University Begins ‘Taraia Object Expedition’ 88 Years After her Disappearance

Purdue’s Research Foundation and Archaeological Legacy Institute are joining the search for the lost aircraft of aviation icon and former university flight instructor Amelia Earhart. The expedition will begin in November 2025 by sending teams to a potential wreckage location in the Pacific.

“About nine decades ago, Amelia Earhart was recruited to Purdue, and the university president later worked with her to prepare an aircraft for her historic flight around the world,” stated Purdue President Mung Chiang. “Today, as a team of experts try again to locate the plane, the Boilermaker spirit of exploration lives on.”

The target is the remote Pacific island of Nikumaroro. Upon their arrival, researchers will inspect a visual anomaly known as the Taraia Object, which has been spotted in satellite imagery within the island’s lagoon. Some believe it may be what remains of Earhart’s Lockheed Electra 10E: the aircraft she flew in her ill-fated attempt to circumnavigate the globe in 1937.

For Purdue, this is more than a scientific mission. It’s a personal one. Earhart worked with the university as a career counselor for women and technical advisor in the 1930s, and the school funded the “flying laboratory” she used for her final flight. She planned to return the aircraft to Purdue after the journey.

“Both Earhart and her husband and manager, George Putnam, expressed their intention to return the Electra to Purdue after her historic flight,” said Steven Schultz, senior VP and general counsel of Purdue University. “Based on the evidence, we agree with ALI that this expedition offers the best chance not only to solve perhaps the greatest mystery of the 20th century, but also to fulfill Amelia’s wishes and bring the Electra home.”

The Taraia Object has reportedly remained in place since 1938, and joins other evidence supporting the theory that Earhart and navigator Fred Noonan landed on the island and died there. This includes post-loss radio signals, 1930s-era artifacts, bone measurements linked to Earhart, and the so-called Bevington Object: a photo from 1937 believed to show the aircraft’s landing gear.

The team will depart from the Marshall Islands on November 5, spend five days on-site, and return on November 21. If the object is confirmed to be her Electra, a full excavation could follow in 2026.

FMI: www.purdue.edu