Amelia Earhart and her plane vanished in 1937. A team is scouring a remote island for evidence.

A team of marine archaeologists from Purdue University and the Archaeological Legacy Institute arrived at Nikumaroro Island in the Pacific Ocean on October 12, 2026, to investigate a mysterious object in a lagoon that may be wreckage from Amelia Earhart's lost plane. The object, known as the Taraia Object, was first spotted in satellite images in 2020 and has been visible in aerial photographs dating back to 1938. Researchers believe it could be part of Earhart’s Lockheed Electra 10-E aircraft, which vanished during her attempt to fly around the world in July 1937. However, severe weather conditions forced a halt to field operations on October 16, but the expedition remains on schedule with more data collection planned before departure on October 20.