Amelia Earhart Conspiracy Theory

In 1937, Amelia Earhart, renowned pilot and the first woman to fly across the atlantic alone, set out with her navigator Fred Noonan to circumnavigate the globe. The flight was to begin and end in Oakland, California, her path following the equator as closely as possible. However, when flying from Lae, New Guinea to Howland Island, she mysteriously disappeared over the Pacific, never to arrive at her next destination, complete her flight, or been seen again. Since her disappearance, numerous theories have arisen, speculating on what really happened to her. Though some theorists believe Amelia Earhart crashed into the Pacific, or that she was taken prisoner on Mili Atoll by the Japanese, the most probable theory is that Amelia Earhart landed

The official date of death for the two was July 2nd, 1937, the day they would have crashed into the Ocean, but there is evidence that they lived long after. Numerous radio transmissions (at least 47 credible) were picked up from the site, sent out from July 2nd to July 6th, confirmed to be Amelia Earhart with the voice of a male in the background (Noonan). This would suggest that no matter what happened to the Electra, Noonan and Amelia were still alive beyond the date of July 2, proving that part of the theory false. As for them crashing into the Pacific, some believed the plane may have been in the water while the transmissions were sent out, but this too was proven false. With the way the plane was designed, the radio would not have been able to function had the aircraft been submerged in or on water. Even the Lockhead Aircraft Company confirmed that the radio transmitter would not work underwater. Rescue planes were sent out to search for Amelia, but when no plane was found, their sights were set on the Ocean. Once again, finding nothing, she and Noonan were presumed dead, the cause being that they must’ve crashed into the Ocean. It is clear that a proper investigation was never carried out, that the search wasn’t thorough enough on dry land, and that when no further evidence was found, her death was just quickly assumed, with no other reasoning

Earhart and Noonan died as castaways on Gardner Island. The theory was proposed by TIGHAR (the International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery); they believe that Amelia began to run out of fuel as she was nearing Gardner Island (yet had just enough left to make the distress calls) and landed on the island’s wide reef, which was visible at low tide. In her distress calls, it is believed she admitted to being wounded, but Noonan was worse, suggesting he may have died shortly after the landing, whereas Amelia abandoned her aircraft and continued to survive on the island itself. The theory proposed that the Electra was pulled back into the sea before the rescue planes were sent out, hence why it wasn’t spotted during the search. Numerous expeditions were carried out on the island; eleven in total. On these expeditions, the team has found evidence such as "...improvised tools, shoe remains and aircraft wreckage, as well as pieces of a pocket knife, bits of makeup and bone fragments…” (Wootson). There was also evidence of bonfires on the island and a sextant, similar to one Noonan may have used, as well as fish and bird remains near the bonfires. Human remains had also been discovered on the island back in 1940, which were originally speculated to have been Ms. Earhart’s, but under analysis, the bones were identified as having belonged to a male and dismissed. However, years later, TIGHAR reanalyzed the