Sonar Image Once Thought Proof of Missing Earhart Plane Is Actually a Rock Formation

Deep-sea exploration company says it had cleared nearly 7,700 square miles in the ocean floor search for the Lockheed Electra 10-E.

Meg Godlewski

Wednesday, November 27, 2024 at 03:20 PM ET

Verified

Edited By:

Kimberly Johnson

Earlier this year, ocean exploration company Deep Sea Vision released an underwater sonar image taken of the Pacific Ocean floor that it thought might be Amelia Earhart’s Electra. [Courtesy: Deep Sea Vision]

Key Takeaways:

Deep Sea Vision (DSV) has confirmed that the underwater image previously thought to be Amelia Earhart's missing Lockheed Electra 10-E is actually a natural rock formation.
The company initially announced in January that it had found a sonar image resembling the aircraft during its search efforts in the Pacific Ocean.
Despite this false lead, DSV is continuing its extensive underwater search, having now cleared nearly 7,700 square miles, with no evidence of Earhart's plane yet found.
The disappearance of Amelia Earhart and navigator Fred Noonan in 1937 near Howland Island remains one of history's most enduring aviation mysteries.

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The underwater image that a deep-sea exploration company suggested might be Amelia Earhart’s missing Lockheed Electra 10-E has turned out to be a rock formation, according to the company, South Carolina-based Deep Sea Vision (DSV).

“After 11 months the waiting has finally ended and unfortunately our target was not Amelia’s Electra 10E (just a natural rock formation),” the company said in an Instagram post earlier this month. “As we speak DSV continues to search—now clearing almost 7,700 square miles… the plot thickens with still no evidence of her disappearance ever found.”