Amelia Earhart's Final Message Revealed in Newly Released Files
The U.S. government released over 4,600 pages of sealed records about Amelia Earhart's final trip last week. The famed aviator disappeared nearly a century ago, and conspiracy theories have swirled ever since.
President Donald Trump ordered the release this fall. The National Archives published the documents, which include some of Earhart's final communications before she vanished over the South Pacific on July 2, 1937.
National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard said Friday, November 14, that the initial batch includes Earhart's "last known communications, weather and plane conditions at the time, and potential search locations, as well as subsequent inquiries and theories regarding her disappearance."
Also included: U.S. Navy and Coast Guard reports, maps, and messages "tracing her final flight and the initial search in the immediate days following her disappearance."
The Final Message
The final communication from Earhart's plane came at 8:43 a.m. on July 2, 1937: "We are on the line 157 337 wl rept msg we wl rept..."
That's it. Incomplete, cryptic, and the last anyone heard from her.
Earhart was attempting to become the first person to fly around the world. She'd already become the first woman to fly solo nonstop across the Atlantic. The Smithsonian describes her as likely "the most famous female pilot in aviation history."
She disappeared, possibly after running out of fuel, somewhere over the Pacific. No wreckage was ever definitively found. No body recovered. Just silence after that final garbled message.
The Theories and Hoaxes
The newly released documents include newspaper clippings and memos showing "the hoaxes surrounding Miss Earhart's around-the-world flight." Some highlights include:
A Japanese diplomatic message to the United States expressing condolences for Earhart's disappearance.
Suggestions she died on Saipan, an island in the Western Pacific.
Comments from a man who claimed Earhart was buried in Spain.
Comments from a woman who claimed Earhart was still alive and had communicated with her via telepathy. Because of course someone claimed that.
Government telegrams claiming Earhart had been captured by the Japanese and executed.
"Earhart's disappearance spawned countless theories involving radio problems, poor communication, navigation or pilot skills, other landing sites, spy missions and imprisonment, and even living quietly in New Jersey or on a rubber plantation in the Philippines," according to the Smithsonian.
New Jersey? Sure. Because after disappearing during a historic around-the-world flight, you'd definitely settle down in suburban New Jersey and never tell anyone.
What This Actually Changes
Experts haven't said the documents will change the public's understanding of Earhart's travels. They just paint a more complete picture of her work and the chaos that followed her disappearance.
The files show how quickly theories and hoaxes emerged. Within days of her disappearance, people were claiming to know what happened based on nothing. Telepathy. Burial in Spain. Secret imprisonment. Every possible explanation except the most likely one: she ran out of fuel and crashed into the Pacific Ocean.
The government collected all these theories, filed reports, chased leads that went nowhere. Nearly a century later, we're still talking about it.
More Documents Coming
Additional records about Earhart will be released on the National Archives website on a "rolling basis" as they're declassified, Gabbard said.
On September 26, Trump ordered his administration to release "all Government Records related to Amelia Earhart, her final trip, and everything else about her."
"The release of the Amelia Earhart files will shine light on the disappearance of a beloved American aviator who has been at the center of public inquisition for decades," Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Whether they'll actually shine light or just add more speculation remains to be seen.
The Enduring Mystery
Earhart's disappearance captivates people because it's unresolved. She was famous, accomplished, and attempting something historic. Then she vanished without a trace.
The simplest explanation—fuel ran out, plane crashed into ocean, wreckage sank—doesn't satisfy people who want intrigue. So, they create it. Japanese capture. Secret missions. Telepathic communication. Quiet life in New Jersey.
Earhart's final message was incomplete. "We are on the line 157 337 wl rept msg we wl rept..." That's all she managed to transmit before communication ended forever.
Nearly 88 years later, we're still trying to figure out what happened next. The government files released last week contain theories, hoaxes, diplomatic messages, and search reports. What they don't contain is a definitive answer.
You can view the documents on the National Archives website. Over 4,600 pages of government records about Amelia Earhart's final flight and disappearance. Decades of theories, investigations, and speculation all compiled in one place.
Whether any of it brings us closer to knowing what actually happened on July 2, 1937, is another question entirely.
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