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Modern Mysteries

Amelia Earhart plane fragment identified

By T.K. Randall
October 30, 2014 · Comment icon 20 comments

Earhart's plane disappeared without a trace in 1937. Image Credit: Harris and Ewing
Researchers believe that they have conclusively identified a piece of the aviation pioneer's aircraft.
The disappearance of Amelia Earhart while flying over the Pacific in 1937 has remained one of the modern world's most enduring mysteries, but now efforts to piece together what actually happened to her twin-engined Lockheed Electra on that fateful day have yielded what is believed to be the first true idenficiation of a piece of debris from the wreckage.

The metal fragment was actually found back in 1991 along a coral reef in the south-western Pacific republic of Kiribati and matches an identical piece seen in a photograph of Earhart's plane. The comparison was originally suggested back in July but researchers have since been able to conclusively match the metal patch with one from an actual Lockheed Electra that had been restored to an airworthy condition in Kansas.
"This is the first time an artefact found on Nikumaroro has been shown to have a direct link to Amelia Earhart," said Ric Gillespie of The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery.

"The Miami Patch was an expedient field repair. Its complex fingerprint of dimensions, proportions, materials and rivet patterns was as unique to Earhart's Electra as a fingerprint is to an individual."

Source: News.com.au | Comments (20)




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Recent comments on this story
Comment icon #11 Posted by Capt. 10 years ago
Here's a link to an article, with a newer picture of the fragment. http://www.philly.co...snt_closed.html Pretty http://io9.com/did-coconut-crabs-really-hide-amelia-earharts-remains-1571944416 http://news.discovery.com/history/us-history/amelia-earhart-castaway-clues-island.htm It is a nice looking island except for the lack of fresh water. Maybe some floating solar distillers. Some win turbines and H2 tidal generators would not hurt either.
Comment icon #12 Posted by DONTEATUS 10 years ago
I have to agree with rafterman on this one a piece of the orig aircraft out in the weather would be really close to 90% disloved into alumin-powder !
Comment icon #13 Posted by Merc14 10 years ago
I guess they will have to find the remains of the aircraft or her bones to prove their case irrefutably.
Comment icon #14 Posted by Hammerclaw 10 years ago
Perhaps, but keep in mind that TIGHAR rolls out some kind of "find" about this time every year in order to drive funding for their next expedition - you know, the one that's going to finally going to find the plane. So far, they aren't very credible. Yeah, and I read about that scrap of metal at least a year or two ago, and the exact same claim. It's not like the island was pristine. There was plenty of human activity there for over two decades.
Comment icon #15 Posted by Hammerclaw 10 years ago
Considering the fragment was found in 1991 and Gillespie held a press conference in 1992 claiming the exact same things, one wonders if his current announcement saying essentially the very same things is an act desperation. http://www.msn.com/e...j8?ocid=U147DHP
Comment icon #16 Posted by Likely Guy 10 years ago
I don't know why, but this is an unexplained mystery that I'd be somehow disappointed if it was finally explained. I'd rather imagine her happily flying along, blissfully forever.
Comment icon #17 Posted by Myles 10 years ago
I'm not buying this. An above poster is correct that every few years they "solve" this mystery. To me it's inconclusive. I've heard this story a dozen times. Need more proof and skeletal remains matching her DNA. Except the coconut crabs got to her right?? I'm buying it. Of course not 100%, but there isn't anything that really doesn't line up. The place and the piece all fit the puzzle well. We'll see if this leads to anything else.
Comment icon #18 Posted by GreenmansGod 10 years ago
Maybe they could get James Cameron to check out the area for the rest of the plane. He has all the toys to do it with.
Comment icon #19 Posted by paperdyer 10 years ago
Aluminum doesn't corrode easily unless it's in contact with another metal such as copper, so the scrap could still be very viable for identification purposes.I'd like to think she survived and lived out her life on an island, but that's doubtful.
Comment icon #20 Posted by Poltergeistnz 10 years ago
Maybe they could get James Cameron to check out the area for the rest of the plane. He has all the toys to do it with. Yeah... as long as he doesn't make an awful movie out of it!


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