Researchers investigate possible Earhart wreck at Nikumaroro

A Purdue University and Archaeological Legacy Institute expedition has arrived at Nikumaroro to investigate a submerged feature that researchers believe could be part of Amelia Earhart’s missing aircraft. The feature, known as the Taraia Object, has not been identified, and the team’s arrival does not establish that it is wreckage or resolve what happened to Earhart and her navigator, Fred Noonan. The team reached the atoll on October 12, after a voyage from Tarawa, Kiribati. Researchers planned to prepare equipment and access routes before beginning focused fieldwork on October 14. The investigation is expected to last about five days, subject to tides, safe boating conditions and weather. Researchers first noticed the Taraia Object in satellite imagery in 2020. Its shape prompted the possibility that it could be part of Earhart’s Lockheed Electra, which disappeared with the aviators in 1937 as they attempted to fly around the world. The object lies submerged near the edge of Nikumaroro’s lagoon. Satellite images can suggest its shape, but they have not established its composition or identity.