New expedition set for this month could finally solve Amelia Earhart mystery
One of the greatest mysteries of the 20th century could be solved within the next month, as a brand new expedition is heading to Nikumaroro in search of what many suspect to be the remains of Amelia Earhart's plane.
Amelia Earhart is a legendary figure for flying enthusiasts and one of America's most iconic individuals across the last century and a half, yet the mystery surrounding her disappearance and supposed death is yet to be solved.
She became the first woman to ever fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean and broke several other aviation records at a relatively young age, yet she decided to attempt the herculean feat of flying all around the world in 1937 alongside navigator Fred Noonan.
The pair weren't long into their journey when an issue occurred though, as they went missing while flying between Lae Airfield and Howland Island, with speculation of a storm and the loss of fuel causing the disappearance.
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It still remains unsolved not just how the plane disappeared but also where it went, with it being nearly nine decades later and no sign of the crashed vehicle in any of the surrounding areas.
However, many speculate that it was the island of Nikumaroro in the western Pacific Ocean where Earhart's plane crashed down all those years ago, and a new expedition is set to travel there and investigate in search of answers nearly 100 years later.
As reported by the Daily Mail, the expedition is aiming to investigate what is known as the Taraia Object, identified as a 'visual anomaly' inside a lagoon on the island that is believed to be Earhart's Electra 10E plane.
Others have conducted their own intense investigation over satellite footage of the island and have seemingly located not only the plane itself but parts that have scattered hundreds of meters away as a consequence of the crash.
If these theories are true though it would certainly represent a staggering discovery, and that has been echoed by Richard Pettigrew of the Archaeological Legacy Institute (ALI), who is part of the team traveling to Nikumaroro island.
"Finding Amelia Earhart's Electra aircraft would be the discovery of a lifetime," Pettigrew asserted, adding that "confirming the plane wreckage there would be the smoking-gun proof" of the pilot's dissappearance.
Even with the plane found though it would still represent little progress in the search for both Noonan and Earhart, although with the time that has elapsed since the crash it would prove incredibly difficult compared to the wreckage of a plane.
Some even suspect that Earhart was eaten by giant crabs native to Nikumaroro after spending a short time on the island, and while that's entirely unconfirmed as of yet it's certainly a gruesome thought.