Expedition of 17 Researchers to Probe Possible Amelia Earhart Wreck on Nikumaroro
A team of seventeen scientists will travel to Nikumaroro in Kiribati to examine a submerged object that may be Amelia Earhart’s missing aircraft.
Researchers from the Archaeological Legacy Institute, funded by Purdue University, are preparing a field mission to Nikumaroro, a remote island in Kiribati, to study a mysterious underwater formation called the Taraia Object. Lead investigator Richard Pettigrew believes the object's elongated, shiny appearance matches components of Amelia Earhart’s Lockheed Model 10E Electra, which vanished in 1937. The anomaly first attracted attention in 2020 when Michael Ashmore identified it on Apple Maps, and older satellite photos from 2015 reveal it existed before a 2015 cyclone may have shifted lagoon sediments.
The 17-member team will employ sonar scanning and archaeological techniques to determine the object's nature, with plans for a larger excavation if it proves to be the aircraft. The venture follows a 2025 directive by Donald Trump ordering the FBI to release all government records related to Earhart’s final flight.
