Getty ImagesDonald Trump said he would order his administration to declassify secret government records related to the 1937 disappearance of the US aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart.
The story of Earhart, who vanished while flying over the Pacific Ocean, “has captivated millions”, the US president wrote on social media on Friday.
Earhart’s disappearance during an attempt to circumnavigate the globe spawned numerous theories – from a simple crash due to fuel exhaustion to more elaborate claims of Japanese capture or US government espionage.
While some FBI files and Navy search reports have been declassified over the decades, some records have remained inaccessible, fuelling speculation about a cover-up.
Earhart disappeared during her attempt to fly around the globe, trying to reach Howland Island in the Pacific for refuelling.
The official explanation is that she didn’t find the island, lost communication and ran out of fuel, only to crash into the ocean.
While that’s a largely accepted version of events, there is no evidence – as in debris – to back it up.
“She disappeared in the South Pacific while trying to become the first woman to fly around the World,” Trump said. “Amelia made it almost three quarters around the World before she suddenly, and without notice, vanished, never to be seen again.”
The two other prominent theories are that Earhart crash-landed on or near the then-Japanese Marshall Islands, or that she made it to Nikumaroro island near Kiribati and died a castaway there.
There is no conclusive evidence for either of these theories – but that hasn’t stopped amateur and professional historians from digging into them.
Parts of a skeleton found on Nikumaroro in 1940 were initially thought to have been hers, but doctors at the time decided they belonged to a male body.
According to Trump, the documents to be declassified and released would include “all government records related to Amelia Earhart, her final trip, and everything else about her”.
Interest in her case – including attempts to locate the plane – has remained strong after eight decades.
Last year, some researchers said they might have found Earhart’s long-lost plane.
Sonar imaging, which mapped the ocean floor using sound waves, led researchers to what they claimed was a small aircraft.
The discovery was made at around 4,877m (16,000ft) from the surface of the Pacific Ocean.
In 2022, a series of events took place in Derry to commemorate the 90th anniversary of Earhart’s historic transatlantic landing.