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The episode examines several theories regarding what happened to Earhart and her navigator Fred Noonan during their attempt to fly around the world:
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00:00now nearly 40 years after Amelia Earhart's disappearance there are surprising new theories
00:09to explore the early morning of July 2nd 1937 Amelia Earhart and her navigator are bound
00:24westward over the lonely mid-pacific it is the final leg of a grueling round-the-world flight
00:32within several hours they will disappear
00:54now nearly 40 years after Amelia Earhart's disappearance there are surprising new theories
01:11to explore this series presents information based in part on theory and conjecture the
01:24producer's purpose is to suggest some possible explanation but not necessarily the only ones
01:30to the mysteries we will examine 1932 Amelia Earhart returns home triumphantly against incredible
01:43odds she is the first woman to have flown the Atlantic Ocean to Ireland all alone America is
01:51crippled by the depression but for this brave woman the nation gladly musters its most lavish
01:57welcome her courage has captured the heart and imagination of the entire world it's much
02:03easier to fly the Atlantic Ocean now than it was a few years ago I expect to be able to do it in my
02:10lifetime again possibly not possibly not as a solo expedition but in regular transatlantic service
02:24her skill and courage are established but Amelia Earhart delights in the challenge of new accomplishment
02:34she sets an altitude record in an auto gyro
02:40soon she's aloft again to capture a new women's transcontinental speed record
02:46and what did you carry on the trip you mean to eat yeah to eat and drink well I carried some water of course because my cockpit is very warm and I carry the sandwich in case I didn't eat it though I carried some hot chocolate and the old reliable commodity
03:08in 1935 she sails for Hawaii on an announced pleasure trip with her husband publisher George Putnam she once told him I fly better than I wash dishes the public wonders why she has taken her plane along
03:29Amelia Earhart put speculation to an end when she flew home becoming the first to solo from Hawaii to California
03:40even now she's thinking of another great adventure soon she announces her plans for a flight around the world
03:49contemplated course covers about 27,000 miles it will be the first flight is successful which approximates the equator
04:00the plane I'm using on the proposed flight is a transport plane it is for Lockheed Electra normally carrying 10 passengers and two pilots
04:11this airplane will take Amelia on her most challenging and hazardous flight
04:18several days before departure she tells her husband and the public just why she will do it
04:24well GP you know it's because I want to
04:28two husbands that have a fairly familiar sound
04:32but aside from that you expect to accomplish something for aviation do you not
04:37well yes I do and if the flight successful I hope it will increase women's interest in flying
04:44if so it will be worthwhile as far as I'm concerned
04:49well how about taking me along
04:52well of course I think a great deal of you but 180 pounds of gasoline on a flight
05:00perhaps might be a little more valuable
05:03do you mean you prefer 180 pounds of gasoline to 180 pounds of hustle
05:08thank you guest drive
05:10a rainy June morning 1937
05:18the final preparations are made
05:20in the next 40 days Amelia and her expert navigator Fred Noonan
05:31will fly three-quarters of the way around the world
05:34on the final leg of the flight with little more than 7,000 miles to go
05:52she will vanish over the mid-pacific without a trace
06:03the news that Amelia Earhart was lost registered shock and disbelief throughout the world
06:08she'd come within days of achieving her goal and for many it was difficult to accept
06:13that so courageous a woman could be gone so suddenly
06:17almost immediately after her disappearance the public imagination became fired with rumors and speculation
06:23that Amelia Earhart and her navigator Fred Noonan might be alive and well
06:27on an uncharted Pacific wreath
06:29that she may have been shot down by Japanese fighter planes
06:32and then captured
06:34that perhaps she was actually on a top secret spy mission for our government
06:38five years after her disappearance the Hollywood film starring Rosalind Russell
06:52does much to keep rumors about Amelia Earhart alive
06:55Miss Carter we want you to do a job for us
06:59a big job so big that I have no hesitation in saying that
07:03the safety of our country may very well depend upon a successful outcome
07:10are you sure you want me?
07:13it's a job that can be only carried off by a woman who happens to be a world-renowned flyer
07:18and whose personality has caught on with the world
07:22you land on that little speck right there
07:24Gull Island
07:26the top secret mission calls for the lady flyer to deliberately ditch near a small Pacific island
07:32where food and provisions have been stored
07:35but as far as the world knows
07:37you're lost
07:38there'll be widespread search for you
07:41public opinion will demand it
07:43that search will include the Japanese mandated islands
07:47and Japan won't dare to interfere because we are looking for you
07:51the world's greatest woman flyer
07:53during that search
07:55we'll photograph every square mile of those islands
07:58then when war comes
08:01we'll be able to defend ourselves against attack
08:03and strike back at the nerve centers of their empire
08:09ladies and gentlemen this afternoon somewhere in the South Pacific
08:12a brilliant flying career has probably ended
08:14Tony Carter has definitely lost
08:15there's been no report for hours
08:17the second attempt to overcome the hazards of a world flight has ended in disaster
08:21Tony Carter lost
08:23somewhere in the South Pacific
08:31when she learns the Japanese know of the plan
08:34she ditches where no one can find her
08:36questions about Amelia Earhart persist
08:48yet retired Air Force Major Joseph Jervis
08:51has devoted nearly 20 years of research to what he believes is the answer
08:55the last flight was really a military flight
08:58two civilian people flying a civilian aircraft
09:01on a mission for the then President of the United States Franklin Roosevelt
09:04the purpose of the flight
09:05was to overfly the truck atoll in the Pacific
09:10where the Japanese were secretly fortifying
09:12to take pictures of it
09:13and to return back to the United States
09:16with photographic evidence to present to the League of Nations
09:19that Japan was in violation of the treaty
09:22the Japanese with an aircraft carrier stationed between Canton Island and Hull
09:27and with Japanese Zero intercepted Earhart
09:30and shot her down
09:31and she made a crash landing on the island of Hull
09:34Major Jervis' belief that Amelia Earhart landed on Hull Island
09:38is based largely on his interpretation of civilian radio direction reports
09:42received during the Earhart flight
09:47he also finds a photograph of Hull Island
09:49which he believes shows a Japanese flag near the wreckage of Amelia Earhart's aircraft
09:54from a former Japanese soldier, Ramon Cabrera
10:01Jervis learned that in 1937
10:04a woman pilot was interrogated by this Japanese officer
10:07and then taken captive to Japan
10:10in Japan she was a very important political prisoner
10:15she was held captive in the Imperial Palace
10:17for a period of approximately eight years
10:20at the close of World War II
10:23two weeks before MacArthur occupied Japan
10:26Jacqueline Cochran and a group of people went in there
10:29and secretly removed Amelia Earhart out of Japan
10:33before the occupation disguised as a nun
10:36they brought her to this country
10:38she took on a new identity, new occupation
10:41has spent time living in Jamesburg, New Jersey
10:45at a place called Leisure World
10:46and also has spent time abroad being involved in foreign radio broadcasts
10:50particularly in the area of Luxembourg
10:52I have been studying Amelia Earhart for 17 years
10:55I have over a thousand photographs of her
10:57from the time she was a baby
10:59to her time in elementary and high school
11:02and all the other things that she did
11:03I know more about her than I know about my mother
11:06well Amelia Earhart I believe
11:13has taken on an identity of the name of Irene Bolum
11:19in 1965 Jervis meets this couple while delivering a lecture
11:23he becomes convinced that this woman's true identity
11:27holds the proof to his theory
11:29and I went over and I met this couple
11:30and I looked this lady straight in the face
11:32and I knew who it was as soon as I looked at her
11:35Amelia Earhart
11:36I would know her anywhere in the world
11:37the fantastic star which makes me out to be
11:40some kind of a mystery woman
11:41is utter nonsense
11:43I think she's Amelia Earhart
11:45because this entire episode
11:48you know is shrouded with mystery
11:49I am not a mystery woman
11:51I am not Amelia Earhart
11:53I don't know what the ending to all this
11:55you know will be
11:56but I would like it to have
11:58you know a happy ending
11:59really I really would
12:00if there was anything bad about it
12:02I don't think I'd want to be associated with it
12:04really
12:05because I have that much admiration and respect for her
12:09and I think she's really a lovely person
12:11really
12:12and I like her very much
12:14Jervis is not alone in his search
12:18and others have come up with different answers
12:21a determined search for a solution to the Amelia Earhart mystery
12:26has followed many intriguing routes
12:28two independent investigators now believe that the final answer is very close at hand
12:35the Pacific leg of Earhart's last flight is by far the longest and most dangerous
12:45her first destination is a refueling stop at Howland Island
12:50a tiny two square mile atoll in the mid Pacific
12:54it juts only fifteen feet above the sea
12:57the coast guard cutter Itasca stands off Howland to provide Earhart with radio assistance
13:03on the morning of July 2nd
13:06on the morning of July 2nd
13:08Earhart radios that she is low on fuel
13:10in the vicinity of Howland
13:12but cannot find the island
13:14a world record holding pilot and navigator
13:20Captain Elgin Long has carefully studied a wealth of detailed information about Amelia Earhart's last flight
13:26he has analyzed such things as the fuel consumption of Earhart's plane
13:31the strength of radio signals received by the cutter Itasca
13:35and the effect on the flight of crosswinds
13:38which Earhart did not even know were there
13:40with this data
13:41Captain Long has reconstructed a sophisticated navigational model
13:46of Amelia Earhart's final flight
13:48actually I think everything went smooth in the flight
13:51all indications are up until they reported over Howland Island at 742
13:57at that time they said we should be on you
13:59but we cannot see you
14:00in other words they thought they were at Howland
14:03they didn't know anything was wrong up until then
14:06now I can't find the evidence doesn't indicate any single mistake
14:11that anyone made that caused them to miss the island
14:14which they obviously did
14:16rather it's a series of small errors
14:20which compounded themselves unfortunately all in the same direction
14:24which caused it all to happen
14:26and indeed they did miss the island
14:32and of course once they couldn't find the island
14:34they searched for it for over an hour
14:36and ran out of fuel and their fuel was exhausted
14:38and then were forced to ditch the airplane into the sea
14:41in the movie Flight for Freedom
14:44the end was depicted this way
14:47from the information he has gathered
14:57Captain Long believes that he has pinpointed the exact place
15:00where Amelia Earhart crashed into the sea
15:03the location is about 40 miles northwest of Howland Island
15:08an area where the water is over 16,000 feet deep
15:12actually the airplanes almost perfectly preserved
15:16you know this is something we weren't familiar with
15:19just a few years ago of course we didn't know anything about the deep abyss
15:24but now we know that things are preserved in deep water
15:28and we have recovered airplanes that have been underwater for almost 30 years
15:33and as long as they were in deep water
15:35everything in that airplane in the airplane itself is
15:38it would scare you to death
15:40it's just like the day it went down there
15:42the Navy recovered an airplane off the coast of San Diego
15:45they show that the airplane is almost in perfect condition
15:48it's very surprising to learn this
15:51because we're used to things that come from shallow water
15:53we're used to things recovered off the coast of Florida
15:56in 200 feet of water
15:57covered with barnacles
15:59covered with coral
16:00rusted out
16:01it's not that way in deep water
16:03Captain Long believes that advanced deep sea exploration equipment like this
16:09could be used to locate and then recover the Earhart plane
16:13the airplane is sitting there today, right now, this moment
16:17just like it went down 39 years ago
16:20and I know that now in order to really put it all finally to rest
16:27we've got to get an expedition together
16:29we've got to get out and search and locate our airplane
16:33and recover it
16:34and then I think finally that will put the Amelia Earhart mystery
16:38once and for all
16:39the Amelia Earhart search will reach its conclusion
16:44when Amelia Earhart is lost
16:46a frantic search for her begins immediately
16:49it is the largest naval sea hunt of its kind in history
16:5963 planes scout the Pacific
17:07the coordinated search also includes more than a dozen surface vessels
17:12in three weeks
17:14250,000 square miles of ocean are carefully scanned
17:19there is no sign of Amelia Earhart
17:23we believe the Navy missed Earhart in the search in 1937
17:28perhaps by only a few miles
17:30radio messages were received after the disappearance
17:33by amateur radio operators along the west coast of the United States
17:36and they were also received by Navy radio stations
17:39if we'd looked in the right area in 1937
17:43Amelia might be with us today
17:47newsman Fred Goerner has spent more than 16 years
17:50investigating the disappearance of Amelia Earhart
17:53his belief that she survived her crash into the Pacific
17:57is based on his analysis of information in civilian and military radio reports
18:01these reports were painstakingly uncovered by Goerner
18:08during several research trips to Washington
18:11Goerner's persistent detective work however
18:14did not begin in Washington D.C.
18:17began in 1960 with CBS
18:19I was a correspondent here in San Francisco
18:21we received information that it was a possibility
18:23that Amelia Earhart might have reached Saipan
18:25in the western Marianas
18:27and I was sent by CBS News to Saipan
18:31to find out if there was supporting information
18:33Saipan Island is nearly 1500 miles northwest
18:37of Earhart's destination at Howland Island
18:40yet Jesus Salas, a Saipanese farmer
18:44recalls an incident in the Garapan prison on Saipan
18:47in 1937 while a prisoner of the occupying Japanese army
18:53Salas sees a white woman in the cell next to him
18:57she is held there for several hours
18:59prison guards tell Salas
19:01that she is a captured American pilot
19:04Salas never sees her again
19:07Jose Pangelin, a grocer on Saipan
19:11remembers seeing a white woman on the second floor
19:14of a compound hotel several times
19:16he hears that she is a captured pilot and spy
19:20these native Saipanese
19:24Joaquin Seaman and Ben Salas
19:27tell Gerner of hearing that an American woman
19:29was buried in this cemetery sometime in 1937
19:33Gerner excavates several grave sites
19:36but finds no proof
19:38the strongest evidence to me
19:40is the eyewitness reports on the island of Saipan
19:43to me it is inconceivable that these people
19:46were not telling the truth
19:48it is inconceivable to me that anyone else
19:50answering those descriptions
19:52was on that island at that time
19:54later Gerner finds Japanese newspaper articles
19:57from the time of Erhardt's disappearance
19:59one reports that Amelia Erhardt was picked up
20:03by a Japanese fishing boat
20:05Gerner also learns of secret government documents
20:09which he believes can prove the Japanese capture
20:12of Amelia Erhardt
20:15it is my belief that Amelia landed on a small reef area
20:18between Howland Island and Canton
20:20in the Northern Phoenix group
20:22was picked up after our search
20:25by the Japanese taken to Saipan
20:27she died in Japanese custody
20:29and the proof of her Japanese custody
20:32is contained in records of the counter intelligence core
20:36captured from the Japanese at the end of World War II
20:39those records are today classified in Washington
20:42they are records supposedly
20:44of Japanese interrogation of Erhardt
20:47and I think that a final answer to the mystery
20:49is going to be written
20:51alas Amelia Erhardt is not alive
20:53and well and living in New Jersey
20:55I wish that she were
20:57in at least some sense
21:03Amelia Erhardt is alive
21:05for in the memory of her courage
21:07her passion
21:08her dedication to an ideal
21:10she still touches many of us
21:16it has been nearly 40 years
21:18since Amelia Erhardt vanished
21:20and the final answer to her disappearance
21:22is still an enigma
21:23there's a vast amount of convincing
21:26yet sometimes contradictory evidence
21:28which can support any one of several explanations
21:31but who is right?
21:33for at least three men
21:35the search for the answer will continue
21:37it will go on
21:41until someone proves without the slightest doubt
21:44the final fate of this daring and charismatic woman
21:48before the takeoff on her last flight
21:52Amelia wrote to her husband
21:54please know that I am quite aware of the hazards
21:57I want to do it
21:59because I want to do it
22:01women must try to do things as men have tried
22:04when they fail
22:06their failure must be but a challenge to others
22:10to the next person
22:12who wants to do
22:13to the next person
22:15and who wants to do
22:17I will not say
22:18well
22:19that's all
22:20I can do it
22:21well
22:22it's all
22:23what's the last thing
22:24I can do
22:25that's all
22:26all
22:27but
22:28I can do it
22:29well
22:30I can do it
22:31well
22:32it's all
22:33and
22:34and
22:35that's all
22:36good
22:37I can do it
22:38Transcription by CastingWords
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