Archaeology cat Posted October 24, 2009 Share Posted October 24, 2009 [url="http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2009/10/23/amelia-earhart.html"]Article[/url]. Though I think they'll be surprised when they find Earhart and Noonan on some random planet in the Delta Quadrant in the future. [quote]Legendary aviatrix Amelia Earhart mostly likely died on an uninhabited tropical island in the southwestern Pacific republic of Kiribati, according to researchers at The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery (TIGHAR). Tall, slender, blonde and brave, Earhart disappeared while flying over the Pacific Ocean on July 2, 1937 in a record attempt to fly around the world at the equator. Her final resting place has long been a mystery. For years, Richard Gillespie, TIGHAR's executive director and author of the book "Finding Amelia," and his crew have been searching the Nikumaroro island for evidence of Earhart. A tiny coral atoll, Nikumaroro was some 300 miles southeast of Earhart's target destination, Howland Island. A number of artifacts recovered by TIGHAR would suggest that Earhart and her navigator, Fred Noonan, made a forced landing on the island's smooth, flat coral reef. According to Gillespie, who is set to embark on a new $500,000 Nikumaroro expedition next summer, the two became castaways and eventually died there. "We know that in 1940 British Colonial Service officer Gerald Gallagher recovered a partial skeleton of a castaway on Nikumaroro. Unfortunately, those bones have now been lost," Gillespie said. The archival record by Gallagher suggests that the bones were found in a remote area of the island, in a place that was unlikely to have been seen during an aerial search. A woman's shoe, an empty bottle and a sextant box whose serial numbers are consistent with a type known to have been carried by Noonan were all found near the site where the bones were discovered. "The reason why they found a partial skeleton is that many of the bones had been carried off by giant coconut crabs. There is a remote chance that some of the bones might still survive deep in crab burrows," Gillespie said. Although she did not succeed in her around-the-world expedition, Earhart flew off into the legend just after her final radio transmission. Books, movies and television specials about her disappearance abound as well as speculation about her fate. Theories proliferated that she was a spy, that she was captured by the Japanese, that she died in a prisoner-of-war camp, and that she survived and returned to live her life as a New Jersey housewife. A new biopic about Earhart's life, starring Hilary Swank and Richard Gere, opens this weekend. The general consensus has been that the plane had run out of fuel and crashed in the Pacific Ocean, somewhere near Howland Island. But according to Gillespie, the "volume of evidence" TIGHAR has gathered suggests an alternative scenario. "Propagation analysis of nearly 200 radio signals heard for several days after the disappearance make it virtually indisputable that the airplane was on land," Gillespie said. Eventually, Earhart's twin-engine plane, the Electra, was ripped apart by Nikumaroro's strong waves and swept out into deep water, leaving no visible trace. "The evidence is plentiful -- but not conclusive yet -- to support the hypothesis that Amelia landed and died on the island of Nikumaroro," forensic anthropologist Karen Ramey Burns told Discovery News. The author of a book on Earhart, Burns believes that the strongest of the amassed evidence comes from the report related to the partial skeleton found by Gallagher. "The skeleton was found to be consistent in appearance with females of European descent in the United States today, and the stature was consistent with that of Amelia Earhart," said Burns. According to Burns, another piece of documentary evidence comes from the accounts of Lt. John O. Lambrecht, a U.S. Naval aviator participating in the search for Earhart's plane. Lambrecht reported "signs of recent habitation" on what was an officially uninhabited atoll. Lambrechet's report begs the question: Why did no one follow up? "I have stood in plain sight on Nikumaroro in a white shirt waving wildly as a helicopter flew over me and was not noticed until the video tape of the flight was examined," Burns said. "I find it very easy to believe that Amelia and Fred would not have been seen by the pilot. If the Electra was not visible at the time, their last chance of rescue was lost in Lambrecht's notes," she added. Abandoned on a desert island where temperatures often exceed 100 degrees, even in the shade, Earhart and Noonan likely eventually succumbed to any number of causes, including injury and infection, food poisoning from toxic fish, or simply dehydration. The coconut crabs' great pincers would have done the rest, likely removing some of the last physical traces of this pioneering aviatrix.[/quote] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
InHisLove726 Posted October 24, 2009 Share Posted October 24, 2009 It would be interesting if it turns out to be her. Many people have speculated about where she ended up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
InHisLove726 Posted October 24, 2009 Share Posted October 24, 2009 BTW, I just had to Google "giant coconut crabs" to see how big the suckers really are: [img]http://www.hemmy.net/images/animals/hugecrab01.jpg[/img] Could you imagine how much crabmeat would come out of that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChildoftheCreator Posted October 24, 2009 Share Posted October 24, 2009 Thanks for the news clip, very interesting. I was actually in favor of the prisoner of war theory. I had not realized that they sent out 200 signals after they supposedly crashed into the sea. That smells of elderberries. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChildoftheCreator Posted October 24, 2009 Share Posted October 24, 2009 [quote name='InHisLove726' date='24 October 2009 - 06:36 AM' timestamp='1256380610' post='1990602'] BTW, I just had to Google "giant coconut crabs" to see how big the suckers really are: [img]http://www.hemmy.net/images/animals/hugecrab01.jpg[/img] Could you imagine how much crabmeat would come out of that? [/quote] Wow that is a BIG crab! *runs and hides out of fear* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
InHisLove726 Posted October 24, 2009 Share Posted October 24, 2009 [quote name='ChildoftheCreator' date='24 October 2009 - 06:42 AM' timestamp='1256380958' post='1990607'] Wow that is a BIG crab! *runs and hides out of fear* [/quote] It looks like some creature out of a sci-fi film, doesn't it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rhetoricfemme Posted October 24, 2009 Share Posted October 24, 2009 [quote name='InHisLove726' date='24 October 2009 - 06:36 AM' timestamp='1256380610' post='1990602'] BTW, I just had to Google "giant coconut crabs" to see how big the suckers really are: [img]http://www.hemmy.net/images/animals/hugecrab01.jpg[/img] Could you imagine how much crabmeat would come out of that? [/quote] Up until this point I had found these guys to be cute. Now I'm horrified of one picking me to death. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChildoftheCreator Posted October 24, 2009 Share Posted October 24, 2009 Oh for sure, that crab would definitely not be on my paradise island, unless I lived in a tree house and had machine gun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
InHisLove726 Posted October 24, 2009 Share Posted October 24, 2009 [quote name='rhetoricfemme' date='24 October 2009 - 06:56 AM' timestamp='1256381817' post='1990610'] Up until this point I had found these guys to be cute. Now I'm horrified of one picking me to death. [/quote] Just imagine the feast they would create! That relieved my fear. [quote name='ChildoftheCreator' date='24 October 2009 - 07:02 AM' timestamp='1256382126' post='1990611'] Oh for sure, that crab would definitely not be on my paradise island, unless I lived in a tree house and had machine gun. [/quote] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Archaeology cat Posted October 24, 2009 Author Share Posted October 24, 2009 [quote name='InHisLove726' date='24 October 2009 - 11:36 AM' timestamp='1256380610' post='1990602'] BTW, I just had to Google "giant coconut crabs" to see how big the suckers really are: [img]http://www.hemmy.net/images/animals/hugecrab01.jpg[/img] Could you imagine how much crabmeat would come out of that? [/quote] Crab cakes! Or crab dip! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
InHisLove726 Posted October 24, 2009 Share Posted October 24, 2009 [quote name='Archaeology cat' date='24 October 2009 - 07:11 AM' timestamp='1256382673' post='1990614'] Crab cakes! Or crab dip! [/quote] Yummy! I love steamed crab legs dipped in lemon butter! Ok, I think I officially hijacked this thread... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChildoftheCreator Posted October 24, 2009 Share Posted October 24, 2009 [quote name='InHisLove726' date='24 October 2009 - 07:12 AM' timestamp='1256382742' post='1990615'] Ok, I think I officially hijacked this thread... [/quote] Yes, however, I think that this is a very important topic to discuss, in case we too find ourselves on an island inhabited by crab beasts. After all it does happen. We need a sure fire strategy for harvesting these things. I don't think the standard net or crab trap would work with these. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
InHisLove726 Posted October 24, 2009 Share Posted October 24, 2009 [quote name='ChildoftheCreator' date='24 October 2009 - 07:21 AM' timestamp='1256383317' post='1990618'] Yes, however, I think that this is a very important topic to discuss, in case we too find ourselves on an island inhabited by crab beasts. After all it does happen. We need a sure fire strategy for harvesting these things. I don't think the standard net or crab trap would work with these. [/quote] Perhaps each time we go on a small plane trip around the equator, we should pack a few of these just in case we run into these huge beastly creatures: [img]http://goldenstate.files.wordpress.com/2008/06/soldier_with_bazooka_m1.jpg[/img] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChildoftheCreator Posted October 24, 2009 Share Posted October 24, 2009 Agreed! Going out to purchase mine right now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thy Geekdom Come Posted October 24, 2009 Share Posted October 24, 2009 Very interesting article. Now to find Jimmy Hoffa. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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