Possible wreckage of Amelia Earhart's plane likely to be trees, say researchers

Researchers inspecting an object that some thought could have been the wreckage of Amelia Earhart's plane on a remote Pacific island say it is likely to be washed up trees.

The team travelled to a lagoon in the Taraia Peninsula on Nikumaroro, Kiribati, to confirm whether a shiny object first spotted on satellite imagery in 2020 solved the decades-long mystery of the pioneering pilot's disappearance.

But Purdue University, which has a leading role in the study, said the so-called Taraia Object "was likely a collection of large trees deposited along the peninsula's sandspit".

By the time the team arrived at the site a good portion of the debris had fragmented and washed away, leaving only a single Y-shaped segment, the university said.

Images of the Taraia Object - which Purdue University said was visible in photography dating back to 1938 - led researchers to wonder if it was the remnants of a small aircraft sitting in shallow waters.

"This mystery has been ongoing for 90 years and the mystery continues," said project director Rick Pettigrew, speaking from near the site of the object.

"The island has been holding on to its secrets and it continues to do so. I think eventually someone will find conclusive evidence here," he added.

Earhart's plane vanished without a trace in 1937 on the third-to-last leg of her attempt to fly around the world.

She had already successfully flown from California across South America, Africa and Asia in her twin-engine Lockheed Electra when she arrived in Lae, Papua New Guinea.

Earhart and her navigator Fred Noonan had planned to then travel towards Hawaii before returning to California.

But their plane vanished while trying to reach Howland Island, a remote uninhabited coral island about 400 miles (644km) from Nikumaroro, to refuel.

One theory is Earhart unintentionally navigated to Nikumaroro, where she ditched her plane and died a castaway.

The research team had travelled for five days by sea to reach Nikumaroro and was forced to spend several days on their ship following rough seas and strong winds, delaying their search on the island.

They spent four days onshore investigating the site.

Expedition hopes to find aviator Amelia Earhart's plane on remote island