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Subscribe to RSSSeventy-five years after the disappearance of Amelia Earhart, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is lending her support to a new investigation into the mystery surrounding the famed aviator's final flight. NBC's Chris Jansing reports.
WASHINGTON -- Following new analysis of a photo that could show wreckage of Amelia Earhart's plane, the Obama administration on Tuesday said it was backing a search this summer to hopefully solve the mystery of America's greatest female aviator.
"We can be as optimistic and even audacious as Amelia Earhart," Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said at a ceremony in Washington, D.C., to announce U.S. support for the expedition. "There is great honor and possibility in the search itself."
The search by The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery will focus on the remote island of Nikumaroro, in what is now the Pacific nation of Kiribati.
The group believes Earhart and her navigator Fred Noonan might have managed to land on the island, then known as Gardner Island, and that they could have survived for a short time after disappearing on July 2, 1937.
Other historians believe they crashed into the ocean. But conspiracy theories, including claims that they were U.S. government agents captured by the Japanese before World War II, abound despite having been largely debunked.
The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery
This 1937 photo was presented Tuesday as having been analyzed by experts to reveal an object in the water, not easily visible at this scale, showing what might be the landing gear and a wheel from an aircraft.
New analysis of a photo taken at Nikumaroro three months after the disappearance shows what some people believe could be a strut and wheel of the plane protruding from the water, the group says. State Department analysts helped examine the photo.
The hypothesis is that the plane crashed on a reef before eventually being washed deeper into the sea.
The group hopes that probes down the reef slope will reveal larger aircraft parts such as the engines lying in a dim "twilight zone" about 300 yards below the ocean surface.
A photo taken just three months after Earhart disappeared may provide new evidence of famed aviator's plight. The group that plans to conduct the deepwater search believes her airplane is still recoverable. NBC's Chris Jansing reports.
Renowned oceanographer Robert Ballard, who discovered the wreckage of the Titanic and the Bismarck and is advising the Earhart expedition, said the new analysis of the photograph could be the equivalent of a "smoking gun" as it narrows the search area from tens of thousands of square miles to a manageable size.
In 2010, bone fragments were found on the island that the group believes might be of Earhart or Noonan. Other artifacts have been recovered there as well that suggest the two might have lived for days or weeks after landing on a reef.
The privately funded group is putting up $500,000 for the search. The U.S. won't provide money but will offer limited logistical support. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood joined Clinton at the ceremony.
Ric Gillespie, the executive director of the group, said the new search is scheduled to last for 10 days in July and will use state-of-the-art underwater robotic submarines and mapping equipment. The Discovery Channel will film the expedition for a television documentary, he said. He acknowledged that the evidence was circumstantial but "strong" but stopped well short of predicting success.
Discovery of bones and other artifacts on a remote island have proven inconclusive in the search of famed pilot Amelia Earhart. NBC's Janet Shamlian has the story.
"The most important thing is not whether we find the ultimate answer or what we find, it is the way we look," he said. "We see this opportunity to explore ... the last great American mystery of the 20th century as a vehicle for demonstrating how to go about figuring out what is true."
"Back in 1937, in the painful recovery from the Great Depression, Amelia Earhart's courage and determination inspired the American people," he added. "Well, hard times are here again and we need that type of courage and determination again ... we're going to try our best to find her, not for ourselves, but for you," the public.
Details about the planned expedition
Explainer: Earhart and other famous mysteries
The expedition will coincide with the 75th anniversary of Earhart's departure on the ill-fated attempt to become the first woman to fly around the world.
NBC's Catherine Chomiak and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
More than 70 years after Amelia Earhart disappeared over the Pacific during her around-the-world flight, documents and photos are being released that shed new light on one of aviation's greatest mysteries. NBC's Chuck Henry reports.
More content from msnbc.com and NBC News:
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Exactly who is the community that collapses the comments? Any negative remark regarding current administration is collapsed, no matter how insignificant the comment.
Bigfoot does it
Because it's about Amelia Earhardt! Follow your agenda somewhere else!
Hi everyone,
It's me Michelle and after looking for about an hour I found nothing of this Amelia chick. Can't wait to see you, Shasha and Maila when you get here at Martha's Vineyard.
Toodles
Why didn't the U.S. Government offer logistical support " Poncho Barnes", and her lawyers back in the 60's when the USAF. took her property, and business at "Edwards" by using (Eminent Domain) because she wouldn't roll over for them, and the weasel C.O. at Edwards. She was a better pilot than A.E. ask those that know.
I'm all for finding this aviation legend but she is not close to being the greatest female aviator, nor even the best female aviator of her time. She navigated by her gut feeling which almost got her killed a few times and contributed to her navigator, Harry Manning, quitting. Instead of learning how to use essential radio equipment, she just took it out of her Electra which most likely was a cause of her "disappearance." When I think of the greatest women of aviation I think of "Pancho" or Trout or dozens of other women who unfortunately don't get the attention that Earhart does.
The right wing religious fanatics among us are still upset that after spouting off that “if man were meant to fly God would have given him wings” was ignored. Then a woman wearing pants dares to set flying records. Of course they don’t want to find her body. After another 50 years they can claim the whole thing was a Hollywood myth.
Look Boss! The plane, the plane! Oh sorry. That was Fantasy Island.
I believe this should be turned over to Geraldo for complete discovery.
i thought our counrty was broke, we will spend millions for nothing
We all know that EVERY decision Obama makes will be met with objection from selfish right-wingers who object to EVERYTHING he proposes. In this case, we should be wondering about the "contemporary photo" that shows what some people believe could be a strut and wheel of the plane protruding from the water. After all these years, the strut and wheel is still intact? That's harder to believe than a republican supporting anything the president does.
Let him "propose" something that not out to drain the "piggy bank" that's not what it was before he showed up to piss it away, as did G.W.Bush with these unnecessary wars when we could have just bombed those cave dwellers back to the dark ages, and not put boots on the ground, and every time they were to stick their nose's out do it again. I'm sure that others too have thought's on this!
Obama has little or nothing to do with this forum. While some college hirelings put pro and con Obama trash into every forum, reasonable people ought to be able to spot such junk and just make like its not there.
I thought this was a forum about taxpayer money being spent to locate one of the more bizarre aviation pioneers that bought the farm. I think Amelia deserves no less but certainly no more effort and respect than any of these early pioneers. Some like Lindbergh and Doolittle got it done. Others like Earhart didn't. This is not to belittle her; but the far reaches of the oceans, deserts and arctic wastes have many remnants of these aviation pioneers. Earhart's memory is her deeds. Her plane and bones? Worth the effort? I don't know.
And Obama? He has his own forums. Don't laud or belittle him here.
I'm all for finding this aviation legend but she is not close to being the greatest female aviator, nor even the best female aviator of her time. She navigated by her gut feeling which almost got her killed a few times and contributed to her navigator, Harry Manning, quitting. Instead of learning how to use essential radio equipment, she just took it out of her Electra which was most likely a cause of her "disappearance." When I think of the greatest women of aviation I think of "Pancho" Barnes or Bobbi Trout or dozens of other women who unfortunately don't get the attention that Earhart does.
"Logistical Support.." to the tune of how much money? Sounds cheap, but knowing how the US government can find a way of making something simple in to a multi-million dollar thing I'm sure it won't be. Finding the remains, wherever they may be, will not bring Earhart or Noonan back to life. Sorry they had to die doing what they did, but what's done was done a long time ago and the effort and money to do this "search" should be put towards more meaningful things that people can actually benefit from today.
I heard that Obama’s share of the women’s vote was dwindling. Anybody else see a connection here? What’s a few million taxpayer dollars if it can help buy a few more votes. It’s not like the country is in debt or anything.
Type what you like...say what you feel...you will get many different view points no matter what information you feed this.People read and see what they want...which doesn't always add up to what is stated.Yes there are a lot of problems with our government...yes we are in dept..yes we sometimes spend money foolishly..life goes on...we continue to drive for a better tomorrow.But what makes us stand apart from the rest of the world is our lasting belief in doing the right thing.God bless our country and God bless Amelia
So they searching for someone that has been dead for over a century?? They dont even put in any effort to find the African American children that are missing right now we even had to get our own show (Find our Missing) on Tv One because this messed up country could care less about us smh. This country has their priorities screwed up
I believe she's alive and well. I"d rather think that then dead. Or she was so damn smart and the Ancient Aliens knew this so they captured her. Yerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrp cuz she was one of the great ones. Yeeeeeeeeee hawwwwwwwwwwwww
It would be great to solve this mystery. Based on earlier exploration results, I think it is highly probable Amelia and Fred were marooned on this island. They found glass bottles from the period whose bottoms were slightly melted, like they had been held over a fire to sterilize water in them. They also found pieces of a pocket knife that would plausibly been either carried by one of them or in the plane's tool kit/survival kit. Remains will be nearly impossible to find, at least any of significant size, due to the island crabs. We need them to find a piece of the plane itself - a piece that can be verified as coming from THE plane, and then the mystery can be put to rest.
The mystery of Amelia Earhart has continued to haunt all those who admired her work. Amelia represented all that is good about America, adventurous, exploring, and questioning and the excitement of being the first. Many have chosen to follow Amelia Earhart legacy as it is the best. Let’s hope that more can be learned. We will all be waiting for new developments. Robert Deardorff Jacksonville, Florida
I just dont understand what all the excitement is for...........
Then please study some history and work to develop a sense of curiosity. Both will help you. Not an insult, just some advice from someone who's done both.
I think its great the gov't is stepping up to try and finally find Amelia.
But Gillispie is a dork- he ( and his team) were the ones that uncovered plane fuselage wreckage and then announced to the world that he had found Earharts plane wreckage and definitive proof she had crashed on an island- only to have the metal tested and find out it was NOT related to Earharts plane afterall. OOPS. Talk about a major dagger to future credibility.
Maybe they have stumbled on to something, but Gillespies' team has been scoffed at for overdramatizing articles found on Nikumaroro when its a fact that US/American soldiers and visitors have stayed on the island during the time and years after Earharts disaapearance, and the island was also inhabited by natives of Nikumaroro.
Finding "items" such as pocket knives or makeup cases would not be something out of the ordinary.
Finding fuselage of landing gear tied to Earharts plane..now that is something worth announcing to the world.
And how many hungry Americans will go without a decent meal today so they can waste money burnishing the myth of Amelia, who wasn't even a good pilot? Notice too, that all the media attention goes to find her remains, but barely any mention is made of her navigator? What a colossal farce and waste.
Well she smashed that plane up so bad on her initial try that if they found model T parts out there, who can say they'd not be from her plane? How many planes from anywhere crashed out there before and since anyhow? Is there dozens of wrecks? And who knows how that thing was glued and gaffer-taped back together? Anyone here heard of the DC-2-1/2?
louise...HERO? i think not. an adventurist,yes, hero, NOT! heros are our american military, fire fighters and police....please!
Really? And how much of our tax money will go to this circus? It's one thing for private individuals to spend half a $mil adding to the Earhart myth, but now our Government?!? Hillary, stick to foreign affairs, OK?
It can't cost the taxpayers more that the #1 daughter going on spring break with 25 secret service agents. Only Drudge had the fortitude to report that and show pictures. MSNBC, Fox and CNN couldn't spin the expense to the admin's good; so, they just ignored it.
Guess 16 vacations in 3 years isn't enough!
Not arguing any gender related issues or possible accomplishments, but why has the federal government not used their "logistical support" to return POWs and MIAs back home. The fought for and served their country without question. They worked as a team, not seeking individual fame or personal gain. As the son of a veteran, I feel any support would be better served bringing peace to families of our soldiers.
This is indeed exciting, but with that said I do not know that we should be spending any government funds to chase down this possibility. But I also do not subscribe to the "how many people could be fed with that money" ideal. And in that vein I believe in a "handup not a handout" it is not the job of the government or the American people to feed anyone...fiscal responsibility is must as is PERSONAL responsibility. To have the Amelia Earhart mystery solved would be faboulous though.
After a plane crash and seventy plus years rotting in the ocean, she still probably looks better than Hilary and Moochelle put together.
Or Barbara and Laura Bush.