TIGHAR

Amelia Earhart Search Forum => The Islands: Expeditions, Facts, Castaway, Finds and Environs => Topic started by: Chris Johnson on May 26, 2010, 01:46:58 PM

Title: Niku VI some questions from initial reports
Post by: Chris Johnson on May 26, 2010, 01:46:58 PM
ok the team arn't probably in contact with us but some questions/observations from the first eagerly awaited reports;

Old Human Bone - lighter than Coral, does it float and if so is there any leg room in putting coral from the sieves into water to see what floats.

Pencil - did FN just use propeler pencils or do we have evidence of wood penciles?

Overwash on village site - looks like the island is taking apounding from tropical storms and global warming, hope wecan get the evidence as in another 3 years (if another expedition is needed) there is every chance that the island will be in a deterioated condition.
Title: Re: Niku VI some questions from initial reports
Post by: Hilary Christine Olson on May 29, 2010, 08:59:10 PM
As to the Signal fire  Could it be the  O as in S O S  ???
Title: Re: Niku VI some questions from initial reports
Post by: Tom Swearengen on June 03, 2010, 05:38:11 AM
Like others, I've been watching with anticipation for the reports on NIKU VI. I know that the fire ring has generated alot of excitement, but we may have overlooked that the Coast Guard detachment may have had some of its members go and "camp" on site seven. Building a fire ring would have been something they would have done. Yes, a knife like was found is certainly exciting, but the possibility remains that it could have come from a source other than AE, or Fred. Glass bottles are great, but there also could be another explanation to how it got there.
I wish that I could define the "smoking gun" that would prove once and for all the the flight ended at NIKU. Since there have been othere inhabitants there, we must find the definate proof the AE and Fred were there. I beleive, that the only way to positively say that, would be to find difinative parts of the Electra. Aircraft parts with traceabile serial numbers. Yes, 73 years is a long time, but there has been identification of other aircraft, missing just as long.
I hope my comment isn't taken out of context. I want the expedition to find the proof as much as anyone else. I believe, until proven otherwise, that is lies off the reef of NIKU, and maybe not where they are looking.

Tom
Title: Re: Niku VI some questions from initial reports
Post by: Tom Swearengen on June 03, 2010, 10:49:32 AM
Chris, I agree with the bottle of Lanolin. Hard to imagine it came to the island any other way. And, I agree about being able to identify specific parts of the Electra. I was making the point of trying to tie the 2 objects together, to put AE & Fred on Niku at the time that we think, and with how they got there.
I certainly hope that the ROV with the longer cable will tell us something. Yes, I am focused on the Electra, but that evidence along with articles at the seven site will give TIGHAR the evidence they need to break the story.
Tom
Title: Re: Niku VI some questions from initial reports
Post by: Tom Swearengen on June 03, 2010, 05:33:19 PM
I was under the impression the the purpose of the expeditions to NIKU, were to test the theory that Amelia & Fred were there by "landing " the Electra on the reef. Obviously, the artifacts found so far certainly looks as though that might be the case. Determining the case of death for Amelia and Fred after 73 years, and no bodies to examine, leeds us to specualtion.
Gee, I remember as a young man reading a book by a man (wont mention his name or network affiliation) that went to the Pacific 5 times and shipped back boxes of "bones and other artifacts" to be examined, to "prove" the whereabouts of Amelia Earhart. Well, 45 years later, there is again media attention about the very thing that this man claimed to have found. He obviously did not, and I would hope that TIGHAR is not put in the same "bad media situation" that happened 45 years ago.
And I suppose that there would be a detracter tht would try to refute and actual findings that TIGHAR did come up with. I hope that our friends that are now on NIKU, searching for clues to a 73 year old mystery, come up with the "beyond a resonable doubt" evidence that Amelia and Fred flew the Electra to Niku, landed on the reef near the Norwich City shipwreck, and survived long enough to leave clues that with today's technology , we can solve the first part of one of the biggest mysteries of the 20th century. In the early 1960's, (when the first civilian expeditions went to the Pacific), the general public knew of AE and her exploits. World War II, and events preceeding Pearl Harbor, were still fresh in peoples minds. Some of the principle players in the mystery were still alive, although really didnt shead any light on the subject. Fast forward to 2010, and I bet there are few "young people" that even know who AE and Fred were, much less what they were attempting to do.
For the history books, I hope that TIGHAR, can find the links to Amelia and Fred on Niku, so we can teach our "grandchildren" to reach for the stars.
Title: Re: Niku VI some questions from initial reports
Post by: Ashley Such on June 03, 2010, 08:15:39 PM
From what I've been reading of the updates, it sounds like TIGHAR has found some very interesting artifacts! And, with most of them dating back to the 1930's... It's a start! The right-on target evidence is, of course, AE's 74-year-old Electra. I hope, if all this evidence does solve AE's mystery, that we can figure out the whole story: Where she landed, how her and Fred survived for a few days, and how they eventually died. Of course, I really don't have any doubt that AE died of dehydration, since she was extremely ill during that last flight...

Here's to hoping to finding the Electra!  ;D