New Expedition Launched to Investigate Possible Amelia Earhart Plane Wreckage in Kiribati Lagoon

Decades-Old Mystery Reignited by New Evidence

The enduring mystery surrounding the disappearance of pioneering aviator Amelia Earhart and her navigator Fred Noonan in 1937 has been reignited by claims of strong evidence suggesting their long-lost plane may have been located in a lagoon on Nikumaroro, an island in Kiribati. A new expedition, spearheaded by Purdue University and the Archaeological Legacy Institute (ALI), is set to travel to the remote Pacific atoll in November to investigate a 'visual anomaly' known as the Taraia Object.

Earhart and Noonan vanished on July 2, 1937, during their attempt to circumnavigate the globe in a Lockheed Electra 10E aircraft. They were en route from Lae, New Guinea, to Howland Island when contact was lost. Their disappearance has since become one of the 20th century's most perplexing aviation enigmas.

The Nikumaroro Hypothesis and Previous Searches

For decades, one prominent theory, often championed by The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery (TIGHAR), posits that Earhart and Noonan, unable to locate Howland Island, crash-landed on Nikumaroro (then known as Gardner Island) and survived for a period as castaways.

Nikumaroro is a remote, triangular coral atoll in the Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, situated approximately 640 kilometers (400 miles) southeast of Howland Island. TIGHAR has conducted numerous expeditions to the island since the 1990s, uncovering various artifacts such as:

• A woman's shoe
• A compact case
• A freckle cream jar
• A medicine vial

These items, dating to the 1930s, along with analyses of human bones found on the island in 1940, have been cited as supporting the castaway theory. However, previous searches, including a 2019 expedition led by ocean explorer Robert Ballard, have not yielded conclusive evidence of the plane's wreckage.

The 'Taraia Object' and New Expedition Details

The current renewed interest stems from the identification of the 'Taraia Object' in 2020. This 'visual anomaly' was first observed in satellite imagery within a lagoon on Nikumaroro and has since been confirmed to be visible in aerial photos dating as far back as 1938, the year after Earhart's disappearance.

Purdue University, where Earhart was a faculty member and which contributed funding for her original flight, is a key partner in this new endeavor. The expedition, a joint effort with the Purdue Research Foundation and the Archaeological Legacy Institute (ALI), aims to definitively identify the object. Richard Pettigrew, executive director of ALI, expressed optimism, stating that the mission offers 'smoking-gun proof' to confirm the theory.

Search Methodology and Significance

The November expedition will involve a 15-person team traveling to Nikumaroro. Their methodology includes:

• Taking photos and videos of the site
• Utilizing magnetometers and sonar devices for remote sensing
• Potentially employing hydraulic dredging to expose the object for identification

The expedition, costing an estimated $900,000 with significant funding from the Purdue Research Foundation, represents a concerted effort to bring closure to one of history's most enduring aviation mysteries. While skepticism remains among some experts, the researchers believe the compelling evidence warrants this extensive investigation. If confirmed, the discovery of the Lockheed Electra 10E would provide unprecedented insight into the final moments of Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan.