Last month I wrote about a team of experienced researchers and explorers who meet via Zoom every month or two to discuss our on-going efforts to solve the disappearance of Amelia Earhart and her navigator, Fred Noonan. Now, in part 2, we turn to possible expedition to Gardner/Nikumaroro Island.
Possible Expedition to Gardner/Nikumaroro Island
Over a dozen Amelia Earhart expeditions have been launched to Gardner/Nikumaroro Island in the South Pacific, mostly by TIGHAR — The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery, of which I am a member. I was on the 2017 TIGHAR expedition, along with staff from National Geographic and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. But none of these efforts have found conclusive evidence of Earhart/Noonan’s presence.
A number of persuasive clues have been found though, including: British colonial telegrams showing that 13 human bones and a skull were found on the island in 1940 that may have been Earhart’s remains; measurements of these bones that indicate that the bones were possibly from a tall, European-descent female; evidence of a castaway’s camp on the SE end of the island; alerts in this area by forensic human remains dogs; a freckle cream jar of the type Earhart used found at this location; etc.
Further evidence has been cited in the last year by Rick Pettigrew, PhD, a Registered Archaeologist and head of The Archaeology Channel. He believes that the fuselage and perhaps the wing of Electra is in the island’s lagoon, just beside Taraia Point (see the images below). Rick has obtained 29 satellite photos from 2009 to 2024 (some procured with my help) and states that the “Taraia Object” becomes visible in April 2015, likely after a cyclone swept away sedimentary overburden. Hence the early images (like the 1939 item I located at the National Archives; see last month’s column) are important. Rick is raising funds for a 2025 or 2026 expedition to investigate this location, has launched a public appeal, and has raised about 40% of the $900,000 Phase 1 (recon) budget. For a donation of $25,000, you can secure a berth on the Phase 2 (detailed investigation and recovery) ship!
When I look at the tip of Taraia Point in the 1939 Pelican image in closeup, I see a double-headed teardrop shape that is most likely natural debris washed in from the Tatiman Passage lagoon mouth, instead of a plane fuselage or wing. What do you see?
Massive Book on the Case
Another recent major development is that Ric Gillespie, the head of TIGHAR, in November 2024 published an exhaustive book on the case, which is a must-read for all Earhart nerds.
The book, “One More Good Flight: The Amelia Earhart Tragedy,” is very well-documented and footnoted, but is completely wedded to the theory that Earhart landed and survived briefly on Gardner/Nikumaroro. And once he places the castaways on the island, he makes some assertions such as “Earhart was apparently suffering from a badly sprained ankle,” that are just unknowable. But Gillespie’s book is still a major addition to the 50-plus books and thousands of articles that have been written about the case.
Bob Ballard’s Search
Bob Ballard, the famous underwater explorer who found the Titanic, Bismarck, Lusitania and other vessels, searched around Gardner/Nikumaroro in August 2019 in his research vessel Nautilus. (BTW, it is not widely known that Ballard originally found the Titanic not as a civilian, but much earlier, while he was still in the US Navy and on a secret mission to locate two sunken submarines, the USS Thresher and the USS Scorpion.)
Unfortunately, according to my sources, Ballard’s team did not listen to advice provided by experts from TIGHAR. Ballard’s team searched all around the island, down to a depth of 5,000 feet of seawater (fsw), but did not search all the way down the seamount/atoll, to the full depth of 12,000 to 16,000 fsw, and out into the flat bottom beyond. And they did not focus on the key, likely sector, NW of the island. Thus the team may have missed the plane. The Ballard search was called off after three weeks.
It is also possible that the aluminum plane broke up into many pieces which are now lost and invisible among the numerous corals fringing the island.
The Nauticos Efforts
Nauticos LLC, led by David W. Jourdan, undersea explorer and author of “The Deep Sea Quest for Amelia Earhart,” has undertaken extensive research and several expeditions that have searched an area the size of Connecticut to the west and northwest of Howland Island. These expeditions, launched in 2002, 2006, and 2017, combined with the Waitt expedition data from 2009, resulted in 3610 square nautical miles of undersea terrain being searched, down to an impressive one-meter resolution. Thus this area beside Howland is one of the most-studied undersea areas in the world! Unfortunately, no plane wreckage was found, although many new natural features were discovered.
Nauticos is continuing its research by trying to replicate the confusing radio transmissions that Earhart made in the last hours of her flight, using a similar plane flying off the coast of Virginia. The plane carries a rare radio unit, a Western Electric 13C radio transmitter, that the team found at a swap meet. According to Jeff Morris, the Nauticos Ameila Earhart project manager, this unit is likely “the only one left in the world.”
Josh Gates’ Bones
In 2015 explorer and TV personality Josh Gates, on his program Expedition Unknown, attempted to find traces of Earhart in Papua New Guinea and Fiji. He also interviewed Ric Gillespie, the head of TIGHAR, re the Gardner/Nikumaroro theory. In PNG Gates found a Japanese Zero and an American Grumman TBF Avenger, but no trace of Earhart.
In Fiji Gates located bones under a house that previously belonged to a staffer at the Fiji School of Medicine. Gates theorized that these bones could be those of Earhart, since it is known from 1940 British colonial telegrams that the bones found on Gardner/Nikumaroro were sent to Fiji for medical analysis and measurement, and at least one British official thought the bones could be Earhart’s. Gates turned the bones over to the Fiji police, who have apparently not published a report, but the Expedition Unknown fandom wiki states that “the bones have been found to be male, and could be from Fred Noonan.” No details are offered.
Podcast on Amelia
If you are keen on this case, you may wish to listen to the podcast “Chasing Earhart” with Chris Williamson. Every few weeks Chris interviews an expert on the case who explains his or her theories and research. See: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/chasing-earhart/id1645810327
Maybe someday the Earhart case will be solved. Maybe I will help! Watch this space….
Photos courtesy Lew Toulmin
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- A. Amelia Earhart and navigator Fred Noonan preparing for their round-the-world flight attempt. They disappeared on July 2, 1937, somewhere in the north or south Pacific.
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- B. A close-up of Taraia Point in the Gardner/Nikumaroro lagoon, from the National Archives photo recently found by the author. The photo was taken on April 30, 1939, by a floatplane crew from the USS Pelican, flying at 8000 feet. Look at the black two-headed droplet shape just to the left of the tip of the Point. Is that part of a plane? Do you see a plane or fuselage elsewhere near the point?
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- C. Taraia Point from a satellite image procured by Dr. Rick Pettigrew of The Archaeology Channel. The best views of the Point and the possible Lockheed Electra are seen in satellite photos from 2015 to 2020.
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- D. The expansive 2024 book recently written by Ric Gillespie of The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery (TIGHAR), which provides massive amounts of data and details on this disappearance.
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- E. The exploration ship Nautilus, under the direction of Bob Ballard, launches the autonomous surface vehicle (ASV) “Ben” from the University of New Hampshire, to conduct multi-beam sonar mapping in 2019 near the shore of Nikumaroro, seen in the distance.
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- F. The search area undertaken by Nauticos (and one other expedition) west and northwest of Earhart’s target Howland Island covers an area the size of Connecticut, down to a one-meter resolution. Depths were in the 12,000 to 16,000 fsw range. Note that no searching has been done in the area SSE of Howland and Baker islands, which I think is a key target area.
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- G. This Western Electric transmitter obtained by Nauticos at a swap meet is identical to the one used by Earhart and Noonan, and may well be the only remaining one in the world. Nauticos is using it to re-create the final messages possibly sent by Earhart.
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- H. TV host and explorer Josh Gates with John Grey, who in 1968 found a box of bones under a house in Fiji that might be Earhart’s remains.
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- I. In 2015 Josh Gates found additional bones under the house, which once belonged to a staff member of the Fiji School of Medicine, and turned the bones over to the local police. It is now reported that the bones were from a male.
