On July 2, 1937, Amelia Earhart and her navigator disappeared while flying over the Pacific Ocean during their trip around the world. Her plane has never been found despite countless efforts to solve the mystery of its vanishing. Earlier this year, ocean exploration company Deep Sea Vision shared the sonar image above that they say "appears to be Earhart's Lockheed 10-E Electra" airplane. It did appear to be that but, as they say, appearances can be deceiving.
The explorers captured the image with an underwater robot 16,000 feet below the ocean's surface near Howland Island about 1,700 nautical miles southwest of Honolulu. The island was a fueling stop destination during Earhart's journey but they never made it.
Deep Sea Vision founder Tony Romero and team have just visited the site to confirm their findings and, unfortunately, new sonar images reveal that the promising shape is, well, a rocks.
"This outcome isn't what we hoped for," Romeo said.
Given they're out in the water anyway, the team plans to spend another month searching and scanning 1,500 miles of the ocean floor, reports the Post and Courier.
"The global response to our initial discovery has been truly inspiring, a testament to Amelia and the pull of her incredible story," Romero added.
Previously:
• How coconut crabs may have absconded with Amelia Earhart's skeleton
• Watch footage of Amelia Earhart from 1937
