Finding Amelia: The True Story of the Earhart Disappearance [With DVD]

By limiting himself to what is truly known, the author builds an excellent case for how he thinks Amelia died. The book is thoroughly researched and written like a detective story. Several involved parties come off poorly, most of all Amelia, whom the author reveals as a poor pilot and a publicity seeker. Also coming off poorly is the United States Navy, though not for want of trying. Radio communications in those days was simply awful, and the use of Morse code necessitated brevity. However, as Einstein said, things should be as simple as possible but not simpler, and the Navy made its communications simpler than they should've been. As a result, not everyone was singing from the same hymnal and confusion reigned. I won't go so far as to say this is the "definitive" work on the subject, but it comes mighty close.

Those of you with an interest in the fate of Amelia Earhart and her navigator, Fred Noonan, probably are aware that there are three credible competing, though not necessarily mutually exclusive, theories: (1) They simply ran out of gas over the Pacific (probably to the northwest of Howland Island, her intended target), landed in the drink, and fell to the bottom. Absent any other information, this is the most logical (and least interesting) conclusion, and is the one favored by Elgen and Marie Long (see their book "Amelia Earhart - The Mystery Solved" ISBN 0684860058). Nauticos, a deep sea salvage firm, has looked for the Electra (her plane) on the ocean floor but has not found it. This theory is based in part on radio signal strength indications aboard the Itasca (stationed at Howland Island awaiting her arrival), which they used to determine her approximate location, and which Gillespie references indirectly only once in this book. (2) They were captured by the Japanese (either it was planned this way in advance or the Japanese just took advantage of the situation when it arose). Before you roll your eyes and put this in the crop circle/bigfoot category (as I did when I first heard it), be aware that there is credible evidence supporting this, some of which Gillespie mentions in this book (although he never once mentions that the Japanese might have captured her). For example, in the book he mentions that Fred Noonan's wife said the most likely thing Fred would have done would be to backtrack to the nearest known island, which would have been in the Marshall Islands (under Japanese control at the time), and the Amelia Earhart Foundation also believed she backtracked (see page 235). Other evidence, not presented in this book, includes many eyewitnesses in the Marshalls and Saipan (most of whom did not know each other, and most of whose testimony does not conflict, and many of whom are credible people). Books exploring the Japanese angle (which generally suppose that she, Fred and the Electra wound up in Saipan after a stop or landing in the Marshalls) include "Amelia Earhart - The Final Story" by Vincent Loomis (ISBN 304531014), "Witness to the Execution" by T.C. Buddy Brennan (ISBN 1558381082), "Age of Heroes" by Henri Keyzer-Andre (ISBN 0803893515) and "The Amelia Earhart Incident" by Thomas Devine (ISBN 0939650487). (3) She crash-landed on Nikumaroro (then known as Gardner Island) in the Phoenix Island group (southeast of her intended target), and eventually perished. This is the theory clearly favored by Gillespie, although he is very careful not to say so explicitly (why, I don't know). Prior to the publication of this book, he appeared on some television programs advocating this possibility, displaying a sole of a shoe recovered from Nikumaroro that was the same size as Amelia's shoe size and probably made circa 1937, and also a piece of aluminum that could have been the Electra's kickboard. Gillespie is the executive direc

Unsolved mysteries are a surefire way to get published and possibly turn a fast dollar or two. All it takes is a theory about what happened, bolstered by assertions presented as facts and some talent for writing the story. That's why the market is saturated with books that promise the reader "the True Story". Amelia Earhart's disappearance on one of the last legs of her 1937 round-the-world flight is no exception. Theories, books and True Stories abound. What is exceptional and noteworthy is the approach Ric Gillespie and the organization he heads, TIGHAR, takes to solving this mystery. The TIGHAR approach is refreshingly, relentlessly fact-driven. Over the course of more than a decade, Ric and TIGHAR's members have laborously chased down primary sources of information about the flight, and and have carefully constructed a theory based on these facts that unravels -- minute by minute -- what happened. The TIGHAR theory is that Amelia Earhart and her navigator, Fred Noonan, couldn't locate their destination (a tiny speck of land in the Central Pacific, Howland Island) and used their emergency fuel reserve for a flight to an alternative landing site, fetching up on an uninhabited tropical hellhole named Gardner Island. This theory is detailed on TIGHAR's Web site, and in the book "Amelia Earhart's Shoes" by Thomas F. King (also highly recommended as a companion volume to "Finding Amelia"). In "Finding Amelia", Ric provides the thoroughly-researched story of the Coast Guard and US Navy search for Amelia that took place over the entire month of July, 1937. The first part of the book covers the whole history of George Putnam's (Amelia's husband) and Amelia's attempts to organize her World Flight, including several neverbefore-told stories about the relationship they cultivated with the Roosevelt Administration and the government assistance that they received gratis -- your tax dollars at work. Along the way, questions you probably never thought of about Amelia's World Flight are answered in detail (for instance, why did the US Government decide to build a landing strip and refueling station out in the middle of nowhere, on Howland Island? Just in time for Amelia's flight! And who knew how to get a state-of-the-art US Coast Guard cutter pulled from regular duties and sent thousands of miles into the depths of the Central Pacific to be the World Flight's support team? As a courtesy to Mrs. Putnam, of course.). This part of the book ends with a description of the 20 hour flight from Lae, New Guinea to Howland, and the events of the morning of July 2. Then begins the book's main story; of the Coast Guard-Navy search and rescue operation. Ric uses analysis of the original radio traffic -- including Amelia & Fred's post-loss messages, heard all over the Pacific and across the United States in the days following the loss -- to let this part of the story unfold. And if you really want to dig deep into the primary material supporting this s

I have been obsessed with finding out what really happened to Amelia Earhart for a number of years, and have read at least 20 -30 books written about her disappearance. This book is written in a sometimes humorous and folksy way that at the same time leaves you stunned by the seriousness and human failures of the final days before Amelia's disappearance. I was left yearning for this narrative to continue, because the story doesn't end on July 2, 1937. I'll bet Ric Gillespie's next book tells us "the rest of the story". This is the only book that combines all of the documents, maps, and radio logs in chronological order and tells the story almost minute by minute of the last days of that final flight. It makes you feel as if you are actually in the cockpit with her, feeling the fears, frustrations and desperation that a weaker pilot might have succumbed to. It includes a DVD of all the documents, maps and source materials that makes this the most credible version I've ever read. If you have questions, look it up on the DVD. The author doesn't expect you to take his word for anything. Ric Gillespie is a great storyteller, and he truly understands the attitudes and pre-conceived notions of the people involved in that last leg of the flight. I now KNOW why Amelia didn't find Howland Island, as you will also after reading this book and studying the source materials on the DVD. I'm telling you "YOU GOTTA READ THIS BOOK".... Jackie L Tharp

Amelia Earhart, most famous female pilot of the 1930s, did not know Morse code. That surprising fact, combined with a tragic mix of complacency and confusion, led to the 1937 disappearance of Earhart and navigator Fred Noonan. This book sets the record straight on what really happened on July 2, 1937, and how radio technology contributed to the disappearance. Ironically, radio messages are also part of the solution. Ric Gillespie describes and examines the "post-loss radio messages" and whether they originated from Earhart. Most of the messages were probably authentic, meaning Earhart and Noonan were alive after July 2. Why weren't they rescued? That's the real mystery--the solution was there all the time. This is an exhaustively researched and compellingly written book. (An added bonus is the DVD with scans of all source documents cited in the text.) Many old myths are shattered and new questions raised. Startling new information is revealed--teenagers in Florida and Wyoming heard startling messages believed to have come from Earhart herself. Why were the post-loss radio messages not believed? The answer may surprise you... "Finding Amelia" is a must-read for history buffs and Earhart fans alike, a brilliant look at how human frailties and technological limitations can make, or alter, history.