I was under the impression the the purpose of the expeditions to NIKU, were to test the theory that Amelia & Fred were there by "landing " the Electra on the reef. Obviously, the artifacts found so far certainly looks as though that might be the case. Determining the case of death for Amelia and Fred after 73 years, and no bodies to examine, leeds us to specualtion.
Gee, I remember as a young man reading a book by a man (wont mention his name or network affiliation) that went to the Pacific 5 times and shipped back boxes of "bones and other artifacts" to be examined, to "prove" the whereabouts of Amelia Earhart. Well, 45 years later, there is again media attention about the very thing that this man claimed to have found. He obviously did not, and I would hope that TIGHAR is not put in the same "bad media situation" that happened 45 years ago.
And I suppose that there would be a detracter tht would try to refute and actual findings that TIGHAR did come up with. I hope that our friends that are now on NIKU, searching for clues to a 73 year old mystery, come up with the "beyond a resonable doubt" evidence that Amelia and Fred flew the Electra to Niku, landed on the reef near the Norwich City shipwreck, and survived long enough to leave clues that with today's technology , we can solve the first part of one of the biggest mysteries of the 20th century. In the early 1960's, (when the first civilian expeditions went to the Pacific), the general public knew of AE and her exploits. World War II, and events preceeding Pearl Harbor, were still fresh in peoples minds. Some of the principle players in the mystery were still alive, although really didnt shead any light on the subject. Fast forward to 2010, and I bet there are few "young people" that even know who AE and Fred were, much less what they were attempting to do.
For the history books, I hope that TIGHAR, can find the links to Amelia and Fred on Niku, so we can teach our "grandchildren" to reach for the stars.