Searching for Amelia Earhart and the Flying Laboratory

One of the more popular theories is that the Japanese took Both Amelia and Fred Noonan (her navigator) prisoner after they crashed in the Pacific, supposedly somewhere on or near Saipan. This would have been plausible, given that the United States was within only a few years of getting into World War II against the Japanese. The photographic equipment on board Earhart's plane was evidence to the Japanese that they were spies. The story goes that they were held first in a motel, then later jailed. Some eyewitnesses report marks on Ms Earhart that would be consistent with torture.

Other witnesses report seeing the two of them on a three seater motorbike, blindfolded and driven off, with the assumption that they must have been executed. Author Buddy Brennan excavated the site where they were believed to have been killed, and did find one piece of cloth which resembled a blindfold, but no human remains were found with it.

Some also surmise that perhaps Earhart really was a spy, and that even if she was not caught by the Japanese, that she would have lived the rest of her life under a different name. Earnhart's mother was quoted as seeming to believe the spy theory, although she never actually said it outright, only that she thought it possible.

Photo: looking east - Crystal City WWII civilian internment camp. (UTSA ITC archives)

This is the type of photo Ms Earnhart would have been accused of trying to get from Japanese territory.

The official record from the Navy keeps it pretty plain and simple. She was lost at sea, and all the other theories are false. At least, if this is true, the plane should be somewhere. Let's hope someone finds it soon and we can know for sure!

Here is the Naval account - verbatim.

"A coordinated search by the Navy and Coast Guard was organized and no physical evidence of the flyers or their plane was ever found. Earhart and Noonan's fate has been the subject of many rumors and allegations which were never substantiated. Modern analysis indicates that after passing the Nukumanu Islands, Earhart began to vector off course, unwittingly heading for a point about 100 miles NNW of Howland.
...Researchers generally believe that the plane ran out of fuel and that Earhart and Noonan perished at sea."

History.navy.mil