One of the greatest mysteries of aviation history may be one step closer to solution, nearly nine decades after the disappearance of American aviator Amelia Earhart.
A team of marine archaeologists has launched an expedition to the isolated Nickimaroro Atoll in the Pacific Ocean to investigate a mysterious object identified through satellite images.
According to Reuters, the facility discovered in an image of 2020 has forms that can match the remains of a plane.
Researchers want to determine whether it was Lockheed Electrica 10E, the plane that Erhart and navigator Fred Noonan disappeared in 1937.
Earhart was trying to fly around the world when communication with her plane was interrupted. Despite years of research, neither the aircraft nor the bodies of the two travelers were found.
The new expedition, supported by Purdue University, includes 17 participants and has a cost of about $900,000.
According to Reuters, researchers will spend five days on the island, analyzing the suspicious object and demanding evidence that may support the theory that Erarhart managed to land in Nijmaroro and then died there.
However, not all experts are convinced. Ric Gillespie, who has organized previous expeditions to this area, believes that the visible object in satellite images can simply be a fallen tree.
This means that despite great interest, there is still no final proof that the plane has been discovered.
If the expedition is able to identify the authentic remains of the aircraft, the discovery can help to resolve a mystery that has promoted theories, books, and research for 89 years.
At the moment, the answer may be hidden in shallow waters of an almost uninhabited island in the middle of the Pacific.
