The man who found the Titanic is setting sail on a new mission to solve the disappearance of famed aviator Amelia Earhart.
“Amelia Earhart has been on my sonar screen for a long, long time – and I’ve passed on it,” Robert Ballard told Post, a day before setting off for the Pacific. “I’m in the business of finding things. I don’t want to not find things.”
Ballard is headed for the uninhabited Pacific island of Nikumaroro in an effort to solve Earhart’s mysterious disappearance. She was reported missing in 1937 as she sought to be the first female pilot to circumnavigate the world.
Nikumaroro is a 1.3-mile island between Hawaii and Australia.
“We will be delighted if Dr. Ballard is able to provide the physical proof that this is where Earhart ended up,” International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery founder Ric Gillespie told the Post.
Ballard’s search will begin with IGHAR theory she landed on a jagged coal on the northwest side of Nikumaroro, sending distress signals before the tide dragged her plane away, later dying on the island.
Ballard will employ humans and robotics on the ocean floor around the island.
“Sonar can’t tell the difference between a rock the size of an engine, and an engine, but your eyes can,” Ballard said.
His mission is funded by National Geographic Partners and National Geographic Society and will be aired by National Geographic, although any findings of the remains or plane will be reported before airing, according to the report.
