New clue gives hope to solving Earhart mystery

FILE-- An undated file photo shows Amelia Earhart, the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is meeting Tuesday March 20, 2012, with historians and scientists from The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery, which will launch a new search in June for the wreckage of Earhart's plane off the remote island of Nikumaroro. (AP Photo)

FILE - In this undated photo, Amelia Earhart, the first woman to cross the Atlantic Ocean by plane sits on top of a plane. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is wading into one of the 20th century’s most enduring mysteries: the fate of American aviator Amelia Earhart, disappeared over the South Pacific 75 years ago. Clinton is meeting March 20, 2012, with historians and scientists from The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery, which will launch a new search in June for the wreckage of Earhart’s plane off the remote island of Nikumaroro. (AP Photo)

By MATTHEW LEE

The Associated Press

WASHINGTON — A new clue in one of the 20th century's most enduring mysteries could soon uncover the fate of American aviator Amelia Earhart, who went missing without a trace over the South Pacific 75 years ago, investigators said Tuesday.

Enhanced analysis of a photograph taken just months after Earhart's Lockheed Electra plane vanished shows what experts think may be the landing gear of the aircraft protruding from the waters off the remote island of Nikumaroro, in what is now the Pacific nation of Kiribati, they said.

Armed with that analysis by the State Department, historians, scientists and salvagers from The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery, are returning to the island in July in the hope of finding the wreckage of Earhart's plane and perhaps even the remains of the pilot and her navigator Fred Noonan.

Ric Gillespie, executive director of the group, acknowledged that the evidence was "circumstantial" but "strong" but stopped short of predicting success. The new search is scheduled to last for 10 days in July and will use state-of-the-art underwater robotic submarines and mapping equipment.

"The most important thing is not whether we find the ultimate answer or what we find, it is the way we look," he said. "We see this opportunity to explore ... the last great American mystery of the 20th century as a vehicle for demonstrating how to go about figuring out what is true."

Earhart and Noonan disappeared July 2, 1937, while flying from New Guinea to Howland Island as part of her attempt to become the first female pilot to circumnavigate the globe.

Extensive searches at the time uncovered nothing and many historians are convinced they crashed into the ocean. In addition, conspiracy theories, including claims that they were U.S. government agents captured by the Japanese before the Second World War, still abound despite having been largely debunked.

Gillepsie's group believes Earhart and Noonan may have managed to land on a reef abutting the atoll, then known as Gardner Island, and survived for a short time. They surmise that the plane was washed off the reef by high tides shortly after the landing and that the wreckage may be found in the deep waters nearby.

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http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/nation/new-clue-gives-hope-to-solving-earhart-mystery-2249908.html

I recently watched two Documentaries and the Amelia Movie (which I enjoyed very much). This is a good Documentary that I saw, Solving the Amelia Earhart Mystery on Vimeo. It shows a group who are searching Howland Island for evidence that Amelia and Fred Landed Safely there and may have survived as Cast Aways...

This is the next one I'm going to watch, Amelia Earhart on American Experience...

Watch Amelia Earhart on PBS. See more from American Experience.

Video Link...
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/earhart/player/ I've seen the first few minutes. It has some great Original Video Footage and Photos too.

Amelia's stroy is so intriguing. And after seeing the original Video Footage of her and the Pics. There really is something about Amelia... That makes you wish you had known her. I hope they do find out what really happened to both Amelia and Fred Noonan. He is an interesting person too.

Don