Taraia Object deciphered

[Ric Gillespie]

Sadly, I fear, neither is this Mr. Ashmore credible either. Another internet troll I fear!

I don't think Mike is a troll.  He's not out to disrupt just for the sake of disrupting. He really believes he sees an airplane and tries to prove it with his own amateur analysis of the image.  Seeing is believing, but the mind often sees things that aren't there.  Forensic image analysis is a science.  It took Jeff Glickman two years and a trip to England to confirm the Bevington Object matches the wreckage of Lockheed Landing Gear Assembly 40650.

[MichaelAshmore]

Adding to my supporting evidence that Mrs. Earhart put her plane down
in the lagoon ( Gardner Island ) is here in this 1938 photograph. Have a look.

[MichaelAshmore]

I darken it up in case you couldn't see it.

[Kurt Kummer]

Sorry Michael, but I just don't see anything in these photos that suggest aircraft wreckage.  And TIGHAR has been there, looked at that spot, and used metal detectors there with no success.  I'm no expert on aerial photogrammetry, but I don't think Amelia ditched there. I appreciate you sharing your theory though.  Keep on looking!

[MichaelAshmore]

Here's an interesting find on a Nikumaroro image, possible reflection off object at Taraia spit. I know reflections off water surfaces happen all the time, but this one is too close to just write off as that. No other place on picture is quite like this, a starlike reflection. So all of these pieces of information I'm posting aren't just coincidental. There's something more to this and the clues keep building. This photo is from atlasobscura.com and most likely you've already seen it.

[Simon Ellwood]

But aircraft wreckage that has been there 80+ years wouldn't be shiny & reflective, it'd be dull & corroded. I don't think there were any stainless steel components of the Electra?

[Jeff Lange]

smh! I'll leave this to our photo expert Jeff Glickman to debunk, er... I mean explain.

[MichaelAshmore]

Thank you Simon. I have taken that into account and would have had a similar opinion if the object weren't submerged in saltwater, sand/silt. Protecting it from being in an oxygen rich environment with minimal corrosion over these many years. For example, if this piece of aluminum called 2-2-v-1 has been in this type of environment ( Not saying it has anything to do with her plane ), it looks pretty reflective to me. So I think it's possible that a good amount of reflective surfaces still exist on the Electra. And that this could be a reflection from it.

[MichaelAshmore]

I am apparently not the only one who believes aluminum can endure longer than most might think. Making it totally possible that a large portion or most of the Electra is intact.

I came across this post from 2001.

[Simon Ellwood]

Okay, good find Michael, but since your reflection target is up in the surf of the shoreline of the inner lagoon and the lagoon itself is subject to the tides then the last paragraph of Ric's 2001 reply above would seem the most relevant.

[MichaelAshmore]

I would think that paragraph to be the least, being that it's only exposed occasionally. If it were exposed all the time, I would expect it to be in bad shape. But it's not. So why hasn't someone  seen this long ago ? Because it's been buried, submerged underwater, with sand/silt protecting it at the location she landed.

[Simon Ellwood]

I would think that paragraph to be the least, being that it's only exposed occasionally. If it were exposed all the time, I would expect it to be in bad shape. But it's not. So why hasn't someone  seen this long ago ? Because it's been buried, submerged underwater, with sand/silt protecting it at the location she landed.

How do you know it's only exposed occasionally?

[Christian Stock]

This is a screen grab from a YouTube video of the 2015 expedition. Can anyone confirm if this group is approaching the spot of sand in question, and could the object partially submerged in the background be the coconut palm log in question? This occurs at about 40:10 in the video.

https://youtu.be/5h8DXqmzEPY

[Ric Gillespie]

This is a screen grab from a YouTube video of the 2015 expedition. Can anyone confirm if this group is approaching the spot of sand in question, and could the object partially submerged in the background be the coconut palm log in question? This occurs at about 40:10 in the video.

Nope.  The 2015 Betchart tourists (to the strains of Caribbean music) walk from the landing channel area all TIGHAR's "Gallagher Highway" through the New Village coconut jungle to the lagoon shore where they turn left and proceed along the lagoon shore past the "Club Fred" area where we traditionally base our lagoon launch, to the tip of the sand spit that extends into the lagoon at the southern edge of Tatiman Passage where there is a surviving marker from the 1985 Australia Army survey of the island - incorrectly noted in the video as the "Survey Marker for the Village." Looks like there might have been a coconut logged washed into the lagoon. Not unusual.

[MichaelAshmore]

I believe it's only exposed occasionally because of these observations. Tidal movement has shifted enough sand at these moments in time for us to get a glimpse of what lays beneath.
The topographic images show them to be submerged in water and mostly covered in sand. Also the limited amount of images, pics showing it.