Curious what others think? I’d assume if she was captured by the Japanese they would have used her for leverage (prisoner exchange, propaganda) Silence on their part would suggest this is just another theory that won’t hold.
That rumor has been around for decades.
Unless there’s more conclusive evidence, I’d very much doubt it as the Japanese empire were still trying to maintain positive relations with the US, Amelia Earhart’s flight was followed internationally, and the Marco Polo Bridge incident which would provide the pretext for Imperial Japanese invasion deeper into China sparking the Second Sino-Japanese War happened several days after Earhart disappeared on July 2, 1937.
If this had happened after July 9th, 1937, this theory would be more plausible…but before that date…the Japanese Empire had much more to lose than gain from capturing/imprisoning and disappearing Earhart.
Not to mention that in this period, most Americans were strongly isolationist and the militarist dominated Imperial Japanese government was well aware of this.
I remember reading somewhere that some bones were discovered on an island in the south pacific that were though to be a man’s remains. The small island had no real shelter nor livable conditions. When further study was done in the 60’s, they thought the bones might have belonged to a tall lengthy woman. The bones had since decayed and were lost/thrown out. May have been a National Geographic article?
There is a current expedition, funded by National Geographic in part, to an island in the South Pacific where it is rumored that Amelia Earthart may have ended up. There have been finds on the island (I don’t recall its name) that may date to that period, things like buttons and so forth, but nothing conclusive has been found. Among other things, this current expedition is carrying dogs that can sniff out human remains, though I kind of wonder how much they could find after 80 years.
The theory that Earhardt had been caught an executed by the Japanese has been around for a while, that either she was spying on the Japanese Empire then fortifying Islands in the South Pacific and got caught, or the Japanese assumed she did. Part of this in the past was based on a photo supposedly showing Earhardt with Japanese soldiers, some of it were tales told supposedly by natives of the area having seen a caucausian woman executed by the Japanese.
While the idea of the Japanese having executed her believing she was a spy wouldn’t surprise me, I am dubious of this because after the end of World War II there would have been some record of her being found and executed, someone would have talked and likely we would have found records of it after we occupied Japan at the end of WWII, such a move would have been vetted with the Imperial high command given how famous Earhardt was.
I suspect the story was as has been long suspected, that for some reason the plane went down and crashed in the sea, I doubt the current expedition or the photo in question will solve the mystery.
Cobrat’s right. This has been a theory floated (and debunked) for decades. There’s no doubt in my mind that this one will be largely debunked (and believed by many) the same as every one else.
@“aunt bea” that’s Nikumaroro island. They’ve lost the bones but pictures have been examined by more modern researchers and found to be consistent with her body. Personally, this is my favorite theory of her demise since DNA tests couldn’t tell if the bones were from a human or a turtle.
Either way, what makes me sad is that there is so much emphasis on her disappearance and not enough on her life. She was a century ahead of her time. She was a force for getting women into cockpits, flew despite being told that it could kill her (she had horrible recurring sinus problems and suffered at least one botched surgery trying to get it fixed), refused to take her husband’s last name, wrote him a note on their wedding day that she wasn’t going to be faithful so he shouldn’t be either, etc, etc. These are WAY more interesting things about her (IMO) than her unfortunate disappearance.
Boy, the historians interviewed on NBC Nightly News certainly sounded convincing…
They convinced me.
There have been rumors that she was captured and held in a camp on Saipan for decades. This article dates from 1960:
https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=DS19600530.2.27
I didn’t expect to be convinced by the photo, but it actually seems pretty plausible.
An issue is that many of us are bringing in interpretations colored by what transpired after the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War which prompted increasing American diplomatic and public outcry over Japanese aggression/brutality such as the Rape of Nanking. However, even that outcry wasn’t enough to override the strong prevailing isolationist sentiment among the US public of that time.
This combined with subsequent deliberate Japanese attacks such as on the US Navy gunboat USS Panay in December 1937, and cutting off of US exports of steel and oil to the Japanese in the early '40s which eventually lead to the Imperial Japanese preemptive strike on Pearl Harbor and our entry into WWII.
However, those events all happened AFTER Amelia Earhart’s disappearance.
However, the perception of her being captured and imprisoned on Saipan is very compelling news/tabloid copy as shown by its longevity going back several decades. And keep in mind…photographs can be manipulated/doctored even back in the early 20th century. It has only gotten easier to do so since.
So unless there’s more corroborating authoritative evidence…not convinced as of yet.
Thanks for the contributions here!
I do think, as was mentioned, her life and accomplishments are eclipsed by her disappearance. If anyone still doubts that sexism played a role in her life and career just take a look at any of the comment sections of articles associated with this recent news story. Plenty of “she was a %^^ pilot”…“crashing was her own fault as she didn’t know what she was doing” etc.
I’ve always found her a fascinating figure filled with complexities. It’s true she did take some risks that weren’t prudent but what would be described as “maverick” behavior in a male pilot was named reckless for her.
There used to be a very nice exhibit at the Oakland Airport (exhibit was located where private/small planes are housed) about Earhart…it being where she famously left for the Pacific leg of her last flight. Worth a look.
Had intentions of naming my first born Amelia but had two boys…
Here is my question about the photograph. If the reason it is Earhart in the photo is because it was so rare to see a white woman there at that time, especially in trousers, then who is the OTHER white woman in trousers in the photo? Obviously she wasn’t on the plane with them. That photo looks much more like a sight-seeing photo to me. Perhaps it was at a different stop she made on another venture, or even that same trip.
@movemetoo I’m not doubting you but where is the other white woman? I only see one other woman and she looks like a shorter, older Asian woman.
I am very, very bad with faces though. I have no idea how anyone can identify her (and him) by a hairline but I’m impressed that others can.
@tonymom here is a book about her that I really liked. It looks at her life through a feminist lens: http://books.wwnorton.com/books/Still-Missing/ (Susan Ware is also one of my favorite historians so I’m probably biased.)
The one in the front with the white slacks and hat? Standing next to the man they say is Noonan. Earhart is supposedly the one sitting on the dock with her back turned. But I don’t think her hair looks right either (the hair in the picture looks darker and straighter).
And forgetting to account for the fact the 1930’s was still a pioneering period of aviation with many pilots in her period and afterwards dying and crashing due to recklessness, risk taking, lack of knowledge in aeronautical science which resulted in aircraft designs which were very unforgiving of pilot error(i.e. The F-4U Corsair of WWII fame while great in the hands of an experienced pilot was so unforgiving of pilot error it was nicknamed the “Ensign eliminator”, the “Saber dance” from the F-100 in the early-mid-‘50s, F-104 being dubbed the “Widowmaker” among several NATO allies’ air forces/media in the '60s - '70s, etc).
Oh I would’ve guessed that was a Japanese man. You could be right though.
I just read a brief New York Times report of this “new” evidence and hoped to see it discussed here. How do they know the date of the photo? The mood of the photo subjects is relaxed and congenial, it does not look like a scene depicting prisoners held against their will. Has there been an explanation of this?
A contemporary of Earhart, Beryl Markham, was the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic east to west. Yet her name is virtually unknown in popular culture today. Rather than eclipsing her accomplishments I think Earhart’s disappearance has kept her story alive.
“Earhart is supposedly the one sitting on the dock with her back turned.”
I don’t know how anyone can extrapolate much from that photo. Could be anyone, Japanese, American, male, female, who knows…
Another thing to consider is that if she had been captured by the Imperial Japanese Navy(They were the ones who had jurisdiction over administering the Pacific Islands under Imperial Japanese control), there’s no way the Navy police(The Tokkeitai) have allowed local indigenous civilians anywhere near them nor would they have allowed such a photograph to be taken.
That would have been considered a serious breach of Imperial Japanese military security protocols.
@cobrat, the historians on NBC theorized the photo was taken by someone who was spying on the Japanese for the US. and theorized silence around it may have been to protect the source. But interesting insight about the locals probably not being allowed anywhere near the IJN.