An expedition to a remote and tiny island this fall will attempt to locate Amelia Earhart’s plane in the Pacific Ocean.
The effort, announced Wednesday by the Purdue Research Foundation and Archaeological Legacy Institute, will focus on a “visual anomaly” in satellite and other imagery in a lagoon at Nikumaroro, an island located between Hawaii and Australia. Nikumaroro was previously known as Gardner Island.
A team will travel in November to inspect what is dubbed the Taraia Object to find out if it is Earhart’s aircraft.
“What we have here is maybe the greatest opportunity ever to finally close the case,” Richard Pettigrew, the institute’s executive director, said in a news release. “With such a great amount of very strong evidence, we feel we have no choice but to move forward and hopefully return with proof.”
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Earhart and navigator Fred Noonan disappeared over the central Pacific 88 years ago on July 2. Flying a Lockheed 10-E Electra, Earhart was trying to become the first female aviator to circle the world when they vanished.
Various theories have since emerged about their fate. One of them suggests Earhart landed instead of crashed, and was marooned on an island where she died. As the Purdue Research Foundation and Archaeological Legacy Institute note, this idea is called the Nikumaroro hypothesis. The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery, a nonprofit organization based in Pennsylvania, has collected evidence it says supports the theory.
A field team plans to travel from the Marshall Islands on Nov. 5 and spend five days inspecting the Taraia Object, the foundation and Archaeological Legacy Institute said in its news release. If the effort confirms the plane’s identity, excavations will take place next year to try to return what remains of the aircraft.
Earhart worked for Purdue University, and the Purdue Research Foundation helped fund her attempted flight around the world, the news release said.
“Both Earhart and her husband and manager, George Putnam, expressed their intention to return the Electra to Purdue after her historic flight,” Steven Schultz, senior vice president and general counsel of Purdue University, said. “Based on the evidence, we agree with ALI that this expedition offers the best chance not only to solve perhaps the greatest mystery of the 20th century, but also to fulfill Amelia’s wishes and bring the Electra home.”
