New Light on Amelia Earhart Mystery

After being a mystery for 75 years, a new hypothesis has arose about Amelia Earhart and what happened to her on her attempt to fly around the world at the equator. The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery (TIGHAR) released radio distress calls believed to be sent from Earhart’s plane, but were eventually dismissed after nothing was found.
Using new technology the team was able to re-examine the old reports of the signals that were supposedly sent while the search was going on. They determined that almost half of them were credible. They also believed that the signals were sent while “the aircraft was on land on its wheels for several days after the disappearance.”
Using her radio, before her disappearance, she informed the Coast Guard stationed at Howard Island, her destination, that she was “on you, but cannot see you- but gas is running low.” Also falling along her path of travel was the uninhabited Gardner Island, which is now called Nikumaroro. Here the team believes that Amelia and her navigator Fred Noonan landed their plane and made distress calls “until the plane was washed over the reef.”
While from here there is no concrete evidence to support this idea, they claim that because there is no evidence to credibly deny it, that there is the distinct possibility of this occurrence.

Amelia Earhart’s Freckle Creme Jar Found?

While there may be no radio evidence to support this hypothesis, some piece of glass may hold the key. The team found five pieces of glass on the uninhabited atoll in the Pacific where they believe Earhart landed her plane. When the five pieces were put back together they appear to create an antique glass jar thought to be Dr C. H Berry’s Freckle Ointment. It was used in the 20th century to make freckles fade, and Amelia was known to have freckles and to hate them, so this evidence seems to greatly support their hypothesis. There is a good chance these discoveries and hypothesis will raise more questions than answer, but it sure beats the Bermuda Triangle conspiracy. While the exact story will probably never be known it is little discoveries like this that keep her story and memory alive.

Sources:

http://news.discovery.com/history/amelia-earhart-distress-calls-120601.html

http://news.discovery.com/history/amelia-earhart-freckle-creme-jar-120530.html

Eric Hudson

Eric Hudson is a graduate of Indiana University with a B.A. in History. His main interest is 18th and early 19th century American history, but also enjoys ancient Roman and Greek history, as well as the WWI and WWII time period in Europe.

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