Changes

Their next destination, and the most dangerous stop of the trip, was Howland Island, a tiny island in the Pacific Ocean, 2,556 miles (4,113 kilometers) away. Before Earhart took off from Lae on July 1, there was confusion about which radio frequencies were to be used, which remained unresolved before she took off. As the scheduled time neared for Earhart to approach the island, several transmissions were received from her, demanding to know the weather. A new weather report describing heavy clouds and rain northwest of Howland had been issued, and Earhart had apparently run into the storm. Earhart transmitted several more times but never reached her destination, disappearing somewhere off the coast of the island. A large search party was quickly organized, but no remains of the crew and the plane were ever found.

Their next destination, and the most dangerous stop of the trip, was Howland Island, a tiny island in the Pacific Ocean, 2,556 miles (4,113 kilometers) away. Before Earhart took off from Lae on July 1, there was confusion about which radio frequencies were to be used, which remained unresolved before she took off. As the scheduled time neared for Earhart to approach the island, several transmissions were received from her, demanding to know the weather. A new weather report describing heavy clouds and rain northwest of Howland had been issued, and Earhart had apparently run into the storm. Earhart transmitted several more times but never reached her destination, disappearing somewhere off the coast of the island. A large search party was quickly organized, but no remains of the crew and the plane were ever found.

==Theories==

==Theories==

There are many theories surrounding the controversial disappearance of Earhart's plane on July 2, 1937. The most commonly accepted theory is that she got lost, ran out of gas, and went down somewhere in the Pacific Ocean. However, as war between the United States and Japan loomed on the horizon in 1937, it was theorized that Earhart had possibly been on a spy mission for the United States and was supposed to photograph Japanese military installations. This theory varied; one suggested that Earhart and her navigator, Fred Noonan crash-landed and were captured by the Japanese, who subsequently executed them. Another suggested Noonan died and Earhart was held captive throughout the war. A third theory that emerged from the 1943 RKO movie 'Flight for Freedom,' was that her disappearance was staged to allow the U.S. Navy to survey the South Pacific area suspected of illegal Japan fortifications taking place. Another controversial theory stated Earhart quietly survived the war under some kind of witness protection plan. None of these ideas ever graduated to a level of mainstream acceptance. More recently some items found on a deserted island in the Phoenix Islands group were suggested to have possibly been from the Earhart flight, but they too amounted to a false lead. Today the Smithsonian Institution adheres to the idea of the simple 'crashed and sank' scenario of Earhart and Noonan's 1937 disappearance. This, notwithstanding the words of Admiral Chester Nimitz as spoken to CBS Radio Journalist, Fred Goerner in 1965, "I want to tell you Amelia Earhart and her navigator did go down in the Marshall Islands and were picked up by the Japanese." Japan never confirmed or denied such a comment, nor did the United States ever officially comment on Earhart's disappearance, leaving their combined dispositions to generally cause the so-called "mystery of Amelia Earhart's disappearance" to come into existence.

There are many theories surrounding the controversial disappearance of Earhart's plane on July 2, 1937. The most commonly accepted theory is that she got lost, ran out of gas, and went down somewhere in the Pacific Ocean. However, two other theories has grown in the years since, one involving capture and execution as a spy by the Japanese, and the other dying of exposure after landing on a deserted island.

 

As war between the United States and Japan loomed on the horizon in 1937, it was theorized that Earhart had possibly been on a spy mission for the United States and was supposed to photograph Japanese military installations. This theory varied; one suggested that Earhart and her navigator, Fred Noonan crash-landed and were captured by the Japanese, who subsequently executed them. Another suggested Noonan died and Earhart was held captive throughout the war. A variant of this theory emerged from the 1943 RKO movie ''Flight for Freedom,'' was that her disappearance was staged to allow the U.S. Navy to survey the South Pacific area suspected of illegal Japan fortifications taking place. This, notwithstanding the words of Admiral Chester Nimitz as spoken to CBS Radio Journalist, Fred Goerner in 1965, "I want to tell you Amelia Earhart and her navigator did go down in the Marshall Islands and were picked up by the Japanese." Japan never confirmed or denied such a comment, nor did the United States ever officially comment on Earhart's disappearance, leaving their combined dispositions to generally cause the so-called "mystery of Amelia Earhart's disappearance" to come into existence.

 

 

More recently some items found on a deserted island in the Phoenix Islands group were suggested to have possibly been from the Earhart flight, but they too amounted to a false lead. Today the Smithsonian Institution adheres to the idea of the simple 'crashed and sank' scenario of Earhart and Noonan's 1937 disappearance.

==Evaluations==

==Evaluations==