...but Fans, Scholars, and Curious Will

The year 2002 marks the 65th anniversary of the disappearance of Amelia Earhart and her navigator, Fred Noonan, on their attempt to fly around the world at the equator. Amelia's tragic journey, arguably one of the greatest mysteries in aviation history, began on May 20, 1937, with her departure from Oakland, CA. To commemorate that anniversary, the 99s has joined with the Amelia Earhart Society of Researchers, the Western Aerospace Museum, Zonta, and other organizations, in co-sponsoring an Amelia Earhart Symposium on May 17-19, 2002, at the Western Aerospace Museum at the Oakland Airport. The symposium is expected to be the largest gathering of Amelia Earhart researchers and interested parties from all over the world.

Earhart and Noonan disappeared on July 2, 1937, somewhere in the mid-Pacific Ocean, after completing more than two-thirds of their flight around the world. Many subjective theories have evolved over the years about the fliers' last few hours enroute to Howland Island. Hundreds of serious researchers throughout the world have failed to conclusively uncover the final outcome of Earhart and Noonan.

The official position of the U.S. Government is that the pair perished in the ocean when they failed to find Howland Island and ran out of fuel. Because of World War II and continuing security concerns [how much WWII intel still merits government secrecy? --ed], some information is still classified as secret. However, requests under the Freedom of Information Act have forced the release of many, but not all, classified government and military documents. While much information has been gleaned from the recently released files, there are many files that have not been seen by researchers that may pertain to Earhart in various government and private files, including a section of State Department classified files called "Special War Problems."

The symposium is not intended to reach a conclusion on what happened to Earhart and Noonan, but to allow a forum for researchers to present interpretations not previously published or released and to draw attention to still classified government documents.

Plans include a private viewing of the 1943 RKO film, Flight for Freedom, starring Rosalind Russell and Fred MacMurray, believed based on the life of Amelia Earhart and in which, it is now learned, Amelia's husband, George Putnam, was more involved than originally thought. 

It will also include a full day and a half of panel presentations by research scholars with audience participation; a reception; a formal dinner featuring special guests; a guided bus tour of the Oakland-Alameda sites where Earhart and Noonan conducted their activities; and a tour of the bay on the yacht formerly owned by Franklin D. Roosevelt, President of the United States at the time of their disappearance.

The mission of the Amelia Earhart Society is to perpetuate the memory of Amelia Earhart and to encourage the release and determination of any additional facts surrounding her flight, her disappearance, and her disposition.

FMI: http://www.caohwy.com/w/westamus.htm