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Friday’s Final Word – HotAir
Donald Trump has demanded the release of any classified government files on the missing aviator Amelia Earhart.
Earhart disappeared over the Pacific Ocean while attempting to become the first female aviator to successfully circumnavigate the world in 1937.
Ongoing investigations into a possible crash site have continued to keep the story alive in the public imagination, but no trace of Earhart has ever been found.
Trump said it’s an ‘interesting story’ that has ‘captivated millions.’ He said people have asked him whether he’d consider declassifying and making public everything the government has on her.
‘She was an Aviation Pioneer, the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean, and achieved many other Aviation `firsts,´’ he wrote on his social media site.
‘She disappeared in the South Pacific while trying to become the first woman to fly around the World.
‘Amelia made it almost three quarters around the World before she suddenly, and without notice, vanished, never to be seen again,’ he continued.
‘Her disappearance, almost 90 years ago, has captivated millions. I am ordering my Administration to declassify and release all Government Records related to Amelia Earhart, her final trip, and everything else about her.’
Donald Trump has demanded the release of any classified government files on the missing aviator Amelia Earhart
Earhart disappeared over the Pacific Ocean while attempting to become the first female aviator to successfully circumnavigate the world in 1937
Earhart and her navigator, Fred Noonan, disappeared while flying from New Guinea to Howland Island as part of her attempt to become the first female pilot to circumnavigate the globe.
She had radioed that she was running low on fuel. The Navy searched but found no trace.
The prevailing belief is that Earhart, 39, and Noonan, 44, ran out of fuel and ditched their twin-engine Lockheed Electra in the Pacific near Howland Island while on one of the final legs of their epic journey.
The U.S. government´s official position has been that Earhart and Noonan went down with their plane.
Since then, theories have veered into the absurd, including abduction by aliens, or Earhart living in New Jersey under an alias.
Others speculate she and Noonan were executed by the Japanese or died as castaways on an island.
The newly declassified records, expected to include intelligence cables, Navy reconnaissance reports and possible eyewitness accounts, could provide fresh clues, and have spotlighted ongoing efforts to solve the mystery.
Veteran archaeologist Dr Richard Pettigrew is preparing to lead a high-tech expedition to a Pacific reef where satellite images appear to show a plane wreck that matches Earhart’s aircraft.
Pioneering female aviator Amelia Earhart during her ill-fated around the world flight attempt in 1937
President Trump took to his TruthSocial platform to demand the release of any government files on the disappearance of Amelia Earhart – although it is unclear if any actually exist
If Pettigrew is correct, and he uncovers Earhart’s Lockheed Electra, it will solve a mystery that’s eluded investigators for the nine decades since she went missing.
But he would also reveal a grim truth about the tousled-haired heroine’s fate.
He would show that Earhart had got lost on her round-the-world-flight, ran out of fuel, and landed on a small, lonely island, where she died, hungry and parched, and was devoured by giant crabs.
It is unclear if the US government holds any classified files on her disappearance.
There is no suggestion Earhart’s activities had any connection to the US security services or federal government in general.
The president previously called for the release of files about pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein.
His call backfired when his own Department of Justice subsequently refused to do so.
A tranche of Epstein files released last month included a crude drawing of a woman’s body Trump is said to have drawn Epstein as a birthday president.
The president denied sending it and has sued The Wall Street Journal newspaper, which first reported on the picture.
During his second term, Trump has also declassified files related to the assassinations of Martin Luther King, John F. Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy, Sr.
