My hunch/hypothesis? Betty read the St. Petersburg, Florida newspaper headlines on July 3rd 1937, and couldn’t resist joining in on the new fad sweeping the country that day - searching for more "AE radio signals" - like those first reported by the two hoaxers, Walter McMenamy and Karl Pierson.
Read the St. Petersburg Florida “Evening Independent” from July 3rd, 1937 here-
http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=PZE8UkGerEcC&dat=19370703&printsec=frontpage&hl=en “AMELIA’S VOICE HEARD IN SOS”
“Pan American Airways and Coast Guard On Other Hand Have Heard Nothing”
“Reports that the voice of tousle-haired Amelia Earhart had been picked up, calling “SOS’ from the mystery spot where she is lost in the mid-Pacific, buoyed hopes for her ultimate rescue today as the U.S. Navy ordered a battleship into the search…..”
On July 5 the same paper reported, [on page 2, col. 2]
“…radio listeners all around the Pacific and far inland sought anew to catch unexplained distress signals, voices and “signals” which for two nights have buoyed hopes the missing aviators might be calling desperately for aid….”
The St. Petersburg Times newspaper of course was reporting the story too-
http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=feST4K8J0scC&dat=19370706&printsec=frontpage&hl=enMy suggestion to interested TIGHAR’s is to spend time carefully looking over contemporary news reports about Earhart’s disappearance in Google’s incredible archive of newspapers. I think it will become clear that McMenamy and Pierson set off a case of public hysteria that continues to this day.
The complete archive is here.
http://news.google.com/newspapersAnother example –
Ray Havens and Arthur Monsees, two more radio operators later dismissed as hoaxers [even by Tighar] are mentioned in this story-
http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1876&dat=19370709&id=PEosAAAAIBAJ&sjid=yMoEAAAAIBAJ&pg=7052,719990BTW, McMenamy and Pierson can be seen at work here-
http://lighthouseantiques.net/Photos%20-%20Coast%20Guard.htm11421. (photo) Radio Amateurs and Coast Guard Cutter Itasca Listens for Amelia Earhart as she makes her 1937 attempt to fly around the world c.1937. Period b/w press photo shows amateur radio operators Karl Pierson and Walter McMenamy at their radio. They were the radio operators who copied Amelia Earhart’s S.O.S. as she attempted her around the world flight in 1937. The Coast Guard Cutter Itasca was the "picket ship" that would provide air navigation andradio links for Amelia Earhart when she made her 1937 attempt to fly around the world. Itasca, stationed at Howland Island in the Pacific, tried to keep in radio contact with her. However, due to a series of misunderstandings or mishaps (the details of which are still controversial), two-way radio contact was never established and Earhart was lost at sea. Photo measures 5” x 7 ½” with date and credit line on back. Chip to one corner. Dated July 5, 1937. A piece of history. (VG). $38.