It`s deep too.

Scientific evidence? Proven fact? Since when did these inconvientent things prevent the media from specualating on something? And look at all of us commenting on this article....it's just a story of "what ifs" and there are over 100 comments.

The news reports failed to mention that a log book was discovered. Handwriting experts have opined that the handwriting is consistent with Amelia's handwriting. Book experts have likewise opined that the book appears identmask ical to the log book purchased for Amelia's plane in 1936. The mystery is that many of the pages of the log book were either ripped out or severely damaged, and thus, there is no information regarding the fateful flight. However, the presence of the log book on the island seems to confirm that either Amelia crash landed there, or else, she landed somewhere else and the book was planted on the island for some undetermined purpose. For example, if Amelia had been spying on the Japanese for the US Navy, the OSS may have moved the log from the actual crash site to the island in effort to mask the real purpose of her flight. However, if that happened, then why was the log book kept a secret until now.

It's just an interest piece. News of new possibilities for a long-lived story is likely to generate at least some buzz and interest. Of course you are somewhat right, it's not based on any scientific fact yet, it's just conjecture, but the possibility is still kinda exciting for those following the story.

Either way, strange findings like that should at least open a dig spot to look for more clues on who might have ended up on that island. Odds are they will never be able to say with certainty what happened to this figure, much like how they will never know for sure exactly how the pyramids were constructed, or never know the exact purpose of Stonehenge.

I don't understand why everyone would be upset by a speculation piece. Considering the title is a question, I never got the impression this article is trying to convince me of anything, just speculating like alot of historians about what might have happened so many years ago with a famous figure.

The bones are fragments. They need to analyze them chemically, etc. to even determine the species for sure.

This bone is really old and weathered from being outdoors as well as looking similar to a sea turtle bone. Testing will prove its provenance for once and all.

Imagine building a story, from that evidence!

They found a sextant box that was the same model as the one Earhart's navigator had when they disappeared. Something that makes it seem possible to me is that this is the location that Earhart said she would aim for if she missed her first target (which was a relatively tiny island, easy to miss). Her last confirmed message said that that she was following a trajectory in this direction.

After she disappeared they sent a bunch of ships out looking for her. They went by this island and said they didn't see anything (like a crashed plane) although they did see "signs of habitation". I think there might be an embarrassment factor involved here if the military missed her (although why should there be?... World War II was waging and these ships were also responsible for military surveillance. It's not like they were lazy...)

melted bottoms sound like early hand made bottles the glob of glass on the bottom is called a pontal if so these bottles were made well before 1937. the automatic bottle blowing machine came into use circa 1910 there would only be a valve mark and the use of a pontal ended circa 1875 1880 when the use of what was known as a snap case. a device that gripped the bottle from the bottom to facilitate finishing the lip was used.

Free And Fed said: "The island has been uninhabited for decades, and there is literally nothing there -- no tourism, no accommodations, no fresh water, no nothing..."
Oh, really? Absolutely nothing on the island? And here I thought grass and other plants were something.

Siara-2293641 said: "World War II was waging..."
Dearie, World War Two didn't become a World War until 1939 -- two years AFTER Earhart's disappearance. Japan hadn't even started taking over any of the Southwest Pacific islands yet -- until 1941, the Japanese were concentrating on China and Southeast Asia. The searchers "saw signs of habitation" -- but didn't bother to look closer.

The melted bottom of the bottles was from them heating water in it to purify it - nothing gets by you Jlang. Think before you sound like an idiot.

Just checked the site out. It must be a tiny island. A question of different sort.

If there is no fresh water, how do the grasses and trees grow? Just wondering. I live on the Gulf Coast and we often go out to a deserted island. Beautiful sugar sand on one side, pine trees and other vegetation growing on other side. The name of the island is Anclote key. Any coments?

Rain?

Sorry Alan, I wasn't trying to offend,I guess I thought there was something more.I'm still intrigued by whole story and, along with many others I'm sure, wonder what really happened.

The news that the bones might be human is new. At first the archeologists assumed they were turtle bones.

According to other reports, they also found a piece of plexiglass that fits the shape of a window of the plane. Also - the reason these are only fragments is because a skeleton was found in the 1940's and sent to Britain on the hope that it was Earhart's. The doctor who examined it came to the conclusion that it wasn't hers but other researchers have read his notes and think he was wrong. Hard to say, since the skeleton seems to be no longer in existence. They also found a piece of a woman's shoe that resembles those that Earhart wore.

What Id like to know is what do people do with human skeletons that are sent to them for identification. If they say I dont know, do they throw them in the trash, or burry them in the back yard? You have to wonder if Amelia Earharts skeleton is all boxed up in some old storage room waiting to show up on Ebay. And Noonan. You would think that Earhart would have burried him. Or he burried her. So you would think we still have one whole skeleton that has yet to be found with artifacts. They each could have been burried with personal effects. All just waiting to be found. The plane is certainly gone. Washed off the edge of the beach by the pounding surf. If there are any doubters, Google SS America and see what surf does to a beached ocean liner.

Salt water (including salty air) quickly reduces aluminum to nothing as well. Let's hope they can locate the aircraft engines, either on the island or near the island underwater. I wonder if it may be in the lagoon?

I would find it hard to believe that a skeleton found on a remote island would ever be disposed of. There are only two ways to get to the island, land a plane or by boat. Anything with a remote possibility of human origin should have been kept.

I'm not sure about aircraft aluminum back in the 30's but anodized aircraft aluminum of today should be able to survive quite some time in even the worst conditions. We are talking a lot of time that has passed. There are other components of the plane that should have survived.

This will all depend on how much the effort is worth. How much would you pay to close the book on one person in history, two if you count Noonan?

I believe the British military flew over the island and said that they didn't see any signs of life at the time, though they did mention the signs of recent habitation.

Jen...She was kidnapped by aliens....that's the obvious answer.

You can spend millions on the keystone cops and your still going to get results no better than the keystone cops. That Island was discovered to show interesting signs, and some idiot crossed it off the list. In this case, history was written by an idiot. Years later skeletal remains were retrieved and sent to another idiot who both misidentified them and lost them. Fortunately there were notes made that were reexamined by smarter people. This has lead to the reexamination of that Island where hopefully there is something left yet to be discovered. Like a second burried skeleton.

Ryan, there were no tensions between the U.S. and Japan in 1937 -- and Japan had no military interest in that part of the Pacific Ocean at that time. The island is approximately 2,600 miles East-Northeast of Australia, and until 1941 Japan was concentrating on China and Southeast Asia -- not the deep-water regions of the Southwest Pacific.

To: TheQuackedOne: Tensions began to develop between the USA and Japan immediately following WW I. Japan felt betrayed by UK, France and USA in the Treaty of Versailles.

Ya know, I thought that was her. But where's Fred?

Fred went to the store for some cigs, and never came back.

I hope they eventually find evidence of the plane. There was a story once that some Japanese soldiers found the plane and removed it, but I never heard anything to support the story. Regardless, it is an interesting mystery.

you know what, I never thought of it that way, but your totally right. I mean, let's say we find out that it is her and she died on the island, and we found out how she died, so what (no sarcasm intended)??

The only thing we'll learn from this is, not to land on a deserted island. We can't bring her back to life, and we can't change the past or the future by finding this.

So really, can somebody tell me why we're wasting our money on this?

dmmffnppl: perhaps you should do more research. This isn't a government-sponsored search for Earhart's remains. This is done by a private organization whose funds come from private donations.

Its a very lonely thing to die while thinking you will never be found by anyone. A dozon prostitute bodies were found burried in the desert of New Mexico. The killer is still free, but the women were finally found. To be human is to recover our loved ones, no matter who they are, or how they died. And if recovery isnt possible, to mark a permanant memorial on the spot where they took their last breath. Its the trait that makes us human.

These inhumane whingers who are complaining about the costs of these searches don't care about basic humanity. They are the same people who don't want to fund birth control or choice for poor women but then foam at the mouth in outrage that welfare costs increase because poor women are forced to give birth to children they can't afford.

It makes no sense to me, either. One is either humane or not. The fact that this costs no tax dollars to anyone in the US doesn't dawn on these brain donor bozos. Whenever they see any science-related discovery, they leap on it and complain about the cost.

Of course, were it their loved one who was missing, no doubt they would be complaining a different tune. Each time a mystery is solved the entire science moves forward and we all benefit.

Yeah, the money should be spent on something far more useful -- like fighting a war over those non-existent "WMD's" in Iraq. What's the current tab on that one, after seven-plus years (and counting)?

I don't agree with Periodot's blanket stereotyping (or dragging this into a debate on irrelevant politics) , but to those who say, "So what?" -- really? There is more to living than just trying to balance the budget and worrying about current government programs. Have a sense of wonder and curiosity! Besides, if you died on a deserted island, after weeks or months of what could possibly have been countless unknown little heroisms (did one bury the other, despite the stifling heat? Did he sacrifice his final supply of water to give to her? Did one comfort the dying other?), bright points (it rained and you got water) and despair (you could see the rescue planes, but they didn't see you, or you lived for weeks after the death of your companion --- lonely, scared and with nothing but the crabs and nighttime stars and endless waves for company), it would only be the respectful thing for you and your relations/descendants to finally know how you ended up, bury what remains they could find, and give closure. It's an emotional argument to be sure, but I personally would find it horrifying to have lived and died like this, with the world never having known.

Yeah, the money should be spent on something far more useful -- like fighting a war over those non-existent "WMD's" in Iraq. What's the current tab on that one, after seven-plus years (and counting)?

Thank GOD you're stupid monday morning quarterback azz will never be President !

Why are people still searching for Ms. Earhart after all this time? Because humans are naturally curious, and care about more than just their daily lives.

As a privately funded venture I am all for it. Do what you must to close the books. If this was a tax funded search then I would have a serious issue just as I have an issue with rescuing people that take unnecessary risks. Mountain climbing would be high on that list. If you are doing it just so you can say you did or to get yourself in the history books that's perfectly fine with me but if something goes wrong don't expect tax dollars to fund the rescue. Political earmarks do not ask the taxpayer if it is okay to use the money, it is assumed by your elected official representing you that it is okay.

Something that happened over 70 years ago, voluntarily, isn't a tax payer issue today. This is not a heartless statement. Humans have choices in a lot of areas of life and you live and die with those choices. Your decisions should not cost anyone else.

Like Barry said, humans are naturally curious just as I am naturally curious to see what Hawaii looks like but I can't afford the trip. I haven't gone to the neighbors asking for a handout so I can see these beautiful islands for myself.

Keep all this privately funded and look for whatever it is you need to find. If you so choose you can charge people for the opportunity to look at your data as a cost recovery.

sorry about that F & F a steel beach picnic is just a cookout on deck usally a flight deck during some down time sailors would hang out play some music , eat a slider aka hamburger or some seagull aka chicken.

This Florida boy loves the south pacific ..i really miss it.

sailors have a habit of making up names for things some that are not general usage "steel beach" never heard of it.

As an ex-Air force man I can't help but wonder if all sailors fail to use punctuation or if it's just a few of them maybe we'll never know for sure hey maybe you did get close to where Earhart died I remember going on a lot of tarmac beach picnics myself we called them hockey pucks and roc though.

Ain't it a hoot tryin' to figure out where one sentence ends and the next begins?

Hey QuackedOne, be nice.

Quacked or is it The Righteous One? Do any of you ever consider a few things before making your statements about spelling, punctuation and grammar?

Education might be one of the problems but did you ever consider age? Did you ever consider computer skills? How about handicaps? People that hunt and peck when they type will take shortcuts just to get through it. Do these people have no right to comment?

For someone that has commented through this thread, that seems pretty educated, you are very narrow minded.

If you say so, Ted.

Free4 - Good idea normally, but I suspect sonar works best when there is a flat, muddy bottom, like some stretches of the ocean have, and when you are looking for a large, solid object -- which a smallish plane that was ripped apart by the elements wouldn't be. There is a lot of jagged coral and irregularities that would make trying to find shreds and pieces of a plane nearly impossible. Additionally, they speculated that it could just be too far down to ever find --- there are layered 'shelves' that lead off the island into the ocean, but shortly thereafter it becomes a steep abyssal drop into extremely deep waters that we simply can't easily reach, if at all. Interestingly, the Discovery show DID show TIGHAR finding a piece of coiled wire caught on a jagged part of a reef that could have come from an aircraft, but as the GPS on the submersible had been damaged, they weren't able to mark the spot for later retrieval.

They found the remains of campfires and various animals (turtles, fish, shellfish) that had been prepared western-style.

The current batch of articles doesn't seem to mention the fact that though the island isn't inhabited now there were various times during the 20th century when it was inhabited. There's also a big ship wreck off the island. So all these human artifacts weren't necessarily left by Earhart.

The theory is not that she crashed but that she landed on the reef, which has plenty of room at low tide according to experts. They wouldn't necessarily have been severely injured. The reef is covered up at high tide and that would have pulled the plane into the ocean.

Hey, Siara, what does it mean that the turtles, shellfish, etc were prepared "western style"? Does it mean they were "cooked"?

, ,,"''''?? rotflmao ... I believe she meant it was,nt cooked inside. oh smart one.

Are you a comedian or a troll ? Just asking because i see no value written on all your post and honestly they funny either.

If you don't cook crabs, lobster and other such related "shellfish", all you get is a gooey mess. So, if "western style" means they weren't cooked inside -- they weren't cooked, period. Again, does preparing something "western style" mean that it is "cooked"?

To RickRolled123: "...three minutes without air, three hours without shelter..."

Where do you dream this stuff up?? Three hours without shelter? You can survive a LOT longer than three hours without shelter - especially out in the Pacific (lived there over 18 years)... a heck of a lot longer than "three hours"

Check your facts, please...

Outdoors oh quacked one. BTW sorry you got kicked out of the AF now with the repel of DADT who knows maybe you can get back in.

4weeks without food 4 days without water 4 minutes without air usually provided your in reasonable health.

Quacked: From what I understand, having read excerpts from TIGHAR's site, 'Western Style' meant that they attempted to pry open the clams with a tool, like you would a standard, much smaller East Coast-type clam, whereas native Pacific Islanders tended to wait until they were open in the water, and cut the muscle that close the shell. Additionally, the way the clams were placed (in a circle, facing the diner, on a half shell)....were typical of American diners. I believe there was also something said about how the turtles' shells were found -- perhaps not cooked in the shell, but broken open?

RickRolled: That assumes that anyone taught either Earhart or Noonan the basics of 'wilderness' survival --- I know that, aside from what I've learned watching Discovery, I would have no clue how to purify or collect water, except to put out a bucket and hope for rain. And if it was hot (which it had been), and you were strenuously active (which they presumably would have been) you would need liters and liters of water. Collecting coconuts is one way, if you're willing to risk falling, scrapes and cuts that could get infected, and have the necessary tools to strip the husk and open them. (Preferably a machete, which I can't see an aviator carrying...) Somewhere I read -- sorry, can't remember where all the articles I pored over were from -- that it was most likely that a castaway would die of dehydration. I really don't know much about the weather patterns, temperature fluctuations, or what 'typical' days at that time of year, on that type of island, would be -- so if anyone knows, I'd love to hear more.

Someone had mentioned the possibility of finding buried bones -- I find it hard to believe that someone in a dehydrated, possibly injured condition would easily be able to dig an effective grave -- in fact, it would likely have been counter to survival to expend energy and sweat to bury a dead companion, particularly if you had to fend off huge, aggressive crabs trying to eat the body at the same time...

60 year? I don't care now!