The key facts
- A team of researchers arrived on Nikumaroro to examine the 'Taraia object,' spotted on satellite imagery in 2020.
- According to Purdue University, the object is likely large trees on a sandbar of the Taraia peninsula.
- Earhart's and navigator Fred Noonan's disappearance in 1937 remains a mystery; one hypothesis is an emergency landing on Nikumaroro.
The object turned out to be, likely, trees
Researchers who traveled to the Pacific island of Nikumaroro (Kiribati) to check whether the shiny object spotted on 2020 satellite imagery in the lagoon of the Taraia peninsula was wreckage of Amelia Earhart's plane concluded that it is most likely not a plane. Purdue University, which plays a leading role in the research, reported that the so-called 'Taraia object' is probably 'a cluster of large trees deposited on the sandbar of the peninsula.' According to the university, the object was visible in photographs up until 1938, and researchers had suggested it was the remains of a small aircraft in shallow water.
Expedition conditions
The team traveled to Nikumaroro by sea for five days. Due to strong waves and wind, the researchers had to stay on the vessel for several days, which delayed the search on the island. On shore, they spent four days examining the site. By the time of their arrival, a significant part of the object had collapsed and been washed away — only one Y-shaped fragment remained, the university side reported.
The mystery continues
'This mystery has lasted 90 years, and the mystery continues,' said project leader Rick Pettigrew near the site of the find. According to him, 'the island keeps its secrets and continues to do so,' and he believes that 'eventually someone will find irrefutable evidence here.'
Context of Earhart's disappearance
Amelia Earhart's plane vanished without a trace in 1937 on the second-to-last leg of her attempt to fly around the globe. She successfully flew her twin-engine Lockheed Electra from California through South America, Africa and Asia and arrived in Lae (Papua New Guinea). Earhart and her navigator Fred Noonan planned to fly to Hawaii and then return to California, but the plane disappeared during an attempt to reach the uninhabited coral island of Howland for refueling — it is located approximately 400 miles (644 km) from Nikumaroro. One theory suggests that Earhart, due to a navigation error, ended up near Nikumaroro, where she made a water landing and died as a castaway.
Image source, Archaeological Legacy Institute
A satellite image of the so-called Taraia Object, which some had hypothesised could have been Amelia Earhart's plane, in a lagoon on Nikumaroro
Image source, Getty Images
Amelia Earhart disappeared over the Pacific Ocean while piloting her Electra plane in 1937
