Earhart search: the suspected wreckage on a Pacific atoll is likely trees

The so-called Taraia Object on Nikumaroro, Kiribati, "was likely a collection of large trees deposited along the peninsula's sandspit."

— Purdue University

By the time the team arrived, much of the debris had broken up and washed away, leaving a single Y-shaped piece.

The search

1. 1937

   Earhart's plane vanishes on the way to Howland Island

2. 2020

   A shiny object is spotted on satellite imagery of Nikumaroro

3. October

   Researchers spend four days onshore and find likely trees

After storms kept them on their ship for several days, the researchers spent four days on the island examining the object.

"This mystery has been ongoing for 90 years and the mystery continues," project director Rick Pettigrew said.