Amelia Earhart: Pilot believes he’s found amelia earhart’s long-lost airplane on Nikumaroro using Google Earth
At 3: 00 PM ET on March 20, 2026, a veteran pilot says he has identified what he believes are the remains of amelia earhart’s Lockheed Electra on Nikumaroro Island using Google Earth. Justin Myers, who spent nearly 25 years flying, flagged dark shapes and aligned measurements in satellite images that he says match parts of the Electra. The claim revives work by researchers at Purdue University and intersects a planned on-site expedition that was postponed and is now set for 2026.
Amelia Earhart: the new Google Earth claim
Justin Myers, a pilot with decades of flight experience, says he scanned Nikumaroro’s overhead images while imagining where he would force-land a light twin aircraft and identified a dark-colored object about 39 feet long — a length Myers notes matches the Lockheed 10-E Electra. “I was just putting myself in Amelia and Fred’s shoes, ” Myers said, describing his method of visual search and measurement. He added, “The bottom line is from my interests from a child in vintage aircraft and air crash investigation, I can say that is what was once a 12-metre, 2-engine vintage aircraft. What I can’t say is that is definitely Amelia’s Electra. “
Evidence on Nikumaroro reef and satellite anomalies
Myers focused on a flat section of the reef on Nikumaroro, a tiny island of Kiribati located between Hawaii and Fiji, where he identified what he calls aircraft-shaped debris and what appeared to be an exposed radial engine. He assembled measurements and images in a blog post and submitted his observations to air investigators. The debris he describes — a fuselage-like section and engine-shaped shapes aligned with Electra dimensions — is presented as the core of his claim, while Myers acknowledges he cannot confirm identity without on-site inspection.
Investigators, prior research and the coming expedition
Researchers at Purdue University earlier identified a different anomaly in a 1938 aerial photograph they described as offering “very strong” evidence that an object known as the Taraia Object on Nikumaroro could be the downed plane. A planned 15-person expedition to the island, originally scheduled for November, was postponed and is now slated for 2026 to investigate anomalies both on the reef and underwater in a lagoon where strange metallic reflections were captured a year after the disappearance. Myers filed an official report with investigators after reaching out to investigative agencies.
Immediate reactions and what happens next
Named institutions and individual researchers involved with previous fieldwork on Nikumaroro have signaled interest in further on-site verification, while Myers is urging coordinated investigation. The next confirmed step is the planned expedition in 2026 that aims to place boots on the reef and deploy underwater inspection of the lagoon. That expedition will determine whether the satellite-visible shapes Meyer flagged are exposed wreckage, natural reef formation, or modern debris.
Until field teams can corral the evidence on the ground and underwater, the claim remains a satellite-based lead. Investigators will compare Myers’s measurements and images with artifacts and aerial photos dating to 1938 and the Electra’s dimensions; the forthcoming 2026 fieldwork is expected to deliver the most direct test of the hypothesis about amelia earhart’s final aircraft.
