography could detect critical details in the metal that might otherwise not be visible. His colleague Kenan Unlu, who is working with him on the project, explained that scanning the piece with a neutron beam may reveal “paint or writing or a serial number” that have been largely worn away over time to the point that they can’t be seen with the naked eye. Additionally, the duo subjected the metal to a “neutron activation analysis,” which “helps precisely identify the make-up of material” down to the “parts-per-billion level.”

Keep reading