On Tue, 11 Jan 2005 05:32:25 -0500, Cub Driver
wrote in
::

On Mon, 10 Jan 2005 15:48:05 GMT, Larry Dighera
wrote:

This was the conclusion reached by author Fred
Goerner in his The Search for Amelia Earhart.

Book authors will advance any theory, however loony, in order to sell
books, or perhaps to advance a cause they believe in. This is not to
say that Earhart was not doing a bit of spying, but that nobody has
come close to proving it.

Of course, I have no idea of where the truth lies in the case of AE
and FN. However, Mr Goerner made at least three trips to the Martial
Islands as a result of accounts from natives, that American male and
female flyers were captured and held there. Over the course of his
rather professionally conducted investigations, he received firsthand
accounts from solders who claim to have exhumed remains purported to
be those of AE and FN, was encouraged by Chester Nimitz to continue
pursuing his investigation, and unearthed considerable information
previously unknown, such as AE's Electra being equipped with larger
engines than had previously been believed resulting in its ability to
make 200 MPH cruise speed. Several times throughout his
investigations, the government withheld files only to provide them
later due to his diligence. In all, the conclusion he reached seems
plausible, and much of it is corroborated by several disparate sources
who lacked knowledge of each other.

The truth seems much more mundane: Earhart,
like many another pilot, screwed up. The Pacific Ocean is a large
place, and it is hardly surprising that no one has found the aircraft
or the bodies, especially given the war that soon followed.

Of course that is true also. But if so, how would you explain all the
firsthand accounts, the Navy's building an airfield for AE and
stationing ships for her, and all the other assistance the government
provided? Goerner says this occurred during a time when the official
government policy was not to materially support record flight
attempts.