- Former US Air Force pilot Tony Romeo may have found Amelia Earhart’s long-lost aircraft using sonar on a unmanned submersible, capturing an aircraft-shaped object in the Pacific Ocean.
- The expedition, funded by $11 million raised by Romeo and utilizing a Norwegian submersible drone, covered 5,200 square miles of the ocean floor and captured a sonar image 100 miles from the last known location of Earhart’s flight.
- Further investigation and clearer images are needed for confirmation, but Romeo plans to return to the area with autonomous submersibles and hopes to collaborate with institutions to salvage the plane for display.
Additional Coverage:
- A former US Air Force officer spent $11 million searching for Amelia Earhart’s long-lost plane — and may have found it (businessinsider.com)
A pilot and former US Air Force intelligence officer named Tony Romeo believes he may have found the long-lost aircraft of famed pilot Amelia Earhart. Using sonar on a high-tech unmanned submersible, Romeo captured an image of an aircraft-shaped object on the floor of the Pacific Ocean. While experts agree that the location seems approximately correct, clearer images are needed for confirmation.
Amelia Earhart and her Lockheed 10-E Electra plane disappeared over the Pacific Ocean in 1937 while attempting to circumnavigate the globe. The mystery surrounding her disappearance has sparked various conspiracy theories over the years. Tony Romeo has been conducting a search for Earhart’s plane and finally returned from a 100-day voyage with a sonar image that he believes shows the lost aircraft.
Romeo’s expedition, funded by $11 million he raised by selling commercial properties, utilized a high-tech unmanned submersible drone called “Hugin” manufactured by Norwegian company Kongsberg. The research crew of 16 covered 5,200 square miles of the ocean floor. Romeo had been fascinated by the mystery of Earhart’s disappearance for years and saw this project as an opportunity to pursue his passion.
During the voyage, the team captured a sonar image of a plane-shaped object about 100 miles from Howland Island, the last known location of Earhart’s flight. However, they only discovered the image in the submersible’s data on the 90th day of the voyage, making it impossible to turn back and investigate further. Experts have shown interest in the finding, but agree that clearer views and more details, such as the plane’s serial number, are needed for confirmation.
Romeo plans to return to the area to capture better images using autonomous or robotic submersibles equipped with cameras and sonar. He believes that the distinctive shape of the fuselage, tail, and wings visible in the sonar image are strong evidence of his groundbreaking discovery. Once confirmation is achieved, Romeo envisions collaboration with various parties, including the Smithsonian Institution, to lift and salvage the plane for display.
The search for Amelia Earhart’s lost plane has been ongoing for decades, with various teams attempting to locate it without success. The deep water and vast search area have posed challenges, but Romeo’s discovery brings new hope to solving this century-old mystery.