The U.S. National Archives released over 4,600 pages of declassified government records Friday related to Amelia Earhart’s mysterious 1937 disappearance over the Pacific Ocean, following President Donald Trump’s September order to make the information public.
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard announced the release, which includes newly declassified files from the National Security Agency, U.S. Navy and Coast Guard search reports, maps, communications analyses and other documents tracing Earhart’s final flight.
“Delivering on President Trump’s promise, the release of the Amelia Earhart files will shine light on the disappearance of a beloved American aviator who has been at the center of public inquisition for decades,” Gabbard said.
“Under President Trump’s leadership, we will continue the work to end the weaponization of intelligence and instead focus the Intelligence Community on finding the truth and telling the truth, and ensuring the safety, security, and freedom of the American people.”
The documents include log books of U.S. military vessels involved in the air-and-sea search for Earhart, memos, newspaper clippings, letters, and telegrams.
The letters include one from a woman claiming she deduced by mental telepathy that Earhart was still alive, one from a man insisting she was buried in Spain, and government telegrams discounting rumors Earhart had been taken captive by the Imperial Japanese military and executed.
The records detail Earhart’s last known communications and location, weather, and plane conditions at the time, potential search locations, and theories regarding her disappearance.
Trump ordered the declassification on September 26.
“Amelia [Earhart] was an Aviation Pioneer, the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean, and achieved many other Aviation ‘firsts,'” Trump wrote. “Amelia made it almost three quarters around the World before she suddenly, and without notice, vanished, never to be seen again. Her disappearance, almost 90 years ago, has captivated millions.”
Earhart and navigator Fred Noonan disappeared July 2, 1937 after taking off from Lae, Papua New Guinea, on a 2,500-mile flight to refuel at Howland Island, a speck of U.S. territory between Australia and Hawaii, during an attempt to fly around the world. Radio contact with the plane was lost after Earhart, 39, reported running low on fuel.
Many of the documents released by the Trump administration have reportedly been released previously by the National Archives. Aviation experts consider it unlikely the latest material will shed new light on Earhart’s disappearance.
Earhart won fame in 1932 as the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic. She took off May 20, 1937 from Oakland, California, hoping to become the first woman to fly around the world.