Why can we solve the Amelia Earhart mystery?
Why can’t we solve the Amelia Earhart mystery? In the face of a mystery or lack of evidence, the imagination tends to fill in the gaps itself. We seem to have an innate need for finality, for a full, clear picture — a need that finds us preferring wild conjecture to the questions in our heads. Such is the case with the disappearance of early aviatrix Amelia Earhart and her navigator Fred Noonan. It’s not enough to suppose that somewhere in the Southwestern Pacific Ocean lies a Lockheed Electra two-seat airplane that may only be found by sheer chance, if at all. This leaves too much room for doubt, and a mystery has developed in the 70 years since she vanished. To some, Amelia Earhart was an American spy sent to carry out espionage against the Japanese, who caught and executed her. (Actually,
In the face of a mystery or lack of evidence, the imagination tends to fill in the gaps itself. We seem to have an innate need for finality, for a full, clear picture — a need that finds us preferring wild conjecture to the questions in our heads. Such is the case with the disappearance of early aviatrix Amelia Earhart and her navigator Fred Noonan. It’s not enough to suppose that somewhere in the Southwestern Pacific Ocean lies a Lockheed Electra two-seat airplane that may only be found by sheer chance, if at all. This leaves too much room for doubt, and a mystery has developed in the 70 years since she vanished. To some, Amelia Earhart was an American spy sent to carry out espionage against the Japanese, who caught and executed her. (Actually, the Japanese aided the search effort in the da
