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Scientist Reckons He’s 99 Percent Certain He’s Found Amelia Earhart’s Bones

Scientist Reckons He’s 99 Percent Certain He’s Found Amelia Earhart’s Bones

The bones were discovered in 1940 on Nikumaroro Island, which is 400 miles south of where she was due for a stopover

Stewart Perrie

Stewart Perrie

Amelia Earhart's disappearance is one of history's most baffling mysteries.

The American aviation pioneer set off on a circumnavigational flight around the world in 1937, but her Lockheed Model 10-E Electra plane vanished over the Pacific Ocean near Howland Island.

There are plenty of theories surrounding exactly what happened, with some people believing the aircraft ran out of petrol and crashed into the sea, others think Earhart and her navigator Fred Noonan were captured by the Japanese.

Underwood & Underwood/Creative Commons

Well, scientist Richard Jantz reckons he can finally put some of that speculation to rest after finding bones that he reckons are Earhart's.

The University of Tennessee researcher has been pouring over skeletal remains that were discovered in 1940 on Gardner Island - now called Nikumaroro. That landmass is only 400 miles south of Earhart's intended stopover on Howland Island.

"What I can say scientifically is that they are 99% likely to be her," he said.

"We were able to measure her humerus length and her radius length from a photo that had a scalable object in it. Then we also had her a good estimate of her tibia length which we got from her trouser inseam length and from her height.

"We were able to compare the three bone lengths from Nikumaroro island to Amelia Earhart.

"The result is that they are very similar and it's unlikely that just a random person would be that similar."

PA

It's tough to definitively say that they well and truly belong to Earhart as they don't have any DNA samples to compare the bones with. Mr Jantz will be hoping his new research will reignite the interest in the aviator's demise and there could be fresh answers that result from his study.

If it is proven, then it will put to bed some of the more outlandish theories surrounding Earhart's and Noonan's deaths.

One belief supposed they were on a secret mission for the American government to get information about the Japanese, while another claimed that Earhart and Noonan actually survived the incredible flight and took on new identities when they arrived back in the US.

She was one of the most famous women in history, so it's pretty unlikely that she would be able to just slip back into her home country without anyone recognising her plane or face.

While she was never able to circumnavigate the globe, she was the first female aviator to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean, and received a U.S. Distinguished Flying Cross for the achievement.

Featured Image Credit: PA

Topics: Study, News, Research, Interesting, Discovery