Amelia Earhart Sonar Image Depicts 'Unusual Object'? Could Be Plane Wreckage, Says Analyst
A sonar image may show the remains of the aircraft piloted by Amelia Earhart that disappeared in 1937.
The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery posted on its website on Tuesday that grainy sonar image that was recorded a year ago near Nikumaroro Island in the South Pacific showed an unusual object resting on the ocean bed. In March, the image was analyzed by Richard Conroy, who highlighted the anomaly in the image.
The sonar image was taken several hundreds of feet below the ocean's surface and may lead to the long lost explanation of what happened to the aircraft so many years ago.
In 1937, Earhart and navigator Fred Noonan embarked on an attempt to fly around the world in their Lockheed Electra plane but wound up disappearing, with evidence of their disappearance never being recovered.
"It's the right size, it's the right shape, and it's in the right place," The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery said on its website.
In March, the organization revealed that closer analyst provided some basis to assert that the object may be an aircraft fuselage, but others maintain that it is either a geologic formation or another man-made object. Until divers can obtain a closer look, speculation will abound.
Wolfgang Burnside, president of Submersible Systems, Inc., who is familiar with the search site, told the website that the site deserved a better look.
"This target looks very promising," Burnside is quoted. "(It is) definitely not a rock. It's in the correct location on the reef and also shows what I interpret as 'drag' markings on the reef above and to the north behind the target as it obviously hasn't quite settled into its final resting place yet, this movement is probably due to the occasional storms or exceptional tides that'll move the target a few inches every time one blows through."