Nikumaroro expedition finds no sign of Earhart's Lockheed Electra

An expedition to the remote Pacific atoll of Nikumaroro has found no conclusive evidence supporting the idea that wreckage from Amelia Earhart's Lockheed Electra 10-E lay in a lagoon there, Purdue University said in a news release.

The team examined a visual anomaly first spotted in satellite imagery in 2020, known as the "Taraia Object." According to Purdue, the evidence gathered on the Taraia Peninsula indicates the object was likely a group of large trees deposited along the peninsula's sandspit.

Much of the material had broken up and washed away by the time the team reached the site. What remained was a single Y-shaped segment, a fraction of the size the anomaly appeared to be in the imagery that prompted the hypothesis. Purdue said the fragment's reflective surface gave the impression of metal, which fed speculation about its origin.

The expedition was a joint effort of the Archaeological Legacy Institute, the Purdue Research Foundation and Purdue University. Earhart lectured at Purdue in the 1930s, and the university's research foundation provided funds to buy the Electra, which she called her "Flying Laboratory." She planned to return the aircraft to the university after her around-the-world attempt.

Earhart and her copilot, Fred Noonan, disappeared on July 2, 1937.