Amelia Earhart mystery could finally be closed after 88 years as expedition launched to investigate 'Taraia object'

The mystery surrounding the disappearance of Amelia Earhart could soon be solved following the planned expedition of something called the 'Taraia object'.

For those who are unaware, Amelia Earhart was an aviation explorer in the early 20th century who set off on a journey to circumnavigate the world.

The American was one of the most popular explorers of her time, even becoming the first ever woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean.

Originally from Kansas, Earhart set a number of impressive aviation records, while also being a huge figure in advocating for equal rights for women.

But just weeks after setting off on her 29,000 mile journey around the world with navigator Fred Noonan, she would disappear, never to be seen again with no explanation as to how or why.

Earhart aimed to fly over South America and Africa while manning her Lockheed 10-E Electra plane, though on 2 July 1937, just a month after setting off, she set of from New Guniea for Howland Island with the plan to refuel.

Though they had the assistance of the US Coast Guard, the plane, and both Earhart and Noonana would vanish.

Questions over the aviation explorer's disappearance continue (Fotosearch/Getty Images)

And now decades on, no trace of the plane or any remains of those onboard have been found, though claims from various research teams seem to have escalated.

It looks like a team will soon be going over to Nikumaroro, with it being Earhart's final landing place, and as a piece of her landing gear is believed to have been discovered there three months after the incident.

The news comes just a week after President Donald Trump said he would declassify secret government files about the explorer's disappearance.

But in just over a month, scientists are planning to travel to the western Pacific Ocean island to investigate what could be part of the wreckage, which has been coined as 'the Taraia Object', a visual anomaly which appears in the lagoon of the island, first found via satellite imagery in 2020.

Apparently, the object can be seen in photos as early as 1938, as Richard Pettigrew, executive director of the Archaeological Legacy Institute (ALI), admitted: "Finding Amelia Earhart's Electra aircraft would be the discovery of a lifetime."

He will be part of the team making the three-week trip, after claiming the size of the object matches her plane, and that the location on her planned flight path are where her four emergency radio calls were made.

A research team is set to spend several days exploring the area (Taraia Object)

The expert claimed there was an 'extremely persuasive, multifaceted case' that Nikumaroro Island might have what they're looking for.

They are set to fly from Purdue University Airport to the Marshall Islands before a 15-person crew makes their way to travel by sea to the island on 4 November.

The plan is to spend numerous days on the island, whichc is five miles long, to work on the Taraia Object, said to resemble an aircraft fuselage and tail.

Photos and videos will be taken first, before the longer process of underwater excavation begins, with the object set to be brought to the surface to come to conclusions.

To cover all bases, the team will explore nearby islands for any debris which may have washed up on their shores, as the team plans to return to the US with new findings, discoveries, and most importantly, a reason for Earhart's disappearance.

Purdue University were also the ones who funded Earhart's fateful flight almost 90 years ago.