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Protecting
Earhart's 'Modern' Analysis Evaluated The Most Significant Amelia Earhart Disappearance Investigations
From Years Gone By:
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2004
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2016
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1996-2020 modern investigation
and forensic comparison
analysis. Copyright
2014, 2017, & 2020
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Reviewing the most significant
'Earhart disappearance investigations' from the past is a good introduction to Protecting Earhart's modern
investigation and its Irene-Amelia.com website, that delivered the most comprehensive analysis ever to examine Amelia Earhart's
1937 'disappearance' and subsequent 'missing person' case. Of note, ALL of the authors of the books shown above, based on the facts as
they knew them to be, concluded that Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan successfully ditched their plane in a 'no fly zone' territory,
and they were picked up and sequestered by Japan's Imperial Navy at the same time Japan was instigating the second Sino-Japanese
War, that the United States strongly opposed. Four of the above listed books; Amelia Earhart Lives, Stand By To Die, Amelia Earhart
Survived, and Amelia Earhart Beyond the Grave, concluded that Amelia Earhart remained sequestered under Japan's
stewardship until the end of World War Two. They also concluded that after Japan surrendered to the allies, Amelia returned
to the United States and assumed the leftover identity of, "Irene O'Crowley Craigmile" that belonged to a former
1930's pilot friend of hers who had inordinately perished years before. It is worth noting here, the assertion, or 'claim' of Amelia living-on and becoming known as
'Irene' was soundly based dating back to its origin... and it has never been disproved. In
the mid-1990s, the emergence of Amelia Earhart investigative journalist, Tod Swindell, began with his examinations of the
most significant Amelia Earhart disappearance studies conducted up to that point. He named his endeavor,
Protecting Earhart, and began backtracking all the way to Paul Briand's 1950s' investigation, followed by several others
conducted throughout the remainder of the Twentieth-Century, finally culminating with Rollin C. Reineck's and W. C. Jameson's
Twenty-First Century offerings that tracked and expounded on Protecting Earhart's groundbreaking forensic comparison
analysis, the first one on record. During
the process of this long-term study, Tod Swindell met, came to know, and interviewed the majority of the still-living investigators;
Mike Harris, Randall Brink, Joseph A. Gervais, Rollin C. Reineck, and Joe Klaas, for example, whose previous efforts led to
some of the above book titles. The overall comprehensive review coupled with its forensic analysis results, enabled the Protecting
Earhart study to present the first bona fide answer to the question of, 'what became of Amelia Earhart(?)' after
she went missing. Protecting Earhart's
honed viewpoint of the above titles and more follows:
Before
Protecting Earhart's long-term, recently completed study took place, in
past decades the following works marked the three most weight-bearing Amelia Earhart
investigations:
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1966 by Fred Goerner
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1970, The Joe Klaas book about
the Gervais, Dinger,
and Briand ten year investigation; 'Operation
Earhart'
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1994, by Randall Brink with updates on Joseph A. Gervais
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The Gestation Of Modern
'Amelia Earhart Mystery' Sleuthing Dates Back To 1960 In
1960, Air Force Captains Joseph A. Gervais, Bob Dinger, and Paul Briand were stationed in the Pacific region where Amelia
Earhart went 'missing' twenty-three years earlier. After hearing one statement after another that described how Amelia had
actually survived her loss, they started 'Operation Earhart' in order to learn everything they could about what actually happened
to Amelia and her navigator, Fred Noonan. In 1962, a CBS radio journalist named Fred Goerner, learned of the seventy-two sworn
affidavits Gervais and Dinger collected from individuals among Micronesian Islands who spoke of Amelia's ongoing existence
under Japan's stewardship beyond the date she was last heard from; July 2, 1937. Goerner also learned that the two officers
were summoned by top U.S. military brass stationed in Japan then, whom confiscated much of their gathered information and
ordered them to disassociate 'Operation Earhart' from appearing as if it was a military backed endeavor. Fred Goerner's curiosity toward it all grew to a point where
he decided to travel to Micronesia himself and basically learned the same thing from a wide variety of people, including eyewitnesses,
who said Amelia and Fred Noonan were rescued by Japan at a tenuous time--during the onset of the Sino-Japanese War that the
United States was opposed to. "Amelia flew well off course after missing Howland Island, where she was supposed
to land, and she ended up entering Japan's restricted territory," was the most common recollection that Fred Goerner,
and Gervais, Briand, and Dinger before him heard time and again. The results of both studies, that combined for about fifteen years of investigative research, led
to the best selling books shown above. Each determined, based on factual data and an overwhelming preponderence of circumstantial
evidence, that Amelia did not simply 'disappear without a trace' as the general public was led to believe. From then on, and continuing well into the Twenty-First Century,
Protecting Earhart kept discovering new, revealing, and at times startling information about Amelia Earhart's 1937
'disappearance' and subsequent 'missing person case.'
Today,
people who are keenly aware of the particulars that surrounded Amelia Earhart's infamous disappearance saga, are accepting
of she and Fred Noonan's ongoing existence under the auspice of Japan, for an undetermined time period, yet well beyond
the date they were reported missing. They understand at the same time that the general public was never supposed to know about
it--both before and then coming out of the World War Two years. Why? remained the unanswered question.
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"Numerous investigations foundered on official silence in Washington
and Tokyo, leaving the true fate of Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan an everlasting mystery." 1982, aviation
historians, Marylin Bender and Selig Altschul on the 1937 disappearance and subsequent missing person case of Amelia Earhart,
quoted from their book, The Chosen Instrument.
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Below are Tod Swindell's reviews of the most significant works
ever published on the historical controversy over Amelia Earhart's premature world-flight ending, to include what ultimately
became of her after she was declared, "a missing person".
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Daughter of the Sky by Paul Briand, 1960
[Duell,
Sloan, & Pearce]
Paul Briand's Daughter
of the Sky marked the first well researched Amelia Earhart disappearance book. Briand heard, learned of, and analyzed
first hand accounts, (a slew of eyewitnesses were still alive then) past statements from representatives of Japan's military
forces, and recollections of others who lived among Japan's Imperial Mandate Islands during the time Amelia Earhart went missing.
Daughter of the Sky was first to present the reality of Amelia Earhart's post-loss
'non-publicized survival' among Japan's Imperial Mandate Islands after she was picked up by its Naval Authority. Where it
appeared the two fliers ended up on Saipan for awhile according to various eyewitness accounts, Briand first considered they
might have actually gone down there. He soon changed his belief to concur with the Marshall Islands' Mili Atoll as the place
the two fliers initially ended up before they were transferred to Jaluit before they were moved to Saipan, after he reviewed
the 1960s separate investigations of Joe Gervais and Fred Goerner, whose thorough follow-up efforts he inspired.
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Fred Goerner's 1966 classic was a New York Times best
seller. The 1964 Admiral Chester Nimitz quote first appeared in it; "Earhart
and her navigator did go down in the Marshall Islands and were picked up by the Japanese." Former U.S. Naval
Commander, John Pillsbury's 1962 quote also appears in it, where he intimated his opinion to Goerner about his investigation
of the Earhart case in this manner: "You're on to something that will stagger
your imagination." A CBS Radio Journalist, Fred Goerner expounded on the highly curious information he located
in letters he wrote to Amelia's survived Sister, Muriel. He added Admiral Nimitz' conveyance of how it was, "known and documented in Washington," that Amelia had survived beyond July 2, 1937, courtesy of Japan's
Naval Authority stationed among its Imperial Mandate Islands. [Add this to statements made by Amelia's mother,
Amy Otis Earhart to the New York Times in 1949 when she mentioned she was always aware her daughter Amelia had survived under
the auspice of Japan, and claimed she 'knew' Amelia had been permitted to radio from overseas.] Goerner's investigation determined Earhart and Noonan went down
at Mili atoll of the lower Marshalls. It is a great, informative read minus its flawed conclusion that Japan allowed Amelia
to die of dysentery while she was sequestered on Saipan, something hard evidence never supported.
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Amelia Earhart Lives by Joe Klaas,
1970, McGraw-Hill
The 1970 Joe Klaas book, Amelia Earhart Lives
was also a New York Times best seller. Based on the investigative research of Joseph A. Gervais and Bob Dinger who formed
'Operation Earhart' in 1960, it raised questions about the Earhart saga that had never been asked before. Irene Craigmile
Bolam (the 'Gervais-Irene' whose picture appeared in the book) successfully sued to get it removed from the stores seven weeks
after it was published. Yet she sued for libel, not for having been implicated as the 'former' Amelia Earhart. Although
the book included 'Hull Island' as a possible ditching spot where Japan might have retrieved them, Gervais (like Fred Goerner)
ultimately concluded Earhart and Noonan went down at Mili Atoll of the lower Marshall Islands. The book also strongly implicated
Amelia Earhart to have somehow survived under Japan's stewardship, before eventually changing her name to 'Irene
Craigmile' and later to 'Irene Bolam' after she married Guy Bolam of England in 1958. Joe Gervais, based on his own and additional
research presented by others, determined Amelia Earhart had privately decided to end her marriage to George Putnam after her
world flight, and that she had agreed to serve an unknown purpose during her world flight before things went wrong. He believed
Amelia survived the war in Japan's custody, then optioned to lead a non-public life in the United States following the World
War Two era. It is certain that her accounting for her eight years of absence from 1937 to 1945 would have caused complications
not only for for herself, but for the U.S. and Japan as well. After I was endorsed
to meet Joe Gervais by Randall Brink in 1996, I soon found myself with Joe in his famed 'Earhart Den' in his Las Vegas home.
His savant-like Earhart knowledge won me over and we soon became friends and collaborators. We met several times and corresponded
on a regular basis until his passing in 2005. I am proud to have filmed Joe's last on-camera interview. To those who still
choose to ridicule the investigative research and conclusions Joe Gervais offered, just know he was an accomplished pilot
and hero who served in World War Two, Korea, and Vietnam before he retired as a Major in 1963. He was also a kind family man
of upstanding character, as well as the most thoroughly devoted Amelia Earhart investigative researcher I ever knew or
heard of.
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The
Chosen Instrument By Selig Altschul and Marilyn Bender, Simon & Schuster, 1982
Though it isn't an Amelia Earhart book, The Chosen
Instrument offers a comprehensive history of Juan Trippe and Pan Am Airways by expounding on the government contracts
consistently awarded to Pan Am in the 1930s and 1940s. It also includes the telling historical quote, "Numerous investigations foundered on official silence in Tokyo and Washington, leaving the fate of Amelia Earhart
and Fred Noonan an everlasting mystery." Before Amelia hired him away from Pan Am to navigate
her globe circling flight (that she announced would be her "last great flight") Fred Noonan was considered Pan
Am's top air-over-ocean navigator who co-pioneered its great Clipper service. He was never fired from Pan Am for excessive
drinking as later false-rumors described. Contrarily, he's mentioned several times in The Chosen Instrument in glowing
ways. The original Irene's son, Larry Heller, also went on to become a distinguished Pan Am pilot, and the Irene Craigmile
Bolam was known to have had 'flying privileges' with Pan Am in her later years.
Emile Gauvreau's 1944 classic WWII aviation book, 'The Wild Blue Yonder' Among several curious quotesfound in Emile Gauvreau's 1944 book, The
Wild Blue Yonder, here is one from U.S. Secretary of the Navy, Claude Swanson, in reference to controversy that surrounded
Amelia Earhart's 1937 disappearance: "This is a powder keg. Any public discussion
of it will furnish the torch for the explosion."
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Lost Star: The Search For
Amelia Earhart by Randall Brink W.W. Norton, 1994
Author Randall Brink collaborated with Joe Gervais for better than ten
years. I first met with Randall in Seattle not long after his book's publication. I found him to be a brilliant, 'knowledgeably
aware about Amelia Earhart' individual. I also noticed that he had been listed among the personal invitees to Irene O'crowley
Craigmile-Bolam's 1982 Memorial Dinner event. His book, Lost Star, is a superbly written account that
edifies the 'executive order seal' placed over the Earhart
loss episode almost dating back to the time it occurred. Initially published in England, Lost Star became an
international best seller. Connie Chung profiled it in a CBS special report. On the cover of a reprinted American edition
a review quote reads; "Brink writes of a vast cover-up that got as far as the
White House.... Terrific reading." --Larry King, USA Today. [Note: Lost Star offers the best introduction
to the works of Briand, Gervais & Klaas, Fred Goerner, Buddy Brennan, and Vincent Loomis. It does not point to a vast
conspiracy, rather, it points to an after-the-fact 'let's move on' attitude adopted by intelligence connected individuals
in Washington who were aware of what really happened to Amelia.]
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The
cover of my first 1998 MSS primarily based on interviews with Lost Star Author, Randall Brink; USAF Major Joe Gervais (ret.);
and USAF Colonel Rollin C. Reineck (ret.)
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Tod Swindell's reviews of significant Amelia Earhart
investigative books and publications:
Amelia
Earhart Survived By USAF Colonel Rollin C. Reineck,
(Ret.) The Paragon Agency,
2004
USAF (Ret.) Colonel Rollin Reineck was a World War Two hero who flew the last missions over Tokyo just prior to VJ
Day. His book, Amelia Earhart Survived is the second most recent commercially published book to promote
the Irene-Amelia assertion as a truth to be recognized -- instead of leaving it mothballed courtesy of historical obfuscations.
Col. Reineck's book was also the first to display photos of the 'different' Irene O'Crowley Craigimle's and signature comparisons
excerpted from my (at the time in-progress) analysis. For decades before his passing occurred in 2007, Col. Reineck was considered
a top Amelia Earhart investigative researcher. I was proud to know him and call him my friend the last decade of his life.
We spent much time together after Joseph A. Gervais introduced me to him. Col. Reineck averred that Amelia Earhart and Fred
Noonan went down at Mili Atoll of the lower Marshalls Rattak chain, and after a few days they found themselves in the hands
of Japan's Naval Authority. The Colonel stated that my forensic comparison study and investigative research analysis caused
him to finally accept and believe with certainty that Amelia Earhart did make her way back to the U.S. newly re-identified
as Irene O'Crowley Craigmile, a name that had belonged to a past pilot friend of Amelia's. Col. Reineck's 1991 taped interviews
with Monsignor James Francis Kelley, Mrs. Helen Barber, Mr. Donald Dekoster, and Mrs. Gertrude Kelley Hession, are essential
to comprehending the 'Amelia became Irene' conveyance. For use in his book, Col. Reineck referenced my label of 'the Gervais-Irene'
for the former Amelia Earhart. Colonel Reineck was a long time prominent Amelia Earhart Society of Researchers member. We were long time research collaborators as well; he freely
shared his research information with me just as Joseph A. Gervais did. I miss them both.
Amelia Earhart: The Final
Story by Vincent Loomis and Jeffrey Ethell
Random House 1985
In
his 1985 book Amelia Earhart: The Final Story, Vincent Loomis, who extensively combed the Marshall Islands, agreed
with Fred Goerner's 1966 conclusion that Mili atoll was the place Amelia went down there. (Loomis presumed Amelia eventually
perished in the hands of the Japanese.) It was after reading his book that I became more curious about the Irene-Amelia claim.
In its text, a sentence appeared regarding the Gervais and Klass investigative book, Amelia Earhart Lives. It referenced
the book's previous implication of Amelia Earhart having changed her name to 'Irene O'Crowley Craigmile.' It was a short
sentence related to the 'Amelia became Irene' conveyance that read: "Yet to this day, the authors (Joe Gervais &
Joe Klaas) affirm that they are correct." I was intrigued by that. I wondered how after so much time, Gervais and Klaas
could still remain steadfast in their belief that Amelia lived to change her name to Irene, no less than fifteen years after
their book was dismissed by the press? The two war heroes still stuck to their guns about Amelia surviving and changing her
name to Irene? As Gervais later explained, people assumed it was disproved even though it never was.
Amelia Earhart: Lost Legend by Donald Moyer Wilson, Enigma Press-1999
Donald Moyer Wilson's book, Amelia Earhart: Lost Legend is remarkable. Wilson
became a scholar on the subject of everyday life during the World War Two era among the Nipponese Imperial Islands while
researching Earhart's post-loss existence there. His book presents a vast collection of personal accounts that described
Amelia's life among Japan's mandate islands given by island government officials, former Japanese military personnel, local
businessmen, common folk and indigenous natives. 'Lost Legend' contains over a hundred different testimonials in all,
including over a dozen eyewitness conveyances. His research also concluded Earhart and Noonan went down at Mili atoll, but
he did not offer a conclusion on what became of them afterward. I was pleased to learn when I met Don in Atchison, Kansas
at an Amelia Earhart Festival where we both spoke some years ago, that after he reviewed elements from my forensic comparison
analysis he supported the logic of Amelia Earhart eventually returning to the U.S. where she ending up living as 'Irene.'
Stand By To Die; The
Disappearance, Rescue, and Return of Amelia Earhart By Robert Myers & Barbara Wiley, The Lighthouse Writers Guild-1985
In Robert Myers' book, Stand
By To Die; The Disappearance, Rescue, and Return of Amelia Earhart, Myers wrote about his friend, Amelia Earhart, who
he had met during his mid-1930s adolescent years, and how she became Irene O'Crowley
Craigmile after she disappeared in 1937. The picture Joe Gervais took of the post-war only Irene is featured on his book's cover. Myers actually came to know Amelia as 'Irene'
in the 1970s and he recorded phone conversations they had, some of which Protecting Earhart has archived. He also
included sveral transcripts of their phone conversations in his book. Myers was interviewed for comment in the 1982 Woodbridge
New Jersey News Tribune series that questioned Amelia becoming Irene, and was generally portrayed by its reporters as a
curious anomally to the story. It is evident those who knew him believed he was sincere and did not make up any of what
he claimed to know. Working against him however, was the opinion of his book marking a non-linear read where Myers' personal
emotions ran high when it came to the 'Amelia became Irene' conveyance. I have corresponded some with Barabara Wiley, who
wrote the book with Mr. Myers; she affirmed Mal Paso (Clint Eastwood's company) had expressed interest in and even courted
Myers' participation to develop a film project based on his story, though it never materialized. No matter, Meyers, who
is no longer living, swore up and down that Irene did confide her former identity to him.
The Earhart Disappearance:
The British Connection by James A. Donahue, Aviation Heritage Library Series-1987
The Earhart Disappearance; The British
Connection is a fascinating study to be sure. James Donahue thoroughly researched what he believed to have been a United
Kingdom involvement angle. His book described the likelihood of an additional British plane, either another Electra or a
British Envoy (similar looking from a distance to an Electra) flown by another man and woman flying team in the same Pacific
region at the same time Earhart and Noonan were flying there. A question was later raised: Did the original Irene O'Crowley
Craigmile, Amelia's 'flying pal' serve as the female pilot on the British sponsored team? Is that how the original Irene
O'Crowley Craigmile herself disappeared? Some who support the British-Connection theory believe this suggestion may hold
water. Donahue otherwise suggested the famous British pilot, Beryl Markham (Markham's person served as the basis for a character
portrayed in the film, 'Out Of Africa') who was staying with Jackie Cochran at the time Amelia was reported missing, as potentially
involved on the British end. As well, it is interesting to note that the Gervais-Irene married Englisman, Guy Bolam in 1958,
whose own brother described as a former MI-6 operative, suggesting there may have been even more to Donahue's, 'British Connection.'
Eyewitness:
The Amelia Earhart Incident by Thomas E. Devine, Renaissance House-1987
Thomas E. Devine
knew and worked with CBS Radio's Earhart investigator, Fred Goerner in the early 1960s. While a U.S. soldier as part of the
1944 occupation of Saipan, he claimed Amelia Earhart's Lockheed Electra had been impounded there by Japan, and he described
how he actually "witnessed" the U.S. Navy 'intentionally burn it' ...ostensibly destroying it as evidence. (Combine
this with a separate claim issued by U.S. soldier, Robert Wallack, who described how he and a few other soldiers blew open
a Japanese military safe on Saipan after the U.S. occupation, where he discovered Amelia Earhart's 1937 flight satchel stowed
inside.) Of course, getting the U.S. Navy to admit it burned Amelia Earhart's plane in 1944 would be hard to do. Devine
also implicated 1944 U.S. Secretary of the Navy, James Forrestall, as directly involved with the plane burning incident.
James Forrestall became U.S. Secretary of Defense in 1947, and Devine later claimed Forrestall's previous relationship with
the 'Earhart cover-up' caused him great mental duress, and may have led to his curious death circumstances in 1949; a death
that was labeled a suicide but was caused by his jumping out of an upper-story hospital window.
Witness to the Execution by
T.C. Buddy Brennan, Renaissance House-1988
Renaissance House published the T.C.
Buddy Brennan Earhart book, Witness to the Execution in 1988. (I met and collaborated with Mike Harris for a brief
spell, who led the 1983 Brennan expedition to Saipan with filmmaker, Nick Petrik.) Brennan's book included several 'witness'
accounts, to include an extraordinary one from a Japanese fighter pilot by the name of Fuji Formosa. Mr. Formosa claimed
he had been ordered to fire on a plane similar looking to Earhart's as it approached the Marshall Islands in 1937. Formosa
mentioned he did not know if he hit it, but said he watched it go down near an 'atoll' before he returned to his carrier,
the Akagi. He mentioned how later, other Japanese soldiers conveyed to him it was Amelia Earhart's plane he had fired on.
Another eyewitness in the Brennan book was an old woman who claimed she saw Japanese soldiers execute Amelia Earhart on
Saipan after driving her bound and blindfolded in a motorcycle side-car to a pre-dug grave. The problem is she was the only
eyewitness. Still, Harris did a nice job with Nick Petrik's filmed interviews of reputable people among the Islands who
insisted Earhart had been there. Side-note: Opposers of Formosa's account argued the Akagi was 'dry-docked' at the time of
Earhart's disappearance. It was also hard to accept the person the elderly woman claimed she had witnessed the execution
of, as a side-car transported, bound and blindfolded Amelia Earhart. As Joe Gervais aptly pointed out; "Japan (namely
Hirohito and Yamamoto) never would have handled the Earhart situation that way. If anything they would have coveted her existence
in their company."
Flying Blind by Max Allan Collins, Dutton
Books-1998 Well
known Author, Max Allan Collins (The Road to Perdition, Dark Angel) wrote Flying Blind, a superb historical
novel account of the 1937 Earhart disappearance case. He researched the real story to the hilt, then used his serial detective,
Nathan Heller (no visible connection to Larry Heller, the original Irene Craigmile's son) as the vehicle to tell the story
in real time. It is ironic of course, how after Amelia returned as 'the new Irene' she ended up continuing on with the co-raising
of the original Irene Craigmile's son, Larry Heller..., while in the Collins' book after Earhart disappears, Detective Nathan
Heller hears of the possibility Amelia might have been newly carrying his child when she took off on her last flight. So
much could exist as a mere coincidence in the book, though it's one hard to overlook. In its epilogue, in the 1970s the
elderly Nathan Heller actually meets the suspected Irene Craigmile Bolam and some of her friends for a drink at the same
country club she (the Gervais-Irene) belonged to then near Princeton, New Jersey. Nathan Heller remarked of a peculiar familiarity
he sensed about her, but he had a hard time recognizing the same Amelia he recalled. Still, he had a good time with Irene
and her convivial friends that day, but he added where Irene was Amelia with a changed name, he'd prefer not to know. (Sound
familiar? In 1966 when Joe Gervais mentioned the matter of Irene as the probable former Amelia Earhart to Amelia's sister,
Muriel Earhart Morrissey she replied to him, "Where such a thing would be true Major Gervais, wouldn't it be best just
to leave it alone?") I reviewed Collins' historically informative read, Flying Blind for the Fort Worth Star
Telegram in January of 1999.
Legerdemain by Dave
Bowman, Authorhouse-2005, revised 2007:
David Bowman's 2005 Authorhouse book, Legerdemain offers a great history of Amelia
Earhart's disappearance and aftermath. Mr. Bowman was a member of the Amelia Earhart Society, the now defunct group that
was generally known for being 'non committal' when it came to expressing a concrete viewpoint on what happened to Amelia,
although it has always been dead set against any possibility of her long-term survival. I did not know Mr. Bowman when he
contacted me in 2004 requesting permission to feature a sample from my forensic study on his book's cover. Over time I found
the Amelia Earhart Society's members greatly differing with some of their their ideas, and its founding President, Bill Prymak,
was curious in the way he claimed to be the final 'judge' on what to promote theory-wise. (The AES reminded me of the John
Birch Society in a way.) I granted Mr. Bowman permission to use my material and he duly credited me on the jacket flap. As
predicted, Legerdemain favored no conclusion. I was surprised later, and found it hard to agree with the way Joe
Gervais, Rollin Reineck and myself were referenced in the revised edition of Legerdemain that came out in 2007. Those
who supported the long held Joe Gervais postulation that Amelia changed her name to Irene, were torn to shreds by Amelia Earhart
Society President, Bill Prymak and and his minions. The harsh criticism newly appeared in a thirty page span between pages
363 and 393 with no counterpoint responses sought or included. The re-issued book also recklessly mis-identified credit on
a portion of my study. If anything, Legerdemain somewhat marks the ongoing effort to leave the Earhart forensic truth
as a topic of debate, as opposed to something that was basically figured out long ago, then forensically verified from 2002
to 2006. Legerdemain also incorrectly stated I was an AES member, even though I never was. I met many of the members
and attended two AES functions after being invited to by Bill Prymak, but only because Bill initially appeared to be supportive
of Joe Gervais and myself. I was never interested in joining the AES, people who knew me were aware I worked as an independent
researcher only. Bill Prymak, as the AES President, as if it was always a main agenda of his, worked tirelessly at controlling
the sway of the media and adjusting the public attitude towards all Irene-Amelia information. No doubt because of my devotion
to the now late Joe Gervais, and my long term support of his decades worth of Earhart investigative research, my person
and my efforts ended up singled out by both TIGHAR and the AES in negative ways. Such is life in the world of Amelia Earhart
investigative research, though. Self-proclaimed 'important' Earhart enthusiasts exist out there that not only include Bill
Prymak, but late comer Dave Horner, the dogmatic Ron Bright, Carol Linn Dow, Elgen Long, Richard Gillespie and the list goes
on. They appear to operate from a stance of keeping the American public in the dark with misinformation distribution, especially
when it comes to the most important facts that have long characterized the Irene-Amelia truth. One might even consider,
because of their guarded inside tracks of media influence, they functionally steer the press and therefore the public away
from recognizing and accepting the obvious Irene-Amelia forensic realities. None of them
ever disproved the Irene-Amelia claim, rather, they choose to address the topic as if others disproved it at some point, when
no one ever actually did.
The Earhart Enigma: Retracing
Amelia's Last Flight by Dave Horner, Pelican Publishing Company-2013: Dave Horner spent several years working closely with the Amelia Earhart
Society's ('AES') founder, the now late, Bill Prymak. Thus, it's no surprise his book steered clear of supporting the reality
of Amelia's return to the United States as 'Irene.' Foe decades, Bill Prymak, a known 'insider' worked to make sure the public
didn't pay too much attention to the Irene-Amelia reality. So much exudes from the pages of The Earhart Enigma, just as it did from Dave Bowman's
revised edition of Legerdemain, also heavily influenced by Prymak. Typically, just as Tighar's Richard Gillespie
always did, Horner questioned the veracity of the famous Monsignor James Francis Kelley's conveyance that he had helped receive
Amelia back in the U.S. after the war and aided with her identity change. Horner interviewed Kelley's nephew, the now late
Red McBride, who was unable to come to terms with it all. Red McBride had a hard time believing his uncle helped Amelia at
all after the war. Dave Horner also consulted with the original Irene O'Crowley Craigmile's 1934 born son, Clarence 'Larry'
Heller, who correctly avowed that his mother was not Amelia Earhart. It is evident Dave Horner, who when he began writing
his book was a relative new-comer to the world of Earhart research, had been subjugated by Bill Prymak's obsession to oppose
anything that supported Amelia's post-loss ongoing survival as a renamed person. That in itself was odd where Bill Prymak
had long been known to support the, "Amelia was picked up and sequestered by Japan" findings of previous investigators,
yet he always vehemently argued against the suggestion of Amelia Earhart surviving and eventually returning to the U.S. Otherwise,
Horner's effort is a doggedly over-written book half-filled with useless information--and featuring an off-base conclusion.
Basically, it contains everything Bill Prymak accumulated from other investigative researchers (to include much research data
from Joe Gervais) ever since he chartered the Amelia Earhart Society in 1989. Horner did expound heavily on researcher, Darryl
Bollinger's research on the 'message in the bottle' found by Frenchman, Genevieve Barrat when it washed up on the beach at
Soulac-sur-Mer in October of 1938, a message that appeared to verify that Amelia Earhart ended up in the Marshall Islands
under the auspice of Japan's Naval Authority. It appears Dave Horner concluded that as well, while stressing that Amelia must
have 'died' somehow while in Japan's custody--just as Fred Goerner, Thomas Devine, Vincent Loomis, Bill Prymak and several
others already did before him. Forensically, Mr. Horner was amiss by not addressing the discovered reality of more than one
person having been attributed to the same 'Irene' identity, and the head to toe and character trait congruence the post-war
only Irene O'Crowley Craigmile displayed when compared to Amelia Again, though, it is likely he was pursuaded not to by Bill
Prymak. When it comes to the full historic record, Dave Horner's book is unique in the way it includes so many of the less
seen Earhart world flight related letters and documents. That was no small undertaking in itself, surely made easier with
the exclusive access Mr. Horner was granted, that enabled him to peruse Prymak's Amelia Earhart Society files.
TRUTH AND REALITY
GO HAND
IN HAND
According to record--and per
Digital Face Recognition and the rest of the analysis results, there was a lady pilot by the name of 'Irene O'Crowley Craigmile'
who was acquainted with Amelia Earhart in the 1930s. Said 'Irene O'Crowley Craigmile' earned her pilot's license in the late
Spring of 1933. At the same time she did, though, she learned she was pregnant out of wedlock and barely flew again after
that--and she let her license expire after 1936. Below, from The Swindell Study, the 'Irene O'Crowley Craigmile'
identified in the 1965 photograph, was not the original Irene O'Crowley Craigmile. Rather, the first ever conducted,
'comprehensive forensic analysis' orchestrated by Tod Swindell, in no uncertain terms surfaced her to have been the former
Amelia Earhart, who had assumed the left-over identity of the original Irene O'Crowley Craigmile after World
War Two. There is virtually no doubt such a thing as this happened anymore, no matter how some individuals, or wikipedia for
that matter as well, may still try to convince the general public otherwise. It is equally clear at this point, the secrecy
that protected Amelia Earhart's post-war re-identification the last half of the Twentieth Century, in a way formed the modern
basis for what became known as, "the mystery of Amelia Earhart's disappearance."
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| Digital Face Recognition Results: POSITIVE |
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Below: The original Irene O'Crowley Craigmile in 1930, next
to her husband, Charles in an enhanced newsprint photo. Amelia Earhart first knew the original Irene's aunt, a prominent attorney
by the name of Irene Rutherford O'Crowley, who she had met through the Zonta organization.
| CHARLES AND IRENE O'CROWLEY CRAIGMILE |
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| 1930 NEWSPRINT PHOTO |
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