TIGHAR

Amelia Earhart Search Forum => General discussion => Topic started by: Matt Revington on June 25, 2015, 03:43:12 PM

Title: Hail Mary
Post by: Matt Revington on June 25, 2015, 03:43:12 PM
The update is online and it sounds like the last ditch ROV attempt worked and some images of the anomaly were obtained, can't wait to see some
Title: Re: Hail Mary
Post by: Greg Daspit on June 25, 2015, 03:58:06 PM
I got the impression they didn’t get images of a geological feature that could be the anomaly.
They may not have gotten images of what was the sonar anomaly at all. However, even if their attempts to get pictures missed the anomaly, it is possible that there is a debris field around it and that they could have captured something interesting.
Title: Re: Hail Mary
Post by: Brad Mackey on June 25, 2015, 04:30:50 PM
It sounds to me like something that is visible looks interesting and doesn't look like a rock, just to simplify a bit.
Title: Re: Hail Mary
Post by: George Lam on June 25, 2015, 04:31:34 PM
This line from the report may support either one of your comments above, but not both!

"Some interesting things are visible, and no geological explanation for the anomaly was seen."

So vague.  They either photographed the anomaly and it's worth further investigation, or they missed it completely, but saw other "stuff."

Title: Re: Hail Mary
Post by: George Lam on June 25, 2015, 04:32:10 PM
It sounds to me like something that is visible looks interesting and doesn't look like a rock, just to simplify a bit.

Yes, that's what i gathered too
Title: Re: Hail Mary
Post by: Harbert William Davenport on June 25, 2015, 04:36:37 PM
Wd someone please copy & paste the reports for June 24 & 25 to somewhere here on the Forum?
Despite repeated attempts, I cannot reach a Week 3 webpage that shows anything later than 6/23.
Many thanks!
Title: Re: Hail Mary
Post by: Chris Murphy on June 25, 2015, 04:52:22 PM
The update is online and it sounds like the last ditch ROV attempt worked and some images of the anomaly were obtained, can't wait to see some

Anyone have a link?  I clicked on the link from Facebook and there is no update for June 24th yet.

http://tighar.org/Projects/Earhart/Niku8/dailies/niku8dailies3.html

 ???
Title: Re: Hail Mary
Post by: Bob Smith on June 25, 2015, 04:59:03 PM
 Just hoping!!!
Title: Re: Hail Mary
Post by: Hector M Zapata on June 25, 2015, 05:40:03 PM
The update is online and it sounds like the last ditch ROV attempt worked and some images of the anomaly were obtained, can't wait to see some

Anyone have a link?  I clicked on the link from Facebook and there is no update for June 24th yet.

http://tighar.org/Projects/Earhart/Niku8/dailies/niku8dailies3.html

 ???
click on week 1 and then click week 3, link to week 3 from week 2 page is not working. ???
Title: Re: Hail Mary
Post by: Harbert William Davenport on June 25, 2015, 05:49:01 PM
Many thanks, that just worked for me, going first to Week 1, then clicking on Week 3.
Title: Re: Hail Mary
Post by: Jon Romig on June 25, 2015, 05:53:32 PM

"Some interesting things are visible, and no geological explanation for the anomaly was seen."

So vague.

Maybe I am reading too much into this, but the vagueness of this quote is in my mind extraordinary, given the circumstances and the degree of interest in, and supreme importance of, this single line of text amongst all Tighar's writings over the last three years.

Speculations:
1. They really saw something significant, nearly a smoking gun. They want to analyze and perhaps process the photos before holding a press conference, perhaps timed for the team's arrival back in Hawaii next week.
2. They saw the Electra. Worried about treasure hunters, and in accord with a prior (secret?) agreement with the government of Kirbati, Tighar will not announce anything until the site can be guarded/protected.
2. They saw something unusual and mysterious, but not enough to go with. They want Jeff to look at it after the team's return. It may lead to further questions and possibly another expedition.

Here's hoping for 1 or 2!

Jon
Title: Re: Hail Mary
Post by: Jon Romig on June 25, 2015, 06:08:29 PM


"Some interesting things are visible, and no geological explanation for the anomaly was seen."

Let us parse that statement: "No geological explanation for the anomaly was seen."
It doesn't say that they did not see the anomaly. In fact it is pretty clear that they did see it, otherwise they could not have made this statement. So they saw the anomaly and it is not geological. If it is not geological (the only product of nature that one would find there) it is man-made. Then it is either the Electra, or some other wreckage - either an unreported plane that went down off Nikumaroro, part of the Norwich City or an unreported shipwreck.
Title: Re: Hail Mary
Post by: Martin X. Moleski, SJ on June 25, 2015, 06:24:33 PM
Wd someone please copy & paste the reports for June 24 & 25 to somewhere here on the Forum?
Despite repeated attempts, I cannot reach a Week 3 webpage that shows anything later than 6/23.
Many thanks!


Dateline: 25 June 2015, 13:00 EDT, at sea.

Land Team

The Nutiran beach, taken in 2007.

On Wednesday Ric took a small group from the Fiji Princess ashore and up to Nutiran to look at the environment they've been working in. By moving slowly and resting frequently, everyone was able to make it there and back without injury. It’s a long way to walk in difficult conditions after five rough days at sea.

Tom King and Lonnie took another group into the Village to see the layout and history there. One person was not able to return under his own power.
 

 
 ROV

(http://tighar.org/Projects/Earhart/Niku8/dailies/images/football_01.jpg)(http://tighar.org/Projects/Earhart/Niku8/dailies/images/football_02.jpg)(http://tighar.org/Projects/Earhart/Niku8/dailies/images/football_03.jpg)(http://tighar.org/Projects/Earhart/Niku8/dailies/images/football_04.jpg)(http://tighar.org/Projects/Earhart/Niku8/dailies/images/football_05.jpg)(http://tighar.org/Projects/Earhart/Niku8/dailies/images/football_06.jpg)

The ROV team ran a Hail Mary pass. The attempt to get the framework of the ROV to act as a sled failed. There was one more thing left to try, and they did it.

Every waterproof camera available was tied, physically, onto a powered line, with the HD camera with laser scale at the bottom, pointing down. A further line was added, about 1.5 meters long, with a dive weight on the end. A skiff was positioned carefully over the anomaly (using GPS lat/long), and the camera string was lowered 200 meters. Once at the bottom, the HD camera took shots every five seconds while Ron carefully raised the line a few feet, lowered it again, raised it, lowered it, walking it along.

In all, 432 images were captured. Topography and details are visible in 100 to 150 of them. Some interesting things are visible, and no geological explanation for the anomaly was seen. This is high definition imagery, with a scale included. A “snail trail” can also be generated from internal information on the camera. We look forward to the analysis.

  Departure
 
  By 2 p.m. everyone was aboard except the ROV team, who worked until sunset. Nai’a was underway by 6 p.m. Seas were moderate and expected to remain so for another day or so; but the closer they draw to Fiji the rougher the weather is going to be. We may not be able to get a good satellite link but if possible I will track their progress here.

(http://tighar.org/Projects/Earhart/Niku8/dailies/images/Nikusunset_01.jpg)(http://tighar.org/Projects/Earhart/Niku8/dailies/images/Nikusunset_02.jpg)(http://tighar.org/Projects/Earhart/Niku8/dailies/images/Nikusunset_03.jpg)(http://tighar.org/Projects/Earhart/Niku8/dailies/images/Nikusunset_04.jpg)(http://tighar.org/Projects/Earhart/Niku8/dailies/images/Nikusunset_05.jpg)(http://tighar.org/Projects/Earhart/Niku8/dailies/images/Nikusunset_06.jpg)(http://tighar.org/Projects/Earhart/Niku8/dailies/images/Nikusunset_07.jpg)

Dateline: 24 June 2015, 13:00 EDT, Nikumaroro

See Thursday, 25 June; no report due to power outage at TIGHAR headquarters.

Dateline: 23 June 2015, 13:00 EDT, Nikumaroro

Land Team

Yesterday Ric, Gary, Andrew Sanger, and Rodney went back to Nutiran and covered the intersection between the beach and the buka, from the top of the berm to about 50 meters inland, and from the northwest tip down to just past Norwich City. A few manmade objects were found but nothing that could have anything to do with our primary search.

Meanwhile, Lonnie, Mark, and Andrew McKenna walked from the landing channel along the south shore, crossed Baureke Passage, rounded the tip at the Coast Guard station, and ended up at the Seven Site, filming as they went.

The Seven Site is, predictably, a disaster, grown in with scaevola nine to ten feet tall. The ren tree which figured so largely in our work there has fallen over. The camera platform Mark made out of ladders and plywood is a mess; the ladders are there, but the plywood has rotted out. But they got great video.

Lonnie performed an experiment with the inverting eyepiece from Lee’s sextant, and was able to start a fire with it. It wasn’t easy, but it worked. So one piece of speculation is proved in theory, although not, of course, in fact.

They walked back, arriving at the landing just before dark, dead beat but successful.

Today, Gary will take a land team into the old village to re-locate a particular site, a house known as “John Manybarrels” because there were a dozen or two large metal barrels there. We found some interesting things there in the past, and it’s worth trying it again. However, given the condition of the rest of the island, it won’t be too surprising if the house is unfindable or simply gone.
 

ROV

We could not re-locate the fender target. The focus is now on the anomaly.
The motherboard is toast. Apparently a power surge occurring during the course of the repairs killed it. It is now rigged with all the gear and functioning as a sled for instrumentation and cameras. Nai’a can take station over the anomaly and hold with her engine – necessary because the wind has dropped off and will no longer hold her out against the moorings. We should get the coverage we need, although there are variables that can’t be controlled. The dive team will support this work today as their formal mission is finished.
 

Notes:
Fiji Princess arrived at 2 p.m. local time.

This is the last full day of work. By tomorrow lunchtime breakdown will start.



FWIW, I retrieved these from the dailies for Week 3 (http://tighar.org/Projects/Earhart/Niku8/dailies/niku8dailies3.html), as a courtesy to you.  You may need to "refresh your browser" in order to see this material for yourself.
Title: Re: Hail Mary
Post by: George Lam on June 25, 2015, 06:30:05 PM


"Some interesting things are visible, and no geological explanation for the anomaly was seen."

Let us parse that statement: "No geological explanation for the anomaly was seen."
It doesn't say that they did not see the anomaly. In fact it is pretty clear that they did see it, otherwise they could not have made this statement. So they saw the anomaly and it is not geological. If it is not geological (the only product of nature that one would find there) it is man-made. Then it is either the Electra, or some other wreckage - either an unreported plane that went down off Nikumaroro, part of the Norwich City or an unreported shipwreck.

As much as I don't like to speculate until we get more details, that is a reasonable assessment.  However whether or not they saw the object of interest in the 2012 sonar image is not clearly stated, so I would label this as "pending."

It may just have been a quick write up as well, without special attention to the wording of the statement.
Title: Re: Hail Mary
Post by: Steve Lyle Gunderson on June 25, 2015, 06:44:18 PM
The update is online and it sounds like the last ditch ROV attempt worked and some images of the anomaly were obtained, can't wait to see some

Anyone have a link?  I clicked on the link from Facebook and there is no update for June 24th yet.

http://tighar.org/Projects/Earhart/Niku8/dailies/niku8dailies3.html

 ???

from the update:
Dateline: 24 June 2015, 13:00 EDT, Nikumaroro

See Thursday, 25 June; no report due to power outage at TIGHAR headquarters.
Title: Re: Hail Mary
Post by: Monty Fowler on June 25, 2015, 09:04:50 PM
Minor quibble - what is with the photos that are being posted? Every ... single ... one is in segments or vertical slices. I can't download anything to my computer to examine it in detail.

That's annoying and I can think of no valid reason for TIGHAR doing so.

LTM
Monty Fowler, TIGHAR No. 2189 ECSP
Title: Re: Hail Mary
Post by: George Lam on June 25, 2015, 09:34:58 PM
I noticed that too.  It may have to do with the way it was uploaded - in chunks. So each individual piece is a smaller file size - rather than having one large file image.  Just a guess.
Title: Re: Hail Mary
Post by: Bob Smith on June 25, 2015, 09:50:33 PM
It has to do with the screen resolution on your computer being different than the senders upload, I think. Try saving the pic ( right click) without   left clicking the picture first in your view.
Title: Re: Hail Mary
Post by: Bill Mangus on June 26, 2015, 07:47:24 AM
I'm having the same issue with downloading the expedition pictures.  Right-click and save on an un-expanded image doesn't work either.  I wonder if it's some kind of copyright protection.
Title: Re: Hail Mary
Post by: JNev on June 26, 2015, 08:20:35 AM
I'm having the same issue with downloading the expedition pictures.  Right-click and save on an un-expanded image doesn't work either.  I wonder if it's some kind of copyright protection.

Would seem so.
Title: Re: Hail Mary
Post by: Martin X. Moleski, SJ on June 26, 2015, 09:09:11 AM
I'm having the same issue with downloading the expedition pictures.  Right-click and save on an un-expanded image doesn't work either.  I wonder if it's some kind of copyright protection.

The first possibility is that they came that way.

A second is that it is meant to make the page load faster.

"Why Slice?  How and Why to Slice Web Images" (http://graphicssoft.about.com/od/webgraphics/a/whyslice.htm) is just one of many articles that our friend, Google, turns up.

I can view the images as a whole on my computer by clicking on them.

If I felt the need, I could capture what I see on the screen by pressing the "PrtScn" button on my keyboard, and then editing the screen capture in any number of free programs that I use for such purposes.  (I use a PC, FWIW; Mac and Linux users have their own techniques available to them, I'm sure.)

I don't feel the need to attribute any dark motives to Pat Thrasher or to TIGHAR.  The pictures are quite lovely, and they help to tell the story of the expedition.
Title: Re: Hail Mary
Post by: Bill Mangus on June 26, 2015, 09:32:55 AM
Not attributing any dark motives to anyone.  I mention copyright only because of what Pat posted when Rob Barrel's drone photograph was used the first time:

"The photo at the head of this page is a drone view of Nai'a moored off Nikumaroro, north of Norwich City. Photo © Rob Barrel. Do not duplicate."
Title: Re: Hail Mary
Post by: Martin X. Moleski, SJ on June 26, 2015, 10:16:21 AM
Not attributing any dark motives to anyone.  I mention copyright only because of what Pat posted when Rob Barrel's drone photograph was used the first time:

"The photo at the head of this page is a drone view of Nai'a moored off Nikumaroro, north of Norwich City. Photo © Rob Barrel. Do not duplicate."

At the bottom of every page in this Forum, you will see the following: "Copyright 2015 by TIGHAR, a non-profit foundation. No portion of the TIGHAR Website may be reproduced by xerographic, photographic, digital or any other means for any purpose. No portion of the TIGHAR Website may be stored in a retrieval system, copied, transmitted or transferred in any form or by any means, whether electronic, mechanical, digital, photographic, magnetic or otherwise, for any purpose without the express, written permission of TIGHAR. All rights reserved."

There are similar assertions of copyright in the Ameliapedia and on many other pages on the website, such as the dailies (http://tighar.org/Projects/Earhart/Niku8/dailies/niku8dailies.html).

That TIGHAR is interested in preserving its rights to the works it has produced is not news nor is it a new policy.

Since the photos can be so simply reconstructed simply by copying from the screen, I doubt very much that the slicing was intended as an assertion of copyright.

YMMV.
Title: Re: Hail Mary
Post by: Bob Harmon on June 26, 2015, 11:54:22 AM
Not attributing any dark motives to anyone.  I mention copyright only because of what Pat posted when Rob Barrel's drone photograph was used the first time:

"The photo at the head of this page is a drone view of Nai'a moored off Nikumaroro, north of Norwich City. Photo © Rob Barrel. Do not duplicate."

I noticed dx-world.net jumped on that photo almost immediately after the daily was posted.
http://www.dx-world.net/t31lp-nikumaroro-island-oc-043/

Bob
Title: Re: Hail Mary
Post by: Monty Fowler on June 26, 2015, 01:36:32 PM
As far as what the Hail Mary photos may - or may not - show, I am content to wait. This isn't my first TIGHAR rodeo and too much guessing and parsing and speculation makes my brain tired.

LTM,
Monty Fowler, TIGHAR No. 2189 ECSP
Title: Re: Hail Mary
Post by: JNev on June 26, 2015, 02:30:06 PM
I like the gentle fire in your avatar more every time I check in (to check on this thread, to stay on topic, of course).

I too am content to wait by such a fire until... Whatever.  There's peace in no worries.
Title: Re: Hail Mary
Post by: Steve Lyle Gunderson on June 26, 2015, 04:57:14 PM
Initially I thought the vertical lines on the 'Hail Mary' picture were meant to represent ten yard lines on a football field to go along with the wobbly football graphic, but I guess not.
Title: Re: Hail Mary
Post by: Monty Fowler on July 02, 2015, 10:40:41 AM
So the date for the announcement that is forthcoming has been pushed back until tomorrow, by the redoubtable folks at Fiji Air. It's like many things in life. You hurry up. Then you wait.

Monty Fowler,
TIGHAR No. 2189 EC
Title: Re: Hail Mary
Post by: JNev on July 02, 2015, 01:47:15 PM
Are you really turning blue waiting for this one?

I really feel for the guys on this effort, not much fun, sounds like.

Course I've eaten crow before - not bad, about like owl.
Title: Re: Hail Mary
Post by: Greg Daspit on July 02, 2015, 02:21:16 PM
Nothing is achieved without effort.
Title: Re: Hail Mary
Post by: Bob Smith on July 02, 2015, 02:42:14 PM
They are certainly frustrated from what they've been through, wow. Chompin' on the bit !
Title: Re: Hail Mary
Post by: Monty Fowler on July 04, 2015, 05:29:33 PM
An Independence Day update would be sweet.

LTM,
Monty Fowler, TIGHAR No. 2189EC
Title: Re: Hail Mary
Post by: Martin X. Moleski, SJ on July 04, 2015, 05:41:36 PM
An Independence Day update would be sweet.

Wild guess: someone may be looking at the pix they got to see what they got.