Very interesting program about the disappearance of Ameila Earhart last evening on the History Channel. It makes an interesting case that she and Fred Noonan, her navigator, were captured in the Marshall Islands by the Japanes and executed. This theory has been around for years, but it has never been analyzed as in this program.
Earhart and Noonan took off from Lae, New Guinea headed for Howland Island, but they never arrived. They navigated by dead reckoning which requires corrections based on features on the ground. Their first correctio point was an island, but it was overcast when they passed it and could not correct their calculations. They did not realize that there was a northerly wind that pushed them north of Howland Island.
The program argues that Earhart would not have flown around in circles looking for Howland Island untiil her plane ran out of gas. Aviators always have a Plan B, and it argues that hers was to fly west to the Gilbert Islands and that she had enough fuel to make it, Unfortunately she did not realize that she was north of Howland Island, and a westerly course would send her to the Marshall Ialands instead of the Gilberts.
She and Noonan were arrested as spies and imprisoned. Some have argued that she was on a spying mission for Roosevelt, who was known to use civilians for such purposes, but it is not necessary that she be an actual spy to be considered one by the Japanese. Several islanders saw what they thought were two men who had crash landed in an airplane, but they heard Japanese soldiers say that one was a woman. Earhart routinely dressed in trousers and had very short hair.
The program says they were taken to Saipan, where they were seen again by locals, and were executed and buried on the island.
The program argues that the U. S. Government knew where they were based on intercepts of encrypted radio transmissions. However, they could not make an attempt to rescue her because that would reveal that the Americans had broken the Japanese code. That code was key to winning the Battle of Midway and was used to our benefit throughout the War.
After the War the Government knew that the public would be outraged at their letting the beloved Earhart die even though it was to protect a military secret of overwhelming importance. Therefore, the Government covered up the fact that she was known to be in the Marshalls and Saipan. Researchers have found several documents in U. S. archives stating that Earhart was in the Marshalls. After the War the Commondant of the Marine Corps stated that Earhart was captured in the Mashalls and executed.
Earhart and Noonan took off from Lae, New Guinea headed for Howland Island, but they never arrived. They navigated by dead reckoning which requires corrections based on features on the ground. Their first correctio point was an island, but it was overcast when they passed it and could not correct their calculations. They did not realize that there was a northerly wind that pushed them north of Howland Island.
The program argues that Earhart would not have flown around in circles looking for Howland Island untiil her plane ran out of gas. Aviators always have a Plan B, and it argues that hers was to fly west to the Gilbert Islands and that she had enough fuel to make it, Unfortunately she did not realize that she was north of Howland Island, and a westerly course would send her to the Marshall Ialands instead of the Gilberts.
She and Noonan were arrested as spies and imprisoned. Some have argued that she was on a spying mission for Roosevelt, who was known to use civilians for such purposes, but it is not necessary that she be an actual spy to be considered one by the Japanese. Several islanders saw what they thought were two men who had crash landed in an airplane, but they heard Japanese soldiers say that one was a woman. Earhart routinely dressed in trousers and had very short hair.
The program says they were taken to Saipan, where they were seen again by locals, and were executed and buried on the island.
The program argues that the U. S. Government knew where they were based on intercepts of encrypted radio transmissions. However, they could not make an attempt to rescue her because that would reveal that the Americans had broken the Japanese code. That code was key to winning the Battle of Midway and was used to our benefit throughout the War.
After the War the Government knew that the public would be outraged at their letting the beloved Earhart die even though it was to protect a military secret of overwhelming importance. Therefore, the Government covered up the fact that she was known to be in the Marshalls and Saipan. Researchers have found several documents in U. S. archives stating that Earhart was in the Marshalls. After the War the Commondant of the Marine Corps stated that Earhart was captured in the Mashalls and executed.
