Amelia Earhart Mystery: 47 Historical Photos of Remote Island Released After 88 Years

The Air Force Museum of New Zealand has released 47 high-resolution aerial photographs of Nikumaroro Island, a remote Pacific location linked to one of the leading theories about Amelia Earhart’s disappearance. Taken on Dec. 1, 1938, the photographs document the island about 17 months after the American aviator and her navigator, Fred Noonan, vanished during their attempt to fly around the world.

According to the museum, an amphibious biplane operated by the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) captured the images during a survey of Pacific islands for potential airbase locations. Matthew O’Sullivan, the museum’s keeper of photographs in Christchurch, discovered the negatives more than a decade ago.

The museum released the complete set in high-resolution digital format after receiving several requests for the images. Lower-resolution copies had previously appeared on blogs.

Historical Images Offer Clues to Earhart’s Disappearance

Earhart and Noonan disappeared on July 2, 1937, while attempting to circumnavigate the globe near the equator. Despite decades of searches, their fate and the location of Earhart’s Lockheed Model 10-E Electra aircraft remain unresolved.

One theory holds that the pair ran out of fuel and landed on Nikumaroro, then known as Gardner Island. Supporters of this castaway hypothesis argue that Earhart and Noonan may have survived on the island after an emergency landing.

Ric Gillespie, a longtime Earhart investigator, described the newly released photographs as a “goldmine” in his blog. The images offer a historical record that researchers can compare with recent photographs and other evidence gathered during searches of the island. The photographs show no immediate sign of a wreck or identifiable object in the area now central to the search, and they don’t establish that Earhart landed on Nikumaroro.

Supporters of the castaway theory have also cited possible signs of a campsite and artifacts, including glass from a jar believed to have contained cosmetic cream. Researchers have suggested that a castaway could have survived by collecting rainwater and eating fish and turtles, the findings haven’t conclusively established Earhart’s presence on the island.

Purdue University Expedition Investigates the Taraia Object

The latest search effort centers on an anomaly known as the Taraia Object, identified in satellite imagery in 2020 near the edge of a lagoon off Nikumaroro. Purdue University researchers subsequently identified the feature in historical aerial photography dating to 1938.

Researchers from Purdue University and the Archaeological Legacy Institute (ALI) reportedly departed Tarawa on Oct. 7 for a voyage to Nikumaroro, arriving on Oct. 12. The expedition is investigating whether the underwater feature could be associated with Earhart’s missing aircraft.

Based on estimates from aerial photographs, the object is believed to lie about 10 feet from the lagoon’s shore. Depending on the tide, it could be beneath as much as five feet of water, with an additional layer of sediment of unknown depth.

Rick Pettigrew, executive director of the ALI and expedition leader, told ABC News, “It could be within the next day or two that we are able to solve one of the biggest mysteries of the 20th century, that is, identifying the loss of electric aircraft.”

Pettigrew also described the team’s theory about the object’s condition, telling ABC News, “We think that it’s underneath sediment, which is below the water of the lagoon. We think that that location was deeper at that moment. It was subsequently covered up by sediment, kind of like a shipwreck on the beach.”

Researchers believe the feature may have become more visible after Tropical Cyclone Pam shifted sand around the island in 2015. They suggest that these changes may have exposed part of the object before it was identified in satellite imagery in 2020.

Not all researchers agree that the Taraia Object is the remains of Earhart’s aircraft. Gillespie and other longtime investigators have questioned the identification, suggesting the feature could be a fallen tree rather than the fuselage of a Lockheed Model 10-E Electra.

Search teams have visited Nikumaroro repeatedly over several decades, but Earhart’s fate remains unresolved. The disagreement over the Taraia Object highlights the need to distinguish between a feature identified in historical and satellite imagery and a confirmed aircraft wreck. Establishing its identity will require further examination and supporting evidence.

Severe Weather Delays Underwater Search Operations

Severe weather has hampered the expedition’s metal-detection operations, according to an update cited by AOL. Purdue University said the team remained on schedule despite the delay, with two more days of field operations planned and an update on the object’s identification expected.

Purdue University said in a statement, “Despite Thursday’s weather delay, the expedition remains on schedule, with two more days of field operations planned, and an update on the identification of the Taraia Object expected.”

Pettigrew also urged observers to allow the team time to assess its findings, saying in a separate statement, “We understand the tremendous interest in what we’re doing at Nikumaroro, and we appreciate everyone’s patience. This is a complex scientific process. You don’t simply arrive at a site and immediately identify what’s there. We have to carefully collect the data, analyse it and reach sound conclusions.”

The expedition’s findings could provide further evidence about the Taraia Object and its possible connection to Earhart’s missing aircraft. Researchers have yet to establish that link, leaving the aviator’s disappearance unresolved.