Expedition to a Remote Pacific Island Fails to Find Fresh Clues in Hunt for Amelia Earhart’s Plane
Researchers found no plane wreckage and said the Taraia Object was likely washed-up trees, though they uncovered other artifacts for further study.
- On Monday, Purdue University and Archaeological Legacy Institute researchers concluded the 'Taraia Object' in Nikumaroro's lagoon is likely natural debris, not Amelia Earhart's missing Lockheed Electra.
- Visible in aerial photos since 1938 and flagged in 2020 satellite imagery, the anomaly spurred the 17-person expedition to remote Kiribati to investigate theories about Earhart's disappearance.
- Using sonar and magnetometers to survey the site, researchers found no aircraft wreckage; the team recovered a 30-inch steel tube requiring further analysis, Purdue said.
- Giant coconut crabs made overnight stays on Nikumaroro impractical, forcing the team to sleep aboard their support vessel while documenting the site, expedition reports stated.
- Despite ruling out the Taraia Object, Purdue general counsel Steve Schultz maintains the castaway hypothesis remains plausible, citing historical artifacts including a woman's shoe discovered in 1940.
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Search for Amelia Earhart’s plane continues after expedition examines site
NIKUMARORO, Kiribati — The Taraia Object expedition, a joint effort by the Archaeological Legacy Institute, Purdue Research Foundation and Purdue University, announced Monday that it found no conclusive evidence to confirm a hypothesis that wreckage from Amelia Earhart’s Lockheed Electra…
It failed, for the umpteenth time, a new attempt to unravel the mystery that, 89 years ago, surrounds the disappearance of the American aviator Amelia Earhart and her navigator Fred Noonan, somewhere in the Pacific Ocean, when they tried to turn the world around.
Researchers Claimed a Blurry Object on Apple Maps Was 'Very Likely' Amelia Earhart's Missing Plane. It Turned Out to Be a 'Collection of Large Trees'
A 17-person crew traveled to a remote atoll in the South Pacific to investigate the so-called Taraia Object. After surveying the site, the team announced that the anomaly was not a fragment of the long-lost Lockheed Electra aircraft
Mysterious object found in South Pacific wasn't Amelia Earhart's plane, Purdue team says
A Purdue University-backed expedition found no new clues to Amelia Earhart’s plane on a remote South Pacific island, but researchers uncovered items that could eventually help solve the enduring mystery.
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