# Amelia Earhart's Plane Found in PNG? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 3, 2011, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amelia-earharts-plane-found-in-png/573421 "2011-03-03T23:41:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2011, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amelia-earharts-plane-found-in-png/573421/1 "2011-03-03T23:41:58Z")
It seems very doubtful. "There are claims that one of the world’s great aviation mysteries - the disappearance of 1930s airwoman Amelia Earhart - has been solved in Papua New Guinea. The Post Courier newspaper says there are strong indications a plane wreck found off the coast of Bougainville is Earhart’s Lockheed Electra. Locals also say they have found gold bullion in the wreckage. But Ric Gillespie, an expert on Earhart’s disappearance, says the claims are “silly beyond description”. Story [here](http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/03/03/3154684.htm). ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2011, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amelia-earharts-plane-found-in-png/573421/2 "2011-03-03T23:50:38Z")
> [@Cicero](#): > > But Ric Gillespie, an expert on Earhart’s disappearance, says the claims are “silly beyond description”. Sure is. Everyone knows that it couldn’t be in PNG when it was headed for HI. Ridiculous! My bet is on JPG or PDF. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2011, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amelia-earharts-plane-found-in-png/573421/3 "2011-03-04T00:41:50Z")
Not him again. This Gillespie character is positive beyond all doubt about every little scrap of shit he finds. Look up TIGHAR and Nikumaroro for his last round of positive proof about Earhart. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2011, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amelia-earharts-plane-found-in-png/573421/4 "2011-03-04T01:18:33Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Not him again. This Gillespie character is positive beyond all doubt about every little scrap of shit he finds. Look up TIGHAR and Nikumaroro for his last round of positive proof about Earhart. 😕 😕 The story does not say that Gillespie is the person behind this claim. In fact, it states that Gillespie says this particular claim is “silly beyond description.” ---
**Author:** ![Max\_the\_Immortal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@Max\_the\_Immortal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_the_Immortal)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2011, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amelia-earharts-plane-found-in-png/573421/5 "2011-03-04T01:20:20Z")
I thought it was found decades ago. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Hamster\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8edcca/32.png) [@The\_Hamster\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Hamster_King)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2011, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amelia-earharts-plane-found-in-png/573421/6 "2011-03-04T01:35:51Z")
> [@Cicero](#): > > The Post Courier newspaper says there are strong indications a plane wreck found off the coast of Bougainville is Earhart’s Lockheed Electra. Highly unlikely. Her last radio contact was with a ship near Howland Island, her intended destination. The signal was strong, indicating that she was somewhere nearby (although probably not on her intended course). Howland Island is about 1200 miles east of Bougainville. Even if Earhart got completely turned around and flew back toward PNG from the vicinity of Howland, she didn’t have enough fuel to get there. ---
**Author:** ![wheresmymind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/91b2a8/32.png) [@wheresmymind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wheresmymind)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2011, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amelia-earharts-plane-found-in-png/573421/7 "2011-03-04T02:42:20Z")
That paragon of academic rigor and integrity [Cracked](http://www.cracked.com/article_18718_6-famous-unsolved-mysteries-that-have-totally-been-solved.html) mentions Gillespie’s Nikumaroro theory in the linked article. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2011, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amelia-earharts-plane-found-in-png/573421/8 "2011-03-04T04:10:39Z")
> [@The\_Hamster\_King](#): > > Highly unlikely. Her last radio contact was with a ship near Howland Island, her intended destination. The signal was strong, indicating that she was somewhere nearby (although probably not on her intended course). > > Howland Island is about 1200 miles east of Bougainville. Even if Earhart got completely turned around and flew back toward PNG from the vicinity of Howland, she didn’t have enough fuel to get there. She was out of fuel at that point. She went down somewhere near the ships unless gravity was on vacation. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2011, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amelia-earharts-plane-found-in-png/573421/9 "2011-03-04T14:14:15Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > 😕 😕 > > The story does not say that Gillespie is the person behind this claim. In fact, it states that Gillespie says this particular claim is “silly beyond description.” Ah, okay. I just saw the name and immediately concluded the thing didn’t need to be read. So, how could have Earhart heard the _Itasca_ so clearly and loudly that she thought she must have been right overhead, and still crashed so far away? IIRC Gillespie was also dead positive, beyond all doubt, that Nungesser and Coli had crashed in Maine. Until he started searching in Newfoundland. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2011, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amelia-earharts-plane-found-in-png/573421/10 "2011-03-04T14:22:27Z")
C’mon, there wouldn’t be a giant snake guarding the wreck unless it was the real thing. “6-metre” snakes don’t waste their time on hoaxes. ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2011, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amelia-earharts-plane-found-in-png/573421/11 "2011-03-04T15:25:43Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Look up TIGHAR and Nikumaroro for his last round of positive proof about Earhart. Yep… read the latest from TIGHAR. You can practically draw a circle around the area in which they went down and be very confident in dismissing a number of other claims. TIGHAR site is full of info and they’ve been doing the real grunt work. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2011, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amelia-earharts-plane-found-in-png/573421/12 "2011-03-04T15:45:43Z")
That heavy gold bullion would be on Earhart’s flight sure makes a lot of sense; put at the back of the plane it would force the nose up, thus greatly extending the unusually long range that an around the world flight would have to be capable of. Yessiree bob. ---
**Author:** ![Scuba\_Ben](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/278dde/32.png) [@Scuba\_Ben](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scuba_Ben)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2011, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amelia-earharts-plane-found-in-png/573421/13 "2011-03-04T15:52:40Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > C’mon, there wouldn’t be a giant snake guarding the wreck unless it was the real thing. “6-metre” snakes don’t waste their time on hoaxes. But the Great World Snake, Evocare, does whatever he wants. ---
**Author:** ![A.Gwilliam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ea5d25/32.png) [@A.Gwilliam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A.Gwilliam)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2011, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amelia-earharts-plane-found-in-png/573421/14 "2011-03-04T19:30:41Z")
> [@lieu](#): > > That heavy gold bullion would be on Earhart’s flight sure makes a lot of sense; put at the back of the plane it would force the nose up, thus greatly extending the unusually long range that an around the world flight would have to be capable of. I’m just glad that I wasn’t the one who had to get the bullion off the _Titanic_ in the first place.