Amelia Earhart update (training, military, Navy)

[E-Twist]

If it is, which I doubt, I think they should bring it up. No point in making memorials where one can see them.

[JBtwinz]

Originally Posted by Labonte18

Gotta love this.. When conspiracy nuts try to disprove conspiracy nuts.


https://tighar.org/Projects/Earhart/...s/captured.htm

That’s kind of why I hope they found her plane to finally debunk all the other myths. I don’t think she had the fuel to get to the Marianna’s and the Ithaca did report receiving strong signals so they had to be close to Howland.

Japan was heavy in conflict with China in 1937 at that front I don’t think they had a presence that far east at the time.

Looking at some of the Atolls in the Marshall Islands on Google Earth and seeing how remote some of those villages are from the rest of the world. Pretty neat. Baker Island is only 42 miles to the south east of Howland Island but it didn’t get its airfield until 1943. Lots of WW II history with these remote islands.

[Suesbal]

That theory of Earhart being captured by the Japanese likely surfaced during World War Two.

[Cuero]

If it is their plane then it should be recovered and put in a museum. Too important of a historical artifact not to. It’s a historical artifact and as long as they’re displayed with respect I think it does more to honor the deceased than letting it decay into the sand. History is more important than a grave.

I’m skeptical as well about this being anything significant much less AE’s plane. Could be a random boat or plane that went down.

[Ruth4Truth]

OK, I remember now, that she didn't land in the Marianas. She landed on Jaluit atoll, which is in the Marshals. The Japanese picked her (them) up there, and shipped them along with her plane to Saipan. The Marshals, and Jaluit especially being more southerly, are closer to Howland. She landed half on the beach in Jaluit, and half in the water of a little bay.

That makes a lot more sense. You can probably find videos on youtube of the interviews with the locals discussing this. One of the locals IIRC said, he was fishing near Jaluit and saw her plane go down, and someone saw the Japanese put her plane on the deck of the freighter that took them to Saipan. Saipan was where the Japanese had a jail and the level of authority to interrogate and sentence the two pilots.


I also remember reading, that the San Jose newspaper, the Mercury, reported at the time that she'd been found. That can probably be looked up in the Mercury's archives.

[msgsing]

Lots of stories and theories. Everyone loves an unsolved mystery. Amelia was heading out over open water to an island barely above sea level. She was supposed to make contact with a Coast Guard ship nearby to guide her in to a safe landing.

But she decided not to bring a a long trailing wire antenna to communicate with the Coast Guard and radio transmissions became garbled. As a consequence she got lost ran out of gas and crashed. Any other explanation such as being captured by the Japanese or making it to another island is unreasonable speculation.

[katharsis]

I am LOVING this thread. So many at least somewhat knowledgeable posters! I have read only one book about this -- Finding Amelia
https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/14478 -- and I still have it,, but the mystery of her disappearance has intrigued me for about 60 years.

I love discussing unsolved mysteries, but I do hope this one is solved.

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by msgsing

Lots of stories and theories. Everyone loves an unsolved mystery. Amelia was heading out over open water to an island barely above sea level. She was supposed to make contact with a Coast Guard ship nearby to guide her in to a safe landing.

But she decided not to bring a a long trailing wire antenna to communicate with the Coast Guard and radio transmissions became garbled. As a consequence she got lost ran out of gas and crashed. Any other explanation such as being captured by the Japanese or making it to another island is unreasonable speculation.

Except for all the eyewitness accounts. A resident of Saipan serving her and Fred food in jail. Another local working for the jail, washing their clothes. Whether or not she got lost isn't being debated. It's possible she never made it to the vicinity of Howland, and was west or northwest of there, and strayed farther northwest into the Marshals looking for a place to land, but not knowing where she was.

[Labonte18]

Originally Posted by Suesbal

That theory of Earhart being captured by the Japanese likely surfaced during World War Two.

I think it was around before then, honestly. Remember, there were.. Tensions between the US and Japan even before WWII.

Originally Posted by katharsis

I am LOVING this thread. So many at least somewhat knowledgeable posters! I have read only one book about this -- Finding Amelia
https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/14478 -- and I still have it,, but the mystery of her disappearance has intrigued me for about 60 years.

I love discussing unsolved mysteries, but I do hope this one is solved.

We're just going over some of the more popular.. and.. Oddly.. Less crazy theories. There's more.

I briefly mentioned the guy who got his butt sued off for claiming this poor woman from New Jersey was Amelia in the 70's. Sticking with the WWII angle.. there were rumors that she was Tokyo Rose.


And.. Of course.








It's a fascinating story. I mean the closest analogue today might be JFK Jr's plane crash.. But, at least they found him. He, also, wasn't trying to set records.


I'll also admit.. While, I think you can see from many of my posts.. I don't have a whole lot of respect for her as a pilot.. I do actually have a ton of respect for what she represented. That women could do anything that men could do. In that respect, she's one of the most influential people in the 20th century. She just should have read the freaking manual a little better.

Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth

Except for all the eyewitness accounts. A resident of Saipan serving her and Fred food in jail. Another local working for the jail, washing their clothes. Whether or not she got lost isn't being debated. It's possible she never made it to the vicinity of Howland, and was west or northwest of there, and strayed farther northwest into the Marshals looking for a place to land, but not knowing where she was.

Problem is.. We know she DID make it to the vicinity of Howland due to the strength of the radio signals received by the Itasca.

So, the theory that she was totally off course and never wound up near Howland.. Is out. I forget the exact band those radios were on, but.. as I recall, you're basically looking at AM radio. It.. Goes a whole lot further at night due to atmospherics. Doesn't fly very far during the day. The advantage is that.. there weren't a whole lot of other signals in the way at the time. both due to location and.. Well.. Radio was relatively new. It was down in the kilohertz range.

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by Labonte18

Problem is.. We know she DID make it to the vicinity of Howland due to the strength of the radio signals received by the Itasca.

So, the theory that she was totally off course and never wound up near Howland.. Is out. I forget the exact band those radios were on, but.. as I recall, you're basically looking at AM radio. It.. Goes a whole lot further at night due to atmospherics. Doesn't fly very far during the day. The advantage is that.. there weren't a whole lot of other signals in the way at the time. both due to location and.. Well.. Radio was relatively new. It was down in the kilohertz range.

I don't think that was an official theory. That was just a guess of mine in response to another poster. But I believe the eyewitnesses and adult children of deceased eyewitnesses, who were interviewed. Plus there's that article in the San Jose (CA) Mercury, saying she'd been found and was in Japanese custody.