NIKU VII

[Bob Lanz]

manmade for a fact. But what. Wreckage from the Norwich or plane.
very interesting the 3 white circular objects in a straight line.
Can't imagine what those are....

Dave, I would think if that was from the Norwich it would be more rust colored and not light colored as in aluminum from a plane.  The circular objects could be for the fuel filling ports.  I think there were three fuel tanks in each wing.

[C.W. Herndon]

Dave, I would think if that was from the Norwich it would be more rust colored and not light colored as in aluminum from a plane.  The circular objects could be for the fuel filling ports.  I think there were three fuel tanks in each wing.

Bob, yes three fuel tanks per wing but there were only two fuel filling ports and they were in the engine nacelles.

[Tom Swearengen]

So---did the Huffington Post get the jump on Discovery? Hum--

[C.W. Herndon]

Here's a possible explanation, picture 2, for the dark circles being pointed out in the first photo.

The lightening holes in the wing behind the engine.

[Jeff Victor Hayden]

Waiting anxiously...if they found an airplane wing, then there have been some very quiet researchers.... first news reports said nothing was found but that the video and sonar would have to be analyzed. Now we have a short clip showing a guy on the research boat looking at what appears to be solid man made objects...why was it reported nothing was found? odd.

The Discovery Channel have first priority Dave which is only fair I guess. They are one of the major sponsors.

[Tom Swearengen]

Well apparently Discovery has released this to some people----the screen shot shows the Discovery Logo on the bottom right corner. Perhaps this was a 'screening" of the show footage.

[Jeff Victor Hayden]

Media coverage will boost the viewing figures Tom. Huffington post though? Not exactly a well known media outlet.
Footage looks promising though Tom so here's hoping.

[John Balderston]

Philadelphia Enquirer, breaking news
 
BREAKING NEWS
NewsSouth Jersey NewsObituariesWeatherTrafficPoliticsWeird News
Posted: Tue, Aug. 14, 2012, 9:55 AM
Next phase of hunt for Amelia Earhart's plane begins

By Peter Mucha
Inquirer Staff Writer

AP
In a 1937 file photo, Amelia Earhart and her navigator, Fred Noonan, pose in front of their twin-engine Lockheed Electra in Los Angeles prior to her historic attempt to circle the globe. They flew east, making stops in the United States, South America, Africa and Asia before the final Pacific legs. They disappeared trying to reach Howland Island on the way to Hawaii. On Aug. 19, a Discovery Channel special was scheduled to tell about a new underwater search for the plane's wreckage off a remote Pacific island.

 Earhart search ends with sonar, video to sift through New $2M search hopes to solve Earhart mystery

Some media reports got it wrong.

"Amelia Earhart search fails to find clues," read one July 24 headline. "Search for plane wreckage yields nothing," declared another.

But it's way too soon to slap labels, like failure, on the recent $2.2 million undersea search near a remote Pacific island that was documented for a Discovery Channel special set to air Sunday at 10 p.m.

"The jury is still very much out on this trip," said expedition organizer Ric Gillespie. ". . . "We're just now getting to the point were we can review the video to see what we saw."

Only this weekend was high-resolution video delivered to West Coast forensic imagining specialist Jeff Glickman for analysis, said Gillespie, executive director of a The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery (TIGHAR), based in Wilmington, Del.

"It's been a big job just getting the footage in viewable format," he said.

In mid-July, off the island of Nikumaroro, in waters too deep to dive, a ship-tethered remote-operated vehicle (ROV) spent days relaying fuzzy images of a steep sea bottom coated with sediment and strewn with clumps of coral that can mimic metal shapes.

"We could have easily missed something in the real-time standard-definition video that will show up in the high definition," Gillespie said.

Detecting sediment-covered parts of a Lockheed Model 10 Electra isn't like recognizing the Titanic, he said.

Also just starting to be scrutized: "volumes" of side-scanning sonar data collected by a torpedo-like autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV), which roamed almost a mile down.

If new clues are found in time, the hope is to reveal them on Sunday's show. Thoroughly examining all of the images and data, though, could continue for weeks or even months.

Science takes time, Gillespie said, noting that he's still waiting from results of a third round of DNA testing on bone fragments found during a 2010 visit to the tiny uninhabited atoll, part of the Republic of Kiribati.

New findings or not, the show shouldn't lack for intrigue and adventure, Gillespie said, as it recounts the history of the mystery, lays out tantalizing though inconclusive clues collected by TIGHAR over seven expeditions since 1988, and chronicles mission-jeopardizing setbacks encountered during the latest search.

The evidence fits the theory that Earhart and navigator Fred Noonan crashed off the island, where she may have lived her final days, perhaps using a spear fashioned with a knife to catch birds and fish, Gillespie said.

A 1937 report by Navy flyers spoke of signs of "recent habitation" on the island. An American-style woman's shoe, consistent with ones Earhart wore, was discovered during a 1991 TIGHAR expedition. Evidence of a campfire was found in 1997, consistent with reports that near the camp site, a bottle, a can and human bones were found. A doctor's 1941 analysis concluded those since-lost bones were from a man, but an expert told TIGHAR the measurements were more consistent with a woman.

The latest expedition was launched in early July with much fanfare, because even Secretary of State Hillary Clinton expressed support in March after the discovery of a 1937 photograph showed what could be landing gear sticking out of the water off Nikumaroro.

Contact staff writer Peter Mucha at 215-854-4342 or pmucha@phillynews.com.
 

[Tom Swearengen]

Agreed Jeff---but NOTHING on Discoverys site. You would think they would put something out there. Also---has anyone seen an update on TIGHARS Facebook page? I keep getting stuf from late in the expedition.

[Tom Swearengen]

Ok---my stupidity is going to show-----but WHY August 19, a month after the expedition to showcase what was found? Why not analyze the footage better before announcing a show date?

[Greg Daspit]

Yes 30 days never seemed like enough time. And they set the date of the show while they on the way back. Could it be they found something on the way back while looking at the "interesting things" so went ahead and set the time?  If so then why the question mark after the Mystery solved? Why the lack of a major announcement by Discovery Channel (so far) etc. Could it be they found aircraft weckage in looking at the images later, but not enough info and clarity to tie it for certain to the Electra?
Only a few more days to see.

[Tim Collins]

Yes 30 days never seemed like enough time.

Unless it was obvious.

Could it be they found something on the way back while looking at the "interesting things" so went ahead and set the time? 

I would suspect they were going to do a show regardless of what was or wasn't found. Haven't we all seen enough of such shows on Discovery etc. that serve only to tease about potential solutions and discoveries?

If so then why the question mark after the Mystery solved? Why the lack of a major announcement by Discovery Channel (so far) etc. Could it be they found aircraft weckage in looking at the images later, but not enough info and clarity to tie it for certain to the Electra?

Well, think about it. If i recall correctly they set out with the deliberate claim that nothing would be retrieved for analysis during this expedition so any corroboration and subsequent conclusion would be by visable means only. Wasn't that the same level of proof that Ballard presented when he "found" PT 109?. Without rock solid, documentable proof - the smoking gun as it were - best had by in hand analysis of evidence, then there's still the possibility that the mystery hasn't been solved.  anthying less than 100% certainty means you still don't know:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJohCpifELE

[Jeff Victor Hayden]

Some good points raised there Gregory. The suspense issue goes a long way in boosting viewing figures for sure and, Discovery Channel being a major sponsor, I see their point.
We spent around 6 months dismantling 2-3 minutes of video footage. This trip there is hundreds of hours of footage to trawl through so it will take time. There's probably no point in delaying the show until it has all been digested and, while the expedition is still fresh in people's minds.
I like the point you raised regarding the question mark?
The suspense...

[Bob Lanz]

Dave, I would think if that was from the Norwich it would be more rust colored and not light colored as in aluminum from a plane.  The circular objects could be for the fuel filling ports.  I think there were three fuel tanks in each wing.

Bob, yes three fuel tanks per wing but there were only two fuel filling ports and they were in the engine nacelles.

Woody, that could have been a revision when they added the 102 gal. tanks in each wing.  I don't recall ever seeing refueling points in engine nacelles.  We need an actual picture of a non re-fitted LE 10 to see where they are.  I don't have time to do it today, maybe you could find one or someone here already knows where one is.  In any event those pictures are encouraging.

[Dave Potratz]

Richie wrote: 

hey guys here is sneak preview  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/14/finding-amelia-earhart-mystery-solved-discovery_n_1776233.html

hey thanks, Richie!  VERY tantilizing clip there.  Makes me wonder if it is possible that the Discovery contract would indeed delay the announcement of a major find?

I've a hunch, though that the time-code would match up with the Team's examination of a object that apparently turned out to be confirmed as from the N.C.   That would not be atypical "created suspense" from Discovery Channel.

Regardless, can't wait to see the show!!

LTM,
dp