Purdue University, the Purdue Research Foundation and the Archaeological Legacy Institute will send a team to Nikumaroro in the South Pacific to investigate whether a submerged object in the island’s lagoon is Amelia Earhart’s Lockheed Electra 10-E. The expedition is due to meet in Tarawa, Kiribati, on 6 October before departing by sea for the Phoenix Islands the next day.
The target, known as the Taraia Object, is a visual anomaly first identified in satellite imagery in 2020 and later found to be visible in aerial photographs taken as early as 1938. The team plans to document the site with video and still photography before using magnetometers and sonar to map the area. If needed, underwater excavation will follow using a hydraulic dredge.
Purdue has framed the mission as a step toward determining whether the object is Earhart’s aircraft rather than a confirmed discovery. If the wreckage is identified, the next phase would be a larger archaeological excavation and possible recovery effort, subject to permission from the Kiribati government. The search is supported by other evidence gathered by the International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery, which has built a case that Earhart and navigator Fred Noonan ended their flight on Nikumaroro.
Richard Pettigrew, president of the Archaeological Legacy Institute, will lead the expedition. Purdue Senior Vice President Steve Schultz, along with alumni Sirisha Bandla and Marc Hagle, are among those taking part.