What Really Happened To
Amelia Earhart?
The Lost Evidence Documentary
Originally Aired on The History Channel
Amelia Earhart is one of the greatest explorers and adventurers in history, and her record-breaking airplane flights not only shattered gender barriers, but also captured the worlds imagination. Her mysterious disappearance has been one of the greatest unsolved mysteries in history. I believe this mystery may have finally been solved! Last week I published a story about an upcoming documentary from The History Channel that aired last night, and basically put together the pieces of the puzzle as to what actually happened to Amelia Earhart. I watched the amazing Amelia Earhart documentary, and you can watch it on YouTube by clicking here.
So what do I think? Do I believe the documentary? Yes. I do. Why? I believe the smoking gun is in the photographic evidence found in the ONI photo. If you are a reader of Jake's Rolex World, you know as a historical investigator, I specialize in separating the fact from the fiction, and getting to the truth using photographic evidence, and that is exactly what I believe the History Channel Documentary achieved...I believe in Amelia Earhart's case the truth is a little unsettling, dramatic and traumatic, but the investigators likely solved one of the greatest mysteries in modern history...The Truth Is Out There...
For some reason, when I think about how Emila Earhart's life apparently ended, I think about an amazing quote from comedian, Gilda Radner. Gilda Radner is perhaps most famous for being a cast member on NBC's Saturday Night Live, and in particular, she is likely most memorable for her role playing Rosanne, Rosannadanna. Gilda Radner was married to Gene Wilder, who starred as Willie Wonka in the Chocolate Factory. Gilda Radner died young, at age 42, from ovarian cancer, and as she was dying she wrote:
"I wanted a perfect ending. Now I've learned, the hard way, that some poems don't rhyme, and some stories don't have a clear beginning, middle, and end. Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it, without knowing what's going to happen next. Delicious Ambiguity." —Gilda Radner
If you think about the way Emilia Earhart's life tragically ended, Gilda's quote makes even more sense, as it seem just as on-point for Amelia. The supreme irony is Amelia was planning to retire from her flight career just after she completed her around-the-world trip, of which she was on the last leg of when she mysteriously disappeared. Instead of a comfy, cush retirement, she apparently went thought a highly traumatic living hell.
I have been trying to figure out if Amelia Earhart wore a Rolex? For some reason, I can't seem to get the question out of my head!?!! I think I once saw a photo of Amelia Earhart that was on display at Rolex in Geneva, but I can't seem to find it.
Here is the weird thing: I was looking through my archives, and I came across this Rolex magazine ad from 1973 that shows the Rolex executive suite, and notice the photos of famous people on the wall.
Recently I found the same photo of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., seen below. So this confirms my long-held suspicion that the executives at Rolex in Geneva greatly admired Dr. King's career achievements as they proudly displayed his signed photo on their wall. This is actually fairly common, that I am trying to solve one research case, and I stumble into solving another, as is the case here.
So you are probably asking what this has to do with Amelia Earhart wearing a Rolex? As I mentioned earlier in this story, I thought I saw a photo of Amelia in the past in a similar setting. I've reached out to Rolex for comment, and as soon as I hear back from them, I will update this section. So I am going to go out on a limb and try to answer that question. The photo below shows Amelia Earhart wearing a single button continuous "flyback" chronograph.
All Original 1937 Rolex Oyster Zerograph was the first watch with a spinning bezel
If you think about the way Emilia Earhart's life tragically ended, Gilda's quote makes even more sense, as it seem just as on-point for Amelia. The supreme irony is Amelia was planning to retire from her flight career just after she completed her around-the-world trip, of which she was on the last leg of when she mysteriously disappeared. Instead of a comfy, cush retirement, she apparently went thought a highly traumatic living hell.
Did Amelia Earhart Wear A Rolex?
I have been trying to figure out if Amelia Earhart wore a Rolex? For some reason, I can't seem to get the question out of my head!?!! I think I once saw a photo of Amelia Earhart that was on display at Rolex in Geneva, but I can't seem to find it.
Rolex Day-Date Ad
January 1973
Here is the weird thing: I was looking through my archives, and I came across this Rolex magazine ad from 1973 that shows the Rolex executive suite, and notice the photos of famous people on the wall.
If Only These Walls Could Talk
Here is a higher-resolution photo of the executive offices at Rolex Headquarters in Geneva in 1973. I used to always stare at this photo, and try and figure out who the photos were of. Notice the first visible photo on the left. I always thought that looked like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., but I could never find the same photo of him, so I could not confirm it. I also think the second photo is of Neville Chamberlain, who was the British prime minister.
So you are probably asking what this has to do with Amelia Earhart wearing a Rolex? As I mentioned earlier in this story, I thought I saw a photo of Amelia in the past in a similar setting. I've reached out to Rolex for comment, and as soon as I hear back from them, I will update this section. So I am going to go out on a limb and try to answer that question. The photo below shows Amelia Earhart wearing a single button continuous "flyback" chronograph.
The obvious question, is could she be wearing a Rolex single button chronograph? The photo below is of a 1937 Rolex Zerograph chronograph, which features a single button chronograph and a spinning bezel. Many people have asked the question of whether Rolex invented the spinning bezel in 1953 on the Submariner, or did Blancpain with their 50 Fathoms watch? I think this photo answers that question as it shows a 1937 Rolex with a rotating bezel. So the question is, did Amelia wear a Rolex? Like I said, I don't know for certain, but once I find out, I will update this story. I will say, it would make a lot of sense to learn that she wore a Rolex for many reasons. Also, just to be crystal-clear, I am not saying Amelia Earhart is wearing a Rolex Zerograph in the photo above. I am saying that in 1937, Rolex made wrist watch models that had single pusher chronographs as pictured below.
All Original 1937 Rolex Oyster Zerograph was the first watch with a spinning bezel
In the undated photo below of Amelia Earhart, I believe she is wearing a Longines wrist watch. You would think it would be very easy to find photos of Amelia Earhart wearing wrist watches, but I have found it to be difficult. That is the thing about Rolex spotting, is sometimes it is easy, and sometimes it is very challenging.
Perhaps another clue as to why I think Amelia Earhart wore a Rolex is this Rolex ad, which does not make that much sense. It reads "1947. The sound barrier is broken. ROLEX. FOR LIFE'S DEFINING MOMENTS." The reason this ad seems strange to me, is I thought it was a play on Amelia Earhart, but 1947 is the year Chuck Yeager became the first pilot to break the speed of sound barrier, and in the back of this ad we see an X1 aircraft, which is what Chuck Yeager flew when he broke the sound barrier in 1947. So maybe the reason I think I saw a photo of Amelia Earhart wearing a Rolex is based upon this photo?
One More Thing
Probably the most convincing piece of evidence in finally solving this case is the Office Of Naval Intelligence photo seen below. I want to circle back to this photo to make a point. It's bizarre to think that if this photo was never found, Amelia Earhart's mysterious disappearance likely would never have been solved!?!!
Original ONI (Office of Naval Intelligence) photo:
PL-Marshall Islands, Jaluit Atoll, Jaluit Island. ONI #14381 Jaluit Harbor.
The newly discovered photo seen above and below from the United State National Archives shows a female who looks just like Amelia Earhart, as well as a man who looks just like her navigator, Fred Noonan.
In my previous article on this subject, I created the graphic below that shows how the shape of the back of Amelia Earhart's head has a very unusual long flat spot, as I illustrated below.
I just put together the composite image below, which is the same as the one above, but it ads another photo of Amelia from the rear angle. This additional image is located on the far left, and features the exact same unusual flat spot. I got this image from the History Channel Documentary.
In doing my own research on this case, I came across the two photos below that show Amelia Earhart's last haircut. In the photo Amelia is reading a copy of the Oakland Tribune Newspaper. In this first photo, you can see that Emilia had unusually thick and bushy hair, and she is having it cut like a man, by a barber in a barbershop, which was really unusual in 1937.
In my previous article on this subject, I created the graphic below that shows how the shape of the back of Amelia Earhart's head has a very unusual long flat spot, as I illustrated below.
I just put together the composite image below, which is the same as the one above, but it ads another photo of Amelia from the rear angle. This additional image is located on the far left, and features the exact same unusual flat spot. I got this image from the History Channel Documentary.
In doing my own research on this case, I came across the two photos below that show Amelia Earhart's last haircut. In the photo Amelia is reading a copy of the Oakland Tribune Newspaper. In this first photo, you can see that Emilia had unusually thick and bushy hair, and she is having it cut like a man, by a barber in a barbershop, which was really unusual in 1937.
I spoke with Jose after he watched the Amelia Earhart documentary, and he said he thought it "It was mind-blowing". I followed-up and said, "So you believe it was her in the photo?" Jose responded, "Yes, I mean the Marshal Islands even printed some postage stamps commemorating that event..." Overall, I found most of the evidence to be extremely compelling in the documentary, and trust me, I have seen some pretty bad examples of people jumping to false conclusions, but I did not think that was the case at all with this documentary.
Many people think the war in the Pacific began when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in
December of 1941, but it actually began just five short days after Amelia Earhart's airplane disappeared in Japanese controlled territory in the Pacific. The all out war in the Pacific began when Chinese and Japanese troops clashed, on July 7, 1937. One of the details that was not mentioned in the documentary, was that Amelia Earhart appears to have had special surveillance camera's on-board her airplane, so it is likely when the Japanese found the camera footage, they assumed she was an American recognizance Spy, and perhaps she was. So basically, America's sweetheart, Amelia Earhart ended up at the wrong place, at the wrong time and became a victim of circumstance.