Amelia Earhart, a name synonymous with audacity and pioneering spirit in aviation, was a trailblazer unlike any other. She wasn’t just the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic; she also became the first pilot, male or female, to fly solo from Hawaii to California. By June 1937, Earhart was aiming to etch another remarkable feat into the annals of history: the first circumnavigation of the globe via the longest route – a daring 27,000-mile journey along the equator. Confident in her skills and her trusty twin-engine Lockheed Electra, she embarked on what would become one of the greatest aviation mysteries.
A Covert Mission in Disguise?
To achieve her ambitious goal, Earhart sought assistance from experts at the Lockheed Corporation and the U.S. Navy. Both readily provided support, even as Lockheed was heavily engaged in producing warplanes to counter Japan’s burgeoning air fleet. This seemingly straightforward request for aid, however, hints at a deeper, more complex narrative.
During World War I, Japan had occupied the Marshall, Caroline, and Mariana Islands in the Pacific. After the war, they successfully placed these islands under the protection of the League of Nations. By 1934, suspicious Japanese movements around these islands began to raise American concerns. The U.S. also held islands in the Pacific, which they were using to spy on Japanese military activities and movements. Subsequent events, including Japan’s surprise attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, would confirm the strategic importance of these islands.
The Ill-Fated Detour to Howland Island
Earhart initially considered flying from east to west and refueling mid-air, a concept deemed too risky by the U.S. War Department. Instead, they advised her to land and refuel at the remote Howland Island, located north of the equator and just 600 miles from the Japanese-controlled Marshall Islands.
On March 17th, Earhart’s journey began with a 2,410-mile flight from San Francisco to Honolulu. After an initial failed attempt flying east, she re-routed to start her circumnavigation from the west. This crucial change of plans allowed the Americans to discreetly install secret equipment on Howland Island. When Japan protested, the U.S. maintained that the equipment was solely to assist the “daring aviator.” Earhart’s plane was also reportedly equipped with experimental devices.
The Last Transmissions and Vanishing Act
From the moment her journey began, Earhart recognized its underlying political and military significance. A month into the flight, Earhart and her navigator, Fred Noonan, reached Lae, New Guinea. Their next leg to Howland Island was the most perilous. After Howland, they planned to stop in Honolulu, then Oakland, and finally, her hometown of Lafayette, Indiana.
As Earhart and Noonan took off from New Guinea towards Howland Island, U.S. naval ships tracked their course, testing their own tracking and guidance capabilities. Five hours after takeoff, a ship received the first communication from the plane at 3 PM, reporting that all was well. Two hours later, another transmission indicated that weather conditions had forced a change in altitude and speed, but there was “no cause for concern.”
At 10 PM, the monitoring ship “Ontario” returned to base for refueling, entrusting its mission to the “Itasca,” located 1,000 miles from Howland. Meanwhile, a ground station on Nauru Island received a brief report from the plane: “We see a ship ahead.” In the early morning hours, at 2:45 AM, the “Itasca” received a message: “Cloudy… cloudy.” An hour later, Earhart re-established contact, announcing a change in her radio frequency, but ground stations couldn’t pinpoint her location. At 8:43 AM, the last message from Earhart was heard, filled with agitation and despair. Communication was lost, and search operations immediately commenced.
The Unanswered Questions and Persistent Rumors
President Franklin D. Roosevelt personally intervened, ordering the battleship “Colorado” from Hawaii to the search area. The next day, the aircraft carrier “Lexington” and three destroyers joined the effort. Rumors quickly surfaced. A newspaper correspondent reported on July 5th that an American Airlines ground station on Midway Island intercepted a message from Earhart’s plane, stating it was forced to deviate several miles southeast of Howland, near the Phoenix Islands. However, military officials swiftly denied the report, fearing it would alert the Japanese to the strength of their ground stations on Midway.
After two weeks of searching, speculation arose that Earhart had landed safely on Howland Island, but her disappearance was orchestrated to provide the U.S. Navy with an excuse to dispatch ships to spy on the Japanese fleet. It was even rumored that American pilots searching for the lost plane returned to their bases with dozens of photos of Japanese ships and bases. These rumors persisted for a year, with one California newspaper publishing a series of articles about Earhart’s disappearance. However, U.S. authorities intervened, prohibiting any further publication on the matter.
The Darker Truth Unveiled?
Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan vanished, and nothing more was heard of them until the tide turned in favor of the Americans during World War II. In 1944, U.S. forces seized the Marshall Islands from the Japanese. During routine interrogations, a Japanese individual informed Vice Admiral Edgar C. Cruze that in 1937, the Japanese had brought two American aviators, a man and a woman, to the island. These aviators were then transferred to Garapan Prison in the Mariana Islands, where the woman reportedly contracted dysentery and died months later. Her companion was executed after his interrogation.
Twenty years later, in 1964, two former American sailors claimed to have recovered the remains of Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan from their graves on one of the Mariana Islands and reburied them in the United States. However, official authorities refused to confirm or deny the story.
Thus, the truth remains an enigma. Was Amelia Earhart merely a daring amateur aviator? Or was she a national hero who sacrificed her life for her country? Was she truly buried on her homeland, or did her body become food for fish? Perhaps the truth lies in a report published by a lesser-known Australian newspaper. The report stated that the United States informed its Pacific ally, Australia, that it was monitoring Earhart’s flight as cover for its war preparations. It concluded that Earhart’s last distress call came from a location over the Phoenix Islands, but U.S. warships searched north of that location in an attempt to spy on enemy capabilities. The journalistic report concluded: “Emotions come second to secret military services.”
The disappearance of Amelia Earhart continues to captivate and intrigue, blurring the lines between a personal quest for glory and a covert operation on the brink of global conflict. Her legacy endures, shrouded in mystery, prompting us to ask: What truly happened to Amelia Earhart?