Amelia Earhart captured by Japanese, didn't crash in the sea

[_The CCC]

The research was done by retired volunteer FBI and Treasury investigators. They didn't get paid for their work, other than the intrinsic value of what they uncovered.

I'm mildly interested. I've heard rumor that she survived the crash from way back when I was in Jr. High.
Follow up work and possible confirmation is going to take money.

[_AmyJo]

The research was done by retired volunteer FBI and Treasury investigators. They didn't get paid for their work, other than the intrinsic value of what they uncovered.

I'm mildly interested. I've heard rumor that she survived the crash from way back when I was in Jr. High.
Follow up work and possible confirmation is going to take money.

A film claims to solve the mystery of Amelia Earhart's fate
By FRAZIER MOORE, AP TELEVISION WRITER NEW YORK — Jul 5, 2017, 5:26 PM ET

FILE - In this June 6, 1937, file photo, Amelia Earhart, the American airwoman who is flying round the world for fun, arrived at Port Natal, Brazil, and took off on her 2,240-mile flight across the South Atlantic to Dakar, Africa. A new documentary "Amelia Earhart: The Lost Evidence," which airs Sunday, July 9, 2017, on the History channel, proposes Earhart didn't die without a trace 80 years ago. Instead, the film argues that she and her navigator Fred Noonan crash-landed in the Japanese-held Marshall Islands, were picked up by Japanese military and that Earhart was taken prisoner.

The photo is haunting. Among a number of figures gathered on a dock, the fuzzy image seems to be that of a woman, her back to the camera, gazing at what may be her crippled aircraft loaded on a barge, and perhaps wondering what her future might hold.

Is this Amelia Earhart, the world-famous aviator, witnessed after her mysterious disappearance while attempting the first round-the-world flight 80 years ago this month?

That is the theory put forth in "Amelia Earhart: The Lost Evidence," a two-hour documentary airing Sunday at 9 p.m. EDT on the History channel. It uncovers records, including this newly revealed photograph that shows what may be a healthy Earhart along with her navigator Fred Noonan, after they were last heard from.

The film also argues that after the pair crash-landed in the Japanese-held Marshall Islands, they were picked up by the Japanese military and that Earhart, perhaps presumed to be a U.S. spy, was held prisoner.

And there's more: The United States government knew of her whereabouts and did nothing to rescue her, according to the film.

The disappearance of Earhart and Noonan on July 2, 1937, in the Western Pacific Ocean has gained legendary status among the age's unsolved mysteries.

By then she had already logged numerous aviation feats, including that of being the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean in 1932. She reigned as an international hero.

And yet the U.S. government closed the book on its investigation just two weeks after her disappearance. Its vaguely worded findings were inconclusive.

Was there a cover-up? The film proposes there was.

The documentary is hosted by former FBI Executive Assistant Director Shawn Henry, whose fascination with the case is equaled by former U.S. Treasury Agent Les Kinney, who discovered the photo hidden and mislabeled in the U.S. National Archives.

In the documentary, that photo is subjected to facial-recognition and other forensic testing. It is judged authentic, and likely that of Earhart and Noonan.

The film also displays plane parts found in an uninhabited island of the Marshall Islands by Earhart investigator Dick Spink that are consistent with the aircraft that Earhart was flying on her round-the-world attempt. And it hears from the last living eyewitness who claims to have seen Earhart and Noonan after their crash.

The documentary tells of "a world-famous aviator who got caught up in an international dispute, was abandoned by her own government, and made the ultimate sacrifice," Henry sums up. "She may very well be the first casualty of World War II."

http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wir ... e-48458234

[_Chap]

Was there a cover-up? The film proposes there was.

Films very often do.

I am not going to get very excited about this. One problem is that everybody gets to hear about the films or publications that allege that something intriguing has been covered up by the government. The attention given to critical evaluations of such claims is usually pretty minimal.

[_The CCC]

Amyjo:

Even if true, which I doubt. It is going to take more money to confirm. This ranks up there with stories of Ancient Aliens, and Raiders of the Lost Ark.

[_AmyJo]

Amyjo:

Even if true, which I doubt. It is going to take more money to confirm. This ranks up there with stories of Ancient Aliens, and Raiders of the Lost Ark.

That makes no sense at all. This is recent history.

The effort made and what was uncovered correlates to actual events. It provides a plausible answer as to what really happened to Earhart that we weren't told in 70 years.

That the government would cover it up is not a stretch of truth. It was wartime. If she was captured by the Japanese it makes perfect sense they would accuse her and Noonan of spying on them and taking them hostage.

You have to watch the documentary like the rest of us who are planning on it this Sunday on the History channel.

There are eye witnesses who have testified they saw Amelia as a prisoner of war in Saipan. The photo itself is proof of her and Noonan being in the company of the Japanese on board a ship, with her plane in the background. That picture was unearthed in the National Archives. Not a fictional account by any stretch of the imagination.

You sound like you need clear and convincing proof. I'm satisfied with what the investigators have learned. For people who question everything there isn't enough proof to convince you of what is right in front of you if you choose not to see it.

It doesn't take money to uncover what the investigators have already learned. It took effort. Getting it out to the public may have cost something, but it is funded by programs like the History Channel, and possibly a national endowment that helped offset the efforts of the retired investigators who made the documentary.

[_Chap]

That the government would cover it up is not a stretch of truth. It was wartime. If she was captured by the Japanese it makes perfect sense they would accuse her and Noonan of spying on them and taking them hostage.

Pardon me? The US was not at war with Japan until December 1941. Japan and China did begin open hostilities on land on 7 July 1937, several days after Earhart's disappearance, but there was no reason for Japan to wish to antagonise the US at that time; quite the reverse. Earhart's last known position was far, far away from the fighting in China.

You have to watch the documentary like the rest of us who are planning on it this Sunday on the History channel.

I'll pass, and remain skeptical. If professional historians are taking this idea seriously in a few years' time, one might have another look. There's no hurry, after all.

[_Jersey Girl]

You have to watch the documentary like the rest of us who are planning on it this Sunday on the History channel.

I found out we do have the History Channel. I don't watch regular programs or shows so I didn't know what we had. I like a good mystery so will be watching and see how their theories stack up.

I wonder if they can take the photo and somehow digitally enhance the plane part? Maybe they have and will present it on the show.

[_AmyJo]

You have to watch the documentary like the rest of us who are planning on it this Sunday on the History channel.

I found out we do have the History Channel. I don't watch regular programs or shows so I didn't know what we had. I like a good mystery so will be watching and see how their theories stack up.

I wonder if they can take the photo and somehow digitally enhance the plane part? Maybe they have and will present it on the show.

Investigators were able to say with certainty the photo matches the facial shape and features of Noonan down to his sharply receding hairline, and Amelia's figure though turned around, matches her shape and haircut - add that she was wearing her trademark pants.

The downed plane was being transported by the ship they were on, and matches the plane's dimensions as well. All of that is seen from the one photo.

It was supposedly taken by a spy on board, which is why it went off the radar at the time, so his cover wouldn't be blown.

I find the story both plausible and sensational.

[_MissTish]

If you look very closely at the photo you'll also see Lord Lucan. He's in the white shirt.

[_The CCC]

Amyjo:

Even if true, which I doubt. It is going to take more money to confirm. This ranks up there with stories of Ancient Aliens, and Raiders of the Lost Ark.

That makes no sense at all. This is recent history.

The effort made and what was uncovered correlates to actual events. It provides a plausible answer as to what really happened to Earhart that we weren't told in 70 years.

That the government would cover it up is not a stretch of truth. It was wartime. If she was captured by the Japanese it makes perfect sense they would accuse her and Noonan of spying on them and taking them hostage.

You have to watch the documentary like the rest of us who are planning on it this Sunday on the History channel.

There are eye witnesses who have testified they saw Amelia as a prisoner of war in Saipan. The photo itself is proof of her and Noonan being in the company of the Japanese on board a ship, with her plane in the background. That picture was unearthed in the National Archives. Not a fictional account by any stretch of the imagination.

You sound like you need clear and convincing proof. I'm satisfied with what the investigators have learned. For people who question everything there isn't enough proof to convince you of what is right in front of you if you choose not to see it.

It doesn't take money to uncover what the investigators have already learned. It took effort. Getting it out to the public may have cost something, but it is funded by programs like the History Channel, and possibly a national endowment that helped offset the efforts of the retired investigators who made the documentary.

It doesn't make sense to accept without question something you saw on a television show.

Plausible is not necessary factual.

We weren't at war with Japan when she crashed. So it makes little to no sense to posit that she was a prisoner of war.

I may watch. But I prefer to have more evidence than blurry pictures and 80 year old testimony as a basis of fact.

Yes. I want absolute proof for highly sensational claims. You should too.

Any research takes money. Just getting to places takes money. The History Channel makes money off of its productions. I really don't care if it is private or public monies. It is money.
Fact.