# Blurry, undated photo is evidence that Amelia Earhart survived. Or not. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 5, 2017, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blurry-undated-photo-is-evidence-that-amelia-earhart-survived-or-not/790561 "2017-07-05T21:26:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![drewder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/57b2e6/32.png) [@drewder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewder)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2017, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blurry-undated-photo-is-evidence-that-amelia-earhart-survived-or-not/790561/81 "2017-07-13T00:15:49Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Was that just after they left Torchwood? Voyager, episode “The 37s” ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2017, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blurry-undated-photo-is-evidence-that-amelia-earhart-survived-or-not/790561/82 "2017-07-13T01:34:50Z")
> [@drewder](#): > > Voyager, episode “The 37s” Yes, but I was thinking that she was on an episode of Torchwood, but some googling proved my memory faulty–it was some other random people in a plane from the past. ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2017, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blurry-undated-photo-is-evidence-that-amelia-earhart-survived-or-not/790561/83 "2017-07-13T14:49:24Z")
> [@Grestarian](#): > > After having read through the posts and responses and having been scorched by the heat of Philster’s and Cory El’s (and a few others’) debate, I sat back and had to wonder, “WHY are people obsessed with this?” > […] > So why keep the conspiracy accusations going? Just because it was a celebrity whom we lost at the peak of stardom? I’m just speculating, but I think it’s a combination of things: Celebrity; It’s in a sweet spot where there’s some hard evidence, but nothing conclusive, and a real (if very small) possibility that more hard evidence could be turned up, so there’s room for speculation and searching for more evidence; The fact that the most likely explanation does not have, and by its nature probably never will have, hard conclusive evidence, and is therefore the most likely explanation is kind of intellectually unsatisfying; and maybe most importantly, the most likely explanation is too brutal and mundane to be emotionally satisfying. Amelia Earhart was a celebrity, a main character in a story, a hero we aspire to be. Heroes don’t die from simple boring things like getting lost and running out of gas over the ocean; heroes manage to reach land and would have survived had the search times just found them in time. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2017, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blurry-undated-photo-is-evidence-that-amelia-earhart-survived-or-not/790561/84 "2017-07-13T20:57:28Z")
> [@Grestarian](#): > > … the fact is that the celebrity aviatrix would be dead by now – as would Elvis, James Dean, Marilyn Monroe, et al. Elvis would be 82. James Dean would be 85. Marilyn Monroe would be 91. Elvis’s health and habits would be such that he was going to die around that time no matter what. But the other two might easily still be alive if circumstances were different. OTOH, Hitler would be 128 and we can definitely put a nail in that coffin. So we know right away [this guy](http://nation.com.pk/snippets/21-Jun-2017/128-year-old-man-claims-he-is-hitler) is a nut job. ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2017, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blurry-undated-photo-is-evidence-that-amelia-earhart-survived-or-not/790561/85 "2017-07-14T00:23:59Z")
> [@Battle\_Pope](#): > > Not looking as solid any more: > > [Blogger discredits claim Amelia Earhart was taken prisoner by Japan | Amelia Earhart | The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jul/11/blogger-discredits-claim-amelia-earhart-was-taken-prisoner-by-japan) I have nothing in particular to add to this discussion except to note that when I went to the linked article, the name of one of the reporters jumped out at me. The reporter was a student of mine when I taught first grade lo these many years ago! Small world huh? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blurry-undated-photo-is-evidence-that-amelia-earhart-survived-or-not/790561.md?page=4)