I Have a Bone To Pick With The Latest "Discovery" of Amelia Earhart's Whereabouts

It seems like Amelia Earhart has been found yet again. According to Richard Jantz, an Emeritus Professor of Anthropology at the University of Tennessee, bones discovered on Nikumaroro Island (then known as Gardner Island) in 1940 belonged to Earhart. At the time of their discovery, it was concluded the bones belonged to a male. Jantz is 99% sure they belong to the legendary aviatrix.

So why is Jantz only 99% sure? Well, because the actual bones studied more than 75 years ago by Dr. D.W. Hoodless are missing. Computer models and pictures of Earhart, while interesting, don't demonstrate Jantz's theory conclusively. Of course, there is a possibility those bones could belong to Earhart but absent them bones there must remain more than a 1% doubt that the bones are hers.

I'm also skeptical because back in July we were hearing yet again that Earhart and Fred Noonan were captured by the Japanese, accused of being spies and executed. The basis was a photo purportedly taken of Earhart and Noonan with their damaged Electra Lockheed in the background. The photo was a centerpiece of a History Channel documentary. But within hours of its airing, a Japanese blogger found the photo as part of a travelogue published in 1935, two years before Earhart & Noonan's disappearance. Oops!!!

Chances are what's left of Earhart, Noonan and the Lockheed Electra are at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean in the vicinity of Howland Island. But this is not nearly as glamorous as being captured by the Japanese or being a castaway. As I wrote in National Review Online last July, we are a country which has embraced alternative facts from the outhouse to the White House:

As long as the American public accepts alternative facts as truth, bizarre and implausible conspiracy theories will flourish — about Amelia Earhart, government figures, or anything else. This means it is likely that we will continue to hear superficial stories about Earhart being an American spy or a castaway instead of looking deep into the Pacific Ocean, where she and her plane are most likely to be found.

No doubt in another nine months from now Earhart will be found yet again.