Amelia Earhart search examines lagoon object in Kiribati
A Purdue and Archaeological Legacy Institute team is testing a lagoon anomaly, not confirming it is Earhart’s long-lost aircraft.
By Deshawn Carter · Sports Writer
3 min read
The Amelia Earhart search has reached a remote island in Kiribati, where researchers are inspecting a shape in a shallow lagoon that they say could be connected to the aviator’s missing Lockheed Electra. The object has not been identified as wreckage, and the expedition is designed to test that claim.
The team from Purdue University and the Archaeological Legacy Institute arrived at Nikumaroro to examine the so-called Taraia Object, BBC News reported. It is a visual anomaly near the edge of the island’s lagoon, and some researchers believe it could be part of Earhart’s aircraft. Others have suggested it may be a collapsed tree.
What is the Taraia Object?
The Taraia Object is a feature seen in satellite images, aerial photographs, drone footage and video of Nikumaroro’s lagoon, according to the Archaeology Channel. It sits near the Taraia Peninsula, east of Tatiman Passage, which connects the lagoon with the open ocean.
Researchers backing the expedition say the shape appears to be the right size for part of an Electra and may be metallic. That is a hypothesis, not a confirmed identification. The group says it will use remote sensing, search for magnetic metals and dredge sediment so it can inspect the object directly.
BBC News reported the feature is believed to be about 10 feet from shore, in water that can be as shallow as five feet depending on the tide. The planned work was expected to take five days, although weather, sea conditions and access to shore could affect the schedule.
The final flight that became a mystery
Earhart and navigator Fred Noonan left Lae, New Guinea, on July 2, 1937, during her attempt to become the first woman to fly around the world. They were bound for Howland Island, a refueling stop in the Pacific, but did not arrive.
By then, the pair had covered 22,000 miles of their journey, with 7,000 still to go, according to CNN. The 2,556-mile leg to Howland was the 31st of 34 planned stages.
The stop was essential because the Electra did not have enough range for the South Pacific route, the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum says. Howland was a difficult target: a remote island only about two miles long and less than two miles across.
The Coast Guard cutter Itasca waited nearby with fuel. Its operators received intermittent radio transmissions from Earhart, but never saw the aircraft or established two-way communication. Her final documented message said the plane was on a 157-337 line of position and heading north and south. Nothing further was heard.
What happened to Earhart’s plane?
The answer remains unknown. BBC News describes the official explanation as communication trouble, failure to find Howland, fuel exhaustion and a crash into the ocean. The Nikumaroro theory offers a different possibility: that Earhart and Noonan reached the island and that aircraft remains are now in or near its lagoon.
The United States searched from July 2 through July 18, 1937, covering an area the Smithsonian describes as roughly the size of Texas. It found neither the crew nor the Electra. Nearly 90 years later, the lagoon inspection may add evidence, but it has not yet settled the case.
This story draws on original reporting from CBS News.