Almost everyone today knows the enduring mystery of Amelia Earhart — but after nearly nine decades, scientists may have finally uncovered the location of her elusive plane crash.
Eighty-eight years ago, Earhart, the legendary female aviator with a spirit as adventurous as Indiana Jones, took to the skies for what would be her final flight. A trailblazer of her time, she shattered records as the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic, inspiring generations with her fearless ambition.
On that fateful journey, she and her navigator, Fred Noonan, aimed to make history by completing a groundbreaking flight around the world. Yet, their disappearance plunged the world into decades of uncertainty.
Now, after all these years, some experts believe they’ve unraveled the mystery behind their tragic fate.
What Really Happened to Amelia Earhart?
Amelia Earhart wasn’t just a pioneering pilot—she was a fearless trailblazer who shattered gender norms at every turn. Inspired by a daredevil stuntman who took her on a breathtaking 2,000-foot flight as a young woman, Earhart went on to become only the 16th woman to earn an aviation license.
Before soaring through the skies, she served as a nurse’s assistant in a Canadian military hospital during World War I and later worked as a social worker in 1925. Little did she know, she was destined to become one of history’s most iconic aviators, remembered almost a century later.
Despite decades of investigation, the exact circumstances of Earhart’s disappearance remain a mystery. However, based on the best available evidence, experts have pieced together the likely chain of events.
In 1937, Earhart embarked on a daring 29,000-mile (46,670 km) flight around the world, setting off from California and charting a course over Central and South America, Africa, Australia, and the Pacific. After six weeks in the air, she and her navigator, Fred Noonan, attempted the most challenging leg: a 20-hour flight from New Guinea to tiny Howland Island in the Pacific.
The U.S. Coast Guard was stationed to help guide them, but the island was never sighted, and Earhart and Noonan vanished without a trace.
One leading theory suggests that Noonan’s celestial navigation calculations didn’t account for crossing the International Date Line—a crucial error that could have led them roughly 400 miles off course. Earhart’s desperate radio distress calls were reportedly received 70 miles off Gardner Island, far from their intended destination.
Gardner Island, now known as Nikumaroro, is infamous for its giant coconut crabs, raising eerie speculation about what happened next.
Amelia Earhart’s Plane “Discovered”?
On July 2, researchers announced the launch of a new expedition to locate Earhart’s aircraft, based on satellite images revealing a shape resembling her plane partially buried along the beach of Nikumaroro Island—nearly 1,000 miles from Fiji.
Purdue University, which supported Earhart’s historic journey, plans to send a team to investigate the site this November. Steve Schultz, Purdue’s general counsel, told NBC News, “We believe we owe it to Amelia and her legacy at Purdue to fulfill her wishes, if possible, to bring the Electra back.”
Richard Pettigrew, director of Oregon’s Archaeological Legacy Institute, says the object’s size and materials closely match Earhart’s Lockheed Electra, and the location aligns with four of her radio distress signals.
Adding to the intrigue, American-made artifacts and a medicine vial found nearby suggest Earhart may have indeed landed on the island. Pettigrew told the Daily Mail, “This may be the greatest opportunity ever to finally close the case. With so much strong evidence, we feel compelled to move forward and hopefully return with proof.”
However, not all experts agree. In 2017, archaeologists from the International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery (TIGHAR) surveyed Nikumaroro with forensic dogs trained to detect human remains. Ric Gillespie, TIGHAR’s executive director, remains skeptical, believing the satellite image shows nothing more than a coconut tree and root ball washed ashore.
The Coconut Crab Theory: Fact or Folklore?
A particularly chilling theory involves the island’s giant coconut crabs. According to National Geographic, Earhart may have survived the crash but was stranded alone on Nikumaroro for weeks. With Noonan presumed dead, she faced the island’s harsh environment—and possibly the crabs, which some speculate could have consumed her remains.
In 1940, British colonial officers discovered 13 bones and a skull on the island, speculated to be Earhart’s. But experts who analyzed the bones concluded they belonged to a male, casting doubt on this theory.
Still, National Geographic reports that coconut crabs are known to scatter bones, which may explain the missing remains.
Interestingly, skull fragments found in 1940 at Tarawa, Kiribati’s cultural museum, might belong to an adult female—possibly Earhart herself.
The legend of Amelia Earhart continues to captivate the world, and with every new discovery, we move a little closer to unraveling one of history’s greatest aviation mysteries.