Earhart researcher John Kada seems to have identified the sextant box found on Nikumaroro in 1940, through persistent research testing the hypothesis that it was lost during the survey work performed on the island by crews from the USS Bushnell in 1939. John has given me permission to cite the article he's published on his blog, so here it is: https://gardnerghost.blogspot.com/2018/10/the-origin-of-nikumaroro-sextant-box.html.
John's exemplary research thoroughly undercuts my conclusion -- shared with others in and around TIGHAR -- that the box was likely the property of Fred Noonan (as portrayed in both my novels, Thirteen Bones and Amelia Earhart Unrescued). Oh well, they're fiction.
Good work, John!
Excellent archival research by Mr. Kada.
ReplyDeleteAlso, the New England Air Museum discovered last year that the aluminum panel 2-2-v-1 matches the top of a C-47B wing at the museum (including even the unusual irregular rivet pattern at the edge).