Overview

• The Purdue Research Foundation and the Archaeological Legacy Institute plan a three-week expedition starting November 4 to examine a lagoon anomaly on Nikumaroro known as the 'Taraia Object.'
• Photos dating to 1938 and later satellite imagery show a persistent object in the island’s lagoon that researchers say could be consistent with parts of Earhart’s Lockheed Electra 10E.
• President Trump ordered the declassification of government records related to Earhart, though a Purdue official said they are unaware of any materials that remain classified, and Fox News could not reach the National Archives during the shutdown.
• Skepticism persists after earlier efforts produced no verified wreckage at Nikumaroro and a widely publicized 2024 sonar target near Howland was later identified as a rock formation.
• ALI’s Richard Pettigrew called a confirmed identification the “discovery of a lifetime,” and Purdue says verification would be the first step toward eventually returning the Electra to West Lafayette.