No aircraft ever landed on Howland Island, but during WWII there was plenty of aerial activity in the area. A PBM Mariner flying boat was damaged upon landing on the ocean near Howland and was beached there to avoid sinking.
 The airstrip on Baker Island, 40 miles south of Howland, built in September 1943, played a key role in Operation Galvanic, the invasion of Tarawa in November 1943.  P-40 Warhawks were based on Baker. During November 13-19, 1943 U.S. Army and U.S. Navy aircraft from Task Force 57 (TF-57) commanded by Rear Admiral J. H. Hoover attacked Japanese bases in the Gilbert and Marshalls. During December 1943 until January 1944, B-24s staged through Baker for combat missions against Japanese targets including Maloelap and Majuro and Mili, Wotje and Maloelap. (https://pacificwrecks.com/airfields/usa/baker/index.html)

On October 23, 1943 P-40s from Baker claimed a Japanese flying boat shot down 70 miles south of Baker. 

What do we know of any aircraft lost in that area?  I agree it doesn't look like AE's plane, but are there any other possibilities?  I suspect not, so people less knowledgeable may conclude that if it looks like an airplane, then it must be AE's. 

Most people (and media) are not accustomed to what sonar images look like.  The whole point of sonar is that you can tell what you're looking at.

To me it sort of looks like a floatplane. Inverted with twin floats. The blob running parallel to the the fuselage a the top of the image would be one of the floats and the other float hiding or blending in with the fuselage.

I got to tell our side of the story in a 36 minute interview that aired yesterday (2/3) on FOX NEWS LIVE.  You can see it at https://youtu.be/4g6jch-48HU

Romeo dismisses this criticism. Both the wings and the tail look swept back due to distortion caused by the AUV moving through the water


I'd be interested to see other examples of this phenomenon.

I keep seeing references to the "double tail" on this image.  Am I missing something?  I don't see it.

The Naval Institute Press has released a preview of my new book One More Good Flight - The Amelia Earhart Mystery.
You can read it at https://issuu.com/usnibooks/docs/gillespie_one_more_good_flight_book_prvw

The preview includes:
• The Table of Contents
• The Preface
•  Chapter One - Plane Crazy
•  Chapter Two - Fame And More Fame
•  The Index (with dummy text). The Index has not yet been completed.
•  About The Author

It’s actually more than we expected the publisher to reveal prior to the full book’s official release September 15, 2024. Let me know what you think.

We've been sending out news bulletin emails about this.  Click HERE for the most recent one.  It's shareable on social media.

You can sign up to receive the news bulletin emails at https://visitor.r20.constantcontact.com/manage/optin?v=001vRta0njc69PE4KR_0trczjmW3Zr8vlaX3D_FmQYpdnngc8VkfAfLBxUjnrLR8ZN0kpVZzBNuOTHSeq9nIYOqKNMv6q42K9ko0H0rd_5Q8ik%3D

Even if it looks like swept wings, the image is basically like a shadow. You don't know how the object is oriented. Yes, it looks like an FJ-4, but it could also be a WWII era carrier aircraft with wings partially folded. Some of them stowed in a "swept" configuration.

The ferry route to Australia took aircraft to Christmas Island, then Canton, etc. It could easily be a C-47. When you have a blurry mish-mash of an image, the nose section, engines and slightly swept wings of the C-47 might look even more swept.