Morning all. This project is getting more exciting each day. I cant wait to get to DC, meet alot of you, see the real evidence for myself, and be able to discuss this very exciting and rewarding subject.
We all have some different views, which is good. We all can discuss them, which is also good. Some of us have had little differences of those opinions, and have still been able to comminucate. That is excellent! I commend all of us.
Now---Irv-on the radio signals. At this point, I have to believe the triangulation of reported signals from the Phoenix group. By believing so, I say the crash and sank theory wont work, and the Electra has to be able to transmit, which means on land. Doesnt necessarily mean she is on Niku, but for me its a stretch to think of another area in the the Phoenix Group where she could be. But---its a starting point for a search.
DR. Malcolm--in my previous 'life', I used to race cars, and one thing we learned quickly is to formulate ideas to play in the 'gray area' of the rules to get a competitive advantage. Yeah, I know, but 2nd place is the first looser. Anyway the point is we formulated ideas to make the car faster, and went and did repeated testing to see if our idea gave us the results we wanted. No matter what the theory or idea was, you have to believe the result. (The moon is not made of cheese, its rock). So---if your results validate the theory, then great. If the results didnot validate then, it doesnt mean the theory is bad, it just means the results were different than what you thought they were going to be. Perhaps the theory was off alittle. The results give you a baseline to improve the theory. In TIGHARS case, we have a theory: Amelia and Fred, landed the Electra on the Northwest reef edge of Gardner Island near the wreck of the Norwich City in 1937. To test that, TIGHAR needed to figure out if it was possible to get there. Total possible time aloft was good, so yes, it was possible. Probable: well does anything point to her being there? Post loss radio signals from 3 days and nights, that were triangulated to have possibly originated from the Phoenix Island group near Gardner Island. If you can attribute those signals from being from her, then yes it is a starting point. Were they hoaxes? Possibly, but its a theory.
Now---I'm not big on archaeology--sorry Malcolm, but I certainly do understand the importance of it. But---I do think that search for potential Electra wreckage is archaeology in a sense, so that excites me. So, whether or not the stuff on the reef is aircraft wreckage is, in my mind at least, an archaeological expedition---aviation archaeology. It may not be, but I think that as a archaeologist you probably have done some excavations that didnt produce the result that yo were looking for. The wreckage may be from a Japaneese seaplane from the war. I dont know, but we should be able to figure that out soon enough. IF, it is parts of the Electra, then we know the plane was there--not a crash and sink in the ocean. Part of the theory is then validated---the Electra made it to Gardner. Doesnt mean landed on the reef, doesnt mean Amelia was at the seven site, just means the Electra was at Niku. IMHO-to test the landing, the landing gear"nessie' theory, you have to find parts of the left wing/engine mount/gear area. If you DO find them ( OH BOY) on the ocean bottom, and the gear mount has been ripped and twisted off, then that is pretty convincing of the gear stuck in a reef trough, and wave action tearing it apart. Alittle thinking says that 'maybe" AE & Fred were able to use the radio for a period of time, before the destruction. Doesnt mean Nessie was the gear, but ideas are beginning to line up.
Look gentlemen and ladies----we dont know what happened, but we have some very good thought processes. TIGHAR is going to Niku, with the best equipped expedition to try and validate the landing theory by trying to locate and identify aircraft wreckage. They will have results, one way or the other. Either it is, or it is not. If it is, its either the Electra, or its not.
If it is, we have validated several theories. IF now, we make some new ones.
Looking forward to seeing alot of you in DC! Thanks for aloowing me to ramble on for a few minutes.
Tom