Amelia Woo-hart on NatGeo

[onager]

Over the weekend NatGeo (re)played its documentary about Amelia Earhart. Probably trying to get mileage from the recent Hillary Swank movie, though I think that movie sank quicker than poor Ms. Earhart's Lockheed Electra did in 1937.

Anyway, as if we needed another one...this show is a textbook example of how crackpot conspiracy theories are born and nourished.

I liked the old guy who claimed that, after the 1944 invasion of Saipan, he found Earhart's briefcase in a Japanese safe.

He claimed the briefcase was full of receipts from Macy's. Yes, the Macy's on 34th St. in Manhattan.

Naturally, if you were flying around the world and only carrying the bare essentials, you'd lug along a big briefcase full of Macy's receipts. In case you wanted to return your leather flying jacket to the Macy's branch on Saipan, I guess.

Another geezer, surrounded by maps and flying charts, slipped in a Standard Woo Qualifier - "somehow she got off course." But the on-screen map showed that would have been nearly impossible without some truly weird course deviations. And Earhart was flying with Fred Noonan, one of the best navigators in the world at the time.

Of course, politics got dragged in. A couple of ranting anti-FDR geezers have "proof" that FDR ordered Earhart to spy on Japanese installations in the area. Only they don't have proof, just the voices rattling around in their heads.

Without doubt, the most bizarre claim is that Earhart came back to the U.S. and assumed the identity of a New Jersey housewife, Irene Bolam. A couple of goofballs wrote a book saying that in the 1950s.

Ms. Bolam was not amused and sued the authors/goofballs for $1.2 million. They settled out of court.

The show had Some Crackpot using morphing software to "prove" the facial features of the two women were identical. Only a real expert followed immediately, pointing out the obvious differences.

The crackpots never explained how Earhart (5 foot 8 inches) managed to shed 3 inches of height when she transmogrified into Irene Bolam. Personally, I suspect lycanthropy was involved.

Anyway, definitely worth an hour of your time if you're interested in how crackpottery gets taken seriously.

[semillama]

1. Did they talk to Tom King or someone from his group at all?

He has a great take on it as an archaeologist investigating the material evidence.

http://archaeology.about.com/od/pacificislands/a/king_ae.htm

[onager]

2. Yes.

The narrator mentioned the shoe parts, but also noted that the shoe appeared to be the wrong size - as King did in his article.

Thanks for that fascinating link. One thing about King's group stood out in the TV show and that article: they are not afraid to say "We just don't know."

That's in sharp contrast to some of the asshats on the show. The goofier their theories, the more absolutely certain they seemed to be that they were true. Just like psychics. :-)