CONFIRMED: “Nikumaroro Bones” not Amelia Earhart
…the most robust scientific analysis and conclusions are those of the original British finding indicating that the Nikumaroro bones belonged to a robust, middle-aged man, not Amelia Earhart.
-Pamela J. Cross
The “Nikumaroro Bones” are not those of lost aviatrix Amelia Earhart, states a newly published paper by Pamela J. Cross and Richard Wright. Published in the Journal of Archaeological Science, this new analysis is a welcome redress to the reputation of Dr. D.W. Hoodless (the medical official first responsible for the evaluation of the bones) and raises serious questions for The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery (TIGHAR), an Amelia Earhart-focused nonprofit investigatory group and the top proponents of the “Gardner Island Theory.”
Note: The Gardner Island theory states that Amelia Earhart, unable to locate her intended destination of Howland Island, broke off from her search pattern and flew another 350 miles to crash-land on the shores of Gardner island, now known as Nikumaroro island. She supposedly then lived for a short while as a castaway before dying on the island.
Amelia Earhart disappeared on one of the final legs of her 1937 round-the-world flight, never reaching her waypoint on Howland Island. In 1940, a skull, partial skeleton and other artifacts were discovered on Nikumaroro Island, a small atoll roughly 350 miles SE of Howland Island. This raised great interest with British colonial administrator Gerald B. Gallagher due to the proximity to Howland. By all accounts, Medical examiner Dr. D. W. Hoodless, Principal of the Central Medical School of Fiji was a respected teacher and doctor, and his practice included both theoretical and practical anatomy with great experience in dissection and skeletal analysis. Interest waned when he concluded that the bones belonged to a stocky male, and the bones were ultimately lost.
The Nikumaroro bones identification controversy: First-hand examination versus evaluation by proxy — Amelia Earhart found or still missing? By Pamela J. Cross, Richard Wright. (Available for a limited time at the following link.)
In 1998, a paper was presented to the American Anthropological Association Annual Convention that re-opened the case based on a re-examination of recordings relating to the now-lost bones. They concluded that the bones belonged to a “tall white female of Northern European ancestry.”
Amelia Earhart’s Bones and Shoes? Current anthropological perspectives on an historical mystery. Burns, Jantz, King, Gillespie. Paper available here.
Unfortunately, it now appears that the 1998 re-examination misinterpreted the results of cranial analysis software FORDISC, used to classify “probable ancestry and sex.” The 1998 research effort did not take into account the low sample size of database, nor did it fully evaluate available data from the other bones. Cross and Wright’s paper sets the record straight, redeeming Dr. D. W. Hoodless’ original analysis and confirming that the Nikumaroro bones did not belong to Amelia Earhart.
Related Posts
About The Author
taylor@expeditionwriter.com
Author, historian & shipwreck expert
Tighar is now promising the long awaited rebuttal to the Wright/Cross bone study will be available in a few weeks.
https://tighar.org/smf/index.php/topic,1905.msg41091.html#msg41091
Sorry but neither you, Richard Wright, Pamela Cross nor TIGHAR has a mortgage on the facts. At the moment the facts are that there are not enough facts to prove nor disprove the TIGHAR proposition. So-called debunkers are merely adding to the cloudy picture. Probably the only ways to realistically prove where she ended up are to link DNA in skeletal remains found in situ today with either her or Fred Noonan or to find the wreck in situ. Everything else is speculation.
Let’s not create a false equivalency here. TIGHAR has staked a great deal on the theory that these bones belonged to Amelia Earhart, using them as part of their case to raise funds for multiple expeditions. Anthropologists Wright and Cross have (rightly) pointed out that TIGHAR’s analysis relied on data and methodology that falls well short of modern best practices. This is their job as scientists and academics. These criticisms are not speculation.
Here’s the underlying problem. Any time you start with a conclusion and then look for evidence to support your pet theory, you will likely find the evidence you seek. As far as I can tell, TIGHAR started with their island castaway theory and have sought to bolster it ever since. They regularly proffer somewhat dubious evidence to media outlets that rarely take the time to do their own research. TIGHAR may be the biggest but they’re far from the only ones, Amelia Earhart seems to have developed her own cottage industry.
I get more public feedback about this subject than anything else I’ve written about combined. I think it’s important that we stop and think why that might be the case. Clearly, people are incredibly personally invested in her story. It’s my opinion that these feelings have a tendency to cloud judgement.
Personally invested? Financially invested is more like it. Amelia Earhart will go down with Oak Island as the biggest cash cow for promoters in history. Sciencesays the bones are not Amelia’s, and Gillespie’s outfit offers only fanciful conjecture. Will a cover-up claim follow? In this fatuous age, why not?
‘Fanciful conjecture’? Gillespie’s book ‘Finding Amelia’ is as convincing an air accident report as 80 years’ distance – and no aircraft – will allow. It’s at least a lot more convincing than the US Navy’s contemporary report, and the origin of the mythical skeleton has no bearing on that hypothesis.
TIGHAR’s expeditions are actually the modern equivalent of the kind of ‘adventure aviation’ that Earhart was a figurehead for. It’s what Putnam was about. If people want to and can afford to, and TV companies will pay to contribute to an authentic treasure hunt, why not? There aren’t many aviation records left to break, and a lot less worthy historical events to investigate.
If you believe Gillespie and company, I have a bridge to sell you. He’s made millions off saps who donate. Every “artifact” he has recovered is pure conjecture. The new money maker is finding Glenn Miller.
So after “Expedition Amelia”, have any of your views changed? I am not a scientist, just interested in the search. Did they not find that 3 of the bones were woman and 1 man? This research expedition was led by Robert Ballard. As a layman, I found the search compelling. Although I’m not a scientist:
1) The cadaver dog could have hit on any dead body.
2) 80 years of Tides, Hurricanes, and waves ripping the plane apart.
3) Are you familiar with the Hunley? First, Confederate Submarine. Myths were told for 150 years, before they found it buried in Charleston Harbor, by Clive Cussler. Many of those myths, have now been proven true.
Have to admit I didn’t follow Ballard’s expedition Amelia too closely. Part of the problem that I see in the study of exceptionally high-profile losses (such as the Titanic) is that findings or conclusions are held to a much lower standard than would be acceptable for a lower-profile case. For example, if they were looking for my missing grandfather who disappeared under similar circumstances (this is a hypothetical – I do not have a missing grandfather), what would be the expected burden of proof? I would suspect I would need to see DNA or a wreckage intact enough for a serial number. That’s the level of evidence you’ll typically see from a Project Recover expedition and similar efforts. By comparison, this group’s Amelia expeditions seem to only make finds just ambiguous enough to justify next year’s trip. Beyond that, the entire Nikumaroro premise seems based on a number of dubious assumptions. I’d rather someone find her than be right about this, so I’d be happy to give credit where due if I’m ever proven wrong on this.
Definitely familiar with the Hunley! I got a chance to go to the Clive Cussler convention last year for his adventure writing award and actually got a chance to meet several of the guys who worked on the project. Was amazing to be in their company.
Two things that were too obvious, caught my attention on the Amelia Expedition:
1) If I am lost, with little hope of survival and I must do it … or I will perish in a forgotten atoll by the hand of God. Minimally I will leave messages in geographic sites that are after he has passed away. So, with the wreckage of the ship as of the present day 2021 … why didn’t any member of the Nautilis crew impeach said wreck in search of marks, messages, wrecks, etc. … that Amelia may have left as proof that she was he alive in that place?
2) According to my calculations, having been on the F.A. the Electra flight path, she had an error of more than 500 kms with Holland Island. Now … how much fuel did Amelia have left … to get to said Island … if she ended up splashing off the coast of Nikumaroro ?? …