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Katie Lambert
There are two interesting academic theories that I wanted to discuss because both of them come with a lot of evidentiary support and they’re pretty interesting and they suggest that the plane went down in different locations and the first is from the International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery who thinks that after she couldn’t get in touch with the Itasca, she turned her plane southeast and flew toward Gardener Island and this is a considerably larger tract of land and it’s pretty topical distinct. There’s a large lagoon in the middle and an interesting landmark, too, a wrecked freighter so she could’ve seen this island and –
Candace Gibson
And thought maybe that was the Itasca.
Katie Lambert
Well, there you go and there was plenty of room to land so she could’ve brought her plane safely down on the beach and if the plane went down on the beach and she and Noonan walked inland just a little bit, it would explain some strange radio messages that were picked up that came at hour intervals of each other and it was a voice that sounded similar to Amelia’s trying to help give some geographical bearings and trying to give some directions to where she could be found and if they came hours apart, that might be because as the tide came in on Gardener Island, the plane would get covered by water and in order to power the radio from the planes right engine, she had to wait for the tide to go out.
Candace Gibson
Which makes perfect sense I think and it’s a really interesting theory.
Katie Lambert
It does. And a search of the island in 1938, turned up airplane debris, a skeleton and a woman’s shoe. And the skeleton was examined and at first it was identified as an older Polynesian man — no, not Amelia –
Candace Gibson
No.
Katie Lambert
– but then another inquiry said that it was probably a European man and then the skeleton was lost but an examination of the notes in 1988 said that it was actually a tallish woman of European descent, somewhere between about 5’5″, 5’9″ so that actually could’ve been –
Candace Gibson
Could’ve been her.
Katie Lambert
– Amelia and then other searches turned up cigarette lighters, which Noonan smoked so it could’ve been his, a man’s shoe and plexiglass debris that matched Earhart’s plane windows.
Candace Gibson
You have to wonder what happened to that skeleton.
Katie Lambert
I know. I know. Well, and this information seems pretty convincing so I was pretty much sold on Gardener Island and then I read about –