Summary
Marine robotics firm Deep Sea Vision confirmed that a sonar image initially believed to show Amelia Earhart’s missing plane was actually a natural rock formation.
The image, taken near Howland Island, sparked excitement earlier this year as it aligned with her 1937 flight path.
However, after 11 months of analysis, the company concluded it was not the wreckage of her Lockheed 10-E Electra.
Deep Sea Vision plans to continue its search for Earhart’s last known location despite the setback.
Deep Sea Vision’s Instagram page also featured a post this month of a branded T-shirt with the sonar image that states: “We find rocks.”
The best part of this story, they got a good humor about it at least.
Ah, the dreaded “looks like,” which amateurs plague archaeologists with all the time and which regularly makes it into the media makes it into the media again.
Heaven forbid we wait for confirmation. It looks like her plane!
But don’t worry, now that the correction is out, we’ll only have at least 15 years of people who saw those articles confidently declaring that Amelia Earheart’s plane was discovered (along with her remains).
You have to admit, that was a pretty damn close match for a sonar image.
But that’s exactly why you wait for confirmation.
