The Mystery of Amelia EarhartA new movie tells an old, unfinished story.
Sometimes, ghosts from the past can haunt the present. At least, it can seem that way.
On July 2, 1937, the famous pilot Amelia Earhart vanished over the Pacific Ocean and was never heard from again. Her disappearance is one of the greatest unsolved mysteries of the 20th century. Recently, more than 70 years after her final flight, the movie Amelia opened, with Hilary Swank in the starring role. After all that time, the story of the missing aviatrix continues to fascinate people.
Record SetterIn the early part of the 20th century, aviation was new. Flying was dangerous, and most pilots were men. But a small group of courageous women learned to fly as well. Amelia Earhart was one of them. She set many flight records, including becoming the first female to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. She accomplished that in 1932, five years after Charles Lindbergh made the first solo transatlantic flight. Like Lindbergh, Earhart became an international celebrity. The public adored her.
Around the WorldEarhart wanted to be the first woman to fly around the world. She planned a course that would take her on an equatorial route—that is, a route around the center of the globe. No one—male or female—had yet achieved that. When she disappeared, Earhart and her navigator, Fred Noonan, were on the last leg of that adventure. They had flown from Miami to South America to Africa to Asia to New Guinea (just north of Australia), making stops along the way. They were one last hop—across the Pacific Ocean—from making history.
They did make history, but not the type they had wanted. They were supposed to land on tiny, uninhabited Howland Island in the Pacific to refuel. They never made it. Did they run out of fuel and crash into the ocean? Did they land on another island, waiting for a rescue that never came? No one knows. Those theories and others—including some rather crazy ones—have swirled around like ghosts for decades.
Earhart is remembered for her mysterious disappearance, but more important, she is remembered for her courage and determination. She wanted to fly, and she flew—into the boundless skies of her dreams, into the record books, and into history.
Vocabularyaviatrix—female pilot
aviation—the operation of airplanes
solo—alone
equatorial—relating to or being in the region of Earth's equator
navigator—one who charts a course or uses maps to stay on course
uninhabited—unlived in; empty of human life
Readers' Theater Download a PDF of a read-aloud classroom play from READ magazine, "Wide-Open Skies."
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