3 Problems with Niku hypothesis / inconsistencies

[Andrew M McKenna]

Just thinking out aloud. Does anyone know if any of the post 1938 visitors to Gardner island knew that there was already a suspicion that this island was the suspected place of AE and FN's demise?

Not many, if any.  Gallagher speculated that the bones of the castaway might have been AE, but that is only recorded in what are essentially secret communications with his superiors.  I think the advent of WWII pretty much obliterated any thoughts beyond the immediate, relegating the AE story to the back burner for several years.

Andrew

[Jeff Victor Hayden]

So it is a safe bet to say that there was nothing to influence peoples memories of what they saw or heard if it wasn't common knowledge or on the rumour circuit or folklore.

[Malcolm McKay]

So it is a safe bet to say that there was nothing to influence peoples memories of what they saw or heard if it wasn't common knowledge or on the rumour circuit or folklore.

Yes, under that very restrictive condition - however, despite Gallagher's attempts at secrecy and the subsequent growth and embellishment of the bones/wreckage story as demonstrated by the Sikuli et al.  accounts I'd say the old rumour mill was well and truly alive about Earhart once Gallagher started packing up the bones for shipment. Woman's shoe, bones - doesn't take much to get people talking - the islanders didn't live in a vacuum. Not accounts to be relied on unconditionally.

[Jeff Victor Hayden]

That's what I originally thought Malcolm, there must have been a rumour circulating the area that this was the place that was suspected of being where AE and FN met their demise and, subsequent post 1938 visitors to Gardner would have picked this up also.
I haven't seen any evidence or clues to support this theory yet but, I'll dig around a bit and see what I can find. I'm sure there must have been some sort of folklore/rumour floating about after all, it's not exactly an over-populated area of the Pacific.

[Edgard Engelman]

I vaguely remember that on the old forum (by E-mail) Ric talked about this point with one of the original actors (I think that it was Bevington) but surely one of the other cadets, trying to determine if they were aware of the several thousand $ reward offered by Putnam. This could of course have influence the thinking of the young cadets once aware of the existnece of the bones.
Indeed Bevington(?) remembered that they knew about the reward and that the flyer was lost in the general vicinity (define 'vicinity' as you like).