In July of 1937, the
record breaking American Aviator, Amelia Earhart, disappeared over the Pacific
Ocean during her attempt to circle the globe. Earhart and her navigator, Fred
Noonan, were last seen July 2 refueling her aircraft in Lae, the capital of the
Morobe Province in Papua New Guinea. President Franklin D Roosevelt declared an
extensive two-week search for the pair that never gained success, leaving them
with the label “Lost at Sea” on July 19, 1937. Earhart was flying in a
twin-engine Lockheed 10E Electra that still today has never been found. There
are many questions and theories about what happened to Earhart and her aircraft
that have been left unanswered for decades.
1. Did Earhart run out of gas and crash in
the Pacific Ocean?
2. Was Earhart executed when taken into
Japanese custody?
3. Did Earhart land near Nikumaroro Island
and become stranded?
Although
after recent studies it is thought she was most likely taken into Japanese
custody, we’re going to analyze all these possibilities of what could have happened
to Amelia Earhart.
Character
Analysis
Amelia
Earhart was a determined aviator who had a bright life ahead of her until she
went missing over the Atlantic Ocean in 1937. Amelia was tremendously talented
and used this talent to become one of the most successful, fantastic,
incredible pilots in female history. Earhart was 5 feet and 8 inches of pure
courage (Hanes). Not only did Earhart’s
internal qualities, such as her imagination and success, catch the attention of
many people, but her light hair and eyes also drew a strong light towards her.
Although, her short haircut lacked femininity, Earhart still stood with
pureness and grace as a real woman should. Earhart was a spitting image of pure
adventure topped off with a bright smile.
Earhart was a very curious and always wanted to know more
about everything she could, planes just being one of these many things. Filled
with many different talents, Earhart was tremendously well-rounded and could do
just about anything she put her mind to. Working as a part-time as a file
clerk, office assistant, photographer, and truck driver, Earhart used her many
talents to work, saving her money to later purchase her first plane, a bright
yellow Kinner Airstar that she named ‘The Canary’ (Adler). Flying being an
expensive hobby, Earhart’s many jobs and talents eventually could no longer
support the costs of her plane, fuel, and flying lessons (Levith). Regardless,
this did not discourage Earhart a single bit and she continued her journey to
change American Aviator history.
Earhart had a complicated relationship with her parents
and lived with her 2 grandparents until she was about 12 years old (Levenson).
Although, her parents missed a large part of childhood, Earhart being as
forgiving as she was, did not hold his against her parents and still loved them
just as much as she would’ve if they spent her first 12 years with them. For example, when Earhart’s mother could no
longer support their family, Earhart decided to do what was best for her whole
family and without hesitation sold her plane (Massey). This action revealed
Earhart’s selflessness and genuine dedication to her family as a whole no
matter their past circumstances.
Earhart was overall a
very unsure and indecisive lady. Before Earhart’s career as an aviator, Earhart
attended a pre-medical program at Columbia University where she planned on
becoming a certified doctor (Calvit). Earhart attended Columbia from fall of
1919 to the spring of 1920. Earhart was considered academically brilliant at Columbia
University and had great grades before she decided to leave (Calvit). Earhart
finally abandon her dreams of becoming a doctor and moved back to Los Angeles,
California to live with her parents and try to keep their marriage afloat
(Massey).
As one of the only women
in the flying world, Earhart tried tremendously hard to earn the respect of the
many men in the field. Although it was a challenge, Earhart achieved this goal
and was asked to join an all-male flight crew in 1928 (Poirrier). The crew was
the idea of George Palmer Putnam. Putnam admired Earhart’s lady-like
appearance, grace, and experience with flying. The crew’s mission was to fly
across the Atlantic Ocean, from the Newfoundland to Wales (Poirrier). Earhart
was extremely excited for this mission, but was left disappointed by the lack
of purpose she truly served when this mission was completed. Earhart claims she
was as useful as a ‘sack of potatoes’ in this mission, not even touching the
controls once (Poirrier). Upset, but still honored to be included, Earhart
earned the title as ‘the first woman to fly the Atlantic.’
Earhart was constantly
feeling the need to try to prove herself. Receiving constant hate, Earhart felt
pressured and obligated to verify her skills as a pilot. The press bashed on
Earhart claiming she as a “puppet figure created by her publicist husband”
(Adler). Earhart did not hesitate to try to prove the press wrong and decided
she would do so by flying a miniscule, single-engine Lockheed Electra from
Canada, to Ireland (Adler). Not only did she successfully prove them wrong, she
continued to prove them wrong and on May 20th, 1932 became ‘the first woman to
fly solo across the Atlantic’ (hisorystaff.com).
In 1932, Earhart used her motivation and success as an
aviator to build a fashion line (Levenson). This fashion line revolved around
her passion leading her to develop clothes specifically designed for flying.
Earhart went from a flying icon, to a fashion icon as well. Earhart’s fashion
line was even featured on a 2-page spread in Vogue Magazine (Levenson). Earhart
was always aware of how important her image was, which attracted many name
brand stores, such as Macy’s and Marshall Fields, to carry her clothing line in
all their stores. Earhart was a spitting image on success all around
(Levenson).
Earhart was born a record breaker and never passed up an
opportunity to break a record. Earhart loved to be known as the ‘best of the
best.’ Breaking over 10 records, Earhart was an inspiration to women all over
America. Amelia Earhart stood as women’s rights icon in a time that women were
not thought of as much (historystaff.com). Not only did Earhart change aviation
history, she also changed female history as we know it today. Earhart broke a
barrier between men and woman that was thought of as impossible to change.
Earhart still stands as a symbol for dedication, determination, passion,
heroism, adventure, unpredictability, and bravery today.
Conspiracy
Descriptions (Main Idea and Details with Survey Results)
After
the disappearance of Amelia Earhart and her navigator, Fred Noonan, many
conspiracy theories were thought up to explore the possibilities of what could
have happened to the couple while crossing the Pacific Ocean. These include;
The couple running out of gas causing them to crash and sink somewhere into the
Pacific Ocean, landing safely on Gardner Island and dying before getting the
chance to be rescued, and being captured as prisoners after crashing into an
island under Japanese control. Provided that, all the theories are constructed
with convincing points and certainty, but there is one theory that is more
structured with evidence than the others making it the most credible and
believable.
The first conspiracy and most common theory is that the
couple ran out of gas leading them to crash and sink somewhere in the Pacific
Ocean. It is said Earhart flew slightly off course when crossing the Pacific
Ocean in attempt to get to her next stop, Howland Island (Levenson). At one
point, Earhart was also in touch with the US Coast Guard cutter Itasca, which
is just outside Howland Island, their planned landing location. Earhart had
informed the coast guards she was running low on fuel and could not seem to
locate their desired destination (Levenson). This was the last time anyone
heard from Amelia Earhart. This theory is the most popular theory because of
the fact their plane still today has never been found. This theory is supported
by the fact their plane was never found because if they had crashed into the
ocean, after running out of gas, their plane simply would have filled with
water leaving the aircraft and their bodies at the bottom of the ocean, never
to be found. Earhart’s plane allegedly was carrying a life raft and emergency
supplies, but even so it would have been very difficult to survive such a
treacherous crash (historystaff.com). It is very surprising to many that their
plane was never found due to the amount of time and money the government spent
trying to locate the aircraft. After the first 2 weeks of Earhart’s disappearance
the government had spent an estimated $4 million dollars, earning the title as
the most expensive search in US history, but still no plane or bodies have been
revealed to solve this mystery (Top 3 Theories for Amelia Earhart's
Disappearance).
The third conspiracy theory, that Earhart and Noonan were
taken into Japanese custody, has caused a lot of talk and discussion lately
after recent evidence was found. This theory suggests that the pair was flying
over the Pacific Ocean when they crashed into the Marshall Islands, which was
under Japanese custody at the time. The two are thought to be taken as
prisoners, where they then spent the rest of their lives captive in a prison in
Saipan. Many locals of the island claim they saw a plane, described as the same
one Earhart was flying, fall from the sky and crash off the coast of the Island
(Westcott). In addition, locals of the island also claim they even saw Earhart
and Noonan captive under Japanese custody (Westcott). Considering that, the
most reliable and rational piece of evidence was recently discovered. A photograph, which is thought to be of
Earhart and Noonan, was discovered early in July of 2017 in the United States
National Archives (Ryall). The photo is of a group of people sitting on a dock
at Wharf at Jaluit in the Marshall Islands (Ryall). A woman with a short
haircut sitting with her back faced towards the camera and a tall man standing
with his face angled slightly towards the camera are believed to be Earhart and
Noonan (Schedule A). The faces of the two are not clear enough to be
identified, but led to researchers to discover more reason to believe it is the
pair. Facial recognition expert, Kent Gibson, examined previous photos of
Earhart, studying her bodies figure and measurements, drawing the conclusion it
is ‘very likely’ it is Earhart (Lartey). The specialist focused on Earhart’s
shoulder measurements in previous photos of her and compared them to the
measurements of the short haired lady in the photo (Lartey). He claims the
similarities are astonishing. Gibson also reviewed the tall man in the photo
and declares the receding hairline on the tall man is almost a dead giveaway
that it is Noonan (Lartey). Lastly, two metal fragments, thought to be from
Earhart’s Lockheed Electra, were found in the Marshall Islands in late June of
2015 (Ryall). After the pieces of metal were examined and studied by Alcoa, the
constructers of the aluminum used on the aircraft, they drew a conclusion that
one of the fragments was a part of the dust shield that was made for the brake
assembly of the plane’s wheel, while the other fragment was a part found in the
wheel well (Ryall).
After researching all the possible theories, it is the
most legitimate that Earhart and Noonan were taken into Japanese custody after
crashing into the Marshall Islands. In a Twitter conducted survey, surprisingly
only 26% of people believe she was taken into Japanese custody, while 57%
believe she crashed into the Pacific Ocean and 17% believe she was stranded on
Gardner Island. This low 26% could be due to the lack of knowledge about the
recent photo evidence found earlier this year. The photo found in the National
Archives is the backbone of the theory that she was taken into Japanese custody
and could possibly change a lot of people’s opinion if they were aware and
educated on the photograph found. Today, many researchers and experts continue
to dig for clues to solve this mystery, but after recent evidence it is most
credible she and her navigator, Fred Noonan, were taken into Japanese Custody.
Conclusion
As
days go by, it is still a mystery what happened to Amelia Earhart and her
navigator, Fred Noonan. As people have tried to solve this mystery, three
unique conspiracy theories have evolved, making people explore the
possibilities of what happened to the pair.
1. Earhart and Noonan ran out of gas crashing into the Pacific
Ocean
2. Earhart and Noonan crashed near present day Nikumaroro,
leaving them stranded to die
3. Earhart and Noonan were taken into Japanese custody where
they were executed in prison
Even after 80 years,
scientists and researchers still strive to put the pieces together about what
happened to Earhart and Noonan. Today, people continue to argue and debate over
the possibilities even though there is no definite conclusion. It is a shame
that Earhart only got to inspire the world for 39 years, but her legend as
being a pilot icon still lives on today.
Works
Cited
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Jerry. "Will the Search for Amelia Earhart Ever End?"
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<http://www.notablebiographies.com/Du-Fi/Earhart-Amelia.html>
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Elizabeth. "Tantalizing Theories About the Earhart Disappearance."
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Jamiles. "Newly discovered photo reignites Amelia Earhart conspiracy
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Eric. "All the theories of Amelia Earharts mystery disappearance."
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Will. "New Theory on Amelia Earhart's Disappearance Claims She Died a
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Julian. "US researchers claim metal fragments prove Amelia Earhart crashed
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