Amelia Earhart Mystery: Lost Pilot Spent Days In Prison Before Being Killed In Saipan, Says New Evidence
By Summer Meza
Newsweek
November 25, 2017
A man’s newly-shared story provides new information backing the theory that Amelia Earhart was taken prisoner and executed on Saipan after disappearing from her flight around the world 80 years ago.
The idea that Earhart and her companion Fred Noonan were captured by the Japanese when they vanished in 1937 is one of several theories - over half a century later, no one is exactly sure of their fate. But a family tale from William Sablan, a man who lives on the Mariana Islands, says that Earhart was brought to Saipan and spent several days in prison after being brought to the South Pacific island by ship.
The story fits with the theory brought to light by the History Channel’s documentary titled Amelia Earhart: The Lost Evidence. In the TV special, historians purport that the U.S. government knew that Earhart was captured and killed by the Japanese, and that the government even found and exhumed her body before lying about her fate for decades.
Sablan’s story comes from his uncle, Tun Akin Tuho, as reported by USA Today on Saturday. Tuho worked at the prison where Earhart and Noonan were apparently taken prisoner, and told Sablan that their arrival caused quite a commotion. Saipan was a hub for the Japanese, but it was rare to see white people on the island.
“They had no reason to be there,” Sablan said.
He said that Earhart’s plane dropped into the ocean before she and Noonan were captured and arrested. Sablan’s story is one of dozens of alleged witnesses, who have told of their possible run-ins with Earhart in several different places, under multiple circumstances.
Representatives from the International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery, told the New York Times that Earhart possibly landed on the island of Nikumaroro, transmitting distress signals in hopes of a rescue, but ultimately ending up stranded.
A famous photo fits with the theory that Earhart was captured in the South Pacific, showing the profile of a white woman with cropped hair sitting on a dock in the Marshall Islands. Some believe that her plane can be seen in the background of the photo, but not all agree that it’s strong evidence. A Japanese blogger said that Earhart couldn’t possibly be the one in the photo, since he says it was published two years before her disappearance.
The mystery continues as historians and researchers continue to unveil evidence surrounding whether or not Earhart and Noonan were still alive in July 1937.
2 comments:
I will never understand the fascination with Amelia Earhart. There were several more notable female pilots such as Jacqueline Cochran and Bessie Coleman.
To me there is no mystery. Go to Google Earth and look at the Pacific Ocean. Navigation was tricky when you are over vast expanses of water trying to locate a speck of land.
Anyway, Newsweek is a rag.
Earhart was good looking and a very good self-promoter with good business skills. She was (from what I have been led to believe) a mediocre pilot with an outstanding PR operation.
bob walsh
Post a Comment