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[Ric Gillespie]

Most people (and media) are not accustomed to what sonar images look like.  The whole point of sonar is that you can tell what you're looking at.

[Randy Jacobson]

What do we know of any aircraft lost in that area?  I agree it doesn't look like AE's plane, but are there any other possibilities?  I suspect not, so people less knowledgeable may conclude that if it looks like an airplane, then it must be AE's. 

[Ric Gillespie]

No aircraft ever landed on Howland Island, but during WWII there was plenty of aerial activity in the area. A PBM Mariner flying boat was damaged upon landing on the ocean near Howland and was beached there to avoid sinking.
 The airstrip on Baker Island, 40 miles south of Howland, built in September 1943, played a key role in Operation Galvanic, the invasion of Tarawa in November 1943.  P-40 Warhawks were based on Baker. During November 13-19, 1943 U.S. Army and U.S. Navy aircraft from Task Force 57 (TF-57) commanded by Rear Admiral J. H. Hoover attacked Japanese bases in the Gilbert and Marshalls. During December 1943 until January 1944, B-24s staged through Baker for combat missions against Japanese targets including Maloelap and Majuro and Mili, Wotje and Maloelap. (https://pacificwrecks.com/airfields/usa/baker/index.html)

On October 23, 1943 P-40s from Baker claimed a Japanese flying boat shot down 70 miles south of Baker. 

[Colin Taylor]

Hi

What is the 'Dateline Theory' which was mentioned in the latest TIGHAR news release? I clicked on the link but my browser said DANGER dont go there!

Colin

[Ric Gillespie]

What is the 'Dateline Theory' which was mentioned in the latest TIGHAR news release? I clicked on the link but my browser said DANGER dont go there!

The link goes to a website put up by Liz Smith, a self-described "science communicator," who proposed The Date Line Theory in 2010.  The website is not "dangerous" as far as I know, but it's a good idea to listen to your browser.
As I explained in the news release, The Date Line Theory suggests (without evidence) that Noonan failed to allow for crossing the International Dateline on the way to Howland, resulting in him think the island was 60 miles west of where it really is. When you cross the 180° meridian traveling east, the day suddenly becomes yesterday — very confusing if you're not used to it — but Noonan routinely dealt with crossing the date line when navigating Pan Am Clippers on trans-Pacific flights. 

[Chris Kuykendall]

I was Googling for something else, and ran across this article, from about three weeks ago, on the topic of Tony Romeo and the sonar image:

Thomas Curwen. "How Explorers Found Amelia Earhart's Watery Grave: Or Did They?" Los Angeles Times, March 26, 2024, republished online at the Arizona Daily Sun (Flagstaff) website.

https://azdailysun.com/news/nation-world/how-explorers-found-amelia-earharts-watery-grave-or-did-
they/article_be25a8c8-ebbf-11ee-b098-43524eefd573.html

I added it to my Earhart bookmarks and will read it sometime eventually later but not now.  "Crashed and sank" not my theory.