Amelia Earhart expedition at Nikumaroro ends without evidence as 'plane debris' turns out to be trees
The Amelia Earhart expedition at Nikumaroro has ended without evidence: Purdue University confirmed by Monday that the object suspected of being her plane was a clump of washed-up trees, and no conclusive trace of the aviator was found.
Amelia Earhart expedition at Nikumaroro ends without evidence as 'plane debris' turns out to be trees
Why the atoll drew the expedition
Nikumaroro, in the archipelago country of Kiribati, has emerged as a leading candidate for where Earhart might have crash-landed after she and her navigator Fred Noonan vanished in 1937 during their attempt to circumnavigate the globe at the equator. Their disappearance triggered one of the largest air and sea searches in history.
Previous visits to the atoll had turned up tantalising evidence, including signs of a castaway camp, a 1930s-era woman's shoe and glass from a cosmetics freckle cream jar.
From satellite image to four days of digging
The mission stemmed from 2020 satellite images showing an elongated, white object lying in the shallows near the Taraia Peninsula. Richard Pettigrew, who heads the nonprofit Archaeological Legacy Institute, found other images, including aerial video suggesting a metallic glint.
Other longtime Earhart explorers quickly identified it as a fallen tree, but the search went ahead.
- The 17-person expedition passed through the coral-encircled atoll after a multi-day voyage and weather delays.
- The team set up tents for four days of research, including metal detecting.
- The crew slept offshore, partly due to massive land-dwelling coconut crabs, known as "robber crabs".
The verdict: carbonate glint, not metal
By Monday, Purdue University confirmed the visual anomaly was likely a collection of large trees deposited along the peninsula's sandspit. The reflective glint, it said, was due to a carbonate veneer - a natural coating also found on other items the team found.
Schultz made the admission while standing on the sand in front of a blue lagoon on the atoll of Nikumaroro, about halfway between Australia and Hawaii.
"Unfortunately, we weren't able to find that smoking gun," said Steve Schultz of Purdue University.
The search goes on
The trip was partially sponsored by Purdue University in Indiana, where Earhart once taught and mentored young female pilots. Purdue also helped fund her modified Lockheed Electra 10-E, known as her "flying laboratory".
Dismissed hypotheses include that Earhart - the first woman to make a nonstop solo transatlantic flight - was captured by Japanese forces or that she survived and lived under an alias.
Purdue's statement said "this mission adds a new chapter in the quest to find the ultimate answer" to what happened to Earhart.
