Amelia Earhart Mystery: 17-Person Team Investigates Pacific Wreckage
A US research team is approaching a remote Pacific atoll to investigate a submerged object that could be the wreckage of Amelia Earhart's plane, which disappeared in 1937, with the team led by archaeologist Richard Pettigrew hoping to confirm a long-held hypothesis
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Researchers confirm the Taraia Object is likely a collection of large trees, not Earhart's plane.
Researchers will use a hydraulic dredge to remove sediment from the bottom of the lagoon.
The research team has arrived on Nikumaroro island and will spend several days searching for the Taraia Object.
Story published. A US research team is approaching a remote Pacific atoll to investigate a submerged object that could be the wreckage of Amelia Earhart's plane, which disappeared in 1937, with the team led by archaeologist Richard Pettigrew hoping to confirm a long-held hypothesis
A 17-person US research team is approaching a remote Pacific atoll to investigate a submerged object that could be the wreckage of Amelia Earhart's plane, which disappeared in 1937. The team, led by archaeologist Richard Pettigrew, hopes to confirm a long-held hypothesis that Earhart and her navigator Fred Noonan ditched at the atoll of Nikumaroro.
The submerged object is located at the atoll of Nikumaroro, part of the archipelago country of Kiribati. The object was first noticed in a 2020 satellite image and is also visible in aerial photography dating back to 1938. Some have dismissed the object as a fallen tree, but the research team believes it could be the wreckage of Earhart's Lockheed Model 10-E Electra.
The research team is led by archaeologist Richard Pettigrew, who heads the Archaeological Legacy Institute. The expedition was funded by Purdue University, where Earhart once taught. Earhart and her navigator Fred Noonan were en route to Howland Island when their plane disappeared. Howland Island is approximately 400 miles north of Nikumaroro.
## What happened Amelia Earhart disappeared in 1937 at the age of 39, while attempting to circumnavigate the globe at the equator with her navigator Fred Noonan. The disappearance of Earhart and Noonan has been one of the biggest mysteries of the 20th century.
## Why it matters Locating the wreck of the twin-engine plane would confirm a long-held hypothesis that Earhart and Noonan ditched at the atoll of Nikumaroro. This discovery would be significant, as it would provide closure to one of the most enduring mysteries in aviation history. The research team's findings could also shed new light on the events surrounding Earhart's disappearance.
The research team is expected to arrive on the uninhabited atoll after a six-day sea voyage from Tarawa, the capital of Kiribati. The team's leader, Richard Pettigrew, has stated that finding Amelia Earhart's Electra aircraft would be the discovery of a lifetime, and confirming the plane wreckage there would be the smoking-gun proof.
