Researchers are heading to a remote Pacific island to investigate a mysterious object that could offer new clues to the disappearance of pioneering aviator Amelia Earhart in 1937.
Nikumaroro Lagoon Entrance/Angela K. Kepler/Wikimedia Commons
The team, comprising researchers from the US-based Archaeological Legacy Institute (ALI) and Purdue University, is travelling to Nikumaroro, a remote atoll in the island nation of Kiribati, to examine what has been dubbed the Taraia Object.
The object was first identified in satellite imagery in 2020, appearing to resemble the remains of a small aircraft in shallow water along the edge of the island’s lagoon. Purdue University says the object is also visible in aerial photographs dating back to 1938.
According to the BBC, the researchers departed Kiribati’s capital on Wednesday aboard the Marin Mainiku, a vessel operated by the Kiribati National Shipping Line. The expedition involves an approximately 830-mile journey to the isolated atoll.
A mystery dating back to 1937
Earhart disappeared on 2 July 1937 while attempting to fly around the world with navigator Fred Noonan. After travelling across several continents in her twin-engine Lockheed Electra, the pair departed Lae in Papua New Guinea, aiming to reach Howland Island in the Pacific before continuing towards Hawaii and California.
They never arrived at their destination.
The widely accepted explanation is that the aircraft encountered communication and navigation difficulties while the pair searched for Howland Island. With fuel running low, the plane is believed to have crashed into the Pacific Ocean.
However, the absence of confirmed wreckage has fuelled decades of speculation about what happened to Earhart and Noonan.
One theory suggests that the pair may have reached Nikumaroro after failing to locate Howland Island, eventually becoming stranded on the uninhabited atoll.
Could the Taraia Object be the missing aircraft?
The expedition aims to determine whether the object near Nikumaroro is aircraft wreckage. If confirmed, researchers would still need to establish whether it could be linked to Earhart’s Electra.
Not everyone is convinced. Ric Gillespie, an aviation history researcher who has investigated the disappearance, believes the object could instead be a tree that fell into the water.
Gillespie has previously supported the theory that Earhart may have reached Nikumaroro, citing evidence of human activity on the island during the 1930s and forensic investigations involving skeletal remains discovered there in the 1940s. However, he suspects the aircraft may have broken apart, with its remains eventually disappearing into the Pacific.
Previous searches have come up empty
The latest expedition follows several unsuccessful attempts to locate the missing aircraft.
In 2024, researchers announced that sonar images might have revealed the plane on the seabed near Howland Island, approximately 4,877 metres below the surface. The formation was later identified as a natural rock feature.
An earlier expedition in 2019 also failed to find evidence of the aircraft after investigating a photograph that appeared to show a possible landing-gear component protruding from the water near Nikumaroro.
Whether the Taraia Object proves to be aircraft wreckage remains uncertain. The investigation could nevertheless provide new information about one of aviation history’s most enduring mysteries.
Follow us on social media for more travel news, inspiration, and guides. You can also tag us to be featured.
Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | Spotify
ALSO READ:
