If large metal manmade objects that were there in 1937 must still be there, we have apparently also walked past the entire forward half of a 5,000 ton ship.
(Sorry for the thread drift below)
Still, the engine blocks are still missing after many diligent, competent searches.
Possibilities:
1. The engine blocks washed onto the shore or into the lagoon? Nope, too heavy.
2. They were shattered beyond detection and scattered by wave activity in the surf zone? Our current best guess, but.... They were the heaviest, densest parts of the Electra. How would they NOT have migrated to deeper water faster than any other parts, and thus not have been shattered and scattered?
3. We just haven’t found them yet? I am starting to doubt this one.
4. The Electra was actually not wrecked in the shallows, despite pretty good evidence to the contrary? Maybe:
4A. It floated some distance before sinking, beyond the search zones to date.
4B. It had near-neutral buoyancy when it was washed off the reef, and “flew” some distance underwater before coming to rest, again beyond the search zones.
4C. Fred, for whom there is good evidence that he was manic and disassociated from reality on July 7, tried to fly the plane off the island, solo. The wreck is now at some unknown distance from Niku. This admittedly unlikely scenario could account for the Electra not being seen on July 9, the lack of artifacts associated with an orderly abandonment of the Electra, and Amelia’s solitary and apparently impoverished existence afterward.
(Back on thread)
Wasn’t there a lot of gear on the Electra that would have been extremely valuable for Amelia’s survival during her time at the Seven Site, but apparently never made it that far? For example, she was boiling water in small bottles that were poorly suited to the task. Wasn’t there something better for that purpose on the Electra? Surely obtaining safe water locally was a huge priority from the first day, and a method for boiling water developed and employed at Camp Zero. Are there other examples to be found by comparing the Seven Site and the Luke Field Inventory that suggest that the Electra (and all its gear) disappeared unexpectedly?
Jon