The search for Amelia Earhart may finally be over. Researchers have found a field of debris near a small island in the Pacific and believe that the wreckage may be from the famed aviator’s plane.

The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery searched the area in June but ended their expedition with more questions than answers. After reviewing the underwater footage, however, the group believes that Earhart’s plane was filmed near Nikumaroro in the Republic of Kiribati.

TIGHAR Director Ric Gillespie said:

“It’s still very early days, but we have man-made objects in a debris field in the place where we’d expect to find it if our theory on the airplane is correct.”

Gillespie said that the team was rushing through the underwater footage to give the Discovery Channel something for an upcoming special on Amelia Earhart when they noticed man made objects deep below the waves. Gillespie said that the footage does not give definitive proof that Earhart crashed near Nikumaroro, but it is enough for him to gather his team and had back to the Pacific island.

Gillespie said:

“We were rushing to get at least some video reviewed so we could show something (on Discovery…. We don’t want to oversell this. It’s more evidence. It is where it should be, and that is encouraging… If it does appear to be airplane wreckage, it becomes figuring out how to go back and look at it.”

Amelia Earhart was trying to circumnavigate the globe in 1937 with her navigator Fred Noonan. The pair left New Guinea on July 2nd, 1937, and were never seen again.

Do you think the International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery has found Amelia Earhart’s plane?

Amelia Earhart’s Plane Possibly Found In Pacific is a post from: The Inquisitr

Fans of Amelia Earhart were hoping to celebrate the legendary pilot’s 115th birthday with photos of her long-lost plane. Unfortunately, the search for aviation pioneer who disappeared 75-years-ago over the Pacific Ocean didn’t yield any groundbreaking results.

The Earhart Project wrote on its website:

“As is usually the case with field work, we’re coming home with more questions than answers…. We are, of course, disappointed that we did not make a dramatic and conclusive discovery, but we are undaunted in our commitment to keep searching out and assembling the pieces of the Earhart puzzle.”

The AFP reports that the International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery launched a $2.2 million expedition in July to explore the area near the Nikumaroro island in Kiribati to search for Amelia Earhart’s  twin-engine Lockheed Electra aircraft.

The researchers collected hours of video and sonar data but did not find any traces of Earhart’s plane. CBS reports that the researchers will spend the next few weeks analyzing the data to see if they missed anything.

A statement from the group reads:

“We have volumes of sonar data and many hours of high-definition video to review and analyze before we will know whether we found it…. Due to the limitations of the technology, we were only able to see standard-definition video images during actual search operations. Now that we’re examining the recorded high-definition video, we’re already seeing objects we want our forensic imaging specialist, Jeff Glickman, to look at. We’ll also be getting expert second opinions on our best sonar targets.”

Amelia Earhart and her navigator Fred Noonan went missing on July 2nd, 1937, during her attempt to become the first woman to circumnavigate the globe. The group believes that the pilot probably crashed on a reef near the Kiribati atoll of Nikumaroro.

According to CBS, a second group is planning an expedition to search for Amelia Earhart’s plane later this year.

Amelia Earhart Search Ends With More Questions Than Answers is a post from: The Inquisitr

Today marks the 75th anniversary of Amelia Earhart’s disappearance and in celebration of her infamous voyage the International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery (TIGHAR) have set out once again to search for Earhart’s plane known as the Electra.

The group is traveling to the Pacific Ocean to search for the aircraft at Nikumaroro, an island where some researchers believe Amelia set down her aircraft and later died after becoming stranded.

Amelia lost contact on July 2, 1937 while attempting to become the first woman pilot to fly all the way around the world, she had previously become the first female to fly across the Atlantic Ocean. Amelia’s twin-engine Lockheed Electra aircraft was never found, neither was Amelia or her navigator Fred Noonan.

TIGHAR is traveling from Honolulu to Nikumaroro on Monday to commence its search with the help of package delivery service FedEx. The group will use new advanced technology to search underwater off the west coast of the island where they hope to find Earhart’s wreckage.

According to TIGHAR executive director Ric Gillespie:

“That’s what should be down there based on the research and clues we have. We think it should be down there, whether it thinks so is another question.”

Many different theories have surfaced regarding the famous pilots disappearance, many researchers believed she crashed at sea while others believe she was captured by the Japanese. In another theory several people believe Earnhart returned to the United States and took the name Irene Bolham, a theory revealed in the 1970 book, “Amelia Earhart Lives” by Joe Klaas.

Amelia Earhart 75th Anniversary Brings About New Search is a post from: The Inquisitr

Amelia Earhart’s disappearance has been a mystery for decades, ever since the pioneer’s plane disappeared during her around the world flight in 1937.

Discovery reports that the International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery (TIGHAR) believes that Earhart’s Lockheed Electra landed on a reef of the atoll formerly called Gardiner Island, where it stayed for several days until waves washed it over the reef’s edge. They believe this may have been enough time for the pilot and her navigator, Fred Noonan, to send out radio distress calls.

In order to check their theory, MSNBC reports that TIGHAR will deploy ship sonar and two robot subs to search the underwater reef for aircraft parts. Richard Gillespie, the executive director of TIGHAR, stated:

“We will not be recovering anything on this trip. The objective is to get imagery and photographs of what’s there.”

The expedition to the atoll will depart from Honolulu on July 2nd aboard the Hawaiian research vessel “Ka’Imikai-o-Kanaloa.” With the help of underwater robots, the expedition will be able to search the area with sonar, taking black-and-white photos to a depth of 5,000 feet (1,500 meters), and also checking out sonar targets with a hi-def video to a depth of 3,300 feet (1,000 meters).

Discovery reports that the journey will take 8 days to reach Nikamaroro (formerly Gardiner Island), and that TIGHAR will be allowed to search the underwater reef slope for Amelia Earhart’s plane for about 10 days, before returning. Success could allow for a return trip to recover pieces of the Lockheed Electra. Gillespie stated of the expedition that:

“If there’s wreckage there that can be recovered, we need to know what it is, how big it is, what it looks like, and what it’s made of so we can prepare a recovery expedition that has equipment to raise whatever’s there. And, equally as important, to conserve it.”

Do you think that the TIGHAR expedition to Nikamaroro will turn up Amelia Earhart’s plane?

Amelia Earhart Mystery: Robots To Join Search For Missing Pilot’s Plane is a post from: The Inquisitr

The Amelia Earhart mystery has confused the world for decades, with no viable clues as to what became of the female aviator who took off for a flight around the equator with her navigator Fred Noonan in 1937.

The Daily Mail reports that researchers from the International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery (TIGHAR) announced that they have recovered a glass container on Nikumaroro Island, which was broken into five pieces.

When reassembled, the jar is an exact match to those used by Dr. C. H Berry’s Freckle Ointment, a cream with Earhart may have used to reduce freckles on her face.

ABC News reports that TIGHAR executive director Ric Gillespie stated on Friday:

“We do know that Earhart had freckles and she was conscientious about them.”

While they admit that they do not know for sure that the jar is the freckle cream (considering there is no cream remaining, and there is no label to say it is Dr. C. H Berry’s Freckle Ointment), they are certain that it is from a female cosmetic product.

Amelia Earhart mysteriously vanished on July 2, 1937, while flying over the Pacific Ocean in an attempt to fly around the world. Gillespie, when speaking about the search for answers to the mystery, stated:

“Once something like this gets started, it becomes iconic and it keeps connecting with generation after generation. One thing after another has kept this thing alive.”

Gillespie believes that the researchers at TIGHAR have found a westerner’s camp on the island, which is the same place where a team in 1940 found human remains, which have since been lost before they could be identified. Gillespie stated:

“This is one of several bottles that we’ve identified from the castaway campsite that seem to be and, in some cases, are very definitely personal care products that were marketed exclusively to women in the United States in the 1930s.”

The researchers believe that the primitive camp was used by Earhart and Noonan, although they cannot confirm it. They detailed that the jar was found in five pieces, with one being found near the bones of a turtle, possible used as a cutting tool. Other fish and eel bones were also discovered, and Gillespie notes that their remains indicate western meal preparation instead of natives. He told ABC News that:

“This is not a Pacific Islander. This is a westerner grabbing anything they can find and cooking it and preparing it the way westerners do.”

While the latest find by Gillespie and researchers at TIGHAR is interesting, there is still no definite proof that the jar, or the primitive camp, belonged to Amelia Earhart.

Check out more information about the Amelia Earhart mystery here:

Amelia Earhart: Jar Of Freckle Cream Could Be Latest Clue To Solving Mystery is a post from: The Inquisitr

The disappearance of Amelia Earhart 75 years ago remains one of the great unsolved mysteries of American aviation.

On July 2, 1937, Earhart, her navigator Fred Noonan and her Lockheed Electra all disappeared on a trans-Pacific flight. Pilot, navigator and plane have all remained missing since.

However, investigators think they may have uncovered evidence of where Earhart met her premature death. A new enhanced analysis of a photo (below) taken on the Pacific atoll of Nikumaroro seems to show part of her plane’s landing gear floating near a reef. The picture was snapped three months after Earhart and Noonan disappeared.

Ric Gillespie is executive director of The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery (TIGHAR), and he revealed details of the new analysis at a press conference in Washington on Tuesday. Gillespie told reporters:

“We found some really fascinating and compelling evidence. Finding the airplane would be the thing that would make it conclusive.”

The photo is not new to Earhart investigators, but this fresh analysis from 2010 has aroused new suspicions that it could be part of Earhart’s plane in the October 1937 photo. Gillespie said he was convinced, boldly stating:

“This is where the airplane went into the drink.”

Such is Gillespie’s confidence, he’ll be leading a privately funded investigation aboard a University of Hawaii research vessel to try and locate the wreckage of Earhart’s plane. Gillespie and volunteers will be searching deep waters off a flat reef on Nikumaroro. The Discovery Channel will join the group to film the exploration for TV.

Here’s the photo that’s triggered the new speculation:

Amelia Earhart Mystery: New Clue Uncovered By Investigators is a post from: The Inquisitr