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The world remains obsessed with the mystery of Amelia Earhart, and some 88 years after she and navigator Fred Noonan disappeared during her attempt to become the first female pilot to circumnavigate the world, the case has been cracked wide open once again.
Vanishing from the skies on July 2, 1937, the body of the famed pilot, that of Noonan, and her Lockheed Model 10-E Electra airplane have never been found.
That hasn't stopped the conspiracy theories from swirling, including the idea that they were captured by Japanese forces, crashed on Gardner Island in the Pacific Ocean, were lured in by the Bermuda Triangle, or survived and she changed her name to Irene Craigmile Bolam.
The latter was shared in a 1970 book called Amelia Earhart Lives and resulted in a lawsuit that cost its publisher $12 million in today's money.
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There's been a recent uptick in interest, especially after President Donald Trump vowed to release all government records relating to Earhart.
Like the POTUS promised to shed new light on the assassinations of JFK and Robert Kennedy, he's spoken out on the disappearance of Amelia Earhart.
While we're sure many would rather he release the full version of the Epstein files, Earhart's supposed last message has now been revealed to the world.
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard confirmed that the 4,624 pages of documents included "information on Earhart's last known communications, weather and plane conditions at the time."
The tragic final transmission comes from July 2, with Earhart telling US Coast Guard cutter Itasca that her plane was running low on fuel near Howland Island.
A continually concerned Earhart can be seen asking for help from the Itasca, which was stationed just off the ring-shaped island and was acting like a radio compass to guide her into land.
The US National Archives (NSA) released the message, showing that while the crew tried to help, it took two minutes for them to switch to the correct frequency and broadcast the signal Earhart and Noonan desperately needed.
Her final transmission came at 8.43 am local time and showed her plane circling as it continued to run low on fuel. It suggests she was flying up and down on an invisible line that runs across Howland Island, but couldn't see the land or the Itasca. In that fateful transmission, Earhart says: "We are on the line 157-337... circling but cannot hear you... Go ahead on 7500."
Her final plea simply says: "Will repeat this message... Wait."
There's further tragedy, with the files revealing the brand-new information that US listening posts in Hawaii also record a faint 'echo' of her voice.
A treasure trove of revelations seemingly debunks the idea that Earhart was captured by the Japanese, as well as a slew of letters dating back to 1937. These include a woman claiming she'd found the pilot via telepathy, and a man being adamant that he's located her grave in Spain.
The declassified files at least confirm that weather conditions forced Earhart through clouds overnight, as well as potential problems with how the engine fuel had been mixed – connected to an earlier crash in Hawaii.
Still, historians are skeptical that the documents will be able to 'solve' the mystery of Earhart's disappearance.
