You probably all know the story of Amelia Earhart, the girl who disappeared during a flight around the world. She was intended to land on a small strip of land known as Howland Island for refueling. She never made it. Her last transmission was picked up by the Coast Guard cutter the Itasca. It said, “We are running on line North and South.” She had just recently reported being unable to hear radio contact and also running low on fuel. Some theories say she had actually cut off the antennae. She had done so on a previous flight.
But what actually happened to this famed female pilot? Well, the most obvious theory is that she ran out of fuel and crashed. The only problem with this theory is that it is very hard to test. Howland Island is in the Pacific Ocean, and that leaves a lot of room for a confused pilot to go splashing into the ocean. If this is what happened, it will take forever for us to find the wreckage.
Another theory that has gained ground very recently is the Gardner Island theory. Gardner Island is part of the Phoenix Islands, and was uninhabited when Earhart disappeared. The group heading up the investigation (Known as TIGHAR [The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery]) found a body said to be a white female on the island. As luck would have it, the body was misplaced (As always happens when the possible skeleton of a missing person is found). What wasn’t misplaced were the three bone fragments discovered just a few days ago. These fragments have been sent to the University of Oklahoma for analysis, so keep your fingers crossed. This could change everything.
Of course you can’t talk about a disappearance without aliens. Some people will adamantly say that Amelia Earhart was abducted by aliens. At this point we can’t prove them wrong though, we don’t have a body or aircraft wreckage.
Another interesting theory says that she was a spy. Some versions say she spied on the Japanese, and some versions say she was a spy for the Japanese. Both versions end with her being shot down and a large-scale cover-up ensuing. The theory has little ground, as authorities seem to be pretty lax on people searching for the wreckage. Maybe they’ve already removed it though…
Her husband was named George Putnam, and some theories say he tampered with the radio to make Amelia disappear. Perhaps an affair on one side or another. After all, Amelia was up in the air all alone with another man. Maybe jealousy led a murderous husband to cut an antennae. But George really did put a lot of effort into the search attempts, so I can’t give this one much.
The last theory, another that is immensely popular, says that Amelia planned the whole thing. She then landed somewhere safely, married her navigator Fred Noonan, and lived happily ever after. The thing this theory leaves out is what happened to the airplane. Somebody definitely would have gotten suspicious of a girl who looked remarkably familiar either giving away or selling an expensive aircraft. I would say this one stinks too.
A lot of other theories about island crashes/landings are out there. A popular one says that they landed on a Japanese-controlled island and were executed. Many people have stepped forward claiming to know a guy who knows a guy who saw the execution, but this is all hearsay. A man by the name of David Billings thinks they may have turned around and landed on Rabaul Island, where he claims to have found Noonan’s navigation map.
Keep your fingers crossed about those bone fragments. Otherwise, just let the theories flow because we can’t know anything for sure.
***Some Images Were Removed From This Page To Avoid Potential Lawsuits and/or Shutdowns. My apologies***
References:
Wikipedia (For names, information, images and dates only)
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