Expedition investigates possible Earhart aircraft wreck

A Purdue University and Archaeological Legacy Institute expedition has arrived at Nikumaroro to investigate a submerged object that researchers believe could be part of Amelia Earhart’s missing aircraft, but its identity remains unconfirmed. The Taraia Object was first noticed in satellite imagery in 2020. The team’s planned investigation is expected to last about five days and will use underwater surveying and sediment removal to inspect the shape near the edge of the island’s lagoon. The expedition arrived on October 12, and researchers planned to begin fieldwork on Wednesday, October 14. Expedition leader Rick Pettigrew says Earhart and her navigator, Fred Noonan, may have reached Nikumaroro after failing to find Howland Island during their 1937 flight around the world. That remains a theory, not an established account of their disappearance. The object has not been confirmed as an aircraft; the expedition’s purpose is to examine it directly for evidence that could help establish what it is. The search will begin with a survey of the peninsula for surface artifacts.