Archaeologists Question Whether Fighters Are Really Buried In Burma

If there are 124 Supermarine Spitfires buried in crates in Burma, they're not going to be found easily. Initial excavations of three sites where the airplanes were thought to be placed underground as WWII was drawing to a close have so far turned up no evidence of the iconic airplanes.

The BBC reports that while archaeologists say that they are no longer convinced that the evidence supports the theory that there are planes buried in Burma, the driving force behind the effort to find them is still convinced they're there ... they just haven't looked in the right place.

David Cundall, the British farmer who has spent nearly two decades in search of the Spitfires, said he is "frustrated" but "determined" to continue looking for the airplanes said to be buried as Japanese forces advanced at the end of the war.

There are large concentrations of metal underground near the airport in Rangoon, where some of the planes were said to be buried. Earlier this month, a crate was discovered in the Kachin state capital of Myitkynia as well, but searchers were unable to immediately determine its contents because of a large amount of muddy water.

Cundall said he would be the first to apologize if his efforts came up empty, but has not given up the search. The January excavations had been sponsored by the Belarus strategy game developer Wargaming.net. Their continued participation in the search was unclear.

(Spitfire pictured in file image)

FMI: http://wargaming.com/