$900,000 expedition heads to Nikumaroro to test Amelia Earhart theory

A team of marine archaeologists is heading to a remote Pacific island to investigate an object that could provide new clues to the disappearance of aviator Amelia Earhart in 1937. Backed by Purdue University, the team will examine an object in a lagoon at Nikumaroro to determine whether it could be part of the Lockheed Electra aircraft Earhart was flying when she vanished.Amelia Earhart was an American aviator who became the first woman to fly solo and nonstop across the Atlantic Ocean in 1932. She disappeared in July 1937 while attempting to fly around the world with her navigator, Fred Noonan. Their aircraft vanished over the Pacific, leaving one of aviation history’s most enduring mysteries.According to Purdue University, the object, known as the Taraia Object, was first spotted in satellite images in 2020 and is also visible in aerial photographs dating back to 1938.