Amelia Earhart Exploring the Truth

Almost everyone we meet knows of Amelia Earhart, a famed female aviator who was adored by many. She set records, exceeded expectations, won races, and defied odds. However, do we really know the reality of her life and her strange disappearance? Popular belief claims that Amelia Earhart vanished into thin air, but do we know the true story? After all, she was a pioneer in women's aviation. She was a stand out character who had seemingly no limits. Many people theorize on what they believe really happened to this incredible pilot.

Amelia Mary Earhart was born in 1897 to Edwin and Amy Earhart in the small city of Atchison, Kansas (Harmon 1, 2). Starting when she was little, Earhart always had the desire for taking risks and new challenges (1). Earhart, in essence, was born for adventure. When she was 23 years old, her father took her on a flight in an open-cockpit biplane (2). She was in complete amazement from this experience and knew without-a-doubt that she wanted to fly (2). After searching for some time, she came across her soon-to-be flight instructor, Neta Snook (2). During her time learning- like most people- she struggled with getting the hang of things. She often crashed, did not obey her instructor, and did not follow the correct protocol (2).

However, her dedication, work ethic, and her witty personality, despite her failures, soon caught media attention, and Amelia was soon assigned the title "one of the best women pilots in the United States (2). Upon being dubbed with this new name, her next plan was to test her limits. When she began in this new journey, she had feats such as being the first woman and second person to ever cross the Atlantic Ocean solo (3). Along with this accomplishment, she also had many firsts. Some of these firsts included: becoming the first woman to fly nonstop across America, and the first woman to complete a flight from Hawaii to California, a 2,500-mile solo transpacific flight (3). Needless to say, Amelia was always one for exceeding the expectations of many. In order to maintain the attention of the world, Amelia would have to do something phenomenal. So, in July of 1937, Earhart decided to attempt a solo around-the-world flight. On July 2nd, Amelia Earhart and navigator Fred Noonan vanished over the Pacific Ocean on their way to Howland Island during their journey around the world (TIGHAR, 1).

TIGHAR, The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery, has done extensive research on the mysterious disappearance and have theorized that the pair landed and died on Garner Island, now known as Nikumaroro (1). This island was near her destination of Howland Island and was more prominent than the other. It is covered with trees and encompasses a bright blue lagoon, which may have been easier for the two to identify (1). Some radio stations at nearby islands took the radio direction bearings from transmissions received in stations around the Pacific Ocean the day of the disappearance (2). They found that four of six bearings crossed near the island of Nikumaroro (2). A week after the disappearance, search plane crews who flew over the island claimed they had seen "signs of recent habitation, but no search parties landed there (2). What makes this strange, is the fact that this island had not been occupied since 1892 (2). British officers who had been on Nikumaroro in October of 1937, also claimed to have seen signs where someone may have set up camp (2).

Inhabitants that later came to live there said there was evidence of a plane crash on the northwestern side of the island (2). A scientific study was conducted on bones that were also found on this island, which seemed to match up perfectly with those of Amelia's (Eltagouri, 1). Sadly, a TIGHAR director, Ric Gillespie, believes that shortly after their examination, these bones were incorrectly identified and disposed of (Wootson, 1). Many researchers who have studied this theory, as well as its evidence, believe this is where Earhart and Noonan would have lived out their last days after their crash. Another popular theory involves Earhart and Noonan being taken prisoners on the Marshall Islands, which were then controlled by the Japanese (Greshko, 9). The theory suggests, that they were being held captive there under the Japanese assumption that the pair of aviators were U.S. spies (10). Photographic evidence found in the National Archives seems to prove the validity of this theory. The photo, taken on the dock of Jaluit Harbor in the Marshall Islands, shows a supposed Earhart and Noonan alive after their disappearance (History.com, 2). Along with this, it also shows a Japanese ship towing a barge with an airplane on the back, which could have been Earhart's (2).

Some believe it had been their plan all along to abandon the plane in the Marshall Islands and return to the U.S. under false identities (Greshko, 10). Some witnesses claimed that this ship, which took away Earhart, Noonan and their plane, is the same ship from dock photo of the pair (History.com, 4). This same ship, years later, was determined as the one from archives created by the U.S. Navy's Office of Naval Intelligence (4). A few days after the disappearance, it was written in a secret Japanese code, "since it is believed that she went down in the Marshall Islands (5). Does this evidence of a crash, written in archived documents of the United States Navy, prove the legitimacy of this theory? These theories, along with many others, may hold pieces of the truth that have not yet been uncovered.

Amelia Earhart was a legend. She loved testing limits and overcoming the odds the world had set against her. This mystery shows its significance in many ways. It has proved nearly unable to be solved. However, experts, documents, pictures, and more may give us the proof we need to one day solve the case of Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan. Hopefully, this information clarifies doubt and misinformation on this difficult case. Did Earhart and Noonan really vanish into thin air? Did they live their lives as castaways on the island of Nikumaroro? Did the Japanese hold the two as captives? Perhaps, Amelia and Fred returned to the United States and changed their identities. If one of these theories proves to be true, why was more not done in the days after the disappearance of the two? These questions may not ever be answered, but maybe these pieces of evidence hold the key to the truth. In this case of the disappearance of Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan, will we ever know what happened?

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