Has Amelia Earhart’s plane been found? It’s been eighty-seven years since Amelia Earhart disappeared and an anomaly on the ocean floor suggests the answer could have been under the waves the whole time. Conspiracy theories aside, the crash and sink theory regarding the fate of Amelia Earhart has never been properly refuted, and Earhart was officially declared dead back in 1939. Her plane had been running low on fuel at the time of her disappearance and it likely crashed into the ocean, taking Earhart and her navigator, Fred Noonan, with it during their attempt to fly around the world (Britannica). The recent discovery of the plane-shaped anomaly on the ocean floor seems at face value to put to rest the theory detailing her survival on the uninhabited island, Nikumaroro.
The sonar image, caught by Deep Sea Vision, closely resembles the Lockheed 10-E Electra aircraft that Earhart was flying when she vanished (CNN). The image taken is 16,000 feet below sea level and shows a plane-shaped object lying on the ocean floor (CBS News). The supposed aircraft was located less than one hundred miles from Earhart’s destination, Howland Island. Many disagree with the assumption that the object in question is the Electra, though, including the founder of “The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery,” Richard Gillespie, who supports the idea that she was stranded on Nikumaroro (BBC).
Whether the image is of Earhart’s plane is yet to be seen, and supporters of other theories are unlikely to drop their stances based on the sonar image alone. Richard Jantz, likewise, supports the Nikumaroro theory. Jantz, who is the professor emeritus of Anthropology at the University of Tennessee, had previously re-examined the bones of a person found on Nikumaroro who had initially been identified as a man. Through his research, he determined that the person the bones belonged to could have very well been Earhart. Out of a large reference sample, the bones were more similar to Earhart than ninety-nine percent of the rest of the group (BBC). Additionally, a metal plate that was found on Nikumaroro in 1991 could have belonged to Earhart’s Elektra (New York Post). There’s more than that, though, that leads people to believe she was stranded on Nikumaroro. A photograph taken three months after her plane vanished depicts a floating object in the water by Nikumaroro that could belong to the landing gear from Earhart’s plane (artnet).
We are yet to be certain that the plane is really Earhart’s, or that the bones on Nikumaroro belonged to her, but hopefully, the mystery will soon be solved.
Chloe Erno, Staff Writer
Chloe Erno is a staff writer for the 2023-2024 Colonel Newsmagazine. She is also a part of the marching band and Inner Visions. She likes dogs and has two named Bella and Sadie. She enjoys drawing and writing in her free time.
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