The disappearance of Amelia Earhart has intrigued the world for decades, but over the past year, the mystery has heated up. First, a major claim that she’d actually survived and instead died in a Japanese internment camp was debunked before the show that featured it even aired, and next, a dataset of bones found on Gardner Island, originally mistaken for a man’s skeleton when they were found in 1940, was discovered to be a woman and quite possibly Earhart.
Now more circumstantial evidence has emerged that may help cement Earhart’s final resting place. The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery, or TIGHAR, has published a study that triangulates Earhart’s last known location based on who received her final emergency distress calls before she went off the air. Based on the fifty-seven credible reports the group has put together, they’ve found that — based on the timing, location, and frequency — the calls that were overheard most likely came from the vicinity of none other than Gardner Island. They think Earhart’s plane might have crashed on a reef, disabling it while keeping it above water.
Case closed? Not quite. We’re not 100% sure that the skeleton found was, in fact, Earhart. Actually, we don’t even have the bones themselves, just the measurements of the bones, which have been calculated, and some other circumstantial evidence. We won’t have any proof until somebody goes out to Gardner Island with some tools and starts looking for debris. Still, this adds fuel to the fire that we finally know Earhart’s fate, and it seems like it may only be a matter of time (and money) before this mystery is solved for sure.
(via TIGHAR)