Stephen
Minor
English
1301
Prof.
Hammett
Final
Research Exam
November 27,
2017
Amelia Earhart Disappearance
Introduction:
“Decide whether or not the goal is
worth the risks involved. If it is, stop worrying…” (“Biography” 1). Amelia
Earhart was faced with many difficult decisions during her career in aviation. She
was faced with discrimination, journeys of uncertainty, and even potential death.
Amelia Earhart had a bright future ahead of her. She was on her way to the
record books of being the first woman to fly across the world. But her path to
glory came to an abrupt and unexpected ending. Her flight was cut short when
she went missing around the central Pacific Ocean (1). Many people believe she
crashed her plane and died on impact. But what really happened to Amelia
Earhart on July 2, 1937? Did Amelia really crash her plane in the Pacific
Ocean? If so, where’s the evidence? Wouldn’t
we be able to find at least something proving that she crashed (Greshko 1)? Many
conspiracy theories about what happened to Amelia Earhart have arisen since
then, but in this essay, we will be discussing the top three theories.
Character Analysis:
Amelia Earhart was born on July 24,
1897, in Atchison Kansas (“Amelia Earhart Biography” 1). From the beginning, Amelia showed a brilliant
sense of adventure and today, would be considered to be a tomboy. She enjoyed what most girls wouldn’t have
even thought about doing at her age. She
enjoyed things like shooting rifles, climbing trees and getting her hands dirty
(“Amelia Earhart” 1). Her parents wanted
their kids to have free spirits. They
wanted their kids to be whomever they wanted, which was an uncommon parental
method at the time. Amelia and her
family moved to many places when she was growing up (“Amelia Earhart” 1). Her father was diagnosed as being an
alcoholic (“Amelia Earhart Biography” 1).
This being said, he went through many jobs and had to move all over the
country just to find a place that would hire him (“Amelia Earhart Biography”
1). Because of this frequent moving,
Amelia was homeschooled for most of her life (“Amelia Earhart Biography”
1). When she moved to Chicago, she tried
to find a school that had a good science program (“Amelia Earhart Biography”
1). Unfortunately there were not many
that were offered and she ended up not getting into any schools (“Amelia
Earhart” 1). But in 1917, she trained to
become a nurse and worked in a military hospital (“Amelia Earhart Biography”
1). She helped the wounded soldiers from
the Western Front during World War I (“Amelia Earhart Biography” 1). But this was just the beginning of her
life. Little did she know, she still had
unknown adventure and fame sitting along the horizon.
Her first adventure was on December
28th, with Frank Hawks has her pilot (“Amelia Earhart Biography”
1). She commented, “By the time I had
got two or three hundred feet off the ground, I knew I had to fly” (“Amelia
Earhart” 1). Thus beginning her journey
to becoming a pilot. She had to work a
variety of jobs in order to pay for flight lessons (“Biography” 1). Amelia became the sixteenth woman to be
issued a pilot’s license (“Amelia Earhart Biography” 1). She had accumulated 500 solo hours flying,
which was a great achievement, taking into consideration the basic state of
early aviation (“Amelia Earhart Biography” 1).
Amelia at this time had become an
excellent pilot, but she realized that she was focusing so much time and
dedication on becoming a pilot and her adventures, that she had no personal
life. In 1931, Amelia married a man
named George Putman, but she did end up keeping her own name instead of taking
on his (“Amelia Earhart” 1). Though they
did not have children, George did have two children of his own from a former marriage
(“Amelia Earhart Biography” 1).
But before she got married, she
accomplished a major achievement. In
1928, she became the first female pilot to fly across the Atlantic Ocean
(“Biography” 1). It was a 20-hour flight
from America to England and it received major media attention. Making Amelia a huge public figure. Shortly afterwards, she became the first
female pilot to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean (Szalay 1). On May 21, 1932, she flew from Newfoundland to
a field in Culmore (“Biography” 1).
“After this solo flight, she began to use her fame to support women’s
groups. She supported women becoming
pilots and gave positive support to human rights and female equality”
(“Biography” 1).
Next on Amelia’s list was to fly
across the World. If she were to be
successful, she would become the first female pilot to travel across the
World. She would have to fly 29,000
miles around the equator. Though it
would not have been the first flight to transvers around the globe, it would be
the longest staying close to the equator (“Amelia Earhart Biography” 1). By the end of June 1937, Amelia and her
navigator, Fred Noonan had travelled from Miami to South East Asia and Lae New
Guinea (“Amelia Earhart Biography” 1).
They took off from New Guinea and were headed toward Howland Island on
July 2nd (“Amelia Earhart” 1).
This is the last time anyone saw Amelia Earhart. While her and her navigator were over the
ocean, they sent radio messages that they were low on fuel (“Amelia Earhart”
1). Their contact was later lost and the
plane never made it to their destination on Howland Island. “The most universally accepted theory is that
the plane ran out of fuel and they eventually crashed in the ocean”, but is
this truly what happened (“Amelia Earhart Biography” 1)?
Many theories have come up since
her disappearance and we still don’t quite know what really happened to
Amelia. All we know is that before she
took that last flight, she had achieved many things. Amelia Earhart took a huge step for women and
for the World. She broke many records as
a female and as a person (“Biography” 1).
Amelia had a yearn for adventure.
This yearn took her places no person would ever have thought she’d be
able to go. She defied all odds and
received much need recognition throughout her life and even after it (Szalay 1). Though her life was cut short, her adventures
and her achievements still live on for generations to come.
Conspiracy Theories:
Amelia Earhart mysteriously
disappeared on July 2, 1937 with no trace of any evidence left behind
(Greshko). The U.S. Coast Guard and the
Navy searched the area where she was thought to have crashed for two weeks, but
civilian mariners continued searching for many years to come (1). Over eighty years later, the search for any
evidence of Amelia still lives on (1). What
actually happened to Amelia? Amelia
could have potentially experienced an open crash in the ocean or could have
been a castaway on the Nikumaroro Islands (1).
In a more extreme case, she could have also been taken hostage by the
Japanese in their territory on the Marshall Islands (1). There are many possibilities behind Amelia
Earhart’s disappearance, but these three theories are the strongest and most
logical explanation behind her sudden vanishing. In this essay, we will be discussing which
theory is the most plausible to have occurred.
The first theory, an open ocean
crash, is probably the most likely to have occurred. The U.S. officially believes that Amelia and
her copilot, Fred Noonan, ran out of fuel and crashed into the Pacific
(Greshko). The U.S. Coast Guard ship
called the Itasca was there to assist in the search for Amelia’s plane, the
Electra (1). The Itasca’s radio logs
indicated that Amelia Earhart was near the island, but she couldn’t see it (1). It also showed how she was very low on gas (1). Around fifteen years later, a company that
preforms deep ocean searches led an effort to locate Amelia’s plane (1). In 2003, the company’s president, David
Jourdan, said he and his colleagues had narrowed down an area they believed
will eventually present Earhart’s plane (1).
He said, “We are confident is in the area we are searching. Of course, we cannot guarantee it, because it
could be in the outside edge, but we are sure it is in the vicinity” (1). Also, in March and April of 2002, the same company
used a sonar system to search the ocean floor for any traces of Amelia’s plane
(1). They unfortunately didn’t find
anything during this expedition or the following expedition is 2006 (1). Later in 2009, another team searched the
ocean floor west of the Howland Islands with the help of deep-sea robots (1). Though nothing was discovered, the institute’s
president said, “Eliminating thousands of square miles from future search
efforts will help in narrowing down the location of Amelia’s plane…” (1).
The second possible theory behind
Amelia’s disappearance is becoming an island castaway (Greshko). Amelia Earhart’s last radio message reveals
that she could have possibly missed her original landing location and instead
went to the Nikumaroro Islands (1).
Though Amelia sent this message out, no one was able to trace back to
where the message was sent (1). There
have been traces of evidence that could be connected to Amelia and her plane,
but no major evidence has been found to conclude that Amelia and her co polite
were castaways on the island (1).
The third and final theory behind
her disappearance is the Marshall Island Conspiracy (Greshko). Some believe that Amelia Earhart couldn’t
find her destination, so she decided to land on the Japanese controlled
Marshall Islands (1). They believe she was
taken in as American spies and were either killed or returned to the U.S. under
new names (1). Rollin C. Reineck, a
retired American Air Force colonel claimed, “if she couldn’t find Howland, plan
B was to cut off communications and head for the Marshall Islands and ditch her
plane there” (1). There are many reasons
as to why and how the Japanese might have taken Amelia, but all seem to have no
proof to back them up (1). Many people
have dismissed this theory as outlandish (1).
It would be a stretch for Amelia to have been captured by the
Japanese. As Elgen Long, a retired pilot
said, “The plane would’ve had to float a long way”, to reach the Marshall
Islands (1). He, like many others, is
still convinced that the answer to Amelia’s disappearance can be found at the
bottom of the ocean (1).
Amelia Earhart crashing in the
ocean and dying on impact is the best explanation behind her disappearance.
This theory is the most logical of the three.
It is also the one held by the US government and by the Smithsonian to
be true (Levenson). Though there has
been no evidence found, there is still time and other places to search for any
signs of Amelia Earhart in the ocean. It
may not also be the most interesting conclusion, but it is the most
understandable. If Amelia were a
castaway, wouldn’t you think someone would’ve found alive when they were
searching for her? And if not, wouldn’t
we have found a body by now? There’s
also a chance that she was taken hostage by the Japanese (1). If this were true, even though they might not
have told us during the time being due to political tensions, the Japanese
would have most likely eventually told us what happened to her. The ocean is a vast and mysterious place with
tides and currents that can take debris anywhere. It’s not easy searching through the water,
thus the reason why we haven’t completely search everywhere. There is still a chance that she could be
somewhere at the bottom of the Pacific.
According to the survey given out, sixty percent of the people surveyed
believed Amelia Earhart died in a plane crash in the Pacific. This shows how the majority of people believe
that Amelia did in fact crash and die upon impact.
Although there are many
possibilities as to what happened to Amelia, we don’t quite know which is
true. We have many possible scenarios
but we don’t have enough evidence to fully conclude her fate. We must keep searching and keep looking for
any type of evidence in order to find what really happened to Amelia. One day we will find out the cause of
Amelia’s disappearance, but until that day comes, we will keep searching for
logical explanations as to what happened to this incredibly successful and
brave woman.
Conclusion:
Amelia Earhart was faced with many
difficult decisions during her career in aviation. She was faced with
discrimination, journeys of uncertainty, and even potential death. Amelia
Earhart had a bright future ahead of her. She was on her way to the record books
of being the first woman to fly across the world (“Biography” 1). But her path
to glory came to an abrupt and unexpected ending. Her flight was cut short when
she went missing around the central Pacific Ocean. There have been many
conspiracy theories as to why Amelia disappeared (Greshko). Many people believe she either crashed in the
ocean and died upon impact, was a castaway on an island, or was captured by the
Japanese (1). But to this day, no one
exactly knows what happened to Amelia.
People are continuing to search and investigate, edging closer and
closer to the answer that all have us have been asking for many years. What happened to Amelia Earhart?
Citations
“Amelia Earhart Biography | .” Biography
Online, www.biographyonline.net/adventurers/amelia-earhart.html.
“Amelia Earhart.” Ducksters Educational
Site, www.ducksters.com/biography/women_leaders/amelia_earhart.php.
“Amelia Earhart Biography.” Encyclopedia
of World Biography, www.notablebiographies.com/Du-Fi/Earhart-Amelia.html.
“Biography - The Official
Licensing Website of Amelia Earhart.” Amelia Earhart, www.ameliaearhart.com/biography/.
Greshko, Michael. “Top 3 Theories for Amelia
Earhart's Disappearance.” National Geographic, National Geographic
Society, 11 July 2017,
news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/07/amelia-earhart-disappearance-theories-spd/.
History.com Staff. “Amelia Earhart.” History.com,
A&E Television Networks, 2009, www.history.com/topics/amelia-earhart.
Levenson, Eric. “All the Theories of Amelia
Earhart's Mystery Disappearance.” CNN, Cable News Network, 6 July
2017, www.cnn.com/2017/07/06/us/amelia-earhart-mystery-theories/index.html.
Szalay, Jessie. “Amelia Earhart: Biography
& Disappearance.” LiveScience, Purch, 6 July 2017, www.livescience.com/29363-amelia-earhart.html.
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