U.S. Spy Agency Releases Amelia Earhart Records
The U.S. Office of the Director of National Intelligence released long-promised records related to vanished pioneering aviator Amelia Earhart. More records are promised on a rolling basis
A photo of Amelia Earhart from newly released records.
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In a weekend gift for aviation history fans, U.S. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard released National Archives records on Friday related to the search for pioneering aviator Amelia Earhart.
In an attempt to become the first woman pilot to circumnavigate Earth, Earhart, along with navigator Fred Noonan, vanished in 1937 over the Pacific Ocean. The disappearance sparked a now long-standing mystery over her fate. President Donald Trump had ordered this declassification of records related to the search for Earhart in September.
The now-released records include reports, maps and communications tracing Earhart’s flight as well as other documents detailing the search after her disappearance. The National Security Agency has also declassified related files and Earhart’s last known communications. The wide-ranging records include a letter from a woman claiming that her mental telepathy indicated Earhart was still alive, and another from a man claiming her grave was located in Spain.
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A statement from Gabbard called the release a “first step,” with more records related to Earhart to be released on a rolling basis.
Dan Vergano is senior editor, Washington, D.C., at Scientific American. He has previously written for Grid News, BuzzFeed News, National Geographic and USA Today. He is chair of the New Horizons committee for the Council for the Advancement of Science Writing and a journalism award judge for both the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the U.S. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.
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