Deseret News | The hunt for Amelia Earhart

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The hunt for Amelia Earhart

Tim | 6:22 a.m. Feb. 8, 2008

not a mystery at all- a government secret. Top level military knew she was captured by the Japanese but could not admit she was on a spy mission. Just like the KAL disaster.

vern | 8:56 a.m. Feb. 8, 2008

if they haven,t found her by now after 70 years,i've got a feeling they never will.

To: Tim | 9:25 a.m. Feb. 8, 2008

Quite a theory there, Tim. I thought she was in a cooler at Area 51, right beside the pickles.

Comments continue below

re:Tim | 9:39 a.m. Feb. 8, 2008

That's right it is a conspiracy. The government is behind it. Get a LIFE! No one really knows what happened and no one probably ever will.

Many mistakes | 9:53 a.m. Feb. 8, 2008

She dumped stuff that would have kept her alive. There's a lesson in this -- if you are going out to the middle of nowhere, take more than you think you will need!

She even cut off the trailing-wire antenna for the most important radio that she had, to save 15 pounds. With that antenna, she could talk all the way across the Pacific. With what she had left, radio range was 100 miles at the most.

Douglas Westfall | 9:51 a.m. Feb. 8, 2008

Great story Carma, thank you. Dick is a hero and America needs to know about him. I spoke with him this morning after the article released on the web -- he's so excited now; looking for his morning paper.

Amelia Earhart was not a spy -- nor on a mission; she was on a flight and just disappeared into the hands of the Japanese Military. Dick's right, it was her radio that got her lost. America did right by her in this search, and these boys covered a quarter of a million miles of open sea and all 24 islands within 650 miles. Dick is the one that flew over Nikumaroro -- there was nothing there.

Congratulations on a great article.

Best Regards, Douglas Westfall
Author and Publisher

Anonymous | 10:01 a.m. Feb. 8, 2008

Tim, I think you watch a little too much TV.

MLH | 11:05 a.m. Feb. 8, 2008

after all this time, think she could still be alive and old by now. She may be dead for all we know. She would have shown up by now anyway.

I saw Elvis | 11:22 a.m. Feb. 8, 2008

History is all messed up thanks to the media and conspiracy theories. The paper will be publishing this kind of crap for as long as people like us are stupid enough to read it. I just wanted to make a joke out of it. To:Tim you are a genius! You finally figured out the great conspiracy the government was hiding from us.
Area 51 was involved in this. Now what will we do with our time?

PP | 11:25 a.m. Feb. 8, 2008

Like most conspiracy nuts Tim forgets one big fact, radio men on the coast guard cutter talked to her on the radio, which means she was somewhere close to the island when she went down. But as Tim says, he "knows" the truth and we are all just fooling ourselves, just like he knows the truth about the KAL airliner.

Who cares about stupid little things like "Facts" and "Evidence".

Scott | 1:11 p.m. Feb. 8, 2008

I know where she is - living the good life, enjoying every tropical sunset, no phones, no bills,
no taxes, no job, no worries. Think she wanted to be found????

D Black | 3:55 p.m. Feb. 8, 2008

Fun story Carma, and I believe the book by Westfall would an interesting read. Someday, most likely, they will find her plane (or a large part of it) at the bottom of the Pacific. Then, maybe we will have more clues as to what went wrong. Mr. Beckham is right about her self-promotion. Only a daredevil, driven by fame or an insatiable need for accomplishment would take so many chances.

Daniel | 9:30 p.m. Feb. 8, 2008

If we want the truth about Amelia Earhart , The Time will be when we leave this world and see her in the after world. Then we can ask her to what had happen, In stead of speculating .this is how false stories start, so lets put her to rest and let the pass stay in the pass, for she is passed over to the other side, and awaits for family and friends that she can share her story to what had happened.

Anonymous | 11:13 p.m. Feb. 8, 2008

she was a pioneer for the ladies but wasnt the smartest of people to want to fly into japanese teritory trying to land on a small island in the largest ocean in the world. its part of the risk i guess but she could of at least acomplished something worthwhile. its sad when people die young but the reality is she was selfish and is in the bottom of the sea some where

Not Skeptical | 12:00 a.m. Feb. 9, 2008

The Japanese had no reason to incarcerate/kill Earhart. In fact, it would have been an extremely positive PR windfall for them if they had rescued her. Most likely she ran out of fuel and crashed the plane as she tried to ditch it in the ocean....plane broke up on impact; they died on impact strapped into their seats; plane and bodies sank into the ocean.

Douglas Westfall | 8:15 a.m. Feb. 9, 2008

Interesting Comments.

1) Earhart disabled her radio in Miami, reducing her transmissions to 200 miles -- that's how she got lost.
2) After Earhart disappeared (July 2), the Japanese Military reported they went to look for her south east of the Marshall Islands -- but never reported if they did or did not find her.
3) The Japanese Military bombed Beijing (Peking) five days later (July 7). They were now at war (begining of WWII in the Pacific) and would attack Pearl Harbor exactly 4ï¿½ years later to the day.
4) The second place the Japanese Military bombed after Pearl Harbor (Dec 7), was Howland Island (Dec 8, 1941), where there were four teenage boys, two shacks, and a 3-tube radio. But why?

Douglas Westfall, Author & Publisher

Janet Panhorst Vest | 11:42 a.m. Feb. 9, 2008

My father passed away on January 6, 2008 at the age of 93. He was on the Coast Guard cutter Itasca that was to meet Earhart's plane and actually heard Amelia Earhart's last radio transmission. He was interviewed two years ago by a scientific expedition team that was searching for her plane. They were quite excited to find him and talk to him, since he was the only one still alive from the Itasca who heard her and could shed some light on that final contact with her. We, as children, heard this story all our lives and wish that the mystery could be solved. He, at last, has the answers to it all.

Anonymous | 2:55 p.m. Feb. 9, 2008

I believe she lived as I rene Bolam. There were two Irene's and that also remained a mystery!

Douglas Westfall | 7:33 p.m. Feb. 9, 2008

There are seven first person accounts in the book including Dick Beckham; I wish I had known Carl Panhorst was still living, I would have interviewed him for the book last summer. Anyone wishing to contact me, please see my website mentioned in the article.

Best Regards, Douglas Westfall
Author & Publisher

SLC gal | 8:41 a.m. Feb. 11, 2008

I thought she flew into the Bermuda Triangle......

Douglas Westfall | 9:01 p.m. Feb. 11, 2008

The Bermuda Triangle is in the Atlantic Ocean, off Florida -- the Lair of the Golden Dragon (where Earhart disappeared) is in the central Pacific Ocean on the International Date Line and at the Equator.
The Bermuda Triangle was created in the 1950s in a magazine article about the disappearance of Flight 19 in December of 1945.
The Discovery of Flight 19 is a new book to be released this year which chronicles the location of the aircraft raising of one of the planes.
See my website in the article on The Hunt For Amelia Earhart.
Douglas Westfall, author and publisher.

Isaiah Smith | 1:46 p.m. Feb. 22, 2008

I think she was a great woman and she set an exsample for woman out there looking for a career to look up to. I think she was a positve impact in the 20's.

dakotadoda | 12:20 p.m. March 15, 2009

the bermuda triangle must have got amelia earhart back in the 1500 a meteyer hit the atlantic ocean and it caused a paranormal happenings in the triangle it is to belive that the meteyer was solid gold and thats why it was called heavens lights some of the things that happen in the triangle are fog green lights on the water aliens sea monsters ghost ships but the most fearful is the dreeded burmuda triangle

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