There’s nothing like an unsolved mystery to keep you up at night. In 1937, Amelia Earhart (the first woman to fly across the Atlantic Ocean by herself) and her navigator, Fred Noonan, vanished without a trace as they attempted to fly across the Pacific Ocean. Now, 75 years later, researchers calling themselves the TIGHAR are attempting to recover the wreckage of her plane in hopes of discovering what happened to her.
There are many theories regarding why she disappeared, one being that the plane ran out of fuel, crashed and sank in the Pacific. Others believe the plane crashed in the Phoenix Islands because a piece of Plexiglas that could have come from Amelia’s plane and a shoe that looked like it could have belonged to her were both found. Some even go as far as saying that she was spying on the Japanese during the war while others believed the far-fetched rumour that she moved to New Jersey and assumed another identity.
The research team thinks that the plane landed in Nikumaroro where Amelia and Fred survived for weeks or maybe even months. Artifacts found on the island such as anti-freckle cream, a zipper, small bottle used to boil water and a pocket knife were believed to belong to Amelia and could have been used in her attempt to battle the harsh conditions of the island. They also found fish bones and clam shells that look like they were eaten by someone who was unfamiliar with the animals.
The fact remains that no skeletons were officially found. Remains were uncovered in 1940 and were believed to belong to a woman, but they were never tested and were eventually lost. However convincing the artifacts might be, they do not tell us what really happened to Amelia Earhart. Nevertheless, they might be bringing researchers one step closer to uncovering the truth!