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[JNev]

An example of real life mistaken position (41:00) and its psychological pressure.

Interesting film clip, Tim, but I don't see the connection between war time Lancasters flying at 100 feet at night over all that water in fortified Holland vs. Earhart over an open ocean looking for an island.

I don't doubt the pressure as fuel ran low and Howland was not in sight - but that raises another point:

So what if she did see Gardner at that point? 

While I personally, for reasons cited above, believe she would have known it wasn't Howland, she wasn't exactly going to figure out what it was and beat a path 350 miles to the NNW back to Howland, either.  At that point too, it seems having found land with still having fuel aboard would come as more relief than panicking - one might gladly make the landing quite well and worry about being found later, it seems to me.

Somehow then it hardly seems like Earhart made a 'mistaken' landing at Gardner, having stumbled across it; and even had she taken it for Howland - wouldn't that itself have been a relief?

Maybe I'm just not following your line of thought on this, but these things seem reasonable in my view.  YMMV, of course.

[Tim Gard]

Interesting film clip, Tim, but I don't see the connection between war time Lancasters flying at 100 feet at night over all that water in fortified Holland vs. Earhart over an open ocean looking for an island.

I agree that you don't see the connection between war time Lancasters flying at 100 feet at night over all that water in fortified Holland vs. Earhart over an open ocean looking for an island.

[JNev]

Mr. Gard,

With all due respect, I belive you equivocate in this and the previous posts.  It would be near to impossible not to be able to distinguish Gardner from Howland.  Howland had a newly scratched out runway, running almost the full length of it.  There was a portable manned radio station, barrels of fuel, lighting, I believe a bulldozer still there and Military men standing by.  Last but not least a big ass'd ship 'Itaska' far enough off shore not to run aground.  Surely even in a somewhat tired and frustrated circumstance, Amelia could, and likely would have known the difference.

Mark,

I see evidence of your own philosophy reflected by you in your replies. "Reality can be beaten with enough imagination."

Just think how you appear to those who ridicule the hypothesis.

LOL!!!  Now Tim... you must realize that it does take quite an imagination to synthesize the ideas that must be explored to find real answers - you yourself over time have given us quite a picture of how the landing could have gone down, with detailed thoughts as to particular damage and injuries, much of which we really cannot substantiate.

Not to interfere in your remark, of course - but there's an irony here I just couldn't resist.  Perhaps Mark appreciates such irony himself, I don't know.

God I love this place.  ;)

[JNev]

I agree that you don't see the connection between war time Lancasters flying at 100 feet at night over all that water in fortified Holland vs. Earhart over an open ocean looking for an island.

Glad we can agree on something, Tim.

[Monty Fowler]

Hey guys? We're all on the same side here. Remember?

LTM,
Monty Fowler, TIGHAR No. 2189ECSP

[JNev]

Who's fussing?  :D

[Mark Samuels]

Mr. Gard,

With all due respect, I belive you equivocate in this and the previous posts.  It would be near to impossible not to be able to distinguish Gardner from Howland.  Howland had a newly scratched out runway, running almost the full length of it.  There was a portable manned radio station, barrels of fuel, lighting, I believe a bulldozer still there and Military men standing by.  Last but not least a big ass'd ship 'Itaska' far enough off shore not to run aground.  Surely even in a somewhat tired and frustrated circumstance, Amelia could, and likely would have known the difference.

Mark,

I see evidence of your own philosophy reflected by you in your replies. "Reality can be beaten with enough imagination."

Just think how you appear to those who ridicule the hypothesis.

"Do you expect me to account for opinions which you choose to call mine, but which I have never acknowledged?"  And those who ridicule the hypothesis, I choose to give short shrift, as they are usually ill founded.

[JNev]

I think we need a Flight 19 thread.

Done - see "Flight 19".

[C.W. Herndon]

Included among the charts that Clarence Williams prepared for Earhart's first world flight attempt was a map of Howland. 

From Purdue's Earhart Collection, here is a copy of Clarence Williams' map of Howland.