TIGHAR
Amelia Earhart Search Forum => News, Views, Books, Archival Data & Interviews on AE => Topic started by: Ric Gillespie on June 04, 2021, 01:01:28 PM
-
Fox news re letter (https://fox8.com/news/last-known-letter-sent-before-amelia-earharts-disappearance-found-by-california-man/)
This is a different letter than any we’ve seen. The TV spot says the letter is still in the possession of the guy who found it and he hasn’t decided whether he’s going to sell it or give it to the museum. (Wanna guess what he’ll do?)
It is not, as claimed, the last known letter sent by Noonan. It was sent from Bandoeng, Java on June 23, 1937. We have a letter he sent from Koepang, Timor to Helen Day on June 27. Fred sent three letters to Helen, one from Fortaleza, Brazil on June 5, one from Bandoeng on June 22, and the Koepang letter on the 27th. Those letters were mostly just recounting the flight so far and they track with what Amelia was reporting for the newspapers. This new letter seems to be pretty much the same thing. No new information. All three letters are on the TIGHAR website (https://www.tighar.org/Projects/Earhart/Archives/Documents/HelenDay/dayletters.htm)
The weird thing to me is that this is ANOTHER case of Noonan writing to a young girl. Helen Day was just 17 when Fred became friends with her when he worked for Pan Am in Miami. She was 24 when he wrote to her during the world flight. Helen's son, from whom we got the letters, described his mother as “a firecracker in those days.” Noonan’s language in the letters is, at times a bit creepy.
Now here’a another girl, Beverly Hunter. he supposedly started writing to in 1935 when she was 15, so in 1937 she’s 17. Noonan is 44.
-
Morning Tighars!!! Saw this online this morning and wanted to share it with you. Its about 4 letters that were written to Beverly Person from Fred Noonan. One in particular was a 17 page letter written 8 days before their disappearance. Hunter Person found the letters years after they were misplaced! Sounds like something Tighar should look into!
https://fox5sandiego.com/news/local-news/local-man-finds-last-known-letter-before-amelia-earharts-disappearance/
-
Sounds like something Tighar should look into!
https://fox5sandiego.com/news/local-news/local-man-finds-last-known-letter-before-amelia-earharts-disappearance/ (https://fox5sandiego.com/news/local-news/local-man-finds-last-known-letter-before-amelia-earharts-disappearance/)
Agreed. I've merged your topic with Ric's.
-
There's not much we can look into until we know what's in the letters. The only images of the letters I've seen are what were shown in the Fox News TV spot.
The problem we've seen repeatedly with the discovery of "new" documents, photos, and films is that the discoverer, or the "experts" they consult, do not know enough about the subject to accurately assess the significance.
-
Did TIGHAR ever get in contact with this gentleman, or get a copy of this letter? Is TIGHAR even interested in getting a copy of the letter? Being in Southern California I could try tracking this guy down if there is interest. He may have disposed of it already, but maybe not. Ric?
-
Did TIGHAR ever get in contact with this gentleman, or get a copy of this letter? Is TIGHAR even interested in getting a copy of the letter?
No contact. No letter. I doubtl it contains anything we don't already know, but it's an unturned stone. If you would like to see if you can track him down, that would be great - but given the recent debacle about the faux-helmet it's not likely he would turn loose of it in the interest of history.
-
Actually, it's going to be a whole lot easier than I thought. The guy was kind enough to share the letter with the San Diego Air & Space Museum, who has images of the letter in their collection. Unfortunately they're not online, but as soon as I'm able to contact the archivist I'll make a trip to go visit them.
https://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/c8tf04nm/
-
The guy was kind enough to share the letter with the San Diego Air & Space Museum, who has images of the letter in their collection.
Bless his heart.