According to Deep Sea Vision, a private underwater exploration business, Amelia Earhart’s missing plane might have finally been located. The finding, which came to light on a ninety-day trip across the Pacific Ocean last year, has rekindled interest in one of the century’s greatest mysteries.
The trip, which ran from September to December 2023, surveyed a vast expanse of 5,200 square miles on the Pacific Ocean floor using the HUGIN 6000, the most sophisticated autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) in the world. An impressive discovery was uncovered by Deep Sea Vision’s unmanned drone, which was outfitted with synthetic aperture sonar, around 100 miles off the shore of Howland Island—the supposed refueling location for Amelia Earhart’s tragic voyage.
Sonar images released by Deep Sea Vision show a plane-shaped object resting 16,000 feet below the ocean’s surface, with contours matching the unique features of Earhart’s Lockheed 10-E Electra. The location, westward of Earhart’s projected landing point and untouched by known wrecks, supports the “date line theory” of her disappearance. According to this theory, if Earhart had neglected to adjust her calendar while crossing the International Date Line, her navigator would have made a westward celestial navigation error of 60 miles, placing them near where the potential wreckage was found.
Deep Sea Vision’s statement emphasizes the alignment of the discovered contours with the dual tails and scale of Earhart’s aircraft. This revelation sparks controversy and fuels speculation about what transpired on that fateful day in 1937.
Even though it has been almost 87 years after Amelia Earhart and her navigator Fred Noonan vanished, the case is still being investigated. The goal of earlier initiatives, like oceanographer Robert Ballard’s 2019 voyage, was to find Amelia Earhart’s remains on the tiny island of Nikumaroro, which is shrouded in mystery. The latest revelation made by Deep Sea Vision opens a new chapter in the ongoing investigation into the disappearance of one of aviation’s most recognizable characters. The discovery raises the possibility that, following decades of uncertainty, answers could eventually surface from the Pacific Ocean’s depths.
