New Amelia Earhart Evidence

[ExCyment]

I think this is pretty convincing, very plausible, and they were likely executed as spies shortly after. The Japanese had no problem at all executing people at the time. Spent some time on Wake Island which was one of the most interesting places I have ever been. It was attacked at sunrise the same day as Pearl Harbor, but because it is across the dateline it was the Dec 8th. The marines held out for about 3 weeks but eventually fell. Around a 100 captured civilians were executed in 1942 shortly after finishing a runway. All the captured Marines, there weren't many, were sent to POW camps on the mainland were most died as well.

 

[ISU85]

Looking at a map makes this seem extremely unlikely from what is known from Navy reports:

1. They took off from Papua New Guinea.
2. They made contact with the Navy ship Itasca, which was positioned near Howland Island to help guide them in.
3. Earhart told the Itasca they were low on fuel.
4. The last signals from Earhart were some of the strongest that the Itasca received.

If they were low on fuel and close enough to the Itasca for strong radio contact, how could they have gotten anywhere near the Marshall Islands? That's 1000 miles away.

 

[thatguy]

Looking at a map makes this seem extremely unlikely from what is known from Navy reports:

1. They took off from Papua New Guinea.
2. They made contact with the Navy ship Itasca, which was positioned near Howland Island to help guide them in.
3. Earhart told the Itasca they were low on fuel.
4. The last signals from Earhart were some of the strongest that the Itasca received.

If they were low on fuel and close enough to the Itasca for strong radio contact, how could they have gotten anywhere near the Marshall Islands? That's 1000 miles away.

Because the Itasca never received those radio signals! Don't believe the US Government, especially during those times! SHEEPALE

 

[Acylum]

The show seems pretty convincing so far.

 

[dualthreat]

Just think, all of this could have been avoided had she started her journey by trying to take flight from a treadmill. She would have never lifted off.

 

[BoxsterCy]

The spying thing is just silly too me. It was 1937 and there was nothing out there to see accept thousands of miles of ocean. Hell, Guam was closer to anything to see and the Pan American clippers flew in there all of the time. Future bases like Rabaul weren't even in Japanese hands then and Truk was not even close. On her planned flight route there was nothing of interest in 1937. 1937 was not 1942.

 

[Gorm]

I really hope this streams somewhere. I'd like to see it.

 

[CYCLNST8]

The spying thing is just silly too me. It was 1937 and there was nothing out there to see accept thousands of miles of ocean. Hell, Guam was closer to anything to see and the Pan American clippers flew in there all of the time. Future bases like Rabaul weren't even in Japanese hands then and Truk was not even close. On her planned flight route there was nothing of interest in 1937. 1937 was not 1942.

Agreed. She was carrying as little weight as possible; I doubt she'd agree to bulky camera equipment or contributing in any way to a war effort (at that time).

That doesn't mean she couldn't have gotten lost in adverse weather among dozens of indistinguishable atolls. The Japanese also certainly may have considered her and Noonan spies whether they were or not. If they were treated harshly while in Japanese custody, I'm sure whatever records existed were destroyed long ago.

 

[weR138]

Well my day has been ruined by personal research thanks to this thread.

This photo coupled with eyewitness testimony from the area is hard for me to dismiss. While I doubt the U.S. secretly enlisted Earhart & Noonan as spies, I'd bet Japan thought they were. Earhart could have been lost and ditched at the nearest atoll she could find not knowing it was Japanese territory & they could potentially be treated harshly. The biggest problem for me is:

Why would Japan want to keep their imprisonment a secret? Perhaps they were tortured before their celebrity status was realized?

This one is actually pretty easy to answer. The Empire of Japan became hyper paranoid and hyper secretive during the 30's. Kind of like North Korea now.

So far the best debunking comment I've heard regarding this is, "If Earhart and Noonan were captured by the Japanese...where are the Japanese? There aren't any soldiers in the photos nor do "Earhart" or "Noonan" look to be under any sort of duress...

 

[CYCLNST8]

So far the best debunking comment I've heard regarding this is, "If Earhart and Noonan were captured by the Japanese...where are the Japanese? There aren't any soldiers in the photos nor do "Earhart" or "Noonan" look to be under any sort of duress...

I just saw an interview about this on MSNBC (I believe). The Japanese were on their way to collect them. In the photo they had just been rescued by locals and were waiting. Things may have been relaxed until they found themselves traveling west in a brig.

 

[CRCy]

This one is actually pretty easy to answer. The Empire of Japan became hyper paranoid and hyper secretive during the 30's. Kind of like North Korea now.

So far the best debunking comment I've heard regarding this is, "If Earhart and Noonan were captured by the Japanese...where are the Japanese? There aren't any soldiers in the photos nor do "Earhart" or "Noonan" look to be under any sort of duress...

I just don't buy it. Could it have happened? Sure, I just think they rely on far too many assumptions to make it work.

 

[CYCLNST8]

where are the Japanese?

My mistake- the ship in the photo has been identified as the Koshu Maru. So they had already been taken into Japanese custody. Jaluit was probably a refueling/supply stop.

[edit]: Jaluit was the administrative seat of the Japanese held Marshall islands. Stopping there first makes sense.

Again; things may have actually been quite cordial until the questioning began.

It isn't hard for me to believe the IJN would be sneaky/secretive in 1937. Does "Pearl Harbor" ring any bells?

 

[JayV]

My mistake- the ship in the photo has been identified as the Koshu Maru. So they had already been taken into Japanese custody. Jaluit was probably a refueling/supply stop.

The Japanese ship is (based on this show) towing a barge with her Lockheed. The plane was loaded onto the barge at the atoll it wrecked on. Why do the Japanese go to the trouble to move the plane across the atoll (after it suffered, at best, a hard landing on that coral), then load it on a barge, tow it around, only to then destroy it and get rid of it? Why not abandon it where it was, or toss a couple grenades in, or even pull it off the atoll and into the ocean? They allegedly went to a lot of work to move a crashed plane around way more than necessary.

 

[ZB4CY]

The Japanese ship is (based on this show) towing a barge with her Lockheed. The plane was loaded onto the barge at the atoll it wrecked on. Why do the Japanese go to the trouble to move the plane across the atoll (after it suffered, at best, a hard landing on that coral), then load it on a barge, tow it around, only to then destroy it and get rid of it? Why not abandon it where it was, or toss a couple grenades in, or even pull it off the atoll and into the ocean? They allegedly went to a lot of work to move a crashed plane around way more than necessary.

I'm sure they would've wanted to take it back to the main atoll to rummage through it. Radios, flight plans, ect could have been on their mind to figure out if she was a spy.

 

[weR138]

I'm sure they would've wanted to take it back to the main atoll to rummage through it. Radios, flight plans, ect could have been on their mind to figure out if she was a spy.

...maps, cameras, etc., etc.

It wouldn't surprise me if they simply wanted to hide it somewhere that no one could just stumble upon it.

 

[CYCLNST8]

Why do the Japanese go to the trouble to move the plane across the atoll (after it suffered, at best, a hard landing on that coral), then load it on a barge, tow it around, only to then destroy it and get rid of it? Why not abandon it where it was, or toss a couple grenades in, or even pull it off the atoll and into the ocean? They allegedly went to a lot of work to move a crashed plane around way more than necessary.

Some allege the plane was actually intact and destroyed by U.S. Military when the war ended to keep it a secret. Military intelligence knew she was in Japanese custody, but couldn't make the information public because they didn't want Japan to know we had cracked their codes.

Rather than suffer a black eye from public backlash, her status as an "expendable" POW has been kept top secret ever since.

 

[runbikeswim]

There are just some things that are hard to refute, and some things that are puzzling. There are several hundred eye witnesses in Saipan that all claim to have seen Earhart. Perhaps they are all "making it up" for legends sake. As are the 2 dozen or so US Serviceman who gave eyewitness accounts.

While that photo isn't clear, the fact that ship is towing a barge with an airplane that is exactly the same size as hers, is, hard to ignore. And, while I won't say that woman looks like her, the guy really really looks like Noonan, a lot, the nose, the hairline. And, how many white people were there in these islands in the 30s where there would be a man and a woman together, that the guy looks like Noonan and the woman had a similar appearance to Earhart in body, hair, face.

As others have pointed out, what doesn't add up is the whole flight pattern issue.

The biggest haters of this theory, are, ahem, National Geographic, who have funded tons of research in support of another guys theory that they want to "break," so they have a vested interest in this being untrue.

 

[clonedude]

So many things make me think this story is true, however, I just can't really buy their story about how she ended up so far off course in the Marshall Islands. That seemed like a BIG reach to me.

 

[JayV]

The photo claiming to show AE and FN was published prior to their flight:

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news...im-amelia-earhart-was-taken-prisoner-by-japan

 

[thatguy]

So many things make me think this story is true, however, I just can't really buy their story about how she ended up so far off course in the Marshall Islands. That seemed like a BIG reach to me.

you know, unless, she was spying for the U.S. and taking pictures of the Marshalls....