Did Amelia Earhart crash at sea in 1937 or did she actually land on a tiny atoll in the middle of the Pacific Ocean? A recent expedition was supposed to bring clarity, but instead the mystery remains as tantalising as ever.

Amelia Earhart’s wedding contract letter to George Palmer Putnam (Purdue University)

Nikumaroro, previously known as Gardner Island (TIGHAR)

The Taraia Object in the lagoon of Nikumaroro Island (composite graphic based on satellite imagery from Google Maps / Airbus / Maxar Technologies)

The Bevington Photo with TIGHAR image analysis (TIGHAR)

Credits

Thanks to Michael Mullan-Jensen, Evgeny Kuznetsov, Vlad A Gouf, Fadi Mansour, Bennet Piater, Eric and Sir Galteran for supporting this podcast financially and therefore making it possible for me to produce it!

The theme music for the podcast is a track called Fight or Fall by Def Lev. Find out more about the show at fab.industries/podcast — new media, new rules!

Sources

1. Searching for Amelia Earhart / Expedition Amelia, National Geographic, 20 October 2019
2. Amelia Earhart Expert Explains Why We'll NEVER Find Her Plane, Facts Verse, 23 December 2025
3. The latest Amelia Earhart expedition and the mysterious object that sparked it, CBS News, 19 October 2026
4. New Earhart expedition planned, WTHR, 20 October 2026
5. Amelia Earhart’s letter to George Palmer Putnam on the day of their marriage, Amelia Earhart to George Palmer Putnam, Purdue University Archives, 7 February 1931
6. A New Attempt to Solve the Amelia Earhart Mystery, Fabian A. Scherschel, FAB INDUSTRIES, 4 July 2025
7. Is it a plane or a tree? Amelia Earhart expedition aims to solve mystery of disappearance, Oliver Holmes, The Guardian, 12 October 2026
8. Museum releases historical photos of island where Amelia Earhart may have crashed, Oliver Holmes, The Guardian, 16 October 2026
9. Is it her plane? Update expected on Amelia Earhart expedition, Phaedra Trethan, USA Today, 15 October 2026
10. Search for Amelia Earhart’s plane continues after Taraia Object expedition on Nikumaroro rules out latest hypothesis, Purdue University, 18 October 2026
11. Amelia Earhart: Does photo show she died a Japanese prisoner?, The BBC, 6 July 2017
12. The Earhart Project, TIGHAR, 26 February 2024
13. The Bevington Object: What’s Past is Prologue, TIGHAR, 2 June 2017
14. Photo sleuthing by Seattle man backs up new Amelia Earhart search, Tom Banse, KUOW, 17 August 2019
15. One More Good Flight: The Amelia Earhart Tragedy, Ric Gillespie, U.S. Naval Institute Press, 17 September 2024
16. The Taraia Object: Amelia Earhart’s Aircraft?, Archaeological Legacy Institute, undated
17. Finding Amelia Earhart, Brian Dunning, Skeptoid Podcast, 31 January 2012
18. More Amelia Earhart Nonsense, Brian Dunning, Skeptoid Podcast, 20 March 2012
19. Nikumaroro, Wikipedia, undated

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