Amelia Earhart disappeared in 1937 while trying to fly around the world. The story of her demise has led to many theories and tall tales. Now, a nonprofit group looking at old sonar pictures may have solved the riddle of where Earhart's plane fell.
According to NBC News, sonar images reveal evidence of an aircraft approximately 350 miles away from Earhart's final destination. The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery (TIGHAR) has long sought answers to Earhart's disappearance and are confident that these images are evidence of the fateful flight's tragic ending. The location of the anomalies imply that Earhart and her navigator, Fred Noonan, landed on a dry reef for unknown reasons. Then the tide came in and the plane slipped off the reef and into the deep ocean waters. Earhart and Noonan were left stranded and with limited communication abilities.
Yahoo's Daily Buzz reports that the sonar image was actually taken just months after Earhart's disappearance. TIGHAR has been combing such evidence for decades for elusive clues like the slight oddities found here. In fact, Richard Conroy, who discovered the evidence, has no formal training in assessing sonar imaging. Like many groups like TIGHAR, a large online community brings the manpower of countless hobbyists to survey the seemingly inconsequential.
NBC News reports that TIGHAR is trying to plan an expedition to confirm the evidence. However, such an endeavor would cost approximately $3 million, a steep cost for a nonprofit like TIGHAR.