On July 2, 1937, Amelia Earhart and her navigator Fred Noonan embarked on a flight to Howland Island from Lae, New Guinea. It was one of their last stops in completing the flight around the globe. Unfortunately, Earhart and Noonan never made it to Howland Island, and their fate remains a mystery to date.
Now, Deep Sea Vision and their ocean exploration team believe that they have found a key clue to resolving that mystery. The company, which operates unmanned underwater vehicles, recently released sonar footage of what they believe are the remains of Earhart’s airplane.
According to Deep Sea Vision, the object on the ocean floor corresponds to the shape and features of the Lockheed 10-E Electra flown by Earhart. It sits 16,000 feet underwater, around 100 miles from Howland Island.
“Some people call it one of the greatest mysteries of all time, I think it actually is the greatest mystery of all time,” said Deep Sea Vision Tony Romeo via CNN. “We have an opportunity to bring closure to one of the greatest American stories ever.”
Romeo and Deep Sea Vision intend to explore the site further and hope to investigate the object further in order to confirm their suspicions.
Several theories have been proposed over the years that tried to explain what happened to Earhart and Noonan. The most accepted theory is that the pair failed to find their way to Howland Island, ran out of fuel, and crashed into the ocean. Another theory argues that they have crashed on one of the Pacific Ocean islands or that they have made a successful landing but were captured and died in captivity.