Technology

New Clues? Hillary Clinton Endorses Project to Find Out What Really Happened to Amelia Earhart

What Really Happened to Amelia Earhart? Hilary Clinton Endorses Project to Find Out(AP/The Blaze) — A new clue in one of the 20th century’s most enduring mysteries could soon uncover the fate of American aviator Amelia Earhart, who went missing without a trace over the South Pacific 75 years ago, investigators said Tuesday.

Enhanced analysis of a photograph taken just months after Earhart’s Lockheed Electra plane vanished shows what experts think may be the landing gear of the aircraft protruding from the waters off the remote island of Nikumaroro, in what is now the Pacific nation of Kiribati, they said.

Armed with that analysis by the State Department, historians, scientists and salvagers from The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery, are returning to the island in July in the hope of finding the wreckage of Earhart’s plane and perhaps even the remains of the pilot and her navigator Fred Noonan.

Ric Gillespie, executive director of the group, acknowledged that the evidence was “circumstantial” but “strong” but stopped short of predicting success. The new search is scheduled to last for 10 days in July and will use state-of-the-art underwater robotic submarines and mapping equipment.

“The most important thing is not whether we find the ultimate answer or what we find, it is the way we look,” he said. “We see this opportunity to explore … the last great American mystery of the 20th century as a vehicle for demonstrating how to go about figuring out what is true.”

Earhart and Noonan disappeared July 2, 1937, while flying from New Guinea to Howland Island as part of her attempt to become the first female pilot to circumnavigate the globe.

Extensive searches at the time uncovered nothing and many historians are convinced they crashed into the ocean. In addition, conspiracy theories, including claims that they were U.S. government agents captured by the Japanese before the Second World War, still abound despite having been largely debunked.

Gillespie’s group believes Earhart and Noonan may have managed to land on a reef abutting the atoll, then known as Gardner Island, and survived for a short time. They surmise that the plane was washed off the reef by high tides shortly after the landing and that the wreckage may be found in the deep waters nearby.

Their previous visits to the island have recovered artifacts that could have belonged to Earhart and Noonan and suggest they might have lived for days or weeks. Now, they have the new analysis of the October 1937 photo of the shoreline of the island. Experts say a blurry object sticking out of the water in the lower left corner of the black-and-white photo is consistent with a strut and wheel of a Lockheed Electra landing gear.

Renowned oceanographer Robert Ballard, who discovered the wreckage of the Titanic and the Bismarck and is advising the Earhart expedition, said the new analysis of the photograph could be the equivalent of a “smoking gun” as it narrows the search area from tens of thousands of square miles to a manageable size.

Ballard confessed to having been previously intimidated by the challenge of finding clues to Earhart’s whereabouts.

“If you ever want a case of finding a needle in a haystack, this is at the top of the list,” he said at a State Department event where Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood gave their support and encouragement to the privately financed project.

What Really Happened to Amelia Earhart? Hilary Clinton Endorses Project to Find Out

Clinton hailed Earhart as an inspiration to Americans in difficult times as the nation struggled to emerge from the Great Depression and said her legacy could be a model for the country now.

“Amelia Earhart may have been a unlikely heroine for a nation down on its luck, but she embodies the spirit of an America coming of age and increasingly confident, ready to lead in a quite uncertain and dangerous world,” she said. “She gave people hope and she inspired them to dream bigger and bolder.”

“Today, we meet at a time when the challenges are not so dire despite what you might hear on cable television or talk radio. But these are still difficult days for many Americans,” Clinton said. “After a long decade of war, terrorism and recession, there are some who are asking whether we still have what it takes to lead, and like that earlier generation we too could use some of Amelia’s spirit.”

“We can be as optimistic and even audacious as Amelia Earhart,” she said. “We can be defined not by the limits that hold us down but by the opportunities that are ahead.”

The Obama administration takes no position on any of purported evidence and acknowledges there is fierce debate on the subject. But Clinton, who noted that the State Department and other federal agencies had actively supported Earhart’s flight, cheered the searchers on.

“Even if you do not find what you seek, there is great honor and possibility in the search itself,” she said. “So, like our lost heroine, you will all carry our hopes … We are excited and looking forward to hear about your own great adventure.”

What Really Happened to Amelia Earhart? Hilary Clinton Endorses Project to Find Out

(Photo: Popperfoto/Reuters)

Comments (61)

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  • lel2007
    Posted on March 20, 2012 at 9:53pm

    Amelia Earhart crashed a long time ago, and she’s been dead for quite some time. No mystery – airplane crash, dead.

    Report Post » lel2007  
    • db321
      Posted on March 20, 2012 at 11:00pm

      Yea, but with Hilary involve I smell a whopper coming – it‘s Bush’s fault!

      Report Post » db321  
    • MAMMY_NUNN
      Posted on March 21, 2012 at 1:11am

      Why don’t they investigate what happened to Jimmy Hoffa they would get the same results.

      Report Post »  
    • jkjk
      Posted on March 21, 2012 at 8:23am

      Wow, another try to distract everyone, and make it seem like Di#kbama hasn‘t f’d up this country. Don’t we have major issues to worry about right now. This should show stupid peolpe where the lefty aholes they elected heads are at. Start lightly with these di#ks, have them pay for their own gas. Yup, we pay for these morons to shuffle around, and take on urgent tasks like this one. Clinton = cankles.

      Report Post » jkjk  
    • ITookTheRedPill
      Posted on March 23, 2012 at 11:27am

      Keep an eye on the Clintons. I think Hillary clinton is positioning herself to be the Demorats’ Presidential nominee…

      … and not in 2016, but in 2012.

      Hillary said, “She embodied the spirt of an America coming of age and {pause} increasingly confident, ready to lead in a quite uncertain and dangerous world.”

      So, is America “coming of age” and ready for its first female president?

      Hillary wants you to see her as “increasingly confident, ready to lead in a quite uncertain and dangerous world.”

      Report Post »  
    • ITookTheRedPill
      Posted on March 23, 2012 at 11:29am

      Hillary said, “She embodied the spirt of an America coming of age and {pause} increasingly confident, ready to lead in a quite uncertain and dangerous world.”

      So, is America “coming of age” and ready for its first female president?

      Hillary wants you to see her as “increasingly confident, ready to lead in a quite uncertain and dangerous world.”

      Keep an eye on the Clintons. I think Hillary is positioning herself to be the Democrats’ Presidential nominee… and not in 2016, but in 2012.

      Report Post »  
    • ITookTheRedPill
      Posted on March 23, 2012 at 11:31am

      Hillary said, “She embodied the spirt of an America coming of age and … increasingly confident, ready to lead in a quite uncertain and dangerous world.”

      So, is America “coming of age” and ready for its first female president?

      Hillary wants you to see her as “increasingly confident, ready to lead in a quite uncertain and dangerous world.”

      Keep an eye on the Clintons. I think Hillary is positioning herself to be the Democrats’ Presidential nominee… and not in 2016, but in 2012.

      Report Post »  
  • Cymry
    Posted on March 20, 2012 at 9:53pm

    why doesn’t hillary just channel amelia like she did eleanor (who are both lesbos, but wait she does like to scr3w men, think peter paul )

    Report Post » Cymry  
  • Rabble In Arms
    Posted on March 20, 2012 at 9:16pm

    I‘m hoping this story is a joke so I’m waiting for the punchline…..

    Report Post » Rabble In Arms  
  • village idiot
    Posted on March 20, 2012 at 8:23pm

    Way over her head, she killed her self and her one man crew. Stupid stunt.

    Report Post » village idiot  
  • Abraham Young
    Posted on March 20, 2012 at 8:17pm

    Maybe she should look into the central banks kidnapping of the Lindbergh baby.

    Report Post »  
  • Windsong
    Posted on March 20, 2012 at 8:16pm

    That’s great, Ms. Clinton. It always warms my heart when I see Mr. Obama doing one of five fund-raisers in one day…and our Secretary of State making sure we find a plane wreckage from 75 years ago. There is so little else happening in our world today. Our jobs are fine, relations with all our allies – like Pakistan are great and our economy coundn’t be better. Maybe we can think of some other special ways to spend the tax payers money.

    Never again question why the American people have stopped trusting most politicians.

    Report Post »  
  • Apple Bite
    Posted on March 20, 2012 at 8:16pm

    All for support of the “war against women”, right Hil-Rod?

    Report Post » Apple Bite  
  • No Fortunate One
    Posted on March 20, 2012 at 8:15pm

    Dear Ms. Secretary of State: I just have a few questions:
    “Armed with that analysis by the State Department…” Just wondering about how much of MY tax dollars went into the “analysis by the State Department” to help this “private” enterprise.
    “…he said at a State Department event where Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood gave their support and encouragement to the privately financed project.” Just wondering how much of MY tax dollars went into this State Department event to “support” and encourage this “privately financed project.“ Also wondering what ”support” means.
    “But Clinton, who noted that the State Department and other federal agencies had actively supported Earhart’s flight, cheered the searchers on.” Just wondering what “actively supported” and “cheered” means. I‘m sure it doesn’t mean MY tax dollar support, does it? Just asking. I’ll wait for your 3:00 AM phone call to answer my questions. Thank you.

    Report Post »  
  • Mateytwo Barreett
    Posted on March 20, 2012 at 8:08pm

    Well, we got everything under control. The Syrians are still killing the/Syrians. The Iranians are enriching their sconcium. The Afgans are still telling us to get the hell out. The Canadians ae building a pipeline to benefit the Chinese.
    Hillary wnats her own private little boondoggle! Whats wrong with that? Surely to God , we should be able to pi55 off a few island nations, before November.

    Report Post » Mateytwo Barreett  
  • Mateytwo Barreett
    Posted on March 20, 2012 at 8:00pm

    Ain’t thjat special! The Hiildabeast wants her own personal boondoggle!!
    Might as well look for Amelia- US foreign policy is so “incontrol” and autopilot- We really don’t NEED a secretary of state!
    I’m sure there will be “months and months of top level negotiations required or every Pacific rim banana republic and island kingdom. . Just formalizing the effort could take. . why we might need another cabinet position just to fulfill these needs.
    OR Just put her on a broom and send her on her way!!! BTW How’re those other little projects going? Yanno- That Syria, and Iran thingys- -got them under control, I guess.

    Report Post » Mateytwo Barreett  
  • Redmanblackdog
    Posted on March 20, 2012 at 7:47pm

    What Hilary is thinking about Amelia.

    “Crap, people are starting to talk about the economy, high gas prices, the run away debt again.”
    “The contraception thing is starting to fade. Quick what will we do, what will we do!”

    “I know, we will turn the publics attention to Amelia Earhart. Yeh, lets talk about her not the debt, or the high unemployment.”

    “And next when that fizzles, I think we can distract the public one more time with school lunchs.”

    Report Post »  
  • cookcountypatriot
    Posted on March 20, 2012 at 7:45pm

    shes dead hillary….and nobody under the age of 45 knows who the hell she is…cuz progressives dont want to teach history anymore…why u ask hillary…because if we taught history people like you would be in jail…

    Report Post » cookcountypatriot  
    • FASTCOMPANY
      Posted on March 20, 2012 at 8:48pm

      You nailed it.

      Report Post » FASTCOMPANY  
    • dogdr
      Posted on March 20, 2012 at 9:01pm

      I’m not sure what I expected but people here really need to take a look at yourselves. This is nothing more than an inconsequential “human interest” story. People (not me, but many) have long wondered about this decades old mystery. Most everybody at least knows the basics fo the story. People are curious. On the Blaze though, since Hillary Clinton is mentioned as endorsing the project, it becomes a hatefest. Suddenly no politician is allowed to have an interest in anything else until all the world problems are solved and Hillary isn’t allowed to have an interest in anything without being insulted and slandered. The hate from this “good christian” site is just overwhelming. There is NOTHING controversial about this story and you turn it into a political scandal worthy of as much hate as you can muster. You people need to take a look at yourselves. The hate will kill you slowly, and make you very unhappy until it does.

      Report Post »  
    • yiska8
      Posted on March 20, 2012 at 9:37pm

      @Dogdr
      Ameilia Earhart? I’ve long wondered about this mystery too and how nice, after 75 years, it will be looked into by a Clinton. Should we feel confident that it will be solved now? Don’t know if you know this, but the reason why this mystery remains unsolved is because of GOVERNMENT interference. This mystery has been pursued by private financiers for decades, but it hasn’t happened because of politics. Well, I guess since the Great Depression was happening at the time that Earhart went missing, that it should be fitting that Hilary Clinton, solve the mystery at a time when we currenty live in Obama’s economic depression. We have the entire MidEast collasping because of her and her boss, gas at nearly $5 a gallon, 45 million on food stamps, gestapo tactics in the media, gunwalking across our border to pin it on Americans, soldiers still in Afghanistan, and cartel violence on our borders, but I guess she has nothing much else to, huh? How interested do you think this woman would be in Ms. Earhart if things were going well in this nation? I’m Christian, a sinner, and I, like others, just call it like I see it. This is a shamless leftist tactic of DISTRACTION. They are running out of ideas. Enough.

      Report Post » yiska8  
    • MAMMY_NUNN
      Posted on March 21, 2012 at 1:17am

      “Slap on the forehead” I must find D.B. Cooper !

      Report Post »  
  • Arizona Don
    Posted on March 20, 2012 at 7:43pm

    I am a retired pilot of over 40 years in aviation. Aviation is a profession not many understand. Many things that I can see were done wrong. However, realize the time this happened. She was one of the pioneers. Personally I think they will never solve the question “what happened to her?” Give it up. This is not a WGAS but it is close. Pursue all the leads you have and investigate every angle you want but not with tax payer money. Sorry I do not mean to throw ice on an idea here but it will not prove anything. Keep focused on the things that count. Getting rid of obama in 2012. Now that is important!

    I have friends who disappeared in Nam (pilots) who have not been accounted for, why not concentrate on them?

    Report Post » Arizona Don  
  • wordweaver
    Posted on March 20, 2012 at 7:36pm

    Even if private contributions are financing this search, I would rather see my Secretary of State devoting her time working on the many hot spots around the world right now, and not holding some media event based on an archaeological expedition that will have zero impact on anything happening in the world right now. You’re wasting our tax dollars, Hillary. Get back to work.

    Report Post » wordweaver  
  • gsp9993
    Posted on March 20, 2012 at 7:34pm

    Is this really a priority in the world we live???

    Hilary what’s with the aging white women long hair.

    Not happening dear. You look too much like Granny Clampett.

    Get the hair styled and get back to the urgency of the nation.

    Report Post »  
    • brknhrt
      Posted on March 21, 2012 at 7:10am

      With all the things the Clintons have done, all you can think of is her hair? What a stupid comment.

      Report Post » brknhrt  
  • Itsjusttim
    Posted on March 20, 2012 at 7:33pm

    I don’t know about other people, but I’ve been losing sleep for decades over what happened to Amelia Earhart. We should erect a 1000 ft statue to her, and even further reiterate that all the illegitimate children women 30 years and younger are having is not wrong, and that they should continue molding their husbands into being the perfect husband rather than looking for men they want their sons to be like.

    Report Post » Itsjusttim  
    • Itsjusttim
      Posted on March 20, 2012 at 7:34pm

      On second thought, forget it because America is over with anyways.

      Report Post » Itsjusttim  
    • Itsjusttim
      Posted on March 20, 2012 at 7:40pm

      I just can’t fix stupid.

      Report Post » Itsjusttim  
    • rappini
      Posted on March 20, 2012 at 7:47pm

      I hope you’re not suggesting that the statue be made in China.

      Report Post » rappini  
    • Itsjusttim
      Posted on March 20, 2012 at 7:48pm

      I’ll tell American women this thing: when Sharia Law is in America to it’s fullest, you are sure as hell going to wish you did it God’s way.

      Report Post » Itsjusttim  
    • MammalOne
      Posted on March 21, 2012 at 3:30am

      I can‘t tell if you’re the craziest or the smartest person on the planet.

      Report Post » MammalOne  
  • OlefromMN
    Posted on March 20, 2012 at 7:32pm

    I’m sorry, when did we pay off our debt? This and the story I saw on Fox about building the monument to Ike just send chills up my spine. DC is deaf, dumb & blind to our problems. Tommy for POTUS if this is what we are to expect.

    Report Post » OlefromMN  
  • CatB
    Posted on March 20, 2012 at 7:29pm

    How about we honor all adventures … and restore our SPACE PROGRAM .. and change it back from a Muslim outreach program .. to a SPACE PROGRAM …. geez these Marxists are P*ssing me off!

    Report Post »  
  • qpwillie
    Posted on March 20, 2012 at 7:16pm

    I know what happened to Amelia Earhart. She crash landed in a jungle not far from where Tarzan lived. Tarzan and Jane found her and they found a fountain of youth.

    Hasn’t Hillary ever watched Tarzan. SHEEESH!!

    Report Post » qpwillie  
  • progressiveslayer
    Posted on March 20, 2012 at 7:15pm

    Hillary I encourage you to fly solo over the Pacific,I know you can do it!

    Report Post » progressiveslayer  
    • TROONORTH
      Posted on March 20, 2012 at 8:01pm

      Not going to happen. Broom is in the shop for repairs.

      Report Post » TROONORTH  
  • Tri-ox
    Posted on March 20, 2012 at 7:12pm

    Another rathole to throw tax dollars down. Failed SOS Clinton and her idiot boss must go.

    Report Post » Tri-ox  
  • USAMEDIC3008
    Posted on March 20, 2012 at 7:09pm

    Hillery
    Just ask Bill

    Report Post » USAMEDIC3008  
  • possom
    Posted on March 20, 2012 at 7:09pm

    We already know what happened to her, she died. Next story please!

    Report Post » possom  
  • mathwonk
    Posted on March 20, 2012 at 7:08pm

    theblaze is a blatant propaganda site for rick santorum. indeed, a story was posted on the site which was critical of santorum and it was quickly removed. the following is the link to the story that theblaze removed- http://www.theblaze.com/stories/santorum-or-cass-sunstein-government-should-create-incentives-instead-of-being-smaller/.

    Report Post »  
  • seeker9
    Posted on March 20, 2012 at 7:07pm

    Sure, if Hillary pays for it.

    Report Post » seeker9  
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