[gb]

I wouldn't ordinarily pay much credence to anything on the History Channel, but this looks interesting, showing Sunday at 9PM. MSNBC just did a bit on this. Some of the evidence includes the fact that the Marshall Islands made a series of Amelia Earhart stamps, including one of her landing in the Marshall Islands in 1937 and some telling photographs. http://www.history.com/specials/amelia-earhart-the-lost-evidence

[InFlight]

National news showed a grainy BW photo of some Japanese prisoners. One is supposed to be Earhart, and the other her navigator. https://localtvwdaf.files.wordpress.com/2017/07/photo.jpg?quality=85&strip=all&strip=all Who knows, really hard to tell.

[Seventy2002]

[thunderhead]

No evidence that that is Earhart, nor is there any evidence it was taken after the disappearance. Some old world war 2 era maritime manuals might be able to ID those 2 freighters to pin down the date, but I have not seen any such evidence yet(which still leaves the old grainy photo clearly unable to ID anyone). And not to mention the obvious, but radio calls clearly indicate they were lost and running low on fuel. The fact that this is a famous "mystery" leads to silly conspiracy theories... but there is no reason to think it was anything more than a flight crew getting lost in a big ocean, in an age when radios and long range flight were in their infancy. Especially when Earhart herself was a pretty poor pilot and neither really understood their new radios(and HF radios suck even with modern technology and good training).

[gb]

For myself, I will withhold judgement until I see the program, which could be fascinating.

[AR]

If the picture is real, that's obviously them. The ship is towing the exact plane. Which just happens to be all together after ditching. This is like pulling a full scale picture of a UFO landing and former president Nixon shaking the visitors hand, should they have one. No one is going to convince me this picture is real. I'm also going to call out thunderhead for this jab... "Especially when Earhart herself was a pretty poor pilot and neither really understood their new radios" ...how many times did you fly with her?

[thunderhead]

I base my opinion on those who did fly with her and wrote about it. The consensus in the aviation community is that she was not good. In addition... their lack of understanding of their radios is indisputable... leaving behind antennae that could have increased their ability to navigate. They didn't even understand Morse code, in an era when its use was routine, and when their radio navigation performance would be degraded without it. The fact that they got lost and probably ran out of fuel is not surprising at all.

[DIYSteve]

NPR ran an item about it yesterday. The woman interviewed -- who had some level of expertise re such things -- saw it per a reviewer's preview and she was unpersuaded by the allegedly new evidence. But she acknowledged that it was an entertaining show. So it's got that going for it.

[Randito]

Hitting Howland Island with the equipment they had (and their level of training) would have been a fricking miracle -- yet people feel the need for some sort of complex explanation -- the simple explanation is they missed the island, ran out of fuel, crashed into the sea and were killed on impact or drowned or eaten by sharks -- but that doesn't make for "good television"

[InFlight]

[thunderhead]

If Noonan and Earhart understood their radios better, coordinated better with the coast guard, and had not left behind part of the antennae, it certainly would have increased their odds... but even then, given the somewhat cloudy conditions and technology of the era, failure was still possible.

[gb]

It was very bad weather when they started out and Noonan preferred Celestial Navigation the distance was 2556 NM. Map:

I'd like to see what is presented, then I'll judge.

[InFlight]

[Pyrites]

I saw a teaser interview with the talking head pilot they have as a "expert" for the show. Emphasized his combat missions in introduction as if pertinent to analysis of thin evidence. Even in the short interview he did that technique where he advocates while crossing the steep side hill. After it's implied that of course you agree and everything is after is stated as fact. Dixey Ray kept a nuke bomb from her AEC/NRC days. Used it in conspiracy with Weyco to initiate the St Helens explosion. Mission Accomplished. The bands of Sasquatch defending their inner core homeland by vandalizing Weyco's equipment were wiped out. And everyone knows that after a brief hiatus that Weyco's board feet went up in the massive salvage log. It's proof they were ready. And we all agree that sales and profits went up. And the USFS got their Monument to compete with the NPS. See, we have a volcano too. Blah blah. Those old Ham radio guys with their aluminum patch off some other atoll were more credible.

[Pyrites]

And as late as 1950 B-29's transiting to and from Kadena flew at night. If you can get above clouds celestial navigation is rock solid. So you fly at night and land twenty minutes after sunup. If your pilot is cautious the navigator, co-pilot, and bombardier all separately navigate.