Researchers Just Found Amelia Earhart’s Plane?

YouTube / BBC News

Can the image featured in the video finally solve one of the biggest mysteries in American history? What happened to Amelia Earhart?

Breaking Records

At the age of 25, Amelia Earhart had already flown higher than any woman before her. She continued to break records, becoming the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean and the first to fly solo across the Pacific. By 1937, she was one of the most famous women in the world. That year, she announced her boldest mission yet, flying around the entire globe with her navigator, Fred Noonan.

They departed westward, covering 22,000 miles before reaching Papua New Guinea. Only three flights remained. The first leg was to tiny Howland Island for a refuel, but they never made it.

A Mysterious End

On July 2, 1937, the two sent a distress message that they were close but running short of fuel and in bad weather. They were never heard from again. A huge search and rescue operation was immediately launched, but not a clue was found.

Reports from radio operators across the US claimed they heard Earhart calling for help days after she was missing. Most were dismissed as wishful thinking or cruel hoaxes. She was declared legally dead in 1939.

A Number of Theories

Theories about Amelia Earhartโ€™s disappearance have fascinated the world for decades. Some suggest she was on a top-secret spying mission for President Franklin Roosevelt, only to be captured and executed by the Japanese. Others claim she survived imprisonment in a Saipan POW camp, returned to the U.S. under a false identity, and quietly lived out her days in New Jersey.

One of the more compelling theories is that she and Noonan crash-landed on the remote island of Nikumaroro, about 400 miles from Howland. In 1940, bones were discovered there, fueling speculation but conclusive proof has never been found. A less believable twist even claims the pair were eaten by giant coconut crabs.

Still, many believe the simplest explanation is the most likely. Low on fuel near Howland Island, they crashed into the ocean. In recent years, a team from South Carolina has uncovered what might be the most promising lead yet, a sonar image captured by a deep-sea drone 16,000 feet below the surface, just 100 miles from Howland. Whether this marks the final chapter in the mystery of Earhartโ€™s fate remains to be seen.

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