Posted on 10/06/2025 8:55:49 AM PDT by Red Badger
Researchers from Purdue University are set to travel to the South Pacific to determine if a "visual anomaly" on a remote island is the wreck of Amelia Earhart's lost plane, saying there is "very strong" evidence the object is the iconic aviator's aircraft.
Earhart was attempting to become the first female pilot to circle the world when she and navigator Fred Noonan disappeared over the Pacific Ocean on July 2, 1937. Earhart, Noonan and their plane, an Electra 10E, were never found. Recently, President Trump ordered records related to Earhart be declassified.
In 2020, researchers looking at satellite imagery identified a "visual anomaly" known as the Taraia Object in a lagoon on Nikumaroro, a small island in Kiribati about halfway between Australia and Hawaii, according to a news release from Purdue University. Nikumaroro is about 400 miles southeast of Howland Island, Earhart and Noonan's planned destination.
The underwater object has been visible in photos dating back to 1938, the year after Earhart and Noonan disappeared.
A team of researchers from Purdue University, the Purdue Research Foundation and the Archaeological Legacy Institute will travel to Nikumaroro to inspect the object in November. The team will first take photos and videos of the site, then use magnetometers and sonar devices to scan the area. Then, the item will be dredged and lifted from the water so researchers can attempt to identify it.
A mystery 88 years in the making! 🔎
Purdue joins the Archaeological Legacy Institute in a South Pacific expedition to search for Amelia Earhart’s missing Lockheed Electra airplane. https://t.co/WqEEWi6XwA
— Purdue University (@LifeAtPurdue) October 1, 2025 Theories have abounded about Earhart and Noonan's fates since their disappearance. One theory suggests that Earhart landed on Nikumaroro and was marooned on the island before her death. The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery, a nonprofit organization based in Pennsylvania, has collected evidence it says supports the theory. Richard Pettigrew, the executive director of the Archaeological Legacy Institute, said that the expedition offers a chance to find "smoking-gun proof" that confirms the theory.
''We gathered up many more satellite images, did historical research, found other imagery that relates to it," Pettrigrew said. "We're going to go look and identify it. And if we're right, we'll in fact identify the lost Electra. We could be wrong but I think the evidence is very, very strong that this is, in fact what it is.''
However, Ric Gillespie, executive director of the International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery, has expressed skepticism. "We've looked there in that spot, and there's nothing there," he told NBC News in July.
Steve Schultz, a Purdue senior vice president and the university's general counsel, will be a field assistant on the expedition. He said that if the object is identified as Earhart's plane, the university hopes it can transport the plane home. Earhart worked at Purdue University for two years in the 1930s, and the Purdue Research Foundation originally paid for the airplane that Earhart flew, the school said. She planned to return the craft to the university after her trip around the world.
"A successful identification would be the first step toward fulfilling Amelia's original plan to return the Electra to West Lafayette after her historic flight," Schultz said in the news release.
Last year, an expedition team captured a sonar image in the Pacific Ocean that appeared to resemble Earhart's plane resting at the bottom of the sea. It turned out to be a rock formation.
Aviation / History Ping!.......................
Aviation / History Ping!.......................
Why would government records on Amelia be classified?
Especially at this point in time?
She playing cards with Elvis and Howard Hughs on a yacht owned by John Astor
“Earhart was attempting to become the first female pilot to circle the world”
What? Come on, you don’t even give them keys to a car never mind a plane! The plane crashed? Oh what a surprise! Who didn’t see that coming?
“Why would government records on Amelia be classified?
Especially at this point in time?”
https://www.instagram.com/p/DO9YMnFk0b0/
I recall reading about that object years ago and that it was found not to be her aircraft.
So it appears there will be another physical inspection. I hope it is her plane, but after the object’s first discovery in 1938 I’m certain there has been more than one look at whatever it is.
A political point to be made is that the feminist movement made it appear women were just slaves and born to be pregnant and bare foot with no opportunities outside the home. Earhart is a shining example the feminazi’s are liars. There are records all over the place where women were in many professional areas. This may not be professional, but I have two great aunts that homesteaded 160 acres each.
Amelia Earhart flew a lot of airplanes except for the one that didn’t come back….
From a Family Guy skit involving the theme from Maude.
“What? Come on, you don’t even give them keys to a car never mind a plane! The plane crashed? Oh what a surprise! Who didn’t see that coming?”
https://www.google.com/search?q=why+do+people+make+stupid+comments
Send us money.... Er we found Amelia’s plane.
The Tarawa Object, again. It’s obviously a tree.
https://euroweeklynews.com/2025/10/02/could-this-be-amelia-earharts-long-lost-plane/
Lots of things were happening in the South Pacific that were classified by just about every government involved.
And things remain classified until there is a reason to remove that classification.
Not again!? (facepalm)
Yup.
"Researchers from Purdue University are set to" ASK FOR MONEY FOR THEIR TRIP.
Probably due to the submarine use and prior “SEAL” type teams used to infiltrate the islands.
Hope she’s okay
This is the 4,968th time this specific story has been posted . Of course the number is an exaggeration, and probably the claim too.
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