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[Christian Stock]

There is another, nearly identical reflection about 750 meters to the south, on the edge of a big blob of coral. I'm going to lean toward sun reflecting off of the water. I can find endless evidence of sun shining off of the surface of the water in satellite images of the south pacific. The tide also comes in and out each day.

It sounds like you are so in love with your theory that you willing to make leaps of illogic to meet your needs, which is what the conspiracy theorists (Japanese capture and others) tend to do. Fuzzy objects, shadows, bits of coral or reflections become airplanes, barges, altimeters and Japanese commandos.

[Ric Gillespie]

It sounds like you are so in love with your theory that you willing to make leaps of illogic to meet your needs, which is what the conspiracy theorists (Japanese capture and others) tend to do. Fuzzy objects, shadows, bits of coral or reflections become airplanes, barges, altimeters and Japanese commandos.

Confirmation Bias lurks under every rock.  We've been bitten more times than I like to admit, but unless you're willing to accept defeat when the evidence says you're wrong you never learn from your mistake.  There is another mental hazard that can be just as dangerous.  I'll call it Denial Bias.  Nobody wants to look like a gullible idiot, so when confronted with a piece of evidence that looks too good to be true there can be a tendency to construct illogical explanations to explain it away.  In both cases, the trick is figuring out what is and is not illogical.

[MichaelAshmore]

For an organization that has found absolutely no actual evidence of Amelia Earhart’s disappearance after three decades plus, I feel I made the wrong choice for help on my
find. It also seems any other opinions result in personal attacks and bullying by a handful of your Ricbots. These two images have more substance than all of your combined work. And as for you Ric, I don’t believe you even want to find her, seems to be nothing but a business to you and I am ashamed to a part of it. Cancel my membership

[Christian Stock]

I don’t think anyone attacked or bullied you. This is a discussion. Other members have countered your assertions with their own:

Water is shiny

Coconut palm trees fall down

To your point that Tighar has found nothing in 30 years, numerous people have stood in that exact spot and found nothing. Their nothing has to be your nothing.

Canceling a membership won’t turn sand into aluminum.

[Ric Gillespie]

It also seems any other opinions result in personal attacks and bullying by a handful of your Ricbots.

I'm sorry you feel that way. I think we gave your observations and opinions a fair airing.  No one attacked you or bullied you.  We just disagreed with you.  We could be wrong.  As I said earlier, if the opportunity arises we will take another look at that location.  If there's a Lockheed Electra there you'll have the last laugh.

Cancel my membership

As you wish.

[Matt Revington]

It appears Mr Ashmore has started his own AE search organization

https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/amelia-earhart-s-plane-possibly-found-in-nikumaroro-lagoon-1030396509

[Ric Gillespie]

Tim Mellon, Robert Waelleans, Mike Ashmore  - the power of pareidolia is truly amazing.

[Don Yee]

Think of all the time, money, and effort Tighar could have saved over the last decades if they had just waited for Google Earth to be invented.

[Jeff Lange]

The "announcement" by Mr. Ashmore starts to sound ridiculous in the first paragraph and only gets worse as the short article goes on. As was stated, nobody "bullied" him here- we discussed and disagreed with him. We also, in my opinion, totally disproved his theory, but as we have seen before in other cases the originator of a hypothesis is usually to close to accept negative criticism in any form turning it into "attacks" on their character. As Ric stated- IF Mr. Ashmore turns out to be right, then the laughs will be on us. However, I don't see him ever going to the island to test his theory, so we most likely will never know.

[Ric Gillespie]

the originator of a hypothesis is usually to close to accept negative criticism in any form

We have to be constantly vigilant that that never applies to us.

[Christian Stock]

There is a C-46 commando on a sandbar in the Bahamas that gives a pretty good illustration of what one would see had the Electra ditched in the lagoon at Niku. At low tide the top of the airplane, which is highly corroded, is exposed.

[Matt Revington]

Mr Ashmore is expanding his discoveries from old photos.  On this site (https://www.lelezard.com/en/news-19991528.html ) he shows what he believes is the “impact scar” of the Electra as it crashed in the brush near the edge of the lagoon and asks for donors to fund an expedition to Niku.  I can’t see anything clearly in the photo.

[Ric Gillespie]

I wonder he knows he would need TIGHAR's permission to do an expedition to Nikumaroro.  We have an Antiquities Management Agreement with Kiribati that give TIGHAR the exclusive right to conduct Earhart research within the borders of Kiribati.

[Don White]

I don't see anything in that photo like what he says is there. In fact, I don't see much of anything except what looks like trees and a bit of beach.

LTM,
Don

[Jeff Lange]

As IF there would be any visible remnants of a "scar" after all this time and all the over wash from storms in the last 84 years! I really think he is off in his own world, but good luck on that!