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xtruss · 11 months ago

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Has Amelia Earhart’s Plane Really Been Found? 6 Key Things To Know

A New Grainy Sonar Image Claims to Solve the Mystery of the Famed Aviator’s Disappearance, But Experts Say it’s Too Soon to tell. Here's What We Do Know.

— By Rachel Hartigan | January 29, 2024

Amelia Earhart and navigator Fred Noonan disappeared over the Pacific Ocean in an attempt to circumnavigate the globe in this Lockheed Electra 10e airplane on July 2, 1937. Experts say it's too early to know for sure whether claims that the wreckage has been found are true. Photograph Courtesy PF-(Aircraft), Alamy Stock Photo

With the Release of a Grainy Gold Image, news headlines around the world are trumpeting the possible discovery of Amelia Earhart’s Lockheed Electra 10e, the plane she was flying in 1937 when she and her navigator, Fred Noonan, disappeared during the most difficult leg of their round-the-world flight.

Deep Sea Vision, a new venture founded by pilot and commercial real estate investor Tony Romeo, captured the sonar image during a hundred-day expedition in the central Pacific, the region where Earhart was lost. “It was definitely a surreal moment for all of us,” says Romeo, who sold his real estate holdings to purchase a cutting-edge autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) equipped with highly advanced sonar technologies.

The remotely operated vehicle Hercules is retrieved from the waters off Nikumaroro Island onto the deck of the E/V Nautilus in 2019 after a day of searching for Amelia Earhart’s missing airplane. Explorers have long sought to solve the mystery of the famed aviator's fate. Photograph By Gabriel Scarlett, National Geographic Image Collection

Still, it’s too soon to say whether this discovery of an object 16,000 feet deep means one of the great historical mysteries has been solved. Here’s what we do know.

1. Sonar Images Have Limitations.

Sonar images are not photographs. The sound waves sent by sonar are at a low frequency, which translates to low resolution.

“The sound wave, because it’s so big, can’t see fine detail,” says David Jourdan, an engineer whose company Nauticos has led three expeditions in search of Earhart. “It can be distorted by reflections, like taking a picture of a mirror.” Promising images, on a second look, sometimes turn out to be something else entirely, like a geological formation.

Amelia Earhart is shown in the cockpit of her autogiro on April 8, 1931, after setting a new altitude record for women in planes of this type. Bettmann/Contributor/Getty Images

2. Deep Sea Vision Didn’t Confirm The Object’s Identity.

Romeo and his team found the image in their data storage files as they were transitioning to another expedition. They thought that data from one of the AUV’s earlier sorties had been corrupted. When they discovered it wasn’t—and that they had a potential blockbuster find—it was too late to return to the site.

“We were out of time. We were out of resources,” says Romeo. “And we didn’t have a camera on our [AUV]. It broke really early in the expedition.” Returning to go over the target again with just sonar didn’t seem worth the hundreds of thousands of dollars he estimated it would cost. Deep Sea Vision plans to go back to the sonar image site this year, this time with an operational camera on the AUV to confirm the finding.

National Geographic Explorer at Large Bob Ballard, pictured here in the control room of the E/V Nautilus, led a major expedition in 2019 to find the remains of Amelia Earhart's airplane. Photograph By Gabriel Scarlett, National Geographic Image Collection

3. Some Experts Say The Plane, If It Is A Plane, Doesn’t Resemble The Electra.

“The proportions aren’t quite right,” says Jourdan, pointing to the way the wings are swept back rather than straight across, as the Electra’s were.

Others are even more skeptical. “For the wings of an Electra to fold rearward as shown in the sonar image, the entire center section would have to fail at the wing/fuselage junctions,” according to an email blast from The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery (TIGHAR), an organization that has put forward the theory that Earhart died a castaway on an island to the east of the sonar image site. “That’s just not possible.”

Romeo dismisses this criticism. Both the wings and the tail look swept back due to distortion caused by the AUV moving through the water, he says, pointing to the twin fins on the back of the plane instead. “That’s very distinctive of her aircraft,” he says. “There’s only a couple of planes that’ve ever been made like that.”

Amelia Earhart is photographed with her Lockheed Model 10-E Electra, the aircraft she used in her attempted flight around the world. Earhart and the plane went missing on July 2, 1937. Underwood & Underwood/Alamy Stock Photo

4. The Object’s Location Is Roughly On Earhart’s Flight Path—But Beyond The Range Suggested By Her Radio Signals.

Earhart and Noonan disappeared on July 2, 1937, flying from Lae, New Guinea, to Howland Island, a one-and-a-half-mile long island some 2,500 miles away. After flying 20 hours, Earhart thought they were close and radioed the Itasca, the Coast Guard ship awaiting them at Howland, “We must be on you but cannot see you.” Her voice was so loud, the Coast Guard radiomen thought she was very near too. She wasn’t, but the strength of the radio signals suggest that she was just beyond visual range.

Deep Sea Vision’s search area was roughly a hundred miles west; Romeo won’t reveal exactly where to avoid someone else making the crucial find. But he does acknowledge that they were guided by a theory that Noonan had failed to account for how the International Date Line would affect his calculations. That theory, however, doesn’t account for the strength of Earhart’s radio signals.

A deep-sea exploration company has captured a sonar image of an anomaly on the ocean floor that resembles an aircraft. The team believes the object could be Amelia Earhart's Lockheed 10-E Electra that went missing nearly 87 years ago. Deep Sea Vision/PR Newswire

Tony Romeo holds a model of Amelia Earhart's plane, which resembles sonar images he and his crew captured with high-tech equipment. Tony Romeo/CEO Deep Sea Vision

5. Others Have Claimed To Solve This Mystery.

Over the nearly 90 years since Earhart and Noonan vanished, many people have claimed to have proof of what happened to them.

Members of the Ballard-led expedition dive in the primary search area just off Nikumaroro Island, an isolated ring of coral and sand surrounding a turquoise lagoon where some suspect Earhart may have been landed. Photograph By Gabriel Scarlett, National Geographic Image Collection

People who believe the Japanese captured and killed the aviators have pointed to everything from a generator retrieved in a Saipan harbor in 1960 to a photograph on a Jaluit dock revealed in 2017. TIGHAR, meanwhile, has claimed various smoking guns over the years but now argues that a preponderance of historical and archaeological evidence puts Earhart on Nikumaroro Island, 400 hundred miles south of Howland, where they believe she starved to death.

Then there’s the simplest explanation: that the aviators simply crashed into the ocean. Elgen Long, an airline pilot who with his wife Marie did the most extensive research into where that might have happened, wrote a book called Amelia Earhart: The Mystery Solved. Over three expeditions, Jourdan has looked where Long suggested (and elsewhere) and come up empty.

6. The Mystery Is Still Unsolved. That Doesn’t Mean Its Unsolvable.

Jourdan’s team believes they’ve narrowed down where the Electra went down based on recent radio signal testing. Meanwhile, when Deep Sea Vision returns to the site this year, they will bring a documentary crew to capture the moment. “This is definitely something that we need to go back and look at,” says Romeo. “We’ve got to get out there before … you know, there is some urgency.”

Top: The Romeo Brothers are planning another Pacific Ocean expedition to get better sonar images to confirm whether they have discovered the ruins of Earhart's doomed voyage. Bettmann Archive

Bottom: Deep Sea Vision believes they may have come across Amelia Earhart's wrecked plane in the Pacific Ocean. Photo: Bettman via Getty Images/Deep Sea Vision

Tony Romeo holds a model of Amelia Earhart's plane, which resembles sonar images he and his crew captured with high-tech equipment. (Tony Romeo/CEO Deep Sea Vision)

#History & Culture #Amelia Earhart #National Geographic #Rachel Hartigan #Sonar #Sonar Images #Deep Sea #The Electra #Radio Signals #Object’s Location #Mystery #Still Unsolved

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hairmetal666 · 2 years ago

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Steddie paranormal investigator modern day au

I watched Buzzfeed Unsolved and this happened. Sorry?

Eddie's got his phone up, focused on Steve as he drives. "We should hunt ghosts, Stevie."

"What?" Steve says. He's being safe and concentrating on the traffic in front of him, not on Eddie's latest TikTok antics.

"Paranormal Investigation! It would be fun."

"Absolutely not."

"We're doing it."

"Eddie. No."

"Steeeeeeve, c'mon! It's like you've trained your whole life for this."

Steve looks at the camera then, hazel eyes serious. "Yes, and I've retired from active duty."

Eddie pouts until Steve rolls his eyes.

👻 Investigation 1 👻

Steve has one hand in his jacket pocket, the other holding his phone at it records his surroundings. "Hey, ghosts. Feel like talking?"

"Really? That's all, Harrington? You promised you'd act like you care."

"This is me caring! What else do you want, Munson?"

"Care with enthusiasm."

"Please enlighten me on how to do that." Steve keeps his voice even and deadpan, giving his head a pigeon-like tilt.

Eddie bounds forward, a bright and real smile lighting his face. "Hey, ghosts!! I'm Eddie. This is my best friend, Steve. We're here because we wanted to talk to you. Maybe you can start by introducing yourselves?"

Steve glares. "How is that different from what I did."

"How--Steve you--oh my god. You didn't even introduce yourself!"

"To the ghosts?"

"I thought you were raised to be polite."

"Yeah, to people, dude."

"Ghosts are people!"

Steve snickers, eyes glistening, and Eddie slaps at his bicep.

"Don't hit me," Steve says. He knocks Eddie away with his hip.

"Well, don't nudge me." He elbows Steve in the ribs.

There's just a flash of blinding smile from Steve before he launches himself at Eddie, full blown slap fight erupting between them. They giggle and shriek, and then Steve pins Eddie's hands together. They're breathless, panting and flushed, hair mussed.

"Is this respectful to the ghosts, Munson?"

"You started it," Eddie sicks his lower lip out. Steve tosses his head back and laughs, misses how Eddie's eyes linger, drink him in.

👻 Investigation 7 👻

Steve walks into frame, holding his phone as he records. "Hey, hi. My name's Steve, and this is my buddy, Eddie. We're here to chat, if you feel like it."

"Yeah, we just want to learn about you. See what you're doing. Did you die here?"

"Is that respectful?" Steve hisses.

"Shut-up," Eddie hisses back. They momentarily get distracted shoving one another.

"If you're around, let us know," Steve says. "There's this rocking chair here, could you maybe move it for us?"

"Yeah, and hey," Eddie fiddles with the flashlight in his hands. "I'm gonna set this flashlight right here on the ground, and if you can't move the chair, why not turn this flashlight off for us, okay?"

He leans down to put the light on the floor, his phone camera capturing a few seconds of Steve watching him, a little smile on his face. A beat passes and Eddie's movements slip Steve out of frame. There's a shrieking scream and Steve shouts, "EDDIE?" followed by the skittering clank of things being dropped onto the concrete floor.

The view changes to a static shot, from a camera set up behind them. It shows Eddie bend down, setting the flashlight in front of him, before he screams. He leaps--fully leaving the ground--into Steve's arms. Steve catches him easily, dropping his phone, so he can brace Eddie against his chest in a bridal carry. Eddie's arms wrap around Steve's neck, his face buried against the other man's collar.

Steve laughs. "You okay, Eds?"

Eddie responds, but it's not picked up by the mics. It makes Steve laugh harder. "There was a rat, huh? I think I can take a rat."

"Don't make fun of me," Eddie grumbles. He peels his head off Steve's shoulder and the camera just catches the corner of his flushed face and his bashful grin.

"I would never," Steve shakes his head. "You good to get down now?"

Their gazes meet for a few long seconds. "Definitely," but Eddie's voice shakes.

Steve puts his friend on his feet, but takes a second to push some of Eddie's hair behind his ear. "You okay?'

"Yeah, yeah, it was nothing."

"You sure?"

Eddie scowls. "I knew it!"

"Knew what?"

"You're making fun of me!"

"I am not!"

They miss the chair rocking on its own behind them.

👻 Investigation 15 👻

Steve digs through a backpack before spreading a sleeping bag over the scratched wood floors. Eddie films on his phone.

"Okay, Stevie, this is the first investigation where we're staying over night. How you feeling?"

"Fine," he responds. He doesn't look away from his task.

"Fine? We're staying overnight, where there are ghosts, and you're fine!?"

"Well, sure, Eds. I've faced worse than ghosts before."

"How are you not freaking out right now?"

Steve turns to the camera, a tiny smile on his face. "Because I'm not freaked out?"

"Ugh!" Eddie flails his hands which makes the image shift and blur. "It's like you don't even believe in this shit."

"You know that I do." Steve takes a few steps forward, reaching out to grab Eddie's elbow. "It's just that. They're ghosts, you know? They can't hurt us. Not really. And you know I'll protect you."

The angle changes to a static shot from behind Steve, giving full view of the soft and adoring way Eddie watches the other man.

👻 Investigation 15 ~ 2:03-3:45am 👻

The camera shows Steve and Eddie in their respective sleeping bags, both snoring. A time lapse captures the way they shift and shuffle in their sleep, until they're curled against each other on the floor.

It also captures the distant sound of an unintelligible voice and something clank in another room. Eddie flails, twisting and turning.

"Steve?" He says. "Steve!" He pushes out of the sleeping bag. "What the fuck was that?"

Steve sits up, his hair standing on end around his head. "Eds? What's wrong?"

"You didn't hear that?" Eddie's eyes are wide and panicked.

"No. What was it?"

"I heard like, voices or some shit. Maybe something falling over?"

Steve squirms out of his sleeping bag, grabbing a flashlight and starting recording on his phone.

"What are you doing?" Eddie grabs Steve's forearm.

"Investigating?"

"Aren't you--"

Steve cups Eddies cheek. "No, babe, I'm not scared. Let's go look, yeah?"

Steve walks out of frame, and Eddie stands frozen, until he slowly lifts a hand to trace where Steve touched against face. "Babe?" he whispers

👻 Investigation 22 👻

"Well, we're staying the night again." Steve says. "How'd you feel about the last time, Eds?"

"At least we're investigating a hotel and get a bed. Last time was terrible," Eddie frowns. "You were so calm."

"So, it wasn't terrible because we spent the night on the floor in a haunted place, but because I wasn't scared?"

"Pretty much."

"Shouldn't it be a good thing that I'm brave and strong and protective?"

Eddie gags. "Gross, man."

"What? Look at these muscles--I could take a ghost out." Steve flexes.

"You're not allowed to fistfight the ghosts, we've talked about this."

"Aw, c'mon, you don't think I can take a ghost?"

"Absolutely not, Stevie. You've never won a single fight."

Steve's mouth drops. "Excuse me. I've won at least one of them"

"Not a great track record."

"This is cruel. You're being cruel to me. After I've saved you from rats and from ghosts and from--"

"Yeah, yeah, my hero. C'mon, let's get moving."

Eddie's being sarcastic, but Steve's face still flushes a bright pink.

👻 Investigation 22 ~ 1:45-2:17am 👻

They fall asleep with the EVP still between them. Like before, the distance between their bodies closes as time passes until Steve is tucked close around Eddie, his arm draped over Eddie's waist.

It's sweet, peaceful until Steve starts to twitch. The mics pick up unintelligible murmuring until it becomes something close to short yelps and bitten off screams. Steve whimpers a long, heartbreaking sound and his body starts to shake, his hands grasping at his own face.

Eddie snuffles, is quiet for a second, before he realizes something is wrong. He twists to Steve, grabbing his shoulders. "Stevie, baby, oh my god, what's wrong. Steve!"

The other man wakes with a heaving gasp, flailing and shouting Eddie's name.

"I'm here. I'm right here." Eddie rests his hands against Steve's face, but pulls back, looking at his hands with wide eyes. "Why are you bloody, sweetheart?"

"What?" Steve reaches up, gingerly touching his cheeks. "What the fuck," Steve hisses. "What the fuck."

A flashlight flicks on, illuminating the long but shallow scratches across Steve's left cheek. "Jesus, baby. What happened?"

"I--" Steve is trembling hard enough his voice shakes. "I thought I was dreaming? I heard this voice and then this shape walked towards me from the bathroom." Steve points. "He--it reached for me, and I knew I shouldn't let him touch me, so I fought, but--" He's shaking too hard to continue.

"It's okay," Eddie 's voice is soft. "It's alright, sweetheart. It's over, yeah? I won't let anything bad happen to you, promise."

"I thought--Eddie, I thought--"

"I know, I know, sweetheart. It wasn't, though. We're okay."

"I'm scared, Eds," is barely heard through the mic.

"It's okay. I got you, yeah? I'll always have you."

Eddie starts singing something, soft soft, so only the melody catches, still too faint to make out. He holds Steve tight, cards fingers through his hair until the shaking stops.

"Not so brave now, huh?" Steve asks, giving a little wet chuckle.

"Baby, you are the bravest person I know. This doesn't change that. Not for an instant."

"Liar." Steve presses his face harder against Eddie's neck.

"To you? Never."

They sit in silence a little longer before Steve moves. Eddie caresses the man's face, lets his thumbs graze over his cheekbones. He knows affection is spilling out of him, overflowing, swallowing everything, but there's nothing Eddie can do about it anymore.

"Eddie?" Steve asks.

They close the lingering distance between them on some unspoken mutual agreement, lips slotting together like they'd been doing this for years and hadn't condemned themselves to a lifetime of quiet yearning.

Steve brushes his tongue against Eddie's mouth, and Eddie lets him in, their tongues meeting in a wet tangle. They kiss and kiss and kiss, lost to the moment, cameras and ghosts and the world forgotten for each other.

They part, staying close enough to share air. "Hey, Eds?"

"Yeah, sweetheart?"

"I have a huge crush on you."

Eddie's nose wrinkles before he erupts in a sweet laugh. "Well, thank god for that. I'm fucking gone on you, baby."

"Yeah?" Steve whispers now.

"You're sort of everything, Steve Harrington."

"Fuck," Steve buries his face into Eddie's neck. "Is now the time to say that I think you're it for me? Cause--"

He doesn't get the rest of the words out, the force of Eddie's kiss sending his mind to outer space.

When they pull apart again, Steve quietly says, "thank you, ghosts," and Eddie giggles.

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