Amelia Earhart was on a secret government mission when she disappeared
Who was Amelia Earhart
What was her life like before she began flying ?
What was her life like after she was introduced to flying?
She was born on July 24, 1897 in Atchison, Kansas
She was raised by her parents and grew up in an environment that influenced her passion in aviation and drove her to become one of the most influential females in the world and one of the most well-known female pilots in the world
Her father was Edwin Earhart and her mother was Amy Earhart
Her family had a lot of financial issues while she was growing up
Amelia idolized her father
The Earhart's moved to Des Moines, Iowa when she was 10
Shortly after they arrived in Iowa, they went to the State Fair, where Amelia saw an airplane for the first time
Ironically, she was unimpressed
Amelia's life became less happy as Edwin had become an alcoholic and he verbally abused his family, but Amelia still loved him
The Earhart's raised Amelia and her sister Muriel raised their children to be whoever they wanted themselves to be
Many of their childhood activities included baseball, fishing, and roaming through the forest and the woods
Both sisters enjoyed being tomboys
They were considered tomboys because the both did things that no girls ever dared to do
The Flight
In 1920, Edwin took Amelia to an air show in Long Beach, California
After the air show, Amelia told Edwin that she wanted to go up in a plane
3 days after the air show, Edwin paid for Amelia to take a trip in an airplane
She enjoyed the flight so much that she wanted to begin taking flying lessons
Amelia's flight instructor was Neta Shook
When she started her lessons, Amelia had been using Shook's plane, but after her excitement from flying continued to rise, she began to save her money to buy her own plane
This plane was the Canary
Under the guidance of Shook, Earhart earned an international pilot's license
Earhart was the first woman to earn this
The Flight Across the Atlantic
Hilton H. Railey was working for a group that was looking to sponser the first flight of a woman across the Atlantic Ocean
This woman would not be flying, she would be a passenger, and she was not going to be paid
This woman was going to be Amelia Earhart--she wanted to make history
Snook felt that Amelia was ready to fly by herself after 20 hours of flight training
After 20 hours and 40 minutes of flying as a passenger, Earhart had become the first female to fly across the Atlantic
Earhart became very famous after this flight, but she felt that she did not earn her fame because she was a passenger
In an effort to put an end to rumors that she was not a skilled pilot, she planned to fly across the Atlantic as a pilot
She felt like a "sack of potatoes"
Amelia published a book,20 Hrs. 40 Min: Our Flight in the Friendship
She married George Putnam, the publisher of this book
He became her business manager
In 1932, Amelia became the first female pilot to fly across the Atlantic in a solo flight
She finally felt that she deserved her fame and recognition, but she was still hungry for more
What was Amelia Earhart known/remembered for?
She spent 12 years as an aviator and she was in the air for more than 1,000 hours
She was an early symbol of the women's rights emergence
She advocated for women so that they can be in any career they want other than being wives and mothers
Her modest demeanor made her seem like the perfect heroine
She was the first president of the ninety-nines--an organization for women pilots
She became the first woman to cross the Atlantic in an airplane in 1928
She set the women's speed record for a flight with a speed of 175 miles per hour in 1930
She became the first female pilot to fly solo across the Atlantic in 1932
She arguably the most well-known female aviator of all-time
She attempted to become the first person to fly around the world... attempted
What she was planning to do
What she was doing it for
What Happened
She intended to fly around the world along the equator
Who was involved in the flight
She wanted to earn more fame and recognition, her main goal was to increase the amount of publicity that she has been earning so she could spread awareness of advancements
She was trying to promote the advancement of commercial aviation and the advancement of women in society
this would have made her the first pilot to ever circulate Earth by flying along the equator
She insisted on having a navigator on this trip instead of trying to fly solo around the world
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On the plane
In flight preparation
Ships
She spent her life trying to prove that she is capable of doing what she says
Fred Noonan was the only other person on the Electra with Amelia Earhart--he was the navigator
He was originally chosen to be the assistant navigator and the actual navigator was going to be Harry Manning
Noonan was with Earhart the entire flight because her hardest leg of the trip, the one where she needed Noonan the most came last
He was an excellent aerial navigator but he did have many flaws: he was not very good at operating the Morse code key, he wasn't the greatest celestial navigator or dead reckoner but he was still good
Paul Mantz
George Putnam
- Helped Earhart with decisions of what equipment should be used and who will be involved in the tripp
responsible for all government paperwork which allowed Earhart to fly over other countries' land
Harry Manning
Earhart's original choice for navigator
was the navigator on the ship that brought back the Friendship after Earhart's first trip across the Atlantic
He was an experienced celestial navigator and he knew Morse code, but he lacked aerial navigation experience
he did not appreciate Earhart's behavior and he decided that he would not be her navigator after the failed attempt in Hawaii
Earhart's technical advisor
Earhart was supposed to meet with Mantz to go over flight plans and fuel consumption estimates, as well as performing equipment check-ups but she left early
Mantz did not feel that Earhart was ready for the flight
he knew that there were mechanical flaws with the Electra
he told his grandson that she was not ready for an around-the-world flight
He noticed that she was not a methodical planner who gave attention to all possible outcomes, she never cared about the radio navigation preparations, and she never realized the significance of how important it was to find Howland Island
helped raise money for the flight and spread awareness to increase the publicity of the upcoming feat
he said that Earhart and Noonan had "one chance in a thousand" of survival
The Itasca
The Colorado, the Lexington, and the Swan were ships that were somewhat near Howland Island and were all involved in the search
Captain Thompson
located near Howland Island and used to smoke signals to help assist the Earhart and the Electra to finding Howland Island
one of the main sources of contact that talked to Earhart and received her transmissions
sent out the "all ships" alert
The Ontario was also on route to Howland Island for Earhart to see
The Search
On July 2, 1937, Earhart woke up and started preparing for her 2,556-mile flight to Howland Island by eliminating all of the excess weight from the Electra—including personal baggage and papers—to make room for the thousands of gallons of fuel that is necessary for an 18 hour journey across the Pacific.
Earhart and Noonan had traveled 22,000 miles around the world but needed to log 7,000 more to complete the route that they had charted
The most difficult task of their journey was trying to find Howland Island—an island only 20 feet high, two miles long, and a half-mile wide
Amelia Earhart boarded her plane and lifted off from Oakland, California to Miami, Florida--the first leg of her trip--on May 21, 1937
She was with her sole crew member--Fred Noonan
On her trip, she made several stops around the world so she could sleep and prepare for her next leg
During her leg to Howland Island, she frequently contacted the Itasca
She informed members aboard this ship that she only had half an hour of gas remaining
After her final transmission (distorted and bad connection), members aboard the ship were ordered by Captain Thompson to go out and look for her
After an hour of waiting, Thompson called off the lookout because he knew that she could no longer be in the air
After two hours, Thompson had declared Earhart "lost" and he had sent out an "all ships" alert
Towards the end of her flight around the equator, she disappeared as she was flying to Howland Island in the Pacific Ocean
Her final transmission said that she was flying along the line 157-337, looking for Howland
North of Howland along their line of position is nothing but water for thousands of miles
After Earhart’s final message , Commander Thompson of the Itasca to an area about 40 miles northwest of Howland Island
Earhart had been flying for 20 hours before she sent her final message to the Itasca
About 7 ½ hours after departing Lae, she reported her position about 20 miles southwest of the Nakumanu Islands
;40 minutes later, she reported that she was still on course
Sailors on the Itasca heard a faint message from Earhart when she was 14 hours and 15 minutes into the flight An hour later they heard her report that the weather was “overcast”
Another hour passed before she said that it was “partly cloudy
Based on the strength of Earhart’s final radio signal, members aboard the Itasca believed that Earhart was 100 miles of Howland Island.
With the official declaration for Earhart's disappearance, “Earhart fever” or the craze of finding Earhart had begun
Putnam immediately became active in the process of finding reports and rumors that might contain a lead for Amelia’s whereabouts
Mantz thought Amelia was suffering from pilot fatigue ran out of fuel and tried to land too high over the water or tried to land in rough water
The odds that Amelia and Noonan had not survived increased with every other hour
More than a quarter million square miles of the Pacific were investigated during the search authorized by President Roosevelt and it cost about four million dollars
The official mission was abandoned on July 18, 1937—sixteen days after Amelia’s final broadcast, but Putnam did not give up on her
Numerous radio operators sent signals hoping to reach her and to aid in her rescue her.
Putnam and Amy Earhart had continued to find possible leads throughout the months following Amelia’s disappearance
On January 5, 1939, Amelia Earhart was officially listed as deceased, two years after her disappearance
Some operators confessed the claims of hearing distress calls were hoaxes
The world was informed of Earhart's disappearance on July 3
Putnam announced he was offering $2,000 for information that would “definitely clear up the mystery surrounding the disappearance” of Amelia and Fred
Not until the end of the year did Putnam accept Amelia's death
When Earhart went missing, Roosevelt immediately sent out an order to start a search
He sent the Navy to assist the Coast Guard in the largest air-sea rescue mission ever undertaken
The Colorado, the Lexington, the Itasca, the Swan, and other support ships and aircraft were all involved in the search
However, he continued to look into rumors
What the Government said about Earhart's disappearance
No classified documents were found when a request for the mandatory declassification of all-Earhart related documents in 1991 under the Freedom of Information Act
On May 13, 1938, Eleanor Roosevelt wanted to have a copy of all of the information of Earhart’s disappearance but the Secretary of Treasury Morgenthau denied her the access
No sign of her, her plane, or Noonan were ever discovered despite efforts to find them endorsed by the U.S. government and Putnam
Both the Japanese government and the U.S. government concluded that the two fliers had crashed into the ocean
If Earhart and Noonan did crash and sink, then why would the government keep documents and information secret and classified
There is little to no evidence that Earhart and Noonan crashed and sank which is the United States government's official statement on the situation
The official positon of the U.S. government is that both fliers were likely to have run out of gas, crashed, and sank within 40 miles of Howland Island. The government’s claim states that strong headwinds and heavy weather near the area contributed to the crash. However, there is no evidence to support this claim
The government’s stance is surrounded by problems and errors that are suspicious. There is evidence that weather for the most part was clear and there were no severe storms
The immediate search for the Electra found no evidence: no plane, no oil slick, no debris, nothing
Why won't the U.S. government still not inform society what really happened if there statement is so flawed
What I think happened and Why the Government is Wrong
Amelia was on a secret spy mission
Amelia was very close friends with the Roosevelt's--they loved her to death
FDR and the Government admired Earhart because she was the only person who was capable of undertaking a risky miission
She had the right skills and she knew how to use them: politics, destiny, skills, and equipment
The Navy, State Department, and Cabinet members were trying to concoct a plan to find ways to gain an early advantage in the situation in the Pacific
Why is a secret mission necessary and what would she be doing
Why was Earhart picked?
FDR would not pass up the opportunity to apply his creativity and fondness for intrigue
He knew that if he convinced Earhart to perform the mission, that she would set a goal for herself to complete it to the best of her ability
She had a very individualistic mindset
She was willing to take risks
She was most likely asked to take part in this mission on verbal mission
At the time of her flight, Japan had been expanding the Pacific and the U.S. government feared that they were installing a military on a nearby island which was a violation of the mandate from the League of Nations
After Earhart disappeared, people began to think that Earhart was a spy sent on a mission to photograph the Marshall Islands
Many thought that Amelia and Noonan had been sent by the government to fly over Japanese holdings in the Pacific to discover whether or not Japan had been illegally fortifying their islands in preparation for war
Japan had withdrawn from the League of Nations in 1935 and they obstructed the law that they could not take control over Pacific islands
In 1937, the Japanese had possession of the Marshall, Mariana, and Caroline Islands through a mandate instituted following WWI
According to Thomas E. Devine, the United States government is currently in the possession of 113 sealed documents that correlate to the Earhart case
These documents are kept hidden to cover up the mistakes relative to the in-flight aid supplied to Earhart as well as a botched search
Earhart had to have been in a covert mission where she was supposed to take pictures of Japanese military installations,
They were sent to see how many airfields there were
The crash and sank belief is the easiest to believe even though there is hardly any evidence
People who go off this belief typically think this is what happened because she didn’t land on Howland and has not been found anywhere else
She pursued two goals in espionage: protection of U.S. national security, and the prevention of war in the Pacific
Mili Atoll
Mili Atoll is the southernmost atoll in the Marshall Islands—this was Japanese territories
Islanders heard the sound of a plane and were instructed by Japanese officers to stay away from a now-restricted area, the sound was if the plane was losing altitude fast
The Electra came down in one of three ways: 1) It was shot down by the Japanese 2) It ran out of gas 3) the failure rate of the components of the Electra
Fishermen saw two people climb into a life boat and paddle to shore, when they came ashore, the fishermen claimed they saw two white people
Japanese soldiers came and took the two Americans and the airplane away from Mili Atoll
While aboard a Japanese ship, a male’s wounds was being attended to but no one could talk to him or the woman that had some “boyish” features
Earhart ran out of fuel because Captain Thompson heard Earhart’s on the transmission saying that she was running very low on fuel (about 30 minutes worth)
Goerner theorized that Earhart and Noonan ran out of fuel, crashed on Mili Atoll
Earhart was unhurt and Noonan was but Earhart aided him
On July 13, 1937, according to Goerner, the two were taken to shore by a Japanese fishing boat, then later to Saipan, which is the Japanese military headquarters in the Pacific, where they were questioned and later executed
Saipan
Executed
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She would also make an attempt to make this into a movement to promote that women could become more important than just being wives and mothers
Given the quality and quantity of evidence, it is becoming a more possible answer that the Electra came down in the Marshall Islands, and there is little evidence that the Electra could have ended elsewhere
The Saipan theory states that Earhart and Noonan were forced to land near Saipan, when they landed, they were met by Japanese soldiers where they were taken, arrested, and executed as spies
However, this entire theory is based off the testimony of one woman who saw a white woman wearing men’s clothes some time before WWII
When American soldier invaded Saipan in 1944, they found a number of photographs of Earhart, including one of Earhart standing next to a Japanese airplane and another where she appeared next to a Japanese soldier
All of these pictures were given to the U.S. government where they either disappeared or became classified
Joaquina Cabrera was interviewed by Goerner and she had seen a “white lady and a man”
Although there has been no exact proof or positively identified corpses, there were 72 different people that claimed that Earhart and Noonan were executed in Saipan
The rumor died down when Eleanor Roosevelt wrote to Muriel Morrissey to assure her that her husband would not send her dear friend on such a dangerous mission
Goerner heard from someone that they recalled seeing the Electra being destroyed on purpose and another person claimed that she was a prisoner until she died of dysentery and Noonan was executed
Amy Earhart was convinced that Amelia’s last flight had been a spy mission for the U.S. government
Muriel Morrissey was not convinced by her mother’s theory of Amelia on a “spy mission”. She believed that Amelia had crashed and died
Flight for Freedom was a fictionalized treatment of Amelia’s life. The main character was about to fly to Hawaii on a global flight, but the U.S. government asked her to join a secret mission in which she crashes on purpose to provide time for further preparations
Bilimon Amaron was a health aide to a physician in the Marshalls Islands, he was summoned to treat a man and a woman who had been picked up on a reef near Mili Atoll.
The female was wearing trouser
Japanese people aboard a ship found the man and woman, claimed that they ran out of fuel and crashed near Mili
According to many Saipanese, Earhart and Noonan were executed outside of the prison at Garapan as spies, but no one interviewed has claimed to witness the executions
Why would they? Earhart would have been too valuable of an asset to executed
Even though for Earhart as a citizen, if she were caught being a spy then she would be on her own
She pursued two goals in espionage: protection of U.S. national security, and the prevention of war in the Pacific
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Prisoner
Possible reasons why Japanese held on to Earhart: hostage, pawn, negotiating or trading chip, or propaganda purposes
There is evidence that Earhart survived past July 2, 1937 (pictures of Earhart with Japanese and planes)
Irene Craigmile
She began living under this identity after she was brainwashed or after she suffered from amnesia
An alternate explanation claims that both Earhart and Noonan were freed into China, where they were repatriated to the U.S. and she underwent an identity change (Irene Craigmile Bolam)
While in Japan, there is a theory that Earhart adopted the name Irene Craigmile
Tokyo Rosa
On July 12, 1949, Iva Ikuko Toguri was arrested and charged for treason as Tokyo Rose
Joe Klass believed that Earhart was given the code name “Tokyo Rose” by the Japanese, who was then used as blackmail the United States into signing a treaty for Japan. Roosevelt denied the blackmail and caused her to receive the same treatment as all American spies captured by a foreign power—she was abandoned by her country
She was brainwashed so she was unaware of what the purpose of what being Tokyo Rosa was
While Earhart was on Saipan, she was referred to as “Tokyo Rosa
This was a term that meant “American spy lady”
Following the European D-Day, a woman’s voice was often heard broadcasting false information from Tokyo to American GIs when Japanese resistance was about to collapse
This voice was known throughout the Pacific as “Tokyo Rose”
Iva Ikuko Toguri D’Aquino was put on trial for eight overt actions towards the U.S.
When D’Aquino was convicted of treason as “Tokyo Rose”, she said that American POWs were forced to work in the station where she did, and there is a theory that Earhart had been one of the POWs but there is very little evidence. They were coerced to prepare and perform tasks in the broadcasting station
Even if they were not executed on Saipan, there is some compelling evidence that they were transported from Saipan and were held prisoner
Most of the evidence in the Earhart case has to deal with what someone says that they saw or heard, or what they heard from someone else talking about how they saw or heard something
In the years following her disappearance, radio operators claimed that they heard her calling for help after she landed
One of the most persistent rumors was that Earhart was a prisoner of the Japanese after the attack on Pearl Harbor
During World War II, people in the Pacific claimed to have seen Earhart in Japanese custody
Josephine Blanco Akiyama, a Sapian native, claimed that she saw a plane crash in a harbor and she saw soldiers leading two passengers—a man and a woman—into the nearby woods where she heard two shots fired.
A journalist, Fred Goerner, went to Saipan and interviewed Natives. A few claimed that they saw two American pilots taken captive by the Japanese. However, these sources said that Earhart was not executed, she was held prisoner for months before dying of an illness