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Has Amelia Earhart Really Been Found?

“Don’t bet on it. A recent media frenzy that linked the missing aviator to bones recovered long ago on the Pacific island of Nikumaroro missed a crucial point. She probably wasn’t anywhere near the place.”

Carl Hoffman dressed in local garb for his bus trip across the Salang Pass in northern Afghanistan. Courtesy Carl Hoffman.

Carl Hoffman, journalist and adventure traveler, summarized the status of the search for Amelia Earhart in this article in Outside Magazine. Carl should know something about the topic: he was sent by National Geographic as an independent journalist to cover the Nauticos 2002 search expedition, and has been following the story ever since.

Hoffman suggests that no claim offered to date challenges the evidence that Amelia was somewhere near Howland Island when she ran out of fuel and was lost in the deep ocean. In particular, there’s nothing about the bones in and of themselves that establish them as being Earhart’s, even making the dubious assumption that she was there in the first place.

We at Nauticos agree, and will strive to continue the search for Amelia’s Lockheed Electra on the sea floor near Howland Island.

Learn more about Carl Hoffman and check out his latest book: The Last Wild Men of Borneo.