TIGHAR
Amelia Earhart Search Forum => General discussion => Topic started by: Tom Harnish on January 25, 2015, 02:43:46 PM
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Obscure news source is reporting that a team sponsored by Parker Aerospace is looking for Amelia and Noonan on Mili Atoll.
"There is an underground hospital built by the Japanese on Jaluit," Jeffery said. "Earhart and her navigator Fred Noonan were in this hospital after they crashed," he said. "There might be some evidence there."
http://www.Newsmax.com/Newsfront/Marshalls-aviation-history-people/2015/01/25/id/620544/#ixzz3Ps6tSe4S
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Its being picked up by other news sources as well. Let them look. Its their time and money. Everyone is entitled to their theory and opinion and anything that keeps Earhart in the headlines is a win for anyone involved in the search. Ill stick with Niku until someone proves me otherwise.
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Parker Aerospace is a division of Parker Hannifin. Interestingly one of their products is aviation wheels and brakes.
http://www.parker.com/portal/site/PARKER/menuitem.14ecfc66e7a40c1af8500f199420d1ca/?vgnextoid=43cb5242ade5c110VgnVCM10000032a71dacRCRD&Keyword=AEROSPACE (http://www.parker.com/portal/site/PARKER/menuitem.14ecfc66e7a40c1af8500f199420d1ca/?vgnextoid=43cb5242ade5c110VgnVCM10000032a71dacRCRD&Keyword=AEROSPACE)
I don't think the "dust cover" or the access plate they think they found are related to a L-10, but it is interesting that they've been able to attract sponsorship and are out there doing it, hopefully legally and properly documented.
AMCK
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This was posted on TIGHARs facebook page earlier today.
GOOD LUCK - BUT CLEAN UP YOUR ACT
According to this article in the Japan Times, some folks who are trying to prove the Japanese Capture Theory are going to look for the Electra at Mili Atoll where last year they found two small pieces of aluminum they say may have come from Earhart's plane. The fact that photos prove that Earhart's plane didn't have parts like that doesn't seem to bother them. They're also planning to search an "underground hospital' on Jaluit Atoll where they believe Earhart and Noonan were treated before being transported to prison on Saipan. We're very familiar with Jaluit. There is no underground hospital on Jaluit. Jaluit is a coral atoll. You can't build an underground anything on a coral atoll. There is a large abandoned Japanese above-ground bunker on Jaluit. I've been in it. It's empty.
TIGHAR has no problem with these folks testing their hypothesis with expeditions to the Republic of the Marshall Islands but they need to comply with the historic preservation laws of that country and get the required permits from the Historic Preservation Office in Majuro. So far they have disregarded those laws and protocols. It's the kind of behavior that gives Americans a bad name and harms all historical field research in the Pacific.
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/…/earharts-plane-sought-on-re…/…
Earhart's plane sought on remote Marshalls atoll | The Japan Times
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http://www.japantimes.co.jp/ (http://www.japantimes.co.jp/)…/earharts-plane-sought-on-re…/…
Earhart's plane sought on remote Marshalls atoll | The Japan Times
Here is a direct link to the article (http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/01/25/world/earharts-plane-sought-on-remote-marshalls-atoll/#.VMW_iuGaSiw), FWIW.
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I know nothing about them but they must have the necessary permits since they appear to have the endorsement of the President of the Marshall Islands (who no doubt values the publicity):
http://www.mvariety.com/regional-news/73215-american-group-looks-for-amelia-earhart-clues-on-remote-marshalls-atoll (http://www.mvariety.com/regional-news/73215-american-group-looks-for-amelia-earhart-clues-on-remote-marshalls-atoll)
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Pinkie claps for them at least trying to go through channels this time.
5 to 1 then end up with the same kind of aircraft parts Fred Goerner found. I believe his were from a G4M Betty.
LTM, who knows a longshot when he sees one,
Monty Fowler, TIGHAR No. 2189 ECSP
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A little background should help explain President Loeak's apparent endorsement of Amelia Research, Inc.
According to reliable sources, the recovery of the two artifacts at Mili last year was accomplished not by anyone in the American group but by a prominent Marshallese businessman (we know his name) with powerful political connections - hence no need to bother with archaeological permits. According to the article, "(President) Loeak invited the team to visit Mili and has assigned government Historic Preservation Office staff to assist the investigation." The group of Americans sponsored by Parker Aerospace has reportedly now gone to Mili with "more sophisticated equipment to find other parts." RMI Historic Preservation laws require that this kind of work be carried out under the direction of a degreed archaeologist. As far as we know, no one in the group of Americans has any archaeological training. The RMI Historic Preservation Office currently does not have a degreed archaeologist.
We can only conclude that whatever searching is being done at Mili is being done without archaeological protocols. Should they happen upon historically significant artifacts, whether related to Earhart or (more probably) WWII, the damage done will be permanent.
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http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/international/radio/program/pacific-beat/search-for-amelia-earharts-plane-continues-in-marshall-islands/1411347 ( click on white arrow, surrounded by orange rectangle to listen)
https://earharttruth.wordpress.com/2015/02/04/new-mili-search-uncovers-more-potential-evidence/
Seems work has ended.....The broadcast and article from the Mike Campbell site ,mentions the finding of a few more items to be studied.
It appears they hold to the belief that the first two objects they discovered are electra related, in light of the pointed observations made by forum members regarding them, in the dust cover thread.
http://tighar.org/smf/index.php/topic,1602.msg35183.html#msg35183
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Interview with Mr Spink on recently;
http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/international/radio/program/pacific-beat/could-latest-finds-in-marshall-islands-finally-solve-earhart-mystery/1412891
Click the line ,highlighted in blue, to open,(audio).... then click white arrow in orange rectangular box to listen.
Would be interesting to see any new photos, of the objects they found.
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Would be interesting to see any new photos, of the objects they found.
This is an article from the Feb. 6 edition of the Marshall Islands Journal. Not much of a photograph.
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Marty,
I think Ric broke Bruce's record....
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Looks like more cover plates for the external power port that didn't have a cover plate.
They still haven't established that the "dust cover" is even part of an Airwheel, or that Airwheels even had dust covers.
amck
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Looks like more cover plates for the external power port that didn't have a cover plate.
Exactly. Too many cover plates. (One is too many.)
They still haven't established that the "dust cover" is even part of an Airwheel, or that Airwheels even had dust covers.
I expect that they'll ultimately pull a General MacArthur and just fade away.
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I was doing a search. And accidently ran onto this. I think railroad wheels and dragging a plane sounds far out to me.
https://earharttruth.wordpress.com/tag/mili-atoll/
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I wouldn't want to land an Electra on that reef.
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I wouldn't want to land an Electra on that reef.
Ah, but the roughness of the reef explains why so many inspection plates fell off the aircraft before it was hauled away! :)
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Ah, but the roughness of the reef explains why so many inspection plates fell off the aircraft before it was hauled away! :)
Yeah. It must have been, like, raining inspection plates. Quite a sight.
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Would make for a nasty case of whiplash, too. Better get that pilot to the underground hospital!
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Suppose Amelia's plane made it to Mili Atoll. And the Japanese [pejorative term replaced] hauled it away. That leaves poor Parker Aerospace with no real items to find. They hauled it away.
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The Parker sponsored expedition, they make all kinds of fittings for hydraulic, compressed air systems, etc. They supplied parts on the Earhart aircraft.
http://earhartonsaipan.blogspot.com/ (http://earhartonsaipan.blogspot.com/)
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Suppose Amelia's plane made it to Mili Atoll. And the japs hauled it away. That leaves poor Parker Aerospace with no real items to find. They hauled it away.
That may be a bit too unqualified a statement, Craig -
Other than - IMO - the unlikelihood of any such thing as an Earhart landing at Mili Atoll, is the search there in want anymore than the rest of us happen to find ourselves in want for?
If one has confidence in a Niku arrival, for instance, then one is faced with what TIGHAR has been doing for many years: pondering those tiny things that can be found to see if provenance to Earhart can be established so as to prove her arrival there. And of course the granddaddy effort - sea search in the area, the now-planned anomaly peek, etc.
Hypothetically, if Earhart made it to Mili Atoll and there was any significant incident with the airplane beyond a normal landing - and a subsequent hauling away by the Japanese, then there should be some chance of surviving doo-dads from it or her possessions about somewhere in the area. First challenge is to find stuff that may be a match; next challenge is to determine a match or not.
In determining a match of airplane stuff, of course it must go beyond 'consistent with a Lockheed Electra' and all the way to 'convincingly of Earhart's craft' - a very tall order for any of us.
But as a practical matter, I fear the sum of your statement is probably true: there is not likely any Earhart related stuff lying about at Mili Atoll. If they search thoroughly and demonstrate that, then the world will know of one more place not to look, won't it? Something to that I suppose.
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Hypothetically, if Earhart made it to Mili Atoll and there was any significant incident with the airplane beyond a normal landing - and a subsequent hauling away by the Japanese (I'll avoid the term that is obnoxious to some... ;)),
I've replaced the offensive term in Craig's post.
As a reminder, TIGHAR is an international organization. We don't use wartime ethnic slurs unless quoting from a primary source and we don't make reference to "the enemy."
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First I'd like to apologize for that word. I was attempting an abreviation. I am sorry and wont do that again.
Jeff your right. It's not qualified. I had just considered if the plane ended up there and was hauled away. Then evidence would be even harder to find. But we all know the plane didn't end up there.
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Jeff your right. Its not qualified. I had just considered if the plane ended up there and was hauled away. Then evidence would be even harder to find. But we all know the plane didnt end up there.
It's a good point, and... I also agree that it was almost certainly never there anyway.