Not so fast, naysayers: These may be parts of Earhart's plane

[Galraedia]

Source: MSNBC

Pieces of Amelia Earhart's plane may have been located in the depths of the waters off Nikumaroro island in the southwestern Pacific republic of Kiribati, according to a preliminary review of high-definition video taken last month at the uninhabited coral atoll believed to be Earhart's final resting place.

Carried out by The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery (TIGHAR), which has long been investigating the last, fateful flight taken by Earhart 75 years ago, the underwater search started on July 12 and relied on a torpedo-shaped Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) and a Remote Operated Vehicle (ROV).

The AUV collected a volume of multi-beam and side-scan data, while the ROV, capable of reaching depths of 3,300 feet, produced hours upon hours of high-definition video.

Plagued by a number of technical issues and a difficult environment, the hunt did not result in the immediate identification of pieces from Earhart's Lockheed Electra aircraft.

Read more: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/48707048/ns/technology_and_science-science/#.UC7OhOyoEww

[jody]

1. Thanks. nt

[Cooley Hurd]

2. As much as I'd LOVE for this to be Earhart's Lockheed...

The area was a war zone 5 years after her disappearance. There were thousands of similar Lockheed aircraft transversing this section of ocean during the war. Serial #'s (or at a minimum, the engine make and model) would convince me this is Earhart and Noonan's plane.

[Wednesdays]

3. I've been following this group on and off for 15 years

And they're like you... They don't jump to conclusions and anything that isn't 100 percent authenticated is dismissed.

They're miles better than past authors and groups that dreamed up incredibly wild theories about Earhart's disappearance.

The island in question was indeed within the Pacific war zone, but was completely uninhabited between late 1937 (a mining group operated on the opposite side of the island for a few weeks, the autumn after Earhart) and 1963. And except for a Norwegian steamer that ran aground in 1929, there was no other human contact with the island the first half of the 20th century.

So anything determined to have come from a Lockheed Elektra would be very good evidence indeed.

Their theory is rather sad, though... Earhart and Noonan didn’t crash, but landed safely in the island's reef, and they camped on the island. The plane eventually washed away with the tide, and the two slowly starved to death.

[Galraedia]

5. There's also this:

&feature=g-vrec

[Honeycombe8]

7. A story I read a month or so ago deduced that the man died from injuries, while

Amelia may have succumbed to serious illness. I think they said the plane would have crashed or semi-crashed, and there was evidence that one may have survived. I forget why, but they deduced the survivor wouldn't have lasted long because of some disease or something they would've almost certainly have caught. Maybe something in the crabs or critters that would've bitten them in the night? Or been present in any critters they would've eaten? I forget the details. But maybe they were just guessing. I'll look for the story.

[FreeBC]

4. May be.... every few years. Never "is"

Shouldn't decent reporting include a mention of the numerous times claims like this have been made before only to never be proven? Something like an intro like this: "In approximately the 800th time someone has claimed to find Earhart's plane"

[Baclava]

6. I’ve about given up any hope they’ll find her alive

...but give me $2 million for a search and I'll have a helluva island party for my crew everytime we don't find something

who wants in?