Amelia Earhart Plane Search: What Is the Strange Object Seen Near a Remote Pacific Island?
A team of researchers is sailing to a remote Pacific atoll to examine a mysterious shape in its lagoon that some believe could be Amelia Earhart’s long-lost plane. The expedition, led by the Archaeological Legacy Institute (ALI) and Purdue University, left Tarawa, Kiribati, on Wednesday, Oct. 7, bound for Nikumaroro Island. Earhart and navigator Fred Noonan vanished on July 2, 1937, during her attempt to fly around the world at the equator, and neither the pair nor their Lockheed Electra 10-E was ever found.
The object at the center of the search is called the Taraia Object. Purdue says it was first noticed in satellite imagery in 2020 and later confirmed in aerial photos of the lagoon taken as far back as 1938.
What Is the Taraia Object?
The Taraia Object is the name given to a visual anomaly in the lagoon of Nikumaroro, an atoll in the Phoenix Islands of Kiribati. It sits roughly halfway between Australia and Hawaii. Its apparent position has not changed since 1938, according to ALI and Purdue.
Nobody has yet confirmed what it is. National Geographic reported that experts disagree over whether it could be Earhart’s plane or something more ordinary, such as a submerged palm tree.
Why Researchers Think It Could Be Earhart’s Plane
The expedition rests on what ALI calls the Nikumaroro Hypothesis. It holds that Earhart did not crash at sea but landed on the island’s reef flat and was later stranded there. ALI says the idea draws on documentary records, photographs, satellite images, physical evidence and personal testimony.
“The evidence supporting the Nikumaroro Hypothesis remains compelling, and the only way to answer this question is to go to Nikumaroro, inspect the Taraia Object firsthand and follow the evidence wherever it leads,” ALI Executive Director Richard Pettigrew said in a statement.
Purdue’s involvement has a long history. Earhart worked at the university in the 1930s as an adviser to its aeronautical engineering department, and Purdue officials say the school has never before joined the search for the Electra. Steve Schultz, a Purdue senior vice president and an expedition member, told CBS News, “We owe it to Amelia’s legacy at Purdue to follow the evidence.”
How the Expedition Will Work
Fourteen team members and three Kiribati representatives are making the six-day sea voyage on a Kiribati National Shipping Line vessel, according to Purdue. Once on Nikumaroro, they plan to spend about five days examining the object.
Purdue said the team will use a side-scan sonar, a magnetometer and a hydraulic dredge. They will also collect tidal and environmental baseline data for Kiribati. The plan follows a delay: Purdue announced in October 2025 that a trip first planned for that year would move to 2026 because the project needed approvals from multiple levels of the Kiribati government. Kiribati’s cabinet later approved the expedition, according to General Aviation News.
Doubts From Other Researchers
Not everyone is convinced. CBS News reported that Ric Gillespie, executive director of the International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery, told NBC News in 2025 that he does not think the Taraia Object is connected to Earhart’s plane. Earlier searches in the area have also turned up nothing definitive, and one past sonar image was later determined to be a rock formation.
What Happens If It Is the Electra?
If the object proves to be Earhart’s aircraft, Purdue says additional expeditions would be needed to excavate and document the wreckage. Schultz told USA Today the university is discussing an agreement with Kiribati, which controls Nikumaroro, to take custody of any wreckage.
For now, the team’s findings are still unknown, and Purdue has been publishing updates as the voyage continues.
