Amelia Earhart's Airplane May Finally Have Been Found (jalopnik.com) 53
An anonymous reader shared this report from Jalopnik:
On July 2, the 88th anniversary of famed aviator Amelia Earhart's disappearance, Purdue University announced an expedition [which will launch in November] to confirm whether or not the wreckage of her plane has been found.
Satellite imagery from a decade ago indicated the presence of something that sure looks plane-like under the waters of Nikumaroro Island, an uninhabited spit of land in the middle of the Pacific Ocean that just happens to be near Earhart's intended flightpath...
This isn't the first time Earhart investigators have been to Nikumaroro. Human bones were recovered from the island previously, which scientists determined with 99% confidence to belong to the beloved pilot, per the university's student newspaper the Purdue Exponent. The investigators also found some women's beauty products from the 1930s. If that is indeed where Earhart died, it stands to reason that her Lockheed Electra 10E, nicknamed the Flying Laboratory, wouldn't be far away. Since nobody noticed any aircraft wreckage on the island (which isn't very big), it would probably be under the water.
Recovering such a legendary airplane will be a multi-stage process spanning years. This expedition, which will embark in November, is only planning to verify what's actually there, not retrieve anything. Recent satellite imagery doesn't show the object anymore, meaning it might have become buried; in fact, it was only ever visible in 2015, right after a cyclone blew threw and shifted a bunch of sand, as NBC News reports. The team will start with non-invasive procedures, such as sonar and magnetometers, before drilling through the silt with a hydroglobe to make physical contact with the object. Lastly, they will use a suction dredge to pull off loose sediment. If they're lucky, that will be sufficient to actually see part of the Lockheed Electra.
Satellite imagery from a decade ago indicated the presence of something that sure looks plane-like under the waters of Nikumaroro Island, an uninhabited spit of land in the middle of the Pacific Ocean that just happens to be near Earhart's intended flightpath...
This isn't the first time Earhart investigators have been to Nikumaroro. Human bones were recovered from the island previously, which scientists determined with 99% confidence to belong to the beloved pilot, per the university's student newspaper the Purdue Exponent. The investigators also found some women's beauty products from the 1930s. If that is indeed where Earhart died, it stands to reason that her Lockheed Electra 10E, nicknamed the Flying Laboratory, wouldn't be far away. Since nobody noticed any aircraft wreckage on the island (which isn't very big), it would probably be under the water.
Recovering such a legendary airplane will be a multi-stage process spanning years. This expedition, which will embark in November, is only planning to verify what's actually there, not retrieve anything. Recent satellite imagery doesn't show the object anymore, meaning it might have become buried; in fact, it was only ever visible in 2015, right after a cyclone blew threw and shifted a bunch of sand, as NBC News reports. The team will start with non-invasive procedures, such as sonar and magnetometers, before drilling through the silt with a hydroglobe to make physical contact with the object. Lastly, they will use a suction dredge to pull off loose sediment. If they're lucky, that will be sufficient to actually see part of the Lockheed Electra.
that's all well and good (Score:2, Interesting)
Taft was. (Score:1)
This begs the question (Score:2)
Re: This begs the question (Score:5, Informative)
Paid for by who?
Stuff like this needs donors and grants to be gathered. Funding for stuff like this doesnt just fall from trees.
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Re: This begs the question (Score:4, Informative)
Also, although the satellite imagery is from 2015, apparently the "Taraia Object" wasn't found until 2020.
https://www.archaeologychannel... [archaeologychannel.org]
https://www.jconline.com/story... [jconline.com]
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Whoops. Intended to reply to a different post.
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True, in a better world the US recovers this as an American cultural artifact. Unironic "it belongs in a museum".
Re: This begs the question (Score:5, Funny)
Because we already know that she was kidnapped by aliens, as documented in Star Trek Voyager.
Through (Score:5, Informative)
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The cyclone blew THROUGH the area.
Yes. That is trew.
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Damn typos.
We've heard this SO MANY times before... (Score:1, Informative)
Every few years, someone claims to have "probably" found Amelia Earheart's airplane. In the end, it never pans out... but, in the meantime, that someone manages to keep themselves in the news for a little while.
Wake me when they've actually confirmed the find.
Re: We've heard this SO MANY times before... (Score:3)
Re:We've heard this SO MANY times before... (Score:5, Informative)
That someone is a group called TIGHAR. News outlets don't treat them with the level of skepticism they deserve because it isn't easy to see what would motivate this group to mislead. TIGHAR only seeks to achieve fame by "finding Amelia", and the funding that comes with promises to do so and any clues they claim to have found is a nice bonus. The trouble is that they're quite willing to bend the truth to get there.
The theory that Earhart ended up anywhere near Nikumaroro is implausible:
https://skeptoid.com/blog/2016... [skeptoid.com]
https://skeptoid.com/episodes/... [skeptoid.com]
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They did find her remains there
CITATION NEEDED
But no citation of a verifiable claim can be provided. Bones were found on the putative island suggested to be the cite of her demise in 1940 but never identified as being hers, or even female, or of the right body size, or age. To the extent they were examined successfully the results suggested that they were NOT hers. Lots of other people die also, so simply finding some unidentified human bones somewhere where someone in particular may have died proves nothing. You can't use a circular
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Maybe they'll find life on Mars and the Lochness Monster while there.
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If they find the Lochness Monster then he'll be wanting about tree fiddy
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I eagerly await the follow up articles on the whereabouts of DB Cooper and the identity of Jack the Ripper.
Drilling with a hydroglobe? (Score:2)
Re:Fascinating!! (Score:5, Interesting)
Don't get me wrong, this is all REALLY, REALLY fascinating and all......but.....uh.....who gives a fuck?
Clearly someone gives lots of fucks if there is money being spent to look for and find this thing. Would it make it more relevant and exciting for you if I somehow said it was Biden's fault? This story here is orders of magnitude more interesting than the endless fucking politics here.
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What would make it more relevant and exciting is if they find the plane, and in the plane there is a small lock box full of rare gold coins, with a note that says it is property of this person, and then lists my name and address.
As for whose fault it is....why would I care if it were biden's fault?
As for being interesting....I think it would be infinitely more interesting if the plane is never found and it is left as a mystery until the end of time. Mysteries are usually more interesting than solving the my
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God forbid /. have anything but FOSS stuff and breathless takes about the new AI tool that will do something it won't actually do, in the end.
It's a fascinating confirmation of history; it is heavy evidence against many conspiracy theories that arose around her disappearance, suggesting what a reasonable person might have already guessed (flying a small plane of the time period across a very large ocean is dangerous). Much like scientific studies that confirm what "everybody already knew", nailing something
Re:Fascinating!! (Score:5, Insightful)
It's an interesting and long standing mystery. If they can find the aircraft it will help complete the picture of what happened to one of the world's most famous aviators.
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I think it would be more interesting if it stays a mystery.
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People who are interested in history. I thought this site was for nerds?
Re: WGAF? (Score:2)
Most techies care about such utter trivia don't but Slashdot ceased being a tech site in favor of idiotic general tabloid content aimed at airheads who buy supermarket tabloids and want to Titanic fantasies but have zero interest in visiting real museum ships.
It's owners do not want more site traffic or they'd have fired the so-called "editors" in their first week. Intelligent adults regard this drivel with utter contempt.
Re: WGAF? (Score:2)
Is the bones claim true? (Score:1)
If this claim is true, then they have almost certainly found the right island.
But is it true ?
Re:Is the bones claim true? (Score:5, Informative)
It wasn't a 99% DNA match, it was a claim based on MEASURING THE BONES.
Gameboyrmh's link has the debunking: the bones were probably male.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2352409X15300109
Re:Is the bones claim true? (Score:5, Informative)
And here's an article from a subsequent analysis 3 years after the article you cite, debunking the debunking and confirming that they are both female and most likely Earnhart's: https://journals.upress.ufl.ed... [ufl.edu]
Extraordinary claims (Score:2)
They've been crying wolf so many times.
Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.
It's pathetic that news outlets just go with it. The headline should have a bunch of questions marks, not full stops.
Look, WW II happened (Score:2)
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Electras were not used during the war except for private transport within the US, The War Department (when it still had its correct name) had bought the C-47 and even generals had to use that.
And the aliens said - now we put you back (Score:3)
Getting paid to play is brilliant. (Score:2)
There is nil utilitarian value in finding the wreck, but immense entertainment value because the public (as with Titanic) find exotic unusual death a fun distraction from their daily life.
Once found it will provide an excuse for exciting movies (what's more appealing to the woke crowd than a female pilot in that era?) and other wank.
The searchers get funded to dive in the Pacific, a very cool techy vacation. Kudos to them if they find the Electra, but if not nothing of value is lost and a documentary to be
I'm No Planeologist (Score:2)
I'm no planeologist, but those remarkably clear 2016 pictures of structures right at the beach don't look like any part of a plane.
https://www.purdueexponent.org... [purdueexponent.org]
And they don't look like part of anything that has been in the water, even preserved under sand, for 79 years.
This smells like a very well paid vacation to a deserted South Pacific island.
may have (Score:2)
May have, might not have. Call me when you know.
There was someone's coconut palm farm, maybe. (Score:1)
About Publicity Not Science (Score:2)