The fact that new evidence may indicate that Amelia Earhart survived her final flight has been the biggest aviation story of 2017. I have already published several piece on the possibility: https://doctoraviation.com/amelia-earhart-lost-evidence-pilots-question/ In conclusion: I have several questions coming out of the Amelia Earhart: The Lost Evidence documentary, which aired on the History Channel:
- They featured an archeological dig from 1968 which reportedly found over 150 bone fragments in a grave on Saipan that belonged to a Caucasian woman who was thought to be Amelia Earhart. Is no one alive that was on that dig? If so, why were they not interviewed?
- What became of the 150+ bone fragments? You tell the audience that you found bone fragments from Amelia Earhart, but nobody knows where they are?
- A radio test was conducted by the investigative team on Mili Atoll at 4:30am to examine the possibility of radio signals being picked up in the United States from Amelia Earhart’s plane. The test was interrupted by a thunderstorm and therefore inconclusive. The team had made the trip all the way to Mili Atoll, why did they not wait until the next morning and try again? Why stop after one try?
- Who financed this expedition and show? From what I viewed, this work cost a lot of money. Who put up that money? This question does not necessarily bear on the truth of the story, but someone had to put up a lot of money and it would be helpful to know who and why.
Saipan: Earhart’s Final Days are alleged to have been lived out here
The show began with the flavor of a “conspiracy theory” by the government. I grow tired of such theories. However, it does make sense that the government would keep this possibility of an Earhart capture a secret from 1937 to 1945 (the end of WWII). If the United States had cracked a secret Japanese code (as stated in the film), it makes complete sense why the US would not want to divulge that fact. It would compromise their ability to monitor future communications from this growing Japanese threat. However, what does not make sense is why the US would keep the whole ordeal secret after the war. Yes, the US wanted to make Japan into an ally, but war trials over the following years were at least as much a deterrent to that aim than the Earhart story could have been.
My Final Thoughts (for now). I have long held that the most plausible explanation for the Earhart / Noonan disappearance was the crash and sink theory. That she ran out of fuel crashed into the ocean and sank. I had at least allowed for the possibility that she may have crash landed at Gardner (now Nikumaroro) Island, but this seemed less likely. At this point, I would add that the Marshall Island crash and capture by the Japanese is a valid hypothesis. It also holds much more credibility than that Gardner Island hypothesis.