On July 2, 1937, Amelia Earhart (39 years old) — the most famous female pilot in the world — was about to achieve a historic feat: becoming the first woman to fly around the world. She took off with her navigator Fred Noonan from Lae (New Guinea) heading toward Howland Island (a tiny isolated island in the Pacific: 2.5 × 0.8 km). The distance: 4,113 kilometers. This was the most difficult leg of the journey. At 7:42 AM, the US Coast Guard vessel Itasca, anchored near Howland, received the last radio message from Amelia: "We must be on you, but cannot see you. Fuel is running low." Then... silence. The plane disappeared. Amelia disappeared. Noonan disappeared. No wreckage was ever found. Despite the largest maritime search in history ($4 million — 250,000 square miles). Since that day — 87 years — no one knows what happened. Theories: she crashed into the ocean and sank. She landed on Nikumaroro Island (Gardner Island) and lived as a castaway. She was captured by the Japanese (was she a spy?). She survived and returned to America under a false identity. The mystery continues.
Summary: Amelia Earhart (1897-1937). First woman to fly solo across the Atlantic (1932). In 1937, attempted to fly around the world (with navigator Fred Noonan). Aircraft: Lockheed Electra 10E. Completed 35,000 km. 11,000 km remaining. Last leg: Lae (New Guinea) to Howland (4,113 km). July 2, 1937: Disappeared. Last message: 7:42 AM. Search: 16 days, 250,000 sq miles, $4 million. Nothing found. Legally declared dead January 5, 1939. Mystery unsolved.
👩✈️ Who Was Amelia Earhart?
Amelia Mary Earhart was the most famous woman of her era. She was called the "Queen of the Air." In 1928, she became the first woman to cross the Atlantic by air (as a passenger). In 1932, she repeated it solo (first woman). She broke speed and altitude records. She was a symbol of freedom and equality. Tall, slim, with short hair (she resembled Charles Lindbergh — the aviation legend). In 1937, she decided to undertake the greatest journey: around the world. 47,000 kilometers. Her plane: a Lockheed Electra (modified with extra fuel tanks). She departed from Miami on June 1, 1937. She crossed South America, Africa, Asia, Southeast Asia. On June 29, she arrived at Lae (New Guinea). Only 11,000 km remained. But she was tired. Noonan, the navigator, was an alcoholic (a problem). The plane was heavily loaded with fuel (difficulty taking off). On July 2, she took off... and never returned.
"I have a feeling that there is just one life to live. I want to live it as fully as I can."
🏝️ The Nikumaroro Theory: New Evidence
In 1940, British settlers discovered a human skeleton on Nikumaroro Island (then Gardner Island) — an uninhabited coral atoll 560 km south of Howland. With the bones: a woman's shoe, a sextant box (navigation device), pieces of glass. They sent the bones to Fiji. A doctor examined them and said: "Male, short." The bones disappeared. In 2018, an anthropological study (using the missing forearm measurements from 1940) re-analyzed the data. The result: the bones... are female. Height 170 cm. European origin. All this matches Amelia Earhart perfectly! In 2019, Robert Ballard (the discoverer of the Titanic) announced he would search for Amelia's plane near Nikumaroro. The strongest current theory: Amelia (and Noonan) made an emergency landing on Nikumaroro Island. They lived there for weeks (or months). Amelia sent 57 distress radio calls (heard by amateurs in Florida and Texas — but authorities dismissed them as "hoaxes"). Amelia died on the island. The sea washed away her plane. The bones were discovered in 1940... then lost.
Other Theories
"The conspiracy theory: Amelia was an American spy. The government sent her to spy on the Japanese in the Marshall Islands (secretly). The Japanese captured her plane. They executed her (or she died in captivity). Eyewitnesses on Saipan (1944): American soldiers saw a civilian plane in a Japanese hangar. They saw a white woman in prison. After the liberation of Saipan, the evidence disappeared. The return theory: Amelia survived. She returned to America under a false identity (Irene Bolam). She lived until 1982. This theory has been debunked. But it shows: after 87 years, Amelia still captures the imagination."