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WWW.MY-SUBS.CO

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GATES: Amelia Earhart is on one of the final legs

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of her historic flight around the world

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when something goes terribly wrong.

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[Airplane engine roars]

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She is never seen again.

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Today, more than 75 years after her disappearance,

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new leads send me across the
world in search of answers.

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JACK: If you want to get more information,

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head down to Rabaul.

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Get to Rabaul. Yeah.

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[Ground rumbling]

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Earthquake. Whoa. [Children screaming]

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Holy [bleep]

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We heard that your tribe has
found wreckage in the jungles.

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Look at this. Rob, come here.

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September 1940 ...

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a man named Gerald Gallagher
found a partial skeleton.

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This might be Amelia Earhart.

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Did they go through the underside of this house

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with a fine-tooth comb?

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Nope, no further investigation.

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We've heard reports of some aircraft wreckage.

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They think it may be Earhart's plane.

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And the only way to know is to go out

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and see what we can find.

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Oh! Rod, I got a plane!

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Rod, I got a plane, for sure! Come here!

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Look at that. That's a [bleep] plane.

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It all leads to a series of amazing discoveries.

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It's an airplane engine, yeah?

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Oh, definitely an airplane engine, yeah.

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Unbelievable.

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[Radio beeps]

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Definitely an airplane. Look at that.

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This does not look like coral to me.

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I got a bone down here.

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[Birds squawking]

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My name is Josh Gates.

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With a degree in archaeology
and a passion for exploration,

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I have a tendency to end up in
some very strange situations.

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There has got to be a better way to make a living.

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My travels have taken me to the ends of the Earth

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as I investigate the greatest legends in history.

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We're good to fly. Let's go.

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This is...

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Every year, thousands of people go missing,

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never to be seen again.

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But there is one cold case that
looms above all the rest ...

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Amelia Earhart.

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Just the name evokes a sense of wonder.

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Her disappearance during her attempt

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to circumnavigate the globe in 1937

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is perhaps the most iconic
unsolved mystery in the world.

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Now, with breakthroughs in technology

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and the discovery of new evidence,

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we may be close to solving
the puzzle once and for all.

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[Crowd cheering]

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1937 ...

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Amelia Earhart is arguably

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the most famous woman in America,

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a pioneer in the field of
aviation and a living legend.

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On July 2nd, Earhart and
her navigator, Fred Noonan,

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are set to make history

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as they begin one of the last legs

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of their daring trans-world flight.

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They take off from an airfield
in Lae, Papua New Guinea,

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bound for remote Howland Island in the Pacific.

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Along the way, Earhart, her navigator,

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and the famed Lockheed Electra vanish.

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[Airplane engine roars]

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In the last 75 years, there
have been countless dead ends,

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false leads, and wild conspiracy theories,

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but no answers.

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Well, all that may be about to change,

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because recent developments in
two different parts of the world

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may finally crack the case.

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Theory one ...

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a team of experts recently identified

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a piece of aluminum debris

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on the Pacific atoll of Nikumaroro,

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just south of Howland,

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which they believe may be
a part of Earhart's Electra.

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Human bones were also discovered
on this same deserted island

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in 1940, only to be shipped to Fiji and lost.

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Could these be the bones of Amelia Earhart?

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A new search is currently under way in Fiji

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to locate the remains and identify them.

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Theory two ...

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Earhart circled back toward Papua New Guinea

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and crashed on or around the
island nation she took off from.

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It's a long-standing hypothesis

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that's never been fully explored.

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But now one local tribe
claims to have found wreckage

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deep in the jungle,

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and there are new reports that there's also

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an underwater wreck just offshore.

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Either could be Amelia's plane.

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I have been fascinated with Amelia Earhart

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for my entire life,

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and I'm eager to know if these new leads

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may bring us closer to the truth,

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or whether the world is
looking in the wrong place.

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The only way to find out is to join the search.

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There is new evidence that Amelia Earhart's plane

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may have crashed in the
nation she last took off from,

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so I'm here to investigate.

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Wheels down, Papua New Guinea ... 
or "PNG," as the locals call it.

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Inside the terminal,

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the local baggage claim is less of a belt

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and more of a deli counter.

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Order up!

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This is an interesting system, but it works.

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Thank God my umbrella made it.

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Oh, sorry.

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What are the odds?

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Two guys with the same umbrella.

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Mine must still be coming.

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While I wait, it's clear that
some of my other equipment

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may not have made it here, either.

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I'm missing 799 and 872.

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At least it's not warm in here.

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That would really make this frustrating.

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Perhaps the customer-service
reps know where my bag is.

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Looking good.

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Perhaps not.

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Eventually, I'm resigned to
never seeing my extra underwear,

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sensible evening shoes, and
whatever else was in case 799.

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Well, time to hit the streets.

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There are international capitals in the world

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with worse reputations, but not many.

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This is Port Moresby, capital of Papua New Guinea,

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also the largest city in the South Pacific.

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Has kind of a rough reputation.

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Can be a little dangerous, a little gritty.

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But if you can look past its imperfections,

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it's actually a pretty cool spot.

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I like to think of Port Moresby

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as the Mos Eisley spaceport from "Star Wars."

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On one hand, the cantina
bar has a good happy hour.

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On the other hand, Han Solo
might shoot you in the face.

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In other words, it pays to watch your back,

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which is exactly what these guys are here to do.

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Hey, Josh.

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Are you Dean? I am.

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Nice to meet you. Good to meet you.

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Yeah, good to meet you, too. Hi. I'm Jack.

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Hey, Jack. How are you? Nice to meet you.

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Good, thank you. Yourself?

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I'm good. How are things here in PNG?

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Good, thanks.

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Looking safe and secure?

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As safe as PNG can be.

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Yeah? How safe is that?

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In case it's not safe. Yes.

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Great, perfect.

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So, why the muscle?

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Well, with rampant political corruption

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and gang-controlled neighborhoods,

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the capital can get a little interesting.

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But I like interesting,

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and Port Moresby is the gateway

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to one of the wildest nations on Earth.

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It's made up of 1,000 different ethnic tribes,

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speaking more than 800 languages.

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Even the National Parliament House is diverse ...

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a modern government building

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fused with an ancient tribal spirit house.

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The people here, generally speaking,

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are fiercely independent.

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Locals are more apt to identify with their clan

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than with their fellow countrymen.

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Case in point ... the Asaro Mudmen.

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Legend has it that this tribe

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was once on the cusp of defeat in battle

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and retreated into the nearby river.

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When they emerged, caked in dried white mud,

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their enemies believed they were
evil spirits and fled in terror.

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I can't say I blame them.

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Hi.

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Not very talkative.

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[Conversing in native language]

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Oh, it's heavy.

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Those are real teeth?

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I'm not gonna ask where those came from.

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Today, thousands of years later,

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they still pay homage to that legendary battle,

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and the tradition continues with me.

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It's okay?

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Yeah?

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MAN: Yeah.

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What do you think?

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[Laughs]

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I think I'm an honorary Mudman now.

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This vast melting pot of Papua New Guinea

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played center stage as one of the last stops

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on Earhart's
'round-the-world flight.

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But I'm not just here for nostalgia purposes.

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There are those who believe that Earhart

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didn't just take off from PNG,

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but that she may have circled back here.

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Newly discovered wreckage in
the jungles and in the ocean

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are waiting to be examined.

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So from the capital,

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I'm boarding a flight to investigate

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the last documented sighting of Earhart's Electra.

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It's a 45-minute trip from Port Moresby to Lae,

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where Earhart began one of the final legs

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of her fateful journey.

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Lae is a bustling industrial port

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that links the coastal waters of PNG

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to the wild highlands of the interior.

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I'm here to meet with a local tribe

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who has information on a recently found wreck.

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But first I have an important stop to make.

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In the middle of town,

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this narrow field of grass is today an empty lot,

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a place to stack shipping containers.

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Its true significance has been overgrown

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by the dense wilderness of history.

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Doesn't look like much today,

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but this is the old Lae airfield.

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This is the very last place

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that anybody saw Amelia Earhart alive.

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On May 21, 1937, Amelia Earhart
departs Oakland, California,

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in an audacious attempt to
be the first woman in history

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to circumnavigate the globe.

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Over 21 days and 25,000 miles,

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Earhart and her navigator, Fred Noonan,

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make stops along the top of South America

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before crossing central
Africa, the Middle East, India,

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and southeast Asia.

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Finally, she lands in Papua New Guinea.

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It was here, on July 2, 1937, in this very spot,

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that a fuel-heavy Lockheed Electra plane

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gained momentum and took off into the blue

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for the very last time.

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Whole world was watching,

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and that shiny Lockheed Electra
would have come right down here,

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taken off right over the
Pacific, never to be seen again.

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I don't know.

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For me, as someone who loves Earhart,

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who really has been obsessed
with her for a long time,

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to be here in this spot is kind of...

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I don't know, emotional.

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It's kind of a powerful place.

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With only 7,000 miles left to go,

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it's easy to imagine the excitement

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she must have felt at being in the home stretch.

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But she still had to face her
most difficult challenge ...

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crossing the immense Pacific Ocean.

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Amelia's next stop is Howland Island,

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about 2,500 miles and 18 long hours away.

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Howland is merely a speck in
the vast South Pacific Ocean.

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But the plane must land and refuel

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for the final onward flights
to Honolulu and Oakland.

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Earhart transmits one of her last radio messages

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to the United States Coast Guard ship Itasca,

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which is stationed offshore to
help guide her to the island.

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The Itasca receives the transmission,

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but Amelia apparently can't
hear the Coast Guard's response.

261
00:11:31,533 --> 00:11:33,867
Her radio is likely damaged.

262
00:11:33,867 --> 00:11:36,733
Soon after, Earhart, her navigator, Fred Noonan,

263
00:11:36,733 --> 00:11:38,933
and the Electra disappear.

264
00:11:38,933 --> 00:11:40,467
[Airplane engine roars]

265
00:11:44,167 --> 00:11:48,067
The only evidence here in Lae
of that historic flight is this,

266
00:11:48,067 --> 00:11:51,733
a weathered and, by the looks
of it, mostly forgotten memorial

267
00:11:51,733 --> 00:11:53,700
to a woman whose daring adventure

268
00:11:53,700 --> 00:11:56,367
still soars in our imaginations.

269
00:12:00,300 --> 00:12:02,400
Having made the pilgrimage here,

270
00:12:02,400 --> 00:12:05,467
I feel even more inspired to search for answers.

271
00:12:06,833 --> 00:12:09,600
To find them, I've arranged
a meeting with a tribal chief

272
00:12:09,600 --> 00:12:12,900
to discuss the news reports
of a recently found wreck

273
00:12:12,900 --> 00:12:15,133
in the jungles to the north.

274
00:12:15,133 --> 00:12:16,900
At the end of a long dirt road,

275
00:12:16,900 --> 00:12:19,000
I'm walked to a makeshift wall

276
00:12:19,000 --> 00:12:21,933
of what looks like jungle fronds.

277
00:12:23,300 --> 00:12:27,200
[People singing, drums banging]

278
00:12:28,400 --> 00:12:31,900
13-year-old boy, you find
human bones under your house?

279
00:12:31,900 --> 00:12:33,167
It freaked me out.

280
00:12:33,167 --> 00:12:35,700
It never, ever came back into my life

281
00:12:35,700 --> 00:12:38,767
until I read this thing about Amelia Earhart.

282
00:12:38,767 --> 00:12:40,967
Was the rest of that crawl space under the house

283
00:12:40,967 --> 00:12:42,400
thoroughly explored?

284
00:12:42,400 --> 00:12:43,267
No, not at all.

285
00:12:43,267 --> 00:12:44,333
Really? Never.

286
00:12:44,333 --> 00:12:45,967
I got a bone down here.

287
00:12:45,967 --> 00:12:48,067
My goodness.

288
00:12:48,067 --> 00:12:50,267
There's more down here. There's more down here.

289
00:12:50,267 --> 00:12:52,167
It's everywhere I look.

290
00:12:52,167 --> 00:12:54,200
I mean, I'm putting a skeleton together down here.

291
00:13:00,400 --> 00:13:02,933
GATES: I'm in Papua New
Guinea, in the South Pacific,

292
00:13:02,933 --> 00:13:06,367
following new leads in the
search for Amelia Earhart.

293
00:13:06,367 --> 00:13:08,133
I've come to a local village to meet with a chief

294
00:13:08,133 --> 00:13:09,900
who has information about a wreck

295
00:13:09,900 --> 00:13:12,267
that's recently been found in the jungles.

296
00:13:12,267 --> 00:13:16,133
He leads me to what appears
to be a wall of palm fronds.

297
00:13:16,133 --> 00:13:18,433
[People singing, drums banging]

298
00:13:30,500 --> 00:13:34,400
This is the craziest welcome I've ever seen.

299
00:13:34,400 --> 00:13:36,400
And I assume it's a welcome.

300
00:13:36,400 --> 00:13:39,033
I... could be murdered in the next 10 minutes.

301
00:13:39,033 --> 00:13:39,933
I don't know.

302
00:13:41,700 --> 00:13:43,733
This is not a tourist attraction.

303
00:13:45,200 --> 00:13:48,300
This is not a theme park. This is the real deal.

304
00:13:48,300 --> 00:13:50,533
It's called a sing-sing,

305
00:13:50,533 --> 00:13:54,333
a ritual in which villages come
together through song and dance.

306
00:13:54,333 --> 00:13:56,600
Reasonably certain

307
00:13:56,600 --> 00:13:58,867
that I'm not gonna end up as a human pincushion,

308
00:13:58,867 --> 00:14:01,067
I relax and enjoy the welcome.

309
00:14:01,067 --> 00:14:03,533
Like many other tribes in Papua New Guinea,

310
00:14:03,533 --> 00:14:06,600
its people are caught between
the past and the present.

311
00:14:06,600 --> 00:14:09,400
It seems only fitting that I meet them halfway.

312
00:14:12,033 --> 00:14:14,167
Good look for me, right?

313
00:14:14,167 --> 00:14:17,800
[People singing]

314
00:14:24,300 --> 00:14:25,767
[Singing, drumming stops]

315
00:14:25,767 --> 00:14:27,367
[Laughter] Thank you! Good night!

316
00:14:29,033 --> 00:14:30,300
Thank you, Lae!

317
00:14:30,300 --> 00:14:32,167
We'll be here all week!

318
00:14:32,167 --> 00:14:34,733
Okay, I may not be Ringo Starr,

319
00:14:34,733 --> 00:14:35,967
but my drumming is good enough

320
00:14:35,967 --> 00:14:37,800
that my crew and I have been invited

321
00:14:37,800 --> 00:14:40,067
to don the tribe's colors and join the clan.

322
00:14:40,067 --> 00:14:41,200
It's a genuine honor,

323
00:14:41,200 --> 00:14:42,533
though something tells me

324
00:14:42,533 --> 00:14:44,533
that they use more than food coloring

325
00:14:44,533 --> 00:14:46,000
in the strong-smelling paint.

326
00:14:46,000 --> 00:14:48,533
Saliva? Is there saliva?

327
00:14:48,533 --> 00:14:49,300
Yeah.

328
00:14:49,300 --> 00:14:51,233
Great.

329
00:14:54,467 --> 00:14:56,067
What do these markings mean?

330
00:14:56,067 --> 00:14:58,233
[Speaking native language]

331
00:14:58,233 --> 00:14:59,933
Brave warrior? Yeah.

332
00:14:59,933 --> 00:15:01,233
Yeah, right.

333
00:15:01,233 --> 00:15:03,300
Village idiot, probably.

334
00:15:03,300 --> 00:15:04,333
Is that it?

335
00:15:04,333 --> 00:15:05,300
MAN: Yeah.

336
00:15:05,300 --> 00:15:06,300
Okay, how do I look?

337
00:15:06,300 --> 00:15:08,167
[Crowd cheers]

338
00:15:08,167 --> 00:15:12,100
I am joining the tribe.

339
00:15:14,500 --> 00:15:16,233
Once the sing-sing winds down,

340
00:15:16,233 --> 00:15:18,933
I'm granted an audience with
the village elder, named Iru,

341
00:15:18,933 --> 00:15:22,000
while my security guard serves as translator.

342
00:15:22,000 --> 00:15:24,933
So, how many people live here in the village?

343
00:15:24,933 --> 00:15:26,967
[Speaking native language]

344
00:15:26,967 --> 00:15:28,100
More than 2,500.

345
00:15:28,100 --> 00:15:29,533
More than 2,500? Wow.

346
00:15:29,533 --> 00:15:31,567
2,500, because it's a very big village.

347
00:15:31,567 --> 00:15:32,700
Yeah.

348
00:15:32,700 --> 00:15:35,000
GATES: I'm not the first Westerner to come here.

349
00:15:35,000 --> 00:15:37,000
These are the direct descendents of the tribes

350
00:15:37,000 --> 00:15:38,933
that Earhart met in 1937.

351
00:15:38,933 --> 00:15:40,333
Through oral tradition,

352
00:15:40,333 --> 00:15:43,267
they have preserved the memory of her time in PNG.

353
00:15:43,267 --> 00:15:46,300
So, listen, you know, we're very
interested in Amelia Earhart,

354
00:15:46,300 --> 00:15:48,300
and I've been told that you have some knowledge,

355
00:15:48,300 --> 00:15:49,233
some stories about her.

356
00:15:49,233 --> 00:15:50,167
What can you tell me?

357
00:15:50,167 --> 00:15:52,833
[Speaking native language]

358
00:15:52,833 --> 00:15:55,033
INTERPRETER: According to our elders,

359
00:15:55,033 --> 00:15:56,267
when she landed here,

360
00:15:56,267 --> 00:15:58,433
it was very exciting for our village

361
00:15:58,433 --> 00:15:59,933
and for Papua New Guinea.

362
00:15:59,933 --> 00:16:02,633
At that time, airplanes were very uncommon.

363
00:16:02,633 --> 00:16:04,767
Most people had never seen a plane.

364
00:16:04,767 --> 00:16:06,867
Some had never seen a white woman.

365
00:16:06,867 --> 00:16:09,100
It was a big event when she took off.

366
00:16:09,100 --> 00:16:12,800
But other tribes say that she circled back here,

367
00:16:12,800 --> 00:16:16,067
that the plane crashed not far form their village.

368
00:16:16,067 --> 00:16:18,400
GATES: Those tribes weren't the only ones

369
00:16:18,400 --> 00:16:20,367
who thought she'd crashed in PNG.

370
00:16:20,367 --> 00:16:21,767
In 1945,

371
00:16:21,767 --> 00:16:24,933
an Australian corporal was
on patrol in the same jungles

372
00:16:24,933 --> 00:16:27,900
and stumbled upon something
that has baffled experts ...

373
00:16:27,900 --> 00:16:30,567
a rusted and badly damaged airplane engine.

374
00:16:32,167 --> 00:16:34,600
Though he didn't know his exact position,

375
00:16:34,600 --> 00:16:37,400
he did jot down a partial
serial number on a weathered map.

376
00:16:37,400 --> 00:16:42,100
Intriguingly, S3H1 is the same
model series as the Electra,

377
00:16:42,100 --> 00:16:44,900
and 1055 matches the construction number

378
00:16:44,900 --> 00:16:46,133
of her plane.

379
00:16:46,133 --> 00:16:48,733
And has anybody since then
been able to find the wreck?

380
00:16:48,733 --> 00:16:50,500
[Speaking native language]

381
00:16:50,500 --> 00:16:52,567
INTERPRETER: Just a few weeks ago,

382
00:16:52,567 --> 00:16:55,733
we heard from the village that
the Baining tribe in Rabaul

383
00:16:55,733 --> 00:16:56,933
found the wreckage.

384
00:16:56,933 --> 00:17:01,300
They think it might be a plane ... her plane.

385
00:17:01,300 --> 00:17:04,000
GATES: Due to the largely impenetrable jungles,

386
00:17:04,000 --> 00:17:07,033
the plane spotted in 1945
has never been relocated.

387
00:17:07,033 --> 00:17:09,500
But now it sounds like this remote tribe

388
00:17:09,500 --> 00:17:13,033
may have finally stumbled
across the mysterious wreck.

389
00:17:13,033 --> 00:17:16,300
So why wasn't anyone searching here earlier?

390
00:17:16,300 --> 00:17:19,033
Within hours of Earhart's disappearance,

391
00:17:19,033 --> 00:17:20,633
the U.S. launched

392
00:17:20,633 --> 00:17:22,900
one of the most extensive manhunts in history,

393
00:17:22,900 --> 00:17:24,633
but based on fuel calculations,

394
00:17:24,633 --> 00:17:27,600
only searched a four-hour
flight radius from Howland,

395
00:17:27,600 --> 00:17:30,600
which included the nearby
Gilbert and Phoenix islands.

396
00:17:30,600 --> 00:17:34,133
But some experts believe
those calculations are wrong.

397
00:17:34,133 --> 00:17:36,567
To keep the plane as light as possible,

398
00:17:36,567 --> 00:17:39,533
Earhart left key navigational instruments behind.

399
00:17:39,533 --> 00:17:42,433
Though she should have had only
four hours of fuel remaining

400
00:17:42,433 --> 00:17:44,833
when she reached Howland, if she was off course,

401
00:17:44,833 --> 00:17:46,333
and if she flew conservatively,

402
00:17:46,333 --> 00:17:49,000
researchers have argued that the Electra

403
00:17:49,000 --> 00:17:52,733
could have limped back to PNG,
only to crash before landing.

404
00:17:52,733 --> 00:17:55,767
JACK: He says that if you
want to get more information,

405
00:17:55,767 --> 00:17:57,133
head down to Rabaul,

406
00:17:57,133 --> 00:17:58,800
and then check the people
up in the tribes out there.

407
00:17:58,800 --> 00:18:00,267
Go for the search.

408
00:18:00,267 --> 00:18:01,433
Get to Rabaul?

409
00:18:01,433 --> 00:18:02,667
Yeah. Okay.

410
00:18:02,667 --> 00:18:04,233
And...

411
00:18:04,233 --> 00:18:06,033
and the tribe in Rabaul, they're friendly?

412
00:18:06,033 --> 00:18:07,500
They can be aggressive, but you'll be okay.

413
00:18:07,500 --> 00:18:09,067
I'll be okay?

414
00:18:09,067 --> 00:18:10,200
You'll be okay.

415
00:18:10,200 --> 00:18:11,467
Thank you very much.

416
00:18:11,467 --> 00:18:12,967
Your village is incredible.

417
00:18:12,967 --> 00:18:14,567
[Children screaming]

418
00:18:14,567 --> 00:18:16,033
Whoa. Earthquake.

419
00:18:16,033 --> 00:18:17,600
[Ground rumbling]

420
00:18:17,600 --> 00:18:18,667
Whoa. Whoa!

421
00:18:18,667 --> 00:18:20,733
Whoa! Watch out.

422
00:18:21,467 --> 00:18:23,600
Whoa! Holy [bleep]

423
00:18:28,567 --> 00:18:30,767
GATES: I'm in Papua New Guinea,

424
00:18:30,767 --> 00:18:33,833
investigating the theory that
famed pilot Amelia Earhart

425
00:18:33,833 --> 00:18:35,433
could have crash-landed here.

426
00:18:35,433 --> 00:18:37,733
One of the villagers has new information

427
00:18:37,733 --> 00:18:40,633
that a fellow tribe to the north
has found a wreck in the jungle

428
00:18:40,633 --> 00:18:42,400
that could be her missing aircraft.

429
00:18:42,400 --> 00:18:45,300
JACK: He says that if you
want to get more information,

430
00:18:45,300 --> 00:18:46,667
head down to Rabaul,

431
00:18:46,667 --> 00:18:48,333
and then check the people
up in the tribes out there.

432
00:18:48,333 --> 00:18:49,533
Go for the search.

433
00:18:49,533 --> 00:18:50,367
Get to Rabaul?

434
00:18:50,367 --> 00:18:51,067
Yeah.

435
00:18:51,067 --> 00:18:52,700
[Children screaming]

436
00:18:52,700 --> 00:18:55,433
Whoa. Earthquake. Whoa.

437
00:18:55,433 --> 00:18:56,800
[Ground rumbling]

438
00:18:56,800 --> 00:18:57,633
Whoa!

439
00:18:57,633 --> 00:19:00,867
Watch out. Whoa! Whoa!

440
00:19:00,867 --> 00:19:03,167
Holy [bleep]

441
00:19:03,167 --> 00:19:06,233
Whoa! Holy [bleep]

442
00:19:06,233 --> 00:19:11,233
[Rumbling stops]

443
00:19:11,233 --> 00:19:12,367
That was insane.

444
00:19:12,367 --> 00:19:14,633
It happens a lot. It happens a lot here.

445
00:19:14,633 --> 00:19:16,067
That happens a lot here?

446
00:19:16,067 --> 00:19:16,867
Yeah, yeah.

447
00:19:18,733 --> 00:19:20,267
I mean, that was like

448
00:19:20,267 --> 00:19:23,033
the whole planet just went went like this.

449
00:19:23,033 --> 00:19:24,233
[Laughter]

450
00:19:24,233 --> 00:19:26,967
Massive earthquake during an interview ... check.

451
00:19:26,967 --> 00:19:28,967
I made it through unscathed,

452
00:19:28,967 --> 00:19:31,067
and so did the rest of the village ...

453
00:19:31,067 --> 00:19:32,500
even the pigs.

454
00:19:32,500 --> 00:19:36,000
Life goes on, and so does my search for Earhart.

455
00:19:40,867 --> 00:19:43,300
With a substantial lead in
the jungles to the northeast,

456
00:19:43,300 --> 00:19:46,600
I'm carrying on with my investigation.

457
00:19:46,600 --> 00:19:48,033
From Lae,

458
00:19:48,033 --> 00:19:50,700
I'm traveling about 400 miles
to the island of New Britain

459
00:19:50,700 --> 00:19:54,333
and touching down in the former capital of Rabaul.

460
00:19:54,333 --> 00:19:58,333
The island, like much of PNG,
looks to be a paradise on Earth,

461
00:19:58,333 --> 00:19:59,567
and it is.

462
00:19:59,567 --> 00:20:01,700
But it also has a dark history.

463
00:20:01,700 --> 00:20:03,167
Just beneath the jungle canopy,

464
00:20:03,167 --> 00:20:07,233
long-silenced anti-aircraft
guns still point to the skies,

465
00:20:07,233 --> 00:20:11,100
a reminder that this paradise was once a war zone.

466
00:20:11,100 --> 00:20:14,100
PNG's strategic location just north of Australia

467
00:20:14,100 --> 00:20:16,333
made it prime real estate for the Japanese

468
00:20:16,333 --> 00:20:17,600
during World War II.

469
00:20:17,600 --> 00:20:20,100
If you look closely along the side of the road,

470
00:20:20,100 --> 00:20:22,667
you can still catch site of foreboding tunnels

471
00:20:22,667 --> 00:20:24,233
that bore into the mountains.

472
00:20:24,233 --> 00:20:26,700
Inside is another world.

473
00:20:26,700 --> 00:20:29,933
This is actually remains of an
underground Japanese hospital.

474
00:20:29,933 --> 00:20:33,833
All told, there are more than 500 miles of tunnels

475
00:20:33,833 --> 00:20:35,333
underneath Rabaul,

476
00:20:35,333 --> 00:20:38,000
and a lot of them are filled
with bats and creepy-crawlies.

477
00:20:38,000 --> 00:20:40,500
After capturing Rabaul in 1942,

478
00:20:40,500 --> 00:20:44,067
the Japanese Empire immediately
set their army to work

479
00:20:44,067 --> 00:20:46,933
digging miles and miles of serpentine tunnels

480
00:20:46,933 --> 00:20:49,533
to shelter their forces from Allied attacks.

481
00:20:49,533 --> 00:20:54,467
By 1943, Rabaul was home to
over 100,000 Japanese troops.

482
00:20:55,533 --> 00:20:58,100
Ghosts of the past are everywhere...

483
00:20:59,833 --> 00:21:03,500
... tanks, weapons, bombs.

484
00:21:03,500 --> 00:21:06,067
One tunnel even contains the decomposing remains

485
00:21:06,067 --> 00:21:08,833
of massive Japanese landing barges.

486
00:21:08,833 --> 00:21:12,133
I have to wonder ... with all
these abandoned relics of war,

487
00:21:12,133 --> 00:21:14,567
there must have been hundreds
of downed planes here,

488
00:21:14,567 --> 00:21:17,800
which makes the hunt for
Earhart's Electra a nightmare.

489
00:21:19,367 --> 00:21:23,133
Nearby, I descend into one
of the most historic bunkers

490
00:21:23,133 --> 00:21:24,333
in the world.

491
00:21:24,333 --> 00:21:27,733
This fortification was the base of operations

492
00:21:27,733 --> 00:21:31,167
for the commander in chief
of the Imperial Japanese Navy.

493
00:21:31,167 --> 00:21:34,100
This is Admiral Yamamoto's
bunker from World War II.

494
00:21:34,100 --> 00:21:36,067
He's the guy who orchestrated

495
00:21:36,067 --> 00:21:37,967
the attack on Pearl Harbor at Midway,

496
00:21:37,967 --> 00:21:41,333
and this was the Japanese base of naval operations

497
00:21:41,333 --> 00:21:42,533
in World War II.

498
00:21:42,533 --> 00:21:45,267
You can still see writing on the walls.

499
00:21:45,267 --> 00:21:47,500
It's all perfectly preserved
under all this concrete ...

500
00:21:47,500 --> 00:21:50,800
absolutely astounding piece
of World War II history.

501
00:21:50,800 --> 00:21:52,533
From this austere war room,

502
00:21:52,533 --> 00:21:54,133
Admiral Yamamoto's forces

503
00:21:54,133 --> 00:21:57,033
coordinated the theater of war in the Pacific

504
00:21:57,033 --> 00:22:01,433
until his plane was shot
down leaving Rabaul in 1943.

505
00:22:01,433 --> 00:22:03,333
Back above ground,

506
00:22:03,333 --> 00:22:05,900
I make my way to a nearby market to meet with

507
00:22:05,900 --> 00:22:08,900
a World War II aviation expert and PNG historian

508
00:22:08,900 --> 00:22:11,567
who can shed more light on the rumors of a wreck

509
00:22:11,567 --> 00:22:13,700
in the jungles of Rabaul.

510
00:22:17,567 --> 00:22:19,367
While I wait for him to arrive,

511
00:22:19,367 --> 00:22:22,200
I have time to sample PNG's favorite addiction.

512
00:22:22,200 --> 00:22:24,467
You may notice that nearly everyone here

513
00:22:24,467 --> 00:22:26,067
has a red-stained mouth.

514
00:22:26,067 --> 00:22:27,600
That's because of this.

515
00:22:27,600 --> 00:22:30,733
Buai is a seemingly random recipe of betel nut,

516
00:22:30,733 --> 00:22:32,800
mustard stick, and lime.

517
00:22:32,800 --> 00:22:34,500
GATES: Show me how I do this.

518
00:22:35,433 --> 00:22:36,933
I use my teeth to open it? Yeah.

519
00:22:36,933 --> 00:22:39,367
Already, it doesn't seem like a good idea.

520
00:22:39,367 --> 00:22:41,400
That's not good for your teeth.

521
00:22:41,400 --> 00:22:42,867
Okay.

522
00:22:42,867 --> 00:22:43,933
Oh, I need ... I want the middle piece.

523
00:22:43,933 --> 00:22:45,167
I see. Soft piece. Boom.

524
00:22:45,167 --> 00:22:46,167
The whole thing?

525
00:22:46,167 --> 00:22:46,933
Yeah.

526
00:22:46,933 --> 00:22:49,233
Okay. Ugh, it's bitter.

527
00:22:49,233 --> 00:22:50,233
Now what?

528
00:22:50,233 --> 00:22:52,700
Small one, in the lime?

529
00:22:54,167 --> 00:22:56,633
The ingredients are combined and chewed,

530
00:22:56,633 --> 00:22:59,200
producing torrential
amounts of bright-red saliva,

531
00:22:59,200 --> 00:23:02,667
which Papuans spit on just
about every surface in sight.

532
00:23:03,667 --> 00:23:05,033
No, that's enough.

533
00:23:05,033 --> 00:23:06,200
Believe it or not,

534
00:23:06,200 --> 00:23:08,433
this is the fourth-most-consumed
drug in the world

535
00:23:08,433 --> 00:23:11,067
after nicotine, booze, and coffee.

536
00:23:11,067 --> 00:23:13,233
It is definitely not recommended by

537
00:23:13,233 --> 00:23:16,467
the American Dental Association,
and for the uninitiated,

538
00:23:16,467 --> 00:23:19,333
the chemical combination can be a little intense.

539
00:23:19,333 --> 00:23:20,933
Whoo!

540
00:23:20,933 --> 00:23:23,033
Starting to feel a little dizzy.

541
00:23:23,033 --> 00:23:24,433
[Women singing in native language]

542
00:23:24,433 --> 00:23:27,033
It's good. What does it do?

543
00:23:30,267 --> 00:23:31,733
Your eyes open. I don't know about that.

544
00:23:31,733 --> 00:23:33,100
My eyes are about to close.

545
00:23:33,100 --> 00:23:34,133
[Laughter]

546
00:23:34,133 --> 00:23:35,567
Whoo!

547
00:23:36,967 --> 00:23:38,000
Hoo!

548
00:23:38,000 --> 00:23:39,567
Where'd all these people come from?

549
00:23:43,833 --> 00:23:46,133
Okay, I'm just gonna lay here for a while

550
00:23:46,133 --> 00:23:48,000
until the world stops spinning.

551
00:23:50,600 --> 00:23:54,667
Moments later, I'm back on my feet, sort of.

552
00:23:54,667 --> 00:23:56,600
Apologies ... just give me a moment, here.

553
00:23:56,600 --> 00:23:57,533
It wears off fast.

554
00:23:59,467 --> 00:24:02,133
I'm good. Let's go.

555
00:24:02,133 --> 00:24:04,033
Finally feeling less dizzy,

556
00:24:04,033 --> 00:24:06,567
I'm ready to meet up with historian Rob Rowenson.

557
00:24:06,567 --> 00:24:10,700
As an aircraft expert with the
Organization of Pacific Wrecks,

558
00:24:10,700 --> 00:24:13,133
Rob lives here and speaks Papuan dialects,

559
00:24:13,133 --> 00:24:15,200
making him a critical intermediary

560
00:24:15,200 --> 00:24:17,767
between outside investigators and the remote tribe

561
00:24:17,767 --> 00:24:21,600
that claims to have found a
downed plane in the jungle.

562
00:24:21,600 --> 00:24:23,867
We've had someone report,
say there was an engine there,

563
00:24:23,867 --> 00:24:26,167
and some parts of an airplane.

564
00:24:26,167 --> 00:24:27,667
Of course, you get these reports,

565
00:24:27,667 --> 00:24:29,367
and then you have to go there yourself

566
00:24:29,367 --> 00:24:31,500
and try and determine what
sort of airplane it was.

567
00:24:31,500 --> 00:24:33,333
Yeah. What's the road like out to this village?

568
00:24:33,333 --> 00:24:34,633
It's rough.

569
00:24:34,633 --> 00:24:36,900
You need vehicles that can
handle those sort of conditions.

570
00:24:36,900 --> 00:24:38,967
I do know of a vehicle that might help you out.

571
00:24:38,967 --> 00:24:41,767
Okay. [Chuckles]

572
00:24:54,500 --> 00:24:58,233
Once airborne, we loft up
over the island of New Britain

573
00:24:58,233 --> 00:25:00,200
and head toward the unknown.

574
00:25:00,200 --> 00:25:03,467
The helicopter will fly us 40 miles inland,

575
00:25:03,467 --> 00:25:05,333
to the remote village of Vunalama.

576
00:25:05,333 --> 00:25:08,300
Below us are some of the wildest
and least-explored jungles

577
00:25:08,300 --> 00:25:09,600
on Earth.

578
00:25:09,600 --> 00:25:13,067
Papua New Guinea is often
referred to as "the lost world,"

579
00:25:13,067 --> 00:25:14,100
and for good reason.

580
00:25:14,100 --> 00:25:15,933
More new species are discovered here

581
00:25:15,933 --> 00:25:19,833
than anywhere else on Earth,
an average of two a week.

582
00:25:19,833 --> 00:25:23,300
The tribes that live in these
jungles exist off the grid

583
00:25:23,300 --> 00:25:25,633
and far from the reach of modern laws.

584
00:25:25,633 --> 00:25:28,900
There are still isolated
reports of murder, cannibalism,

585
00:25:28,900 --> 00:25:32,933
and sacrifice associated with
sorcery and tribal beliefs.

586
00:25:41,233 --> 00:25:44,200
Rob's contacts have given us the rough location

587
00:25:44,200 --> 00:25:46,467
of the Baining village that
reported the wrecked plane.

588
00:25:46,467 --> 00:25:48,433
But all we're seeing is jungle.

589
00:25:48,433 --> 00:25:50,133
I'm genuinely concerned here,

590
00:25:50,133 --> 00:25:52,933
since landing in the wrong tribe's territory

591
00:25:52,933 --> 00:25:54,433
could be a fatal mistake.

592
00:25:54,433 --> 00:25:57,467
But with the weather worsening,
we've got one shot at this,

593
00:25:57,467 --> 00:25:59,633
so we touch down in a nearby clearing.

594
00:25:59,633 --> 00:26:01,033
We're good. We're down.

595
00:26:01,033 --> 00:26:03,767
My cameraman leaps out first to film the landing,

596
00:26:03,767 --> 00:26:05,833
and before I can unhook my harness,

597
00:26:05,833 --> 00:26:07,933
he realizes that we've got company.

598
00:26:14,400 --> 00:26:15,600
They're here to meet us?

599
00:26:21,067 --> 00:26:22,700
With my helicopter pilot

600
00:26:22,700 --> 00:26:24,867
not sticking around to see how this turns out,

601
00:26:24,867 --> 00:26:25,900
we are on our own.

602
00:26:25,900 --> 00:26:27,500
Wait, wait! Wait, wait, hey, hey!

603
00:26:34,100 --> 00:26:37,433
GATES: I've just been dropped into
the jungles of Papua New Guinea,

604
00:26:37,433 --> 00:26:40,567
looking for a local tribe with
information about a plane wreck

605
00:26:40,567 --> 00:26:42,867
that could be Amelia Earhart's.

606
00:26:42,867 --> 00:26:45,233
Good. We're down.

607
00:26:49,467 --> 00:26:52,400
I'm not sure if this is a
welcome crew or a war party,

608
00:26:52,400 --> 00:26:53,667
but at 6'3",

609
00:26:53,667 --> 00:26:56,300
I'm a pretty easy target
for a well-aimed projectile.

610
00:26:56,300 --> 00:26:58,667
Wait, wait! Wait, wait, hey, hey!

611
00:27:03,000 --> 00:27:04,700
How are you? Good. All right.

612
00:27:04,700 --> 00:27:06,667
Nice to meet you. What's your name?

613
00:27:06,667 --> 00:27:07,733
Uh, Bill. Bill?

614
00:27:07,733 --> 00:27:08,567
Yes.

615
00:27:08,567 --> 00:27:09,733
You don't look like a Bill.

616
00:27:09,733 --> 00:27:10,567
[Both laugh]

617
00:27:10,567 --> 00:27:11,567
Nice to meet you!

618
00:27:11,567 --> 00:27:12,567
Hello. Hello.

619
00:27:12,567 --> 00:27:14,133
What's your name? Clement.

620
00:27:14,133 --> 00:27:15,700
Clement, nice to meet you.

621
00:27:15,700 --> 00:27:18,333
Do you have a place we can get out of the rain?

622
00:27:18,333 --> 00:27:20,000
Yeah? Someplace with cover?

623
00:27:20,000 --> 00:27:21,600
[Speaking native language]

624
00:27:21,600 --> 00:27:22,600
Yeah. Yeah?

625
00:27:22,600 --> 00:27:24,233
[Conversing in native language]

626
00:27:24,233 --> 00:27:25,400
Okay, great. Let's go.

627
00:27:25,400 --> 00:27:27,367
It turns out that Bill and Clement

628
00:27:27,367 --> 00:27:29,033
are more likely to offer me tea

629
00:27:29,033 --> 00:27:30,600
than the pointy end of their spears.

630
00:27:30,600 --> 00:27:31,900
[Laughing] I don't know.

631
00:27:31,900 --> 00:27:33,733
That was a little touch-and-go
there for a minute.

632
00:27:33,733 --> 00:27:35,533
You were worried they were
gonna put a spear through you?

633
00:27:35,533 --> 00:27:36,600
Yeah.

634
00:27:36,600 --> 00:27:38,333
The show of force is just a ritual greeting

635
00:27:38,333 --> 00:27:39,333
of the Baining tribe,

636
00:27:39,333 --> 00:27:41,133
and the children from the village run out

637
00:27:41,133 --> 00:27:42,767
to have a good laugh at our expense.

638
00:27:42,767 --> 00:27:45,100
Evan, I found an umbrella for your camera.

639
00:27:45,100 --> 00:27:49,800
I mean, what kind of "Land
of the Lost" leaf is this?

640
00:27:49,800 --> 00:27:51,733
Here you go. Stay dry.

641
00:27:52,767 --> 00:27:55,100
With the rain coming down,

642
00:27:55,100 --> 00:27:57,367
we need to get to the
village as quickly as possible

643
00:27:57,367 --> 00:27:59,600
before the downpour destroys our camera equipment.

644
00:28:03,100 --> 00:28:06,200
Did you catch Rob's translation?

645
00:28:06,200 --> 00:28:08,400
The Baining tribe, like many Papuans, speak pidgin

646
00:28:08,400 --> 00:28:11,300
that consists largely of English and German words

647
00:28:11,300 --> 00:28:13,800
repurposed into a unique language.

648
00:28:13,800 --> 00:28:15,733
Though the vocabulary is familiar,

649
00:28:15,733 --> 00:28:17,500
it sounds like total gibberish.

650
00:28:22,700 --> 00:28:24,267
This is the first time they've ever had any people

651
00:28:24,267 --> 00:28:24,967
out here with cameras.

652
00:28:24,967 --> 00:28:26,000
Really? Yeah.

653
00:28:26,000 --> 00:28:27,833
Wow. That's what I was asking.

654
00:28:27,833 --> 00:28:30,133
I'm thankful when we finally
arrive at the village,

655
00:28:30,133 --> 00:28:32,600
and even more thankful that
these jawbones aren't human.

656
00:28:32,600 --> 00:28:34,667
Okay, first order of business is just to get dry,

657
00:28:34,667 --> 00:28:36,167
to get the equipment dry, yeah?

658
00:28:36,167 --> 00:28:40,667
It looks like they are, like,
in real time, making a shelter.

659
00:28:40,667 --> 00:28:41,700
Can I help? What can I do?

660
00:28:41,700 --> 00:28:43,400
These first? Up, up, up?

661
00:28:43,400 --> 00:28:44,800
Yeah.

662
00:28:44,800 --> 00:28:47,100
We're in the middle of the
jungle, but in no time at all,

663
00:28:47,100 --> 00:28:50,267
our new friends have built us a cozy guest house.

664
00:28:50,267 --> 00:28:52,000
This is now a couch they've made,

665
00:28:52,000 --> 00:28:54,633
and they're adding banana
leaves as cushions. Amazing.

666
00:28:54,633 --> 00:28:57,200
This is the fastest
construction crew I've ever met.

667
00:28:57,200 --> 00:29:00,600
Five minutes flat ... addition to your house.

668
00:29:00,600 --> 00:29:02,400
This jungle is their home,

669
00:29:02,400 --> 00:29:05,867
and the tribe has welcomed me
with five-star accommodations...

670
00:29:05,867 --> 00:29:08,567
and a complimentary beverage.

671
00:29:12,367 --> 00:29:14,133
I'm anxious to speak to the chief

672
00:29:14,133 --> 00:29:16,367
about the wreck they discovered.

673
00:29:16,367 --> 00:29:17,933
But first, the tribe insists on welcoming us

674
00:29:17,933 --> 00:29:19,733
with a sacred fire dance.

675
00:29:19,733 --> 00:29:22,333
This is a seldom-seen ritual.

676
00:29:33,867 --> 00:29:35,967
So, the women ... the women have gone away?

677
00:29:36,767 --> 00:29:39,233
Why's that?

678
00:29:39,233 --> 00:29:40,533
Wow.

679
00:29:40,533 --> 00:29:42,967
Only men are allowed to participate or watch.

680
00:29:42,967 --> 00:29:45,533
If any women in the village were to witness this,

681
00:29:45,533 --> 00:29:47,300
they would be killed.

682
00:29:47,300 --> 00:29:48,767
The men tend the fire,

683
00:29:48,767 --> 00:29:51,767
feeding it until the flames
begin to devour the darkness...

684
00:29:51,767 --> 00:29:53,767
[Staves pounding rhythmically]

685
00:29:53,767 --> 00:29:56,200
... at which point, the dance begins.

686
00:29:56,200 --> 00:29:58,767
[Men chanting]

687
00:29:58,767 --> 00:30:00,900
The dancers are completely barefoot

688
00:30:00,900 --> 00:30:03,067
and attempt to ward off evil spirits

689
00:30:03,067 --> 00:30:06,200
by passing directly through the flames and embers.

690
00:30:08,733 --> 00:30:10,233
He goes right into the fire.

691
00:30:10,233 --> 00:30:11,467
Yeah. That's amazing.

692
00:30:11,467 --> 00:30:13,133
The dance is performed

693
00:30:13,133 --> 00:30:16,533
to initiate young men into
adulthood, or, in this case,

694
00:30:16,533 --> 00:30:18,633
to celebrate visiting outsiders.

695
00:30:21,567 --> 00:30:23,933
The dance itself is frenetic, wild,

696
00:30:23,933 --> 00:30:26,867
and not for the faint of heart.

697
00:30:26,867 --> 00:30:28,300
And I feel totally overwhelmed

698
00:30:28,300 --> 00:30:30,833
at being able to witness it firsthand.

699
00:30:35,000 --> 00:30:37,833
With the ceremony complete and my eyebrows singed,

700
00:30:37,833 --> 00:30:39,733
I'm granted access to the chief

701
00:30:39,733 --> 00:30:41,833
to discuss the plane wreck in the jungle,

702
00:30:41,833 --> 00:30:43,933
which could be Earhart's lost Electra.

703
00:30:43,933 --> 00:30:45,300
That was incredible.

704
00:30:45,300 --> 00:30:46,467
I've never seen anything like that.

705
00:30:46,467 --> 00:30:47,933
Thank you for welcoming us here.

706
00:30:47,933 --> 00:30:48,767
Thank you.

707
00:30:48,767 --> 00:30:50,933
[Speaking native language]

708
00:30:50,933 --> 00:30:53,133
We heard these stories

709
00:30:53,133 --> 00:30:56,733
that your tribe has found wreckage in the jungles.

710
00:30:56,733 --> 00:30:58,533
[Speaking native language]

711
00:30:58,533 --> 00:30:59,667
Yeah, there's some wreckage in the bush.

712
00:30:59,667 --> 00:31:00,700
Yeah.

713
00:31:00,700 --> 00:31:02,533
They don't know who it came from.

714
00:31:02,533 --> 00:31:05,100
Is the wreckage definitely from an airplane?

715
00:31:05,100 --> 00:31:06,333
[Speaking native language]

716
00:31:06,333 --> 00:31:07,333
It's from a plane.

717
00:31:07,333 --> 00:31:08,500
It's from a plane? From a plane.

718
00:31:08,500 --> 00:31:10,700
How far is the wreckage from the village?

719
00:31:10,700 --> 00:31:12,233
[Speaking native language]

720
00:31:12,233 --> 00:31:14,200
He says the wreckage is close by here.

721
00:31:14,200 --> 00:31:16,967
And could we have permission to
go and to look at the wreckage?

722
00:31:16,967 --> 00:31:19,467
Can you guide us and show us where it is?

723
00:31:19,467 --> 00:31:22,633
[Speaking native language]

724
00:31:22,633 --> 00:31:25,467
People who know exactly where
it is ... they will guide us.

725
00:31:25,467 --> 00:31:26,200
Terrific.

726
00:31:26,200 --> 00:31:27,800
Let's do it. Come on.

727
00:31:27,800 --> 00:31:28,500
Okay.

728
00:31:35,433 --> 00:31:38,333
GATES: The jungles of New Britain are no joke,

729
00:31:38,333 --> 00:31:39,767
especially at night,

730
00:31:39,767 --> 00:31:43,567
but some believe that Earhart's
Electra could be out here,

731
00:31:43,567 --> 00:31:45,267
waiting in the darkness.

732
00:31:51,833 --> 00:31:53,533
[Exhales sharply]

733
00:31:53,533 --> 00:31:55,633
These are real-deal jungles.

734
00:31:55,633 --> 00:31:58,533
A lot of predators out
here ... snakes, spiders ...

735
00:31:58,533 --> 00:32:00,800
and we're very far from a hospital,

736
00:32:00,800 --> 00:32:04,067
so we have to be very, very
careful going through here.

737
00:32:04,067 --> 00:32:06,100
Ooh, big hole right here.
Whoa, whoa, whoa, big hole.

738
00:32:06,100 --> 00:32:07,033
Drops down.

739
00:32:07,033 --> 00:32:08,533
What do you think, impact point?

740
00:32:08,533 --> 00:32:09,400
Could be, yeah.

741
00:32:09,400 --> 00:32:12,133
In 1945, in these very jungles,

742
00:32:12,133 --> 00:32:14,567
an Australian army patrol stumbled on a crash site

743
00:32:14,567 --> 00:32:18,467
they believed was Earhart's,
but no one ever found it again.

744
00:32:18,467 --> 00:32:20,567
Could this be the same wreck?

745
00:32:22,600 --> 00:32:24,167
Well, that's a piece of wreckage for sure.

746
00:32:24,167 --> 00:32:25,233
Look at this. Rob, come here.

747
00:32:29,067 --> 00:32:30,267
It's an airplane engine, yeah?

748
00:32:30,267 --> 00:32:31,967
Oh, definitely an airplane engine, yeah.

749
00:32:31,967 --> 00:32:34,633
They've taken propellers off.

750
00:32:34,633 --> 00:32:36,633
Let's get the vines off it.

751
00:32:36,633 --> 00:32:38,800
Earhart's Electra was a twin-prop plane.

752
00:32:38,800 --> 00:32:41,867
We've found one engine, and
I'm desperate to find another.

753
00:32:41,867 --> 00:32:45,233
The problem is the wreckage is
scattered all over the jungle.

754
00:32:45,233 --> 00:32:47,167
Rob, check this out.

755
00:32:47,167 --> 00:32:48,267
There's an interlocking piece there.

756
00:32:48,267 --> 00:32:49,300
It looks like a fold.

757
00:32:49,300 --> 00:32:50,767
Maybe this is the strut? Part of the strut.

758
00:32:50,767 --> 00:32:52,133
Part of the strut for the wheel, maybe?

759
00:32:52,133 --> 00:32:53,500
Yeah.

760
00:32:53,500 --> 00:32:54,600
This like looks ... What do you think,

761
00:32:54,600 --> 00:32:55,633
part of the exhaust or something?

762
00:32:55,633 --> 00:32:56,700
Exhaust, or something like that, yeah.

763
00:32:56,700 --> 00:32:57,800
Yeah.

764
00:32:57,800 --> 00:32:58,833
I would say that

765
00:32:58,833 --> 00:33:00,700
when the plane came in, it burned.

766
00:33:00,700 --> 00:33:01,933
It burned quite severely.

767
00:33:01,933 --> 00:33:03,300
Something over there?

768
00:33:03,300 --> 00:33:03,967
MAN: Yeah.

769
00:33:03,967 --> 00:33:06,467
Let's go look. More.

770
00:33:06,467 --> 00:33:07,933
Rob, we got more over here.

771
00:33:08,933 --> 00:33:10,567
Unbelievable. Look at this.

772
00:33:16,100 --> 00:33:18,400
GATES: I'm in the jungles of Papua New Guinea,

773
00:33:18,400 --> 00:33:22,667
investigating a wreck that could
be Amelia Earhart's lost plane.

774
00:33:22,667 --> 00:33:26,267
Suddenly, we find a crucial piece of evidence.

775
00:33:26,267 --> 00:33:27,633
Something over there?

776
00:33:27,633 --> 00:33:30,100
More. Rob, we got more over here.

777
00:33:30,100 --> 00:33:32,500
Unbelievable. Look at this.

778
00:33:32,500 --> 00:33:34,300
What is this part? It's not the landing gear.

779
00:33:34,300 --> 00:33:35,533
Is it part of the undercarriage?

780
00:33:35,533 --> 00:33:37,000
ROWENSON: It's undercarriage, yeah.

781
00:33:37,000 --> 00:33:39,800
So we're looking at part of the wing, yeah?

782
00:33:39,800 --> 00:33:40,900
Yeah, this'll be part of the wing.

783
00:33:40,900 --> 00:33:42,633
And it's been fairly badly burnt, too.

784
00:33:42,633 --> 00:33:44,033
Yeah, it looks very burned.

785
00:33:44,033 --> 00:33:46,100
All right, let's pull out
that schematic of the Electra.

786
00:33:48,467 --> 00:33:52,533
So, Electra's a twin-engine Lockheed.

787
00:33:52,533 --> 00:33:53,767
This looks like a twin or a single to you?

788
00:33:53,767 --> 00:33:55,267
Well, I think it's a twin.

789
00:33:55,267 --> 00:33:56,867
And what leads you to believe
that it's a twin engine?

790
00:33:56,867 --> 00:33:59,000
Because this is a very strong undercarriage.

791
00:33:59,000 --> 00:34:00,400
Right.

792
00:34:00,400 --> 00:34:02,933
On a single-engine airplane,
it's usually just the one strut.

793
00:34:02,933 --> 00:34:03,633
Right.

794
00:34:03,633 --> 00:34:04,567
We have a twin strut here.

795
00:34:04,567 --> 00:34:05,600
It's a radial engine, too.

796
00:34:05,600 --> 00:34:07,000
Same type of engine design, right?

797
00:34:07,000 --> 00:34:08,200
Same type of engine design.

798
00:34:08,200 --> 00:34:10,433
All right, well, she's still a candidate, then.

799
00:34:10,433 --> 00:34:12,767
There should be another engine here somewhere.

800
00:34:12,767 --> 00:34:14,567
Have you found a second engine?

801
00:34:14,567 --> 00:34:15,233
MAN: No.

802
00:34:15,233 --> 00:34:16,433
One only?

803
00:34:16,433 --> 00:34:18,267
I mean, if it hit so hard,
I mean, it could have gone

804
00:34:18,267 --> 00:34:20,033
200 meters down the bloody shore.

805
00:34:20,033 --> 00:34:21,833
Electra had Pratt and Whitney
engines. That's right, yeah.

806
00:34:21,833 --> 00:34:23,433
Can you tell if that's a Pratt and Whitney or not?

807
00:34:23,433 --> 00:34:24,633
Well, I can't. That's the problem.

808
00:34:24,633 --> 00:34:26,067
It may well be a Pratt and Whitney.

809
00:34:26,067 --> 00:34:28,233
Well, if we can get close and
see some identification on it.

810
00:34:28,233 --> 00:34:30,000
Let's see if we can get some identifying marks

811
00:34:30,000 --> 00:34:30,667
off the engines.

812
00:34:30,667 --> 00:34:32,000
GATES: In 1945,

813
00:34:32,000 --> 00:34:35,200
an Australian army patrol
found a Pratt and Whitney engine

814
00:34:35,200 --> 00:34:36,600
here in this jungle,

815
00:34:36,600 --> 00:34:39,900
and they were convinced it
belonged to Earhart's Electra.

816
00:34:39,900 --> 00:34:44,133
If this is the same engine,
we might have struck gold.

817
00:34:44,133 --> 00:34:45,867
God, I wish we had a propeller
or something like that,

818
00:34:45,867 --> 00:34:47,300
'cause on propellers, you had dates on them.

819
00:34:47,300 --> 00:34:49,233
Someone's taken a lot of the stuff away from here.

820
00:34:49,233 --> 00:34:50,900
Although Rabaul is littered with wrecks,

821
00:34:50,900 --> 00:34:53,800
Earhart's plane has features that distinguish it

822
00:34:53,800 --> 00:34:55,700
from most World War II aircraft.

823
00:34:55,700 --> 00:34:57,867
It was designed with a unique twin tail,

824
00:34:57,867 --> 00:34:59,533
unpainted aluminum body,

825
00:34:59,533 --> 00:35:03,200
and was packed with a dozen fuel
tanks in the fuselage and wings

826
00:35:03,200 --> 00:35:07,633
to feed the twin Pratt and Whitney
Wasp engines on her long flight.

827
00:35:07,633 --> 00:35:10,867
Any tags or identifiable parts with serial numbers

828
00:35:10,867 --> 00:35:13,233
have either been stolen or destroyed.

829
00:35:13,233 --> 00:35:16,733
Most of what looters left behind
is burned beyond recognition.

830
00:35:16,733 --> 00:35:18,700
So we can't really tell if
it's a Pratt and Whitney or not.

831
00:35:18,700 --> 00:35:20,833
Maybe, because we can't find
any identifying marks on it.

832
00:35:20,833 --> 00:35:22,000
Right.

833
00:35:22,000 --> 00:35:24,767
There's got to be something we're missing.

834
00:35:24,767 --> 00:35:26,467
I've just realized something.

835
00:35:26,467 --> 00:35:30,000
This is the undercarriage leg
of a dual-leg undercarriage.

836
00:35:30,000 --> 00:35:33,500
The undercarriage on an
Electra is a single oleo leg

837
00:35:33,500 --> 00:35:35,700
with a wishbone on the bottom
and the wheel between them.

838
00:35:35,700 --> 00:35:36,733
Forks over the wheel.

839
00:35:36,733 --> 00:35:38,000
That's right, it forks over the wheel.

840
00:35:38,000 --> 00:35:41,000
It indicates to me a much heavier aircraft.

841
00:35:41,000 --> 00:35:44,333
This wreck has two full struts
on each side of the wheels,

842
00:35:44,333 --> 00:35:45,833
but Earhart's Lockheed Electra

843
00:35:45,833 --> 00:35:47,667
had a single strut for each wheel,

844
00:35:47,667 --> 00:35:50,033
with a wishbone that wrapped around the tire ...

845
00:35:50,033 --> 00:35:52,700
a subtle but damning piece of evidence.

846
00:35:52,700 --> 00:35:55,933
My opinion is, at present, it's not an Electra.

847
00:35:57,100 --> 00:36:00,733
Now, what I think it is
... it's probably Japanese,

848
00:36:00,733 --> 00:36:03,633
and the only way to identify
that is to take this information

849
00:36:03,633 --> 00:36:06,733
that I have now and compare
it with information that I have

850
00:36:06,733 --> 00:36:07,967
back in Rabaul.

851
00:36:07,967 --> 00:36:09,933
So, wheel structure doesn't match the Electra,

852
00:36:09,933 --> 00:36:11,300
so we know it's not Earhart's plane.

853
00:36:11,300 --> 00:36:12,033
Definitely not.

854
00:36:12,033 --> 00:36:13,000
But still a mystery.

855
00:36:13,000 --> 00:36:13,767
Still a mystery.

856
00:36:13,767 --> 00:36:14,900
And an important mystery.

857
00:36:14,900 --> 00:36:16,733
Yeah, well, people died here,

858
00:36:16,733 --> 00:36:20,700
so it deserves our attention, most certainly.

859
00:36:20,700 --> 00:36:23,767
It's not Earhart's plane, but
with further investigation,

860
00:36:23,767 --> 00:36:26,100
this wreck will solve a different mystery

861
00:36:26,100 --> 00:36:30,433
and answer questions about the
demise of another downed pilot.

862
00:36:30,433 --> 00:36:31,767
Thank you very much for showing us this.

863
00:36:31,767 --> 00:36:33,433
Also, we're gonna need somewhere to sleep.

864
00:36:33,433 --> 00:36:34,167
[Laughs]

865
00:36:34,167 --> 00:36:35,300
[Chuckles]

866
00:36:35,300 --> 00:36:36,900
Helicopter will be back in the morning.

867
00:36:36,900 --> 00:36:38,667
All right, we're down to
our very last torches, here.

868
00:36:38,667 --> 00:36:39,800
Let's get back to the village.

869
00:36:39,800 --> 00:36:41,233
Otherwise, we're gonna be like this plane ...

870
00:36:41,233 --> 00:36:42,867
we're gonna be out here forever. [Chuckles]

871
00:36:46,367 --> 00:36:48,300
By the light of a new day,

872
00:36:48,300 --> 00:36:50,933
we leave the jungle behind
and head back to Rabaul.

873
00:36:50,933 --> 00:36:52,467
The wreck may or may not

874
00:36:52,467 --> 00:36:56,067
be the same one that the
Australians found in 1945.

875
00:36:56,067 --> 00:37:00,667
Either way, we know that it isn't Earhart's plane.

876
00:37:00,667 --> 00:37:03,900
But this isn't the only
developing lead here in PNG.

877
00:37:03,900 --> 00:37:06,900
Locals believe that
unidentified underwater wreckage

878
00:37:06,900 --> 00:37:10,900
off the coast of Rabaul may
in fact be the missing Electra.

879
00:37:10,900 --> 00:37:12,967
After grabbing a set of wheels,

880
00:37:12,967 --> 00:37:16,433
I'm rumbling my way over
to where Rabaul used to be.

881
00:37:16,433 --> 00:37:18,500
Back on the ground, headed over to Old Rabaul,

882
00:37:18,500 --> 00:37:20,200
or what's left of it.

883
00:37:20,200 --> 00:37:23,367
That is an active volcano named Vulcan.

884
00:37:23,367 --> 00:37:26,967
Still active, very much alive, very dangerous.

885
00:37:26,967 --> 00:37:30,033
This is one of two very
pissed-off-looking volcanos

886
00:37:30,033 --> 00:37:31,533
that loom over Rabaul.

887
00:37:31,533 --> 00:37:34,867
But its twin brother, Tavurvur,
is the one to keep an eye on.

888
00:37:36,600 --> 00:37:40,900
In 1937, an eruption killed more than 500 people,

889
00:37:40,900 --> 00:37:42,800
and less than a month before my arrival,

890
00:37:42,800 --> 00:37:45,400
it decided to wake up again.

891
00:37:47,000 --> 00:37:50,633
MAN

892
00:37:50,633 --> 00:37:54,467
MAN

893
00:37:54,467 --> 00:37:57,133
Along the side of the road
here, you see this big wall ...

894
00:37:57,133 --> 00:37:58,833
it's just 10 feet tall ... of ash,

895
00:37:58,833 --> 00:38:00,900
and we're just driving over volcanic ash.

896
00:38:00,900 --> 00:38:03,267
All of this is just from the most recent eruption.

897
00:38:03,267 --> 00:38:04,567
Looking up at the hills,

898
00:38:04,567 --> 00:38:08,800
nearly every palm tree in
sight is scorched to bits.

899
00:38:08,800 --> 00:38:10,833
Okay, we should be coming into Rabaul.

900
00:38:10,833 --> 00:38:14,400
As I approach the crater and
the coordinates of Old Rabaul,

901
00:38:14,400 --> 00:38:16,433
it might seem like I'm in the wrong spot.

902
00:38:16,433 --> 00:38:20,900
But the town is here, I'm
just driving on top of it.

903
00:38:20,900 --> 00:38:22,567
Peeking up from the ash

904
00:38:22,567 --> 00:38:25,600
are the ghostly remains of an entire city,

905
00:38:25,600 --> 00:38:28,633
destroyed by the volcanos in 1994.

906
00:38:28,633 --> 00:38:32,367
Motels, night clubs, banks,

907
00:38:32,367 --> 00:38:34,967
entire city streets ... gone.

908
00:38:34,967 --> 00:38:37,133
Perched atop the Ring of Fire,

909
00:38:37,133 --> 00:38:40,967
PNG is one of the most
volcanic nations in the world.

910
00:38:40,967 --> 00:38:44,367
The earthquake I felt in Lae is not a good sign,

911
00:38:44,367 --> 00:38:47,300
and judging by the billowing
smoke rising from Tavurvur

912
00:38:47,300 --> 00:38:49,067
and the boiling water coming up by my feet,

913
00:38:49,067 --> 00:38:51,967
I'm suddenly struck by a question ...

914
00:38:51,967 --> 00:38:54,300
What the hell am I doing here?

915
00:38:54,300 --> 00:38:55,533
Well, nobody said

916
00:38:55,533 --> 00:38:58,367
looking for Earhart was going to be easy or safe,

917
00:38:58,367 --> 00:39:00,433
so I'm challenging my inner explorer

918
00:39:00,433 --> 00:39:02,133
and pressing on with the search.

919
00:39:04,233 --> 00:39:07,233
The wreck in the jungle was one of two leads here.

920
00:39:07,233 --> 00:39:10,233
Next, I'm going to explore
another promising theory ...

921
00:39:10,233 --> 00:39:13,367
that Earhart crashed in the
waters off Papua New Guinea.

922
00:39:13,367 --> 00:39:15,533
Next stop here is to meet with a guy named Rod,

923
00:39:15,533 --> 00:39:18,167
a dive expert and a World War II historian,

924
00:39:18,167 --> 00:39:20,567
and he knows more about downed aircraft

925
00:39:20,567 --> 00:39:22,400
in these parts of the waters than anybody.

926
00:39:22,400 --> 00:39:26,267
Recently, local divers reported
seeing wreckage off of Rabaul

927
00:39:26,267 --> 00:39:28,733
that they believe looks like the Electra.

928
00:39:28,733 --> 00:39:31,800
To check out the report, I
make my way down to the harbor,

929
00:39:31,800 --> 00:39:34,433
which is today, home to a listing collection

930
00:39:34,433 --> 00:39:36,867
of ghost ships decimated by the volcano.

931
00:39:36,867 --> 00:39:40,500
But amidst the waterlogged fleet
are a few seaworthy vessels,

932
00:39:40,500 --> 00:39:43,800
one of which is captained by Rod Pierce.

933
00:39:43,800 --> 00:39:45,467
Hey. How are you? Are you Rod?

934
00:39:45,467 --> 00:39:46,467
Josh, g'day. Yep.

935
00:39:46,467 --> 00:39:48,333
Yeah, nice to meet you. Pleasure.

936
00:39:48,333 --> 00:39:50,100
So, I hear you're the man in
the know about airplane wrecks.

937
00:39:50,100 --> 00:39:54,000
Yes, yes. Been researching them since the '70s,

938
00:39:54,000 --> 00:39:56,033
and there's a lot of them here.

939
00:39:56,033 --> 00:39:57,233
From World War II,

940
00:39:57,233 --> 00:39:59,900
there's over 500 in the Gazelle area alone.

941
00:39:59,900 --> 00:40:00,567
Amazing.

942
00:40:00,567 --> 00:40:02,200
I look for MIAs.

943
00:40:02,200 --> 00:40:03,133
Uh-huh.

944
00:40:03,133 --> 00:40:06,067
Seek closure to a lot of people,

945
00:40:06,067 --> 00:40:07,800
from pilots of all nations ...

946
00:40:07,800 --> 00:40:09,800
Japanese, Australians, Americans.

947
00:40:09,800 --> 00:40:11,000
How do you locate these wrecks?

948
00:40:11,000 --> 00:40:14,267
Basically with sonar. Mm-hmm.

949
00:40:14,267 --> 00:40:17,500
And that will draw you an outline of a plane,

950
00:40:17,500 --> 00:40:20,367
or a wreck, or whatever you're looking for.

951
00:40:20,367 --> 00:40:22,267
We've heard reports, recent reports,

952
00:40:22,267 --> 00:40:24,600
of some aircraft wreckage out here near Rabaul,

953
00:40:24,600 --> 00:40:27,067
and some people sort of whispering

954
00:40:27,067 --> 00:40:28,533
that they think it may be Earhart's plane

955
00:40:28,533 --> 00:40:29,633
that may have come back here.

956
00:40:29,633 --> 00:40:31,133
Have you heard those stories?

957
00:40:31,133 --> 00:40:32,167
I've also heard that.

958
00:40:32,167 --> 00:40:33,500
Do you think it could be her plane?

959
00:40:33,500 --> 00:40:35,200
Anything's possible.

960
00:40:35,200 --> 00:40:38,033
The only way to know is to go out, investigate it,

961
00:40:38,033 --> 00:40:39,500
and see what we can find.

962
00:40:40,767 --> 00:40:43,767
As we head out to sea to search the coordinates

963
00:40:43,767 --> 00:40:46,967
where divers claim to see a
wreck matching the Electra,

964
00:40:46,967 --> 00:40:49,067
I'm captivated by the possibility

965
00:40:49,067 --> 00:40:51,800
of finding the plane, but also a bit unnerved.

966
00:40:51,800 --> 00:40:55,400
After all, we're cruising in the
shadow of two active volcanos,

967
00:40:55,400 --> 00:40:57,133
one of which is still smoking.

968
00:40:57,133 --> 00:41:01,300
Even more alarming, the entire
harbor is a volcanic caldera.

969
00:41:01,300 --> 00:41:04,800
1,500 years ago, this bay exploded.

970
00:41:04,800 --> 00:41:08,033
The ash cloud was so huge it
darkened the skies of Europe

971
00:41:08,033 --> 00:41:10,033
for a year.

972
00:41:10,033 --> 00:41:13,067
Rod, walk me through this.
This looks like a missile.

973
00:41:13,067 --> 00:41:15,567
Okay, this is ... This is a towfish.

974
00:41:15,567 --> 00:41:18,800
The idea is to run it about 5
to 10 meters above the bottom

975
00:41:18,800 --> 00:41:21,033
to get ideal footage.

976
00:41:21,033 --> 00:41:22,233
Cool.

977
00:41:22,233 --> 00:41:24,433
Looks like a pretty serious piece of equipment.

978
00:41:24,433 --> 00:41:26,067
Very serious piece of equipment,

979
00:41:26,067 --> 00:41:29,300
capable of picking up a nipple on a mermaid.

980
00:41:29,300 --> 00:41:30,400
[Laughs]

981
00:41:30,400 --> 00:41:33,267
But it will do the job, I can assure you.

982
00:41:33,267 --> 00:41:36,167
I'm just hoping for the nipple
on a mermaid at this point.

983
00:41:37,567 --> 00:41:39,400
Okay, Rod, here we go.

984
00:41:44,100 --> 00:41:45,400
Here we go. She's gone.

985
00:41:45,400 --> 00:41:47,333
All right.

986
00:41:47,333 --> 00:41:49,633
Keep it going.

987
00:41:52,133 --> 00:41:55,433
Okay, she's out. Let's see what she sees.

988
00:41:55,433 --> 00:41:59,233
With the sonar in the water, the search begins.

989
00:41:59,233 --> 00:42:01,900
We're scanning a largely unexplored area

990
00:42:01,900 --> 00:42:04,700
near where the divers reported seeing a wreck.

991
00:42:04,700 --> 00:42:08,367
Lockheed only produced 147 Model 10 Electras.

992
00:42:08,367 --> 00:42:10,600
Only four ever visited Papua New Guinea,

993
00:42:10,600 --> 00:42:12,367
and three are accounted for.

994
00:42:12,367 --> 00:42:17,033
So if Rod and I find an Electra
in this harbor, it's Earhart's.

995
00:42:17,033 --> 00:42:18,533
This kind of a waiting game now.

996
00:42:18,533 --> 00:42:20,467
We've got this side-scan sonar in the water.

997
00:42:20,467 --> 00:42:22,067
We're towing it behind the
boat, and it's just giving us

998
00:42:22,067 --> 00:42:23,733
a beautiful image of the ocean floor,

999
00:42:23,733 --> 00:42:26,633
and we're just kind of ... 
we're going back and forth,

1000
00:42:26,633 --> 00:42:29,533
eliminating each sector as we go through it,

1001
00:42:29,533 --> 00:42:31,800
and looking for wreckage while we go.

1002
00:42:31,800 --> 00:42:34,633
Rod has been investigating
Papua New Guinea's waters

1003
00:42:34,633 --> 00:42:35,700
for over 30 years.

1004
00:42:35,700 --> 00:42:38,867
Needless to say, he calls the shots...

1005
00:42:38,867 --> 00:42:41,033
and I take beverage orders.

1006
00:42:41,033 --> 00:42:43,067
Josh, do you know how to make tea?

1007
00:42:43,067 --> 00:42:45,667
Cup of tea coming up.

1008
00:42:45,667 --> 00:42:47,967
And I want it before Christmas.

1009
00:42:47,967 --> 00:42:49,233
Aye-aye.

1010
00:42:49,233 --> 00:42:51,367
It's like I'm with Quint from "Jaws."

1011
00:42:51,367 --> 00:42:54,033
Oh, for a splash of rum.

1012
00:42:54,033 --> 00:42:56,467
Don't have to take this abuse much longer.

1013
00:42:58,600 --> 00:43:03,467
I got the kettle on, so
let's see what we got here.

1014
00:43:03,467 --> 00:43:07,167
Peanut butter...

1015
00:43:07,167 --> 00:43:10,100
... baked beans...

1016
00:43:15,000 --> 00:43:17,267
... condensed milk.

1017
00:43:17,267 --> 00:43:19,433
[Whistling]

1018
00:43:19,433 --> 00:43:22,067
Okay, tea coming up.

1019
00:43:24,100 --> 00:43:25,700
Okay, cup o' tea coming up.

1020
00:43:25,700 --> 00:43:26,700
Oh, thanks, Josh.

1021
00:43:26,700 --> 00:43:28,300
There you go. Cheers, mate.

1022
00:43:28,300 --> 00:43:29,633
Cheers. All the best.

1023
00:43:29,633 --> 00:43:30,900
Hows it looking up here?

1024
00:43:30,900 --> 00:43:32,000
Good, good.

1025
00:43:32,000 --> 00:43:33,833
All right, I'm headed back to my station.

1026
00:43:37,167 --> 00:43:39,967
Not the manliest mug.

1027
00:43:44,200 --> 00:43:46,033
Oh, Rod! Got something!

1028
00:43:46,033 --> 00:43:47,800
Rod, come here! Off the starboard side!

1029
00:43:47,800 --> 00:43:49,000
PIERCE: Coming.

1030
00:43:49,000 --> 00:43:51,033
Something big right off the starboard side.

1031
00:43:51,033 --> 00:43:52,200
See it? Oh, yes, yes.

1032
00:43:52,200 --> 00:43:53,333
Oh, that's nice.

1033
00:43:53,333 --> 00:43:54,600
That's a big ship.

1034
00:43:54,600 --> 00:43:55,400
You think so?

1035
00:43:55,400 --> 00:43:56,500
Yeah, that's a big ship.

1036
00:43:56,500 --> 00:43:57,233
Okay.

1037
00:43:57,233 --> 00:43:58,700
World War II...

1038
00:43:58,700 --> 00:44:01,033
How big do you think ... what's the scale?

1039
00:44:01,033 --> 00:44:03,467
It's probably around about 3,000, 4,000 tons.

1040
00:44:03,467 --> 00:44:05,367
[Exhales sharply] Unbelievable.

1041
00:44:05,367 --> 00:44:06,233
Lying upright.

1042
00:44:06,233 --> 00:44:07,333
Crazy.

1043
00:44:07,333 --> 00:44:10,333
Okay, so, not a plane, but we got a wreck.

1044
00:44:10,333 --> 00:44:11,733
Not a plane, unfortunately.

1045
00:44:11,733 --> 00:44:12,867
Okay. All right.

1046
00:44:12,867 --> 00:44:14,800
We'll keep going, but we're hot to trot.

1047
00:44:14,800 --> 00:44:16,067
Keep going. Hot to trot.

1048
00:44:16,067 --> 00:44:17,967
We're on it. We're finding wrecks.

1049
00:44:20,467 --> 00:44:24,233
The harbor is eight miles long and six miles wide,

1050
00:44:24,233 --> 00:44:26,967
and slowly but surely, we're
scanning every inch of it.

1051
00:44:28,833 --> 00:44:31,567
Oh! Rod, I got a plane!

1052
00:44:31,567 --> 00:44:33,367
Rod, I got a plane, for sure! Come here!

1053
00:44:33,367 --> 00:44:35,533
Look at that. Look at that.

1054
00:44:35,533 --> 00:44:37,100
That's a [bleep] plane.

1055
00:44:42,100 --> 00:44:43,867
GATES: I'm in Papua New Guinea,

1056
00:44:43,867 --> 00:44:46,600
using side-scan sonar
equipment to scan Rabaul harbor

1057
00:44:46,600 --> 00:44:48,767
for Amelia Earhart's missing plane,

1058
00:44:48,767 --> 00:44:50,900
and we just got a major hit.

1059
00:44:50,900 --> 00:44:53,433
Oh! Rod, I got a plane!

1060
00:44:53,433 --> 00:44:55,233
Rod, I got a plane, for sure! Come here!

1061
00:44:55,233 --> 00:44:57,400
Look at that. Look at that.

1062
00:44:57,400 --> 00:45:00,733
That's a [bleep] plane. That's a plane, right?

1063
00:45:00,733 --> 00:45:02,600
Now, that is definitely a plane.

1064
00:45:02,600 --> 00:45:04,400
Great.

1065
00:45:04,400 --> 00:45:05,533
That's amazing.

1066
00:45:05,533 --> 00:45:07,767
One wing's buried in the sand.

1067
00:45:07,767 --> 00:45:08,633
Or missing.

1068
00:45:08,633 --> 00:45:09,533
Or missing.

1069
00:45:09,533 --> 00:45:11,600
Look at that. That's a plane.

1070
00:45:11,600 --> 00:45:13,433
We'll put the anchor down. Let's do it.

1071
00:45:15,500 --> 00:45:18,233
That's a plane! Let's get wet.

1072
00:45:40,300 --> 00:45:41,900
Based on the sonar readings,

1073
00:45:41,900 --> 00:45:45,033
there may be multiple wrecks
scattered beneath the boat,

1074
00:45:45,033 --> 00:45:47,467
and we descend into the murky
depths to investigate them.

1075
00:45:47,467 --> 00:45:48,867
[Radio beeps]

1076
00:46:33,100 --> 00:46:34,767
The million-dollar question

1077
00:46:34,767 --> 00:46:36,700
is whether this could be the Electra.

1078
00:46:36,700 --> 00:46:40,100
As we scour the wreckage,
vital clues come into focus,

1079
00:46:40,100 --> 00:46:42,900
including a slot on the bottom of the plane.

1080
00:47:07,667 --> 00:47:09,233
From 1940 to 1945,

1081
00:47:09,233 --> 00:47:13,000
the Mitsubishi A6M Zero was the infamous symbol

1082
00:47:13,000 --> 00:47:14,767
of Japan's air power.

1083
00:47:14,767 --> 00:47:16,700
A legendary long-range fighter

1084
00:47:16,700 --> 00:47:19,600
responsible for the attack on Pearl Harbor,

1085
00:47:19,600 --> 00:47:22,200
the Zero was light, fast, and deadly.

1086
00:47:36,167 --> 00:47:40,500
If this is a Zero, we may
be able to find the Hinomaru,

1087
00:47:40,500 --> 00:47:43,400
the red, circular sun that adorned the wings

1088
00:47:43,400 --> 00:47:44,933
of Japanese warplanes.

1089
00:48:10,667 --> 00:48:14,700
The second sonar hit is
located only a short distance

1090
00:48:14,700 --> 00:48:16,067
from the Japanese Zero,

1091
00:48:16,067 --> 00:48:18,967
and it's another shot at finding Earhart's plane.

1092
00:48:36,967 --> 00:48:38,300
Rod and I scour the wreck

1093
00:48:38,300 --> 00:48:40,333
to look for more identifying markers,

1094
00:48:40,333 --> 00:48:43,200
but this plane is badly mangled.

1095
00:48:49,767 --> 00:48:53,000
The cockpit on the Electra
had a wide field of view,

1096
00:48:53,000 --> 00:48:54,633
but short, narrow windows.

1097
00:48:54,633 --> 00:48:58,433
The cockpit area here looks
like a much more open design.

1098
00:49:19,367 --> 00:49:22,133
Based on the configuration,

1099
00:49:22,133 --> 00:49:25,333
Rod believes that this is a Grumman TBF Avenger,

1100
00:49:25,333 --> 00:49:28,333
an Allied torpedo bomber that proved indispensable

1101
00:49:28,333 --> 00:49:29,967
in defeating the Japanese.

1102
00:49:53,433 --> 00:49:56,833
Shockingly, it appears the three-person crew

1103
00:49:56,833 --> 00:49:59,567
are still trapped in the cockpit.

1104
00:50:24,633 --> 00:50:28,200
The plane and the soldiers inside are likely

1105
00:50:28,200 --> 00:50:30,667
either from New Zealand or the United States.

1106
00:50:30,667 --> 00:50:33,967
Even though this isn't the
Electra, it's a major find,

1107
00:50:33,967 --> 00:50:37,000
since Rod and his team can
now begin the important work

1108
00:50:37,000 --> 00:50:39,367
of identifying the servicemen who died here,

1109
00:50:39,367 --> 00:50:41,767
and having these heroes repatriated home.

1110
00:50:41,767 --> 00:50:44,933
Perhaps in time this will bring closure

1111
00:50:44,933 --> 00:50:47,800
to someone searching for these missing pilots.

1112
00:50:50,533 --> 00:50:52,633
It's time for me to bid farewell

1113
00:50:52,633 --> 00:50:55,167
to the exotic shores of Papua New Guinea.

1114
00:50:55,167 --> 00:50:58,200
After exploring the jungles of New Britain

1115
00:50:58,200 --> 00:51:00,367
and scanning the harbor of Rabaul,

1116
00:51:00,367 --> 00:51:03,233
we've eliminated two
high-profile leads in the case.

1117
00:51:03,233 --> 00:51:06,467
With so many aircraft wrecks
yet to be identified here,

1118
00:51:06,467 --> 00:51:08,833
it's easy to see why people believe

1119
00:51:08,833 --> 00:51:10,867
Earhart's could be among them.

1120
00:51:10,867 --> 00:51:12,300
But at the end of the day,

1121
00:51:12,300 --> 00:51:14,933
I don't believe there's enough physical evidence

1122
00:51:14,933 --> 00:51:16,167
to support the theory.

1123
00:51:16,167 --> 00:51:17,367
Furthermore,

1124
00:51:17,367 --> 00:51:18,567
I remain personally doubtful

1125
00:51:18,567 --> 00:51:20,067
that she could have had enough fuel

1126
00:51:20,067 --> 00:51:22,333
to limp all the way back here.

1127
00:51:22,333 --> 00:51:25,700
But my search for answers has just begun.

1128
00:51:25,700 --> 00:51:28,167
There's another breaking lead in the case ...

1129
00:51:28,167 --> 00:51:29,800
one that's so compelling,

1130
00:51:29,800 --> 00:51:32,300
it has recently captured worldwide attention.

1131
00:51:32,300 --> 00:51:34,267
There's stunning new evidence to suggest

1132
00:51:34,267 --> 00:51:37,067
that once Earhart failed to locate Howland Island,

1133
00:51:37,067 --> 00:51:39,833
she headed someplace much closer than PNG,

1134
00:51:39,833 --> 00:51:42,200
just 400 miles south of her target,

1135
00:51:42,200 --> 00:51:45,600
crash-landing on the
uninhabited island of Nikumaroro.

1136
00:51:45,600 --> 00:51:48,633
A renowned expert believes she may have died

1137
00:51:48,633 --> 00:51:51,200
on this lonely island as a castaway.

1138
00:51:51,200 --> 00:51:52,500
And the kicker ...

1139
00:51:52,500 --> 00:51:56,100
he may actually have a piece
of her plane to prove it.

1140
00:51:57,300 --> 00:52:01,300
13-year-old boy, you find
human bones under your house?

1141
00:52:01,300 --> 00:52:03,733
It never, ever came back into my life

1142
00:52:03,733 --> 00:52:06,800
until I read this thing about Amelia Earhart.

1143
00:52:06,800 --> 00:52:09,000
Was the rest of that crawl space under the house

1144
00:52:09,000 --> 00:52:10,433
thoroughly explored?

1145
00:52:10,433 --> 00:52:11,333
No, not at all.

1146
00:52:11,333 --> 00:52:12,367
Really? Never.

1147
00:52:12,367 --> 00:52:14,000
I got a bone down here.

1148
00:52:14,000 --> 00:52:17,000
There's more down here. There's more down here.

1149
00:52:17,000 --> 00:52:18,333
It might be time to call the police department

1150
00:52:18,333 --> 00:52:20,100
to come over here and take a look,

1151
00:52:20,100 --> 00:52:22,267
'cause a couple of them
could be human. I don't know.

1152
00:52:28,033 --> 00:52:30,967
GATES: I'm flying at about 35,000 feet

1153
00:52:30,967 --> 00:52:32,600
and headed to Wilmington, Delaware,

1154
00:52:32,600 --> 00:52:35,767
to interview an expert on the
disappearance of Amelia Earhart.

1155
00:52:35,767 --> 00:52:38,933
On one of the last legs
of her trans-world flight,

1156
00:52:38,933 --> 00:52:41,567
Earhart was supposed to travel 2,500 miles

1157
00:52:41,567 --> 00:52:43,200
from Lae, Papua New Guinea,

1158
00:52:43,200 --> 00:52:46,700
to tiny Howland Island in the
middle of the South Pacific.

1159
00:52:46,700 --> 00:52:49,900
But she never reached her destination...

1160
00:52:49,900 --> 00:52:52,800
and vanished without a trace...

1161
00:52:52,800 --> 00:52:55,433
or so we all thought.

1162
00:52:55,433 --> 00:52:59,300
Ric Gillespie is the executive director of TIGHAR,

1163
00:52:59,300 --> 00:53:03,200
an organization dedicated
to finding Earhart's Electra.

1164
00:53:03,200 --> 00:53:06,100
He believes that Earhart missed Howland Island

1165
00:53:06,100 --> 00:53:09,000
and crashed on the nearby atoll of Nikumaroro.

1166
00:53:09,000 --> 00:53:11,200
When we started this organization,

1167
00:53:11,200 --> 00:53:16,200
my attitude toward looking for Amelia Earhart was,

1168
00:53:16,200 --> 00:53:17,867
"Look, she probably just got lost

1169
00:53:17,867 --> 00:53:19,833
looking for a tiny island in a big ocean,

1170
00:53:19,833 --> 00:53:21,333
ran out of gas, crashed at the sea.

1171
00:53:21,333 --> 00:53:24,633
The technology doesn't exist
to find such a small target

1172
00:53:24,633 --> 00:53:26,667
in such a big ocean."

1173
00:53:26,667 --> 00:53:29,200
And it wasn't until two of our members,

1174
00:53:29,200 --> 00:53:31,400
who were retired military aerial navigators,

1175
00:53:31,400 --> 00:53:33,533
came to us and said,

1176
00:53:33,533 --> 00:53:37,033
"The things that Earhart is
known to have said on the radio

1177
00:53:37,033 --> 00:53:38,700
"make perfect sense to a navigator.

1178
00:53:38,700 --> 00:53:40,933
"She was doing exactly what she should have done,

1179
00:53:40,933 --> 00:53:45,900
"and that should have brought
her to one of two islands

1180
00:53:45,900 --> 00:53:47,300
that she had enough fuel to get to."

1181
00:53:47,300 --> 00:53:48,733
And nobody ever looked there.

1182
00:53:48,733 --> 00:53:52,033
Earhart's final transmissions
indicate that her and Noonan

1183
00:53:52,033 --> 00:53:55,567
believed they were in the right
spot but couldn't see Howland.

1184
00:54:03,167 --> 00:54:05,633
If, in fact, Earhart followed that line,

1185
00:54:05,633 --> 00:54:08,633
it would have likely passed
near the Phoenix group,

1186
00:54:08,633 --> 00:54:10,833
leading straight to Gardner Island,

1187
00:54:10,833 --> 00:54:12,367
known today as Nikumaroro.

1188
00:54:12,367 --> 00:54:16,200
Okay, if all those radio signals
people thought were genuine

1189
00:54:16,200 --> 00:54:19,500
were real, then the airplane
would have to be on land.

1190
00:54:19,500 --> 00:54:20,833
"But we've looked on the land,

1191
00:54:20,833 --> 00:54:22,433
"and there's no airplane on the land.

1192
00:54:22,433 --> 00:54:25,233
"Therefore, the radio
signals must be somehow bogus.

1193
00:54:25,233 --> 00:54:28,067
Let's go look in the ocean
for a floating airplane."

1194
00:54:28,067 --> 00:54:30,833
And that's what they did,
and they didn't find one.

1195
00:54:30,833 --> 00:54:32,267
They didn't find anything.

1196
00:54:32,267 --> 00:54:34,233
How many times have you been out to Nikumaroro?

1197
00:54:34,233 --> 00:54:35,567
I've been to Nikumaroro 10 times.

1198
00:54:35,567 --> 00:54:36,567
10 times.

1199
00:54:36,567 --> 00:54:38,767
And not an easy island to reach.

1200
00:54:38,767 --> 00:54:41,567
No, it's one of the most remote places on Earth.

1201
00:54:41,567 --> 00:54:43,733
And what's your level of confidence

1202
00:54:43,733 --> 00:54:46,233
that that's where she set that plane down?

1203
00:54:46,233 --> 00:54:47,233
100%. 100%?

1204
00:54:47,233 --> 00:54:47,933
100%.

1205
00:54:47,933 --> 00:54:49,200
No doubt in your mind.

1206
00:54:49,200 --> 00:54:54,233
We just established last week

1207
00:54:54,233 --> 00:54:56,100
that a piece of aluminum

1208
00:54:56,100 --> 00:54:58,833
that we found on that island in 1991

1209
00:54:58,833 --> 00:55:02,900
matches in every respect a unique part

1210
00:55:02,900 --> 00:55:04,733
of Earhart's airplane.

1211
00:55:06,633 --> 00:55:09,333
When Earhart was in Miami...

1212
00:55:11,533 --> 00:55:13,367
... she had a special custom-made window

1213
00:55:13,367 --> 00:55:17,167
on the right side of the airplane replaced

1214
00:55:17,167 --> 00:55:19,000
with a plain aluminum patch.

1215
00:55:19,000 --> 00:55:21,233
It has a unique rivet pattern,

1216
00:55:21,233 --> 00:55:23,033
unique proportions dictated by the size

1217
00:55:23,033 --> 00:55:24,367
of the hole it was covering

1218
00:55:24,367 --> 00:55:25,633
and the structure of the airplane.

1219
00:55:25,633 --> 00:55:26,667
Right.

1220
00:55:26,667 --> 00:55:28,767
So a piece of Amelia Earhart's airplane

1221
00:55:28,767 --> 00:55:30,133
ended up on that island.

1222
00:55:30,133 --> 00:55:33,533
Critics will say, "Yeah, well,
it could have floated up there,"

1223
00:55:33,533 --> 00:55:35,500
'cause we found it washed up.

1224
00:55:35,500 --> 00:55:36,833
Mm-hmm.

1225
00:55:36,833 --> 00:55:39,567
And if that was the only thing
we'd ever found on Nikumaroro,

1226
00:55:39,567 --> 00:55:41,300
you could say, "Yeah, well, maybe."

1227
00:55:41,300 --> 00:55:43,400
But it's not the only thing we've ever found.

1228
00:55:44,533 --> 00:55:49,100
September 1940 ... there's
a man named Gerald Gallagher.

1229
00:55:49,100 --> 00:55:52,367
He went down there and found a partial skeleton.

1230
00:55:54,433 --> 00:55:55,967
Total of 13 bones,

1231
00:55:55,967 --> 00:56:00,933
and it looked like this person
had been lying under a tree

1232
00:56:00,933 --> 00:56:02,900
and had died there.

1233
00:56:02,900 --> 00:56:05,400
And he looked at this, and he said,

1234
00:56:05,400 --> 00:56:06,867
"This might be Amelia Earhart."

1235
00:56:08,600 --> 00:56:12,000
Gallagher was a colonial
soldier who landed on Nikumaroro

1236
00:56:12,000 --> 00:56:13,700
as part of a British settlement.

1237
00:56:13,700 --> 00:56:16,233
He packed the skeleton he discovered into a box

1238
00:56:16,233 --> 00:56:18,400
and took it back to Fiji for analysis.

1239
00:56:18,400 --> 00:56:20,867
The bones were sent to the School of Medicine

1240
00:56:20,867 --> 00:56:22,967
and given only a cursory examination,

1241
00:56:22,967 --> 00:56:25,767
in which the doctor concluded
they were from a male.

1242
00:56:25,767 --> 00:56:28,267
Before anyone could test to see if they belonged

1243
00:56:28,267 --> 00:56:29,633
to Earhart's navigator,

1244
00:56:29,633 --> 00:56:34,067
the bones disappeared somewhere
in the island's archives.

1245
00:56:34,067 --> 00:56:38,267
But we have the notes the doctor took

1246
00:56:38,267 --> 00:56:41,867
of the measurements of those bones,

1247
00:56:41,867 --> 00:56:43,767
and we've given those measurements

1248
00:56:43,767 --> 00:56:46,133
to two independent forensic anthropologists.

1249
00:56:46,133 --> 00:56:48,733
Plugs it into the databases available now.

1250
00:56:48,733 --> 00:56:50,767
What comes out of the computer

1251
00:56:50,767 --> 00:56:53,600
is "white female of Northern European descent

1252
00:56:53,600 --> 00:56:55,000
who stood 5'7", 5'8"."

1253
00:56:55,000 --> 00:56:58,533
Well, there's nobody else
like that missing out there.

1254
00:56:58,533 --> 00:57:00,833
That's a description of Amelia Earhart.

1255
00:57:00,833 --> 00:57:03,000
It's an amazing lead.

1256
00:57:03,000 --> 00:57:06,133
But the question remains
... what became of the bones?

1257
00:57:06,133 --> 00:57:10,333
Fiji's main newspaper is now reporting a new lead

1258
00:57:10,333 --> 00:57:12,233
in the case.

1259
00:57:12,233 --> 00:57:13,767
If the bones can be found,

1260
00:57:13,767 --> 00:57:14,967
it may finally close

1261
00:57:14,967 --> 00:57:17,633
the greatest missing-persons case in history.

1262
00:57:17,633 --> 00:57:20,000
Time for me to head back to the skies,

1263
00:57:20,000 --> 00:57:22,167
get to Fiji, and join the search.

1264
00:57:25,833 --> 00:57:27,667
Since the dawn of aviation,

1265
00:57:27,667 --> 00:57:30,900
every pilot and passenger has seen this view ...

1266
00:57:30,900 --> 00:57:34,300
the endless cloudscape that swaddles planet Earth.

1267
00:57:34,300 --> 00:57:36,100
It was just over a century ago,

1268
00:57:36,100 --> 00:57:38,867
on a windy stretch of beach in North Carolina,

1269
00:57:38,867 --> 00:57:40,033
that the Wright brothers

1270
00:57:40,033 --> 00:57:41,900
launched the first powered aircraft ...

1271
00:57:41,900 --> 00:57:44,100
the fragile-looking Wright Flyer I.

1272
00:57:44,100 --> 00:57:46,833
The plane may have only flown for 12 seconds,

1273
00:57:46,833 --> 00:57:50,100
but humanity's terrestrial
shackles were finally broken.

1274
00:57:50,100 --> 00:57:52,233
The world would never be the same.

1275
00:57:52,967 --> 00:57:55,200
It's hard to know to what extent

1276
00:57:55,200 --> 00:57:56,567
early aviation pioneers like Earhart

1277
00:57:56,567 --> 00:57:58,100
envisioned what would follow,

1278
00:57:58,100 --> 00:58:02,400
but she probably never imagined
Richard Branson, seat-back TVs,

1279
00:58:02,400 --> 00:58:04,833
or double-decker jumbo jets.

1280
00:58:04,833 --> 00:58:06,133
And yet,

1281
00:58:06,133 --> 00:58:09,433
despite this technological golden age of aviation,

1282
00:58:09,433 --> 00:58:11,267
some things haven't changed.

1283
00:58:11,267 --> 00:58:12,700
We still lose planes.

1284
00:58:12,700 --> 00:58:16,267
In fact, more than 80 aircraft
have completely vanished

1285
00:58:16,267 --> 00:58:18,233
since the end of World War II.

1286
00:58:18,233 --> 00:58:20,900
Many aspects of Earhart's disappearance

1287
00:58:20,900 --> 00:58:23,667
seem eerily relevant with the recent loss

1288
00:58:23,667 --> 00:58:25,233
of Malaysia Flight 370.

1289
00:58:25,233 --> 00:58:28,800
It serves to remind us that
our dominion over the skies

1290
00:58:28,800 --> 00:58:30,000
is not absolute,

1291
00:58:30,000 --> 00:58:33,300
and that an awe-inspiring
90% of the world's oceans

1292
00:58:33,300 --> 00:58:34,567
remain unexplored.

1293
00:58:34,567 --> 00:58:37,600
Thanks to brave aviation pioneers like Earhart,

1294
00:58:37,600 --> 00:58:40,567
my modern jumbo jet will make the 5,000-mile trip

1295
00:58:40,567 --> 00:58:43,133
across the Pacific in a matter of hours.

1296
00:58:45,600 --> 00:58:48,633
I touch down in the Fijian capital of Suva,

1297
00:58:50,000 --> 00:58:54,833
a bustling and cosmopolitan town
with a laid-back island charm.

1298
00:58:54,833 --> 00:58:56,500
This is the last place the missing remains

1299
00:58:56,500 --> 00:58:58,433
from Nikumaroro were taken.

1300
00:59:01,567 --> 00:59:02,767
Exploring a new culture

1301
00:59:02,767 --> 00:59:04,700
is always an eye-opening experience,

1302
00:59:04,700 --> 00:59:06,200
and Suva is no exception ...

1303
00:59:06,200 --> 00:59:09,633
like seeing these authentic Fijian recliners.

1304
00:59:09,633 --> 00:59:11,433
I like your chairs.

1305
00:59:11,433 --> 00:59:13,233
Do you mind? May I?

1306
00:59:13,233 --> 00:59:16,233
Oh, this is very nice.

1307
00:59:16,233 --> 00:59:17,633
Oh, yeah.

1308
00:59:17,633 --> 00:59:19,300
You guys got it all figured out here.

1309
00:59:19,300 --> 00:59:21,533
Are you guys working right now? Yeah.

1310
00:59:21,533 --> 00:59:22,400
Yeah? You are?

1311
00:59:25,567 --> 00:59:27,733
You're not allowed to drink
beer when you're working?

1312
00:59:27,733 --> 00:59:29,800
Yeah. Are you allowed to sit in a wheelbarrow?

1313
00:59:29,800 --> 00:59:31,900
[Laughs] [Laughs]

1314
00:59:34,067 --> 00:59:37,167
I'm in town to meet with Nemani Delaibatiki,

1315
00:59:37,167 --> 00:59:39,300
the editor in chief of the Fiji Sun.

1316
00:59:39,300 --> 00:59:41,800
His paper recently published a new report

1317
00:59:41,800 --> 00:59:44,933
on the missing bones that
came to Fiji from Nikumaroro,

1318
00:59:44,933 --> 00:59:47,100
where Earhart may have perished.

1319
00:59:47,100 --> 00:59:49,867
According to the article, a Dr. Kenneth Gilchrist,

1320
00:59:49,867 --> 00:59:52,033
the former head of the Fiji Medical School,

1321
00:59:52,033 --> 00:59:54,233
may have been in possession of the bones.

1322
00:59:54,233 --> 00:59:56,033
The doctor has passed away,

1323
00:59:56,033 --> 00:59:58,933
but three Fijian employees
were named as beneficiaries

1324
00:59:58,933 --> 00:59:59,867
in his will.

1325
00:59:59,867 --> 01:00:01,700
All three men have also died,

1326
01:00:01,700 --> 01:00:04,067
and investigators believe that the box of bones

1327
01:00:04,067 --> 01:00:07,433
may have been inherited by
one of their family members.

1328
01:00:07,433 --> 01:00:13,233
There was three Fijians
who were close to the doctor

1329
01:00:13,233 --> 01:00:15,833
and apparently had knowledge of the box.

1330
01:00:16,867 --> 01:00:20,033
The mystery is, which one got the box?

1331
01:00:20,033 --> 01:00:23,167
Two of the men's families
have already been interviewed,

1332
01:00:23,167 --> 01:00:24,867
and neither have the bones.

1333
01:00:24,867 --> 01:00:27,433
The third man's son has yet to be found.

1334
01:00:27,433 --> 01:00:29,333
If I can find him, and the box,

1335
01:00:29,333 --> 01:00:31,600
DNA testing could prove whether the bones

1336
01:00:31,600 --> 01:00:34,000
are the remains of Earhart or her navigator.

1337
01:00:34,000 --> 01:00:39,967
We heard that one of the
three people lives in Navala,

1338
01:00:39,967 --> 01:00:41,000
a remote village.

1339
01:00:41,000 --> 01:00:42,133
Navala.

1340
01:00:42,133 --> 01:00:44,133
Navala village, on the western side of Fiji.

1341
01:00:51,667 --> 01:00:52,833
With no time to lose,

1342
01:00:52,833 --> 01:00:54,933
I'm heading to the village to investigate.

1343
01:00:54,933 --> 01:00:56,800
Since I'll be showing up uninvited,

1344
01:00:56,800 --> 01:00:59,033
it's important that I don't go empty-handed,

1345
01:00:59,033 --> 01:01:02,567
so I'm heading to the market to pick up a gift.

1346
01:01:07,100 --> 01:01:10,267
We got spices. We got beans. We got...

1347
01:01:10,267 --> 01:01:11,667
whatever that is.

1348
01:01:11,667 --> 01:01:13,933
Since I'm not seeing any Starbucks cards

1349
01:01:13,933 --> 01:01:15,400
or vanilla-scented candles,

1350
01:01:15,400 --> 01:01:17,533
I decide to go with a Fijian classic.

1351
01:01:17,533 --> 01:01:19,567
Kava ... you have lots of kava.

1352
01:01:19,567 --> 01:01:20,233
Yeah.

1353
01:01:20,233 --> 01:01:21,367
I need to buy some.

1354
01:01:21,367 --> 01:01:23,400
The roots of the kava plant are mashed

1355
01:01:23,400 --> 01:01:25,500
and turned into an intoxicating sedative

1356
01:01:25,500 --> 01:01:27,967
that's wildly popular in this part of the world.

1357
01:01:27,967 --> 01:01:28,967
How much is it?

1358
01:01:28,967 --> 01:01:29,733
35 a kilo.

1359
01:01:29,733 --> 01:01:30,500
35 a kilo?

1360
01:01:30,500 --> 01:01:31,267
Yeah.

1361
01:01:31,267 --> 01:01:32,500
Sounds like a fair price.

1362
01:01:32,500 --> 01:01:33,667
Yeah.

1363
01:01:33,667 --> 01:01:35,800
I don't know how much kava's supposed to cost,

1364
01:01:35,800 --> 01:01:36,800
so I trust you.

1365
01:01:36,800 --> 01:01:38,700
[Speaking native language]

1366
01:01:38,700 --> 01:01:40,100
Okay, I'll take a kilo.

1367
01:01:40,100 --> 01:01:41,200
Do you drink kava?

1368
01:01:41,200 --> 01:01:41,867
Yeah.

1369
01:01:41,867 --> 01:01:42,867
Does he drink Kava?

1370
01:01:42,867 --> 01:01:43,800
No.

1371
01:01:43,800 --> 01:01:44,767
No? He doesn't like it? No.

1372
01:01:44,767 --> 01:01:46,800
It's an acquired taste.

1373
01:01:46,800 --> 01:01:50,733
Look at that. That looks amazing.

1374
01:01:50,733 --> 01:01:52,233
Could play Quidditch with this thing.

1375
01:01:52,233 --> 01:01:52,967
Thank you.

1376
01:01:52,967 --> 01:01:53,667
Bye.

1377
01:01:53,667 --> 01:01:54,867
With my offering in hand,

1378
01:01:54,867 --> 01:01:57,233
I'm starting my journey to the village.

1379
01:01:57,233 --> 01:02:00,367
I'm hopeful to find the
man who may be in possession

1380
01:02:00,367 --> 01:02:01,933
of the missing bones.

1381
01:02:01,933 --> 01:02:04,167
Here, in Fiji's rugged backcountry,

1382
01:02:04,167 --> 01:02:05,700
may be the answers

1383
01:02:05,700 --> 01:02:09,333
to one of the world's greatest unsolved mysteries.

1384
01:02:10,433 --> 01:02:12,000
This is where it happened?

1385
01:02:12,000 --> 01:02:13,200
Right there.

1386
01:02:13,200 --> 01:02:16,067
There's got to be a better way to make a living.

1387
01:02:16,067 --> 01:02:17,667
When you found the box... Yes.

1388
01:02:17,667 --> 01:02:20,367
... did they go through the underside of this house

1389
01:02:20,367 --> 01:02:21,633
with a fine-tooth comb?

1390
01:02:21,633 --> 01:02:22,567
No.

1391
01:02:22,567 --> 01:02:24,067
This looks like bone.

1392
01:02:24,067 --> 01:02:25,733
It might be time to call the police department

1393
01:02:25,733 --> 01:02:27,367
to come over here and take a look.

1394
01:02:27,367 --> 01:02:29,467
We don't need any cameras. Leave those cameras.

1395
01:02:36,733 --> 01:02:39,200
GATES: I'm on the island of Viti Levu in Fiji,

1396
01:02:39,200 --> 01:02:41,867
searching for a man who may
be in possession of bones

1397
01:02:41,867 --> 01:02:45,433
that were brought here from a
remote Pacific island in 1945,

1398
01:02:45,433 --> 01:02:48,967
and which could be the remains of Amelia Earhart.

1399
01:02:48,967 --> 01:02:51,800
After picking up a traditional
offering of kava plant,

1400
01:02:51,800 --> 01:02:54,633
I'm heading off the grid
to search a remote village

1401
01:02:54,633 --> 01:02:58,667
where the man was last known to live.

1402
01:02:58,667 --> 01:03:02,300
Beyond the capital, Fiji reveals her true colors.

1403
01:03:02,300 --> 01:03:04,867
These islands are an undeveloped wonderland

1404
01:03:04,867 --> 01:03:07,933
brimming with stunning natural beauty.

1405
01:03:07,933 --> 01:03:10,033
While the small village of Navala

1406
01:03:10,033 --> 01:03:12,200
is just 55 miles northeast of Suva,

1407
01:03:12,200 --> 01:03:15,000
the road system isn't
exactly state-of-the-art.

1408
01:03:15,000 --> 01:03:18,433
Fiji's rustic charm may be pleasing to the eye,

1409
01:03:18,433 --> 01:03:21,600
but it does come with some minor drawbacks.

1410
01:03:25,700 --> 01:03:26,900
No rush.

1411
01:03:26,900 --> 01:03:29,067
[Goat bleats]

1412
01:03:37,300 --> 01:03:41,500
Okay, that may be the end of this road.

1413
01:03:41,500 --> 01:03:45,867
Hopefully the village is not too far from here.

1414
01:03:45,867 --> 01:03:46,867
Here we go.

1415
01:03:46,867 --> 01:03:48,767
In this part of the world,

1416
01:03:48,767 --> 01:03:51,567
reaching a remote village involves more than just

1417
01:03:51,567 --> 01:03:53,233
a bumpy ride down a dirt road.

1418
01:03:53,233 --> 01:03:54,333
In this case,

1419
01:03:54,333 --> 01:03:55,833
I'll have to channel my inner Huck Finn

1420
01:03:55,833 --> 01:03:56,967
to reach my destination.

1421
01:03:56,967 --> 01:03:58,400
Bula!

1422
01:03:58,400 --> 01:03:59,700
MAN: Bula, bula!

1423
01:04:00,933 --> 01:04:03,133
Are you going to the village?

1424
01:04:03,133 --> 01:04:04,300
To the village?

1425
01:04:04,300 --> 01:04:05,967
Yeah. Can I have a ride?

1426
01:04:05,967 --> 01:04:07,867
Okay.

1427
01:04:07,867 --> 01:04:11,800
Think I'm about to sink your boat.

1428
01:04:15,600 --> 01:04:18,833
All right, we're floating.

1429
01:04:18,833 --> 01:04:20,200
A few generations ago,

1430
01:04:20,200 --> 01:04:22,767
an outsider like myself arriving uninvited

1431
01:04:22,767 --> 01:04:25,300
at some Fijian villages could have become

1432
01:04:25,300 --> 01:04:27,733
the main course in a cannibalistic feast.

1433
01:04:27,733 --> 01:04:30,433
While I'm not afraid of winding
up on the menu these days,

1434
01:04:30,433 --> 01:04:32,700
I am worried that it's going to take me a month

1435
01:04:32,700 --> 01:04:36,633
to paddle there on what the
locals call a bilibili raft.

1436
01:04:37,867 --> 01:04:41,167
This is the 2014 model of the bilibili raft.

1437
01:04:41,167 --> 01:04:44,633
Comes with full bamboo.

1438
01:04:44,633 --> 01:04:47,300
Sunroof, obviously.

1439
01:04:47,300 --> 01:04:49,833
Natural air-conditioning.

1440
01:04:49,833 --> 01:04:51,400
Manual transmission.

1441
01:04:53,867 --> 01:04:57,700
Here? Village? Yeah?

1442
01:04:57,700 --> 01:04:58,967
Okay.

1443
01:04:58,967 --> 01:05:01,000
I don't really know where the emergency brake is

1444
01:05:01,000 --> 01:05:02,100
on this thing,

1445
01:05:02,100 --> 01:05:03,600
so I'm just gonna smash it into the rocks here.

1446
01:05:06,800 --> 01:05:08,133
Okay, my friend.

1447
01:05:08,133 --> 01:05:09,400
Vinaka vakalevu.

1448
01:05:09,400 --> 01:05:10,133
Vinaka.

1449
01:05:10,133 --> 01:05:10,833
Bye.

1450
01:05:16,233 --> 01:05:17,933
It wasn't exactly an express trip,

1451
01:05:17,933 --> 01:05:21,000
but the journey comes with an instant reward.

1452
01:05:21,000 --> 01:05:22,967
The traditional village is beautiful beyond words,

1453
01:05:22,967 --> 01:05:25,967
and the brilliant smiles of its youngest residents

1454
01:05:25,967 --> 01:05:28,200
make the journey well worth the effort.

1455
01:05:37,567 --> 01:05:39,100
Bula.

1456
01:05:39,100 --> 01:05:41,900
This village is reportedly home
to a man who may have inherited

1457
01:05:41,900 --> 01:05:45,033
the possible remains of Amelia Earhart.

1458
01:05:45,033 --> 01:05:46,667
But an outsider doesn't just waltz in

1459
01:05:46,667 --> 01:05:48,267
and start snooping around.

1460
01:05:48,267 --> 01:05:51,467
First, I'll need to get
approval from the village chief.

1461
01:05:51,467 --> 01:05:53,800
[Women singing in native language]

1462
01:05:53,800 --> 01:05:56,267
I'm immediately led to the chief's hut.

1463
01:05:56,267 --> 01:05:57,600
His word is law here.

1464
01:05:57,600 --> 01:05:58,900
With the future of my investigation

1465
01:05:58,900 --> 01:06:00,200
riding on winning him over,

1466
01:06:00,200 --> 01:06:04,233
I'm hoping my kilo of kava
helps grease the wheels.

1467
01:06:04,233 --> 01:06:06,433
[Men and women singing]

1468
01:06:19,067 --> 01:06:23,933
Uh-huh.

1469
01:06:23,933 --> 01:06:25,967
BULIWA: Now the sevusevu.

1470
01:06:25,967 --> 01:06:27,733
The men take away the root,

1471
01:06:27,733 --> 01:06:30,100
mash it, and turn it into a drink.

1472
01:06:31,667 --> 01:06:33,533
Though it's consumed by millions of people

1473
01:06:33,533 --> 01:06:35,200
throughout the Pacific, to outsiders,

1474
01:06:35,200 --> 01:06:38,900
kava is an acquired taste.

1475
01:06:38,900 --> 01:06:42,700
Yes, it's bitter, gritty,
and resembles muddy water,

1476
01:06:42,700 --> 01:06:45,033
but it also comes with a warm wave of euphoria,

1477
01:06:45,033 --> 01:06:48,067
thanks to its properties as a natural sedative.

1478
01:06:48,067 --> 01:06:51,200
I pass to you? Or this way?

1479
01:06:51,200 --> 01:06:53,400
I have to finish it? Yeah.

1480
01:06:53,400 --> 01:06:56,367
Kava is more than a drink. It's ceremonial.

1481
01:06:56,367 --> 01:06:59,700
Not finishing every last
drop is considered an insult.

1482
01:06:59,700 --> 01:07:02,433
So bottoms up.

1483
01:07:06,433 --> 01:07:07,733
Vinaka.

1484
01:07:09,067 --> 01:07:12,033
And now it all comes down to the chief.

1485
01:07:12,033 --> 01:07:14,533
His is the final approval.

1486
01:07:27,100 --> 01:07:29,433
GATES: I'm in a small Fijian village,

1487
01:07:29,433 --> 01:07:32,800
looking for answers to the
disappearance of Amelia Earhart.

1488
01:07:32,800 --> 01:07:35,667
A recent news story reported
that a man in this village

1489
01:07:35,667 --> 01:07:38,433
may have a box containing her bones.

1490
01:07:38,433 --> 01:07:40,133
If I can find these remains,

1491
01:07:40,133 --> 01:07:43,967
it may solve one of the greatest
puzzles in modern human history.

1492
01:07:43,967 --> 01:07:47,200
But first I need to win over the chief,

1493
01:07:47,200 --> 01:07:49,733
who is the absolute authority here.

1494
01:07:49,733 --> 01:07:50,933
Without his permission,

1495
01:07:50,933 --> 01:07:52,967
I won't be able to stay in the village

1496
01:07:52,967 --> 01:07:54,467
and continue my investigation.

1497
01:07:54,467 --> 01:07:57,233
After downing a few cups of ceremonial kava,

1498
01:07:57,233 --> 01:07:59,267
the chief is ready to make his decision.

1499
01:07:59,267 --> 01:08:03,233
Hopefully, he thinks I'm a good drinking buddy.

1500
01:08:11,633 --> 01:08:14,367
Oh, that's very nice to hear.
Thank you very much. Vinaka.

1501
01:08:14,367 --> 01:08:17,300
Thank you very much for allowing me to come here

1502
01:08:17,300 --> 01:08:20,933
and for accepting the kava and
for sharing the drink with me.

1503
01:08:20,933 --> 01:08:23,967
I appreciate it. Thank you. Vinaka.

1504
01:08:23,967 --> 01:08:26,367
Let's get some pizzas up in here, huh?

1505
01:08:26,367 --> 01:08:27,933
Mnh.

1506
01:08:29,567 --> 01:08:30,967
If I give you one inch...

1507
01:08:30,967 --> 01:08:31,633
Yeah?

1508
01:08:31,633 --> 01:08:32,767
... don't take one mile.

1509
01:08:32,767 --> 01:08:35,033
[Laughs] Okay. Sounds good.

1510
01:08:36,367 --> 01:08:39,300
[Speaking native language]

1511
01:08:39,300 --> 01:08:40,000
Bula.

1512
01:08:41,700 --> 01:08:42,700
[Laughs]

1513
01:08:42,700 --> 01:08:44,033
Okay? Yes.

1514
01:08:45,467 --> 01:08:47,233
The chief thinks I need one for the road.

1515
01:08:47,233 --> 01:08:48,667
After obliging,

1516
01:08:48,667 --> 01:08:51,567
I head out into the village
to begin my hut-to-hut search

1517
01:08:51,567 --> 01:08:53,700
for the man who might have the mysterious box

1518
01:08:53,700 --> 01:08:56,167
that experts believe could contain the bones

1519
01:08:56,167 --> 01:08:57,600
of Amelia Earhart.

1520
01:08:58,867 --> 01:09:00,133
Bula.

1521
01:09:01,067 --> 01:09:02,433
How are you? Good, thank you. And you?

1522
01:09:02,433 --> 01:09:03,467
I'm good.

1523
01:09:08,800 --> 01:09:10,000
Bula.

1524
01:09:10,000 --> 01:09:11,300
Hello. Hello.

1525
01:09:11,300 --> 01:09:13,700
Listen, I'm trying to find these men.

1526
01:09:13,700 --> 01:09:15,767
Do you know these men? Do you know these names?

1527
01:09:15,767 --> 01:09:16,933
Do any of them live here?

1528
01:09:16,933 --> 01:09:18,367
No. No?

1529
01:09:18,367 --> 01:09:20,700
Strike one. Okay. Next.

1530
01:09:20,700 --> 01:09:21,900
No. No?

1531
01:09:21,900 --> 01:09:24,600
None of them live here? No.

1532
01:09:24,600 --> 01:09:25,433
Vinaka.

1533
01:09:25,433 --> 01:09:26,433
Strike two.

1534
01:09:26,433 --> 01:09:28,333
Just as I'm about to give up,

1535
01:09:28,333 --> 01:09:30,500
I meet with one last man in the village.

1536
01:09:30,500 --> 01:09:31,567
Bula. Bula.

1537
01:09:31,567 --> 01:09:33,600
How are you? I'm good, I'm good.

1538
01:09:33,600 --> 01:09:35,567
I'm looking for these three men.

1539
01:09:35,567 --> 01:09:38,967
Do any of these names look familiar to you?

1540
01:09:38,967 --> 01:09:41,067
Uh-huh. Kalaviti.

1541
01:09:41,067 --> 01:09:43,900
He was in the village, but he passed away.

1542
01:09:43,900 --> 01:09:44,933
He passed away?

1543
01:09:44,933 --> 01:09:45,933
Passed away.

1544
01:09:45,933 --> 01:09:48,600
Does he have any family here still?

1545
01:09:48,600 --> 01:09:49,333
Uh, no,

1546
01:09:49,333 --> 01:09:51,367
not what I know.

1547
01:09:51,367 --> 01:09:54,433
And we're looking for these
men because they may have been

1548
01:09:54,433 --> 01:09:59,367
in possession of a box with human bones.

1549
01:09:59,367 --> 01:10:00,533
When this man died,

1550
01:10:00,533 --> 01:10:02,067
did he have any possessions
here in the village ...

1551
01:10:02,067 --> 01:10:03,500
a box, maybe?

1552
01:10:03,500 --> 01:10:06,567
Kalaviti doesn't have any
belongings when he passed away.

1553
01:10:06,567 --> 01:10:07,267
Right.

1554
01:10:07,267 --> 01:10:08,900
There wasn't any box.

1555
01:10:08,900 --> 01:10:10,100
Okay.

1556
01:10:10,100 --> 01:10:12,067
I think there's another man you should see.

1557
01:10:12,067 --> 01:10:13,367
He's staying in Suva.

1558
01:10:13,367 --> 01:10:14,633
In Suva? In Suva.

1559
01:10:14,633 --> 01:10:15,500
Who is that?

1560
01:10:15,500 --> 01:10:17,233
His name is John Grey.

1561
01:10:17,233 --> 01:10:19,467
John Grey? That's a familiar name to me.

1562
01:10:19,467 --> 01:10:20,633
John Grey is who?

1563
01:10:20,633 --> 01:10:24,067
He was the one who found some bones in the box.

1564
01:10:24,067 --> 01:10:25,667
Yes, many years ago he found bones, right?

1565
01:10:25,667 --> 01:10:27,100
Yeah.

1566
01:10:27,100 --> 01:10:30,833
The name John Grey has long been
linked to the Earhart mystery.

1567
01:10:30,833 --> 01:10:32,267
As a boy in 1968,

1568
01:10:32,267 --> 01:10:35,600
he was exploring a crawl space
underneath his home in Fiji

1569
01:10:35,600 --> 01:10:37,933
when he made a startling discovery.

1570
01:10:37,933 --> 01:10:41,600
He found a box of bones
that included a human skull.

1571
01:10:41,600 --> 01:10:44,200
Furthermore, the house had previously belonged

1572
01:10:44,200 --> 01:10:46,900
to an employee from the Fiji School of Medicine.

1573
01:10:46,900 --> 01:10:50,000
Some believe that these bones
could be the very same ones

1574
01:10:50,000 --> 01:10:52,067
that went missing from Nikumaroro.

1575
01:10:52,067 --> 01:10:56,600
But in a maddening twist,
these bones have also been lost.

1576
01:11:00,533 --> 01:11:02,833
My trip to the village has confirmed

1577
01:11:02,833 --> 01:11:05,433
that the last man mentioned in the article

1578
01:11:05,433 --> 01:11:06,700
didn't have the bones.

1579
01:11:06,700 --> 01:11:09,133
But a new lead is drawing me back to Suva.

1580
01:11:09,133 --> 01:11:11,700
Could John Grey provide any new insight

1581
01:11:11,700 --> 01:11:14,700
about the bones he found nearly 50 years ago?

1582
01:11:14,700 --> 01:11:18,233
Perhaps he holds the key to
solving this epic mystery.

1583
01:11:19,900 --> 01:11:22,533
So, you were about how old when this happened? 13.

1584
01:11:22,533 --> 01:11:27,133
And so 13-year-old boy, you find
human bones under your house?

1585
01:11:27,133 --> 01:11:29,600
How did you come to be digging under your house?

1586
01:11:29,600 --> 01:11:31,267
Me and my cousins decided that

1587
01:11:31,267 --> 01:11:33,467
we needed to go and check the place out.

1588
01:11:33,467 --> 01:11:37,467
And I crawled under this house and looked,

1589
01:11:37,467 --> 01:11:41,367
and lo and behold, there was this box under there.

1590
01:11:41,367 --> 01:11:43,700
As we took off part of the covering,

1591
01:11:43,700 --> 01:11:48,133
we saw this roundish, whitish-brownish thing.

1592
01:11:50,267 --> 01:11:54,933
And then, having pulled it out
and seen what was the skull,

1593
01:11:54,933 --> 01:11:55,967
it freaked me out. Yeah.

1594
01:11:55,967 --> 01:11:57,333
[Laughs]

1595
01:11:57,333 --> 01:11:59,233
And it's buried under your house. Absolutely!

1596
01:11:59,233 --> 01:12:01,267
I mean, this is, like ... 
this is like "Poltergeist."

1597
01:12:01,267 --> 01:12:02,967
This is like a horror movie.

1598
01:12:02,967 --> 01:12:04,067
Yeah.

1599
01:12:04,067 --> 01:12:06,833
And then what became of the box and the bones?

1600
01:12:06,833 --> 01:12:09,167
It was all given to the Fiji Museum.

1601
01:12:10,367 --> 01:12:12,400
I just really didn't want to have anything to do

1602
01:12:12,400 --> 01:12:13,767
with that skull again. Right.

1603
01:12:13,767 --> 01:12:17,700
So, it never, ever came back into my life

1604
01:12:17,700 --> 01:12:21,467
until I read this thing about Amelia Earhart.

1605
01:12:21,467 --> 01:12:23,867
Something clicked in my mind, to say,

1606
01:12:23,867 --> 01:12:26,967
"John, that skull that you had is, perhaps, that."

1607
01:12:26,967 --> 01:12:30,500
Do you think there's a chance
that it's still in the museum?

1608
01:12:30,500 --> 01:12:34,767
Well, I hope so.

1609
01:12:34,767 --> 01:12:37,433
Was the rest of that crawl space under the house

1610
01:12:37,433 --> 01:12:38,600
thoroughly explored?

1611
01:12:38,600 --> 01:12:39,567
No, not at all.

1612
01:12:39,567 --> 01:12:40,633
Really? Never.

1613
01:12:40,633 --> 01:12:42,433
Even if I did want to, I couldn't,

1614
01:12:42,433 --> 01:12:44,300
'cause someone else owned it.

1615
01:12:44,300 --> 01:12:46,367
Now, though, it is a possibility?

1616
01:12:46,367 --> 01:12:49,033
The current owner is amenable to us going in there

1617
01:12:49,033 --> 01:12:50,733
and excavating if we need to.

1618
01:12:50,733 --> 01:12:52,767
And you do think it's possible there could be

1619
01:12:52,767 --> 01:12:54,600
other material remains under the house?

1620
01:12:54,600 --> 01:12:55,467
Absolutely.

1621
01:12:55,467 --> 01:12:56,133
You do?

1622
01:12:56,133 --> 01:12:57,000
Absolutely.

1623
01:12:57,000 --> 01:12:58,600
She needs closure.

1624
01:12:58,600 --> 01:12:59,300
Hm.

1625
01:12:59,300 --> 01:13:01,300
Amelia needs closure.

1626
01:13:06,200 --> 01:13:09,400
John made arrangements for us to
search the crawl space tonight.

1627
01:13:09,400 --> 01:13:11,500
In the meantime, I want to further investigate

1628
01:13:11,500 --> 01:13:13,267
his claim that the bones he found

1629
01:13:13,267 --> 01:13:16,533
could still be in the archives at the Fiji Museum.

1630
01:13:16,533 --> 01:13:19,367
The museum boasts an impressive collection

1631
01:13:19,367 --> 01:13:21,800
that spans nearly 4,000 years.

1632
01:13:21,800 --> 01:13:23,867
There are authentic Fijian rafts,

1633
01:13:23,867 --> 01:13:25,100
and even the rudder

1634
01:13:25,100 --> 01:13:27,767
from the infamously mutineered HMS Bounty.

1635
01:13:27,767 --> 01:13:29,900
But much of the collection is devoted

1636
01:13:29,900 --> 01:13:31,900
to Fiji's violent cannibal past.

1637
01:13:31,900 --> 01:13:35,600
These islands were once a
hotbed of human consumption.

1638
01:13:35,600 --> 01:13:37,200
One missionary was even eaten

1639
01:13:37,200 --> 01:13:39,200
right down to the soles of his shoes ...

1640
01:13:39,200 --> 01:13:41,900
the one part the natives found too tough to eat.

1641
01:13:41,900 --> 01:13:44,500
In a museum brimming with human remains,

1642
01:13:44,500 --> 01:13:46,167
I'm not feeling very optimistic

1643
01:13:46,167 --> 01:13:47,967
about finding a single box of bones

1644
01:13:47,967 --> 01:13:51,300
handed over by a teenage boy in the 1960s.

1645
01:13:51,300 --> 01:13:54,233
But I've come this far and plan to leave no stone,

1646
01:13:54,233 --> 01:13:56,633
or bone, unturned.

1647
01:14:00,433 --> 01:14:03,833
I'm fortunate to be granted
access to the museum's archives.

1648
01:14:03,833 --> 01:14:06,567
However, what little hope I have shrinks

1649
01:14:06,567 --> 01:14:09,200
as I realize that this place
is essentially that room

1650
01:14:09,200 --> 01:14:11,267
at the end of "Raiders of the Lost Ark."

1651
01:14:11,267 --> 01:14:13,500
This might take a while.

1652
01:14:18,000 --> 01:14:22,100
I comb through row after row of
jumbled, disintegrating files.

1653
01:14:27,800 --> 01:14:30,200
Eventually, I do manage to turn up

1654
01:14:30,200 --> 01:14:32,367
some intriguing reports about Earhart...

1655
01:14:33,833 --> 01:14:36,500
... but no potential remains.

1656
01:14:37,733 --> 01:14:39,767
As I continue to comb through
the museum's collection,

1657
01:14:39,767 --> 01:14:42,233
I find countless weapons and relics,

1658
01:14:42,233 --> 01:14:43,833
but they're not what I'm looking for.

1659
01:14:47,367 --> 01:14:50,400
Ooh. Box. Check this out.

1660
01:14:50,400 --> 01:14:52,633
That kind of fits the description.

1661
01:14:52,633 --> 01:14:55,067
As he said, it's got clasps on the front.

1662
01:15:08,100 --> 01:15:12,667
GATES: I'm at the Fiji museum,
looking for a lost box of bones

1663
01:15:12,667 --> 01:15:15,433
that some think can be traced to Amelia Earhart.

1664
01:15:15,433 --> 01:15:16,467
Ooh, box.

1665
01:15:16,467 --> 01:15:18,500
After scouring the archives,

1666
01:15:18,500 --> 01:15:21,400
I've come upon a box that matches the description.

1667
01:15:25,967 --> 01:15:28,467
Nothing.

1668
01:15:28,467 --> 01:15:29,867
Can't win 'em all.

1669
01:15:29,867 --> 01:15:32,367
My search through the museum's archives

1670
01:15:32,367 --> 01:15:34,133
doesn't turn up the remains.

1671
01:15:35,800 --> 01:15:38,833
It costs me the day, but I haven't lost all hope.

1672
01:15:38,833 --> 01:15:41,133
I'm traveling to the childhood home

1673
01:15:41,133 --> 01:15:44,467
where John Grey found a box
of bones over 40 years ago.

1674
01:15:44,467 --> 01:15:47,100
The police never searched the crawl space

1675
01:15:47,100 --> 01:15:48,933
after John made his discovery,

1676
01:15:48,933 --> 01:15:52,367
so there could still be more
evidence buried in the dirt.

1677
01:15:52,367 --> 01:15:54,433
GATES: This is it? GREY: This is it.

1678
01:15:54,433 --> 01:15:56,367
This is your childhood home. This is the home.

1679
01:15:56,367 --> 01:15:57,767
Does it look the same?

1680
01:15:57,767 --> 01:16:00,933
A little overgrown with
shrubs and things like that,

1681
01:16:00,933 --> 01:16:03,300
but the house looks exactly the same.

1682
01:16:03,300 --> 01:16:05,433
All right. Well, here we go.

1683
01:16:05,433 --> 01:16:07,967
So, this is where it happened.

1684
01:16:07,967 --> 01:16:10,067
This is the entry. Right there.

1685
01:16:12,800 --> 01:16:14,400
Okay, so,
13-year-old boy ...

1686
01:16:14,400 --> 01:16:16,933
You decide you're gonna go into that crawl space.

1687
01:16:16,933 --> 01:16:20,500
Yep. I got into that, crawled under the house,

1688
01:16:20,500 --> 01:16:22,967
and there it was ... this box.

1689
01:16:22,967 --> 01:16:25,933
Do you think anybody has
been under here since 1968?

1690
01:16:25,933 --> 01:16:27,633
By the looks of things, no.

1691
01:16:27,633 --> 01:16:30,433
The box of bones that John found in 1968

1692
01:16:30,433 --> 01:16:32,000
was strikingly similar

1693
01:16:32,000 --> 01:16:35,133
to the one that went missing decades before.

1694
01:16:35,133 --> 01:16:38,800
If there are any more remains
buried under this house,

1695
01:16:38,800 --> 01:16:41,333
they very well could be Earhart's.

1696
01:16:41,333 --> 01:16:44,300
I'm not thrilled about poking
around under an old house,

1697
01:16:44,300 --> 01:16:46,300
looking for Earhart's bones in the dark,

1698
01:16:46,300 --> 01:16:47,467
but I've come this far,

1699
01:16:47,467 --> 01:16:50,400
and there's no way I'm turning back now.

1700
01:16:50,400 --> 01:16:53,200
Where under here did you find the box?

1701
01:16:53,200 --> 01:16:56,333
Right in there, where that timber stump is.

1702
01:16:57,967 --> 01:16:59,967
I see it, yeah ... about
halfway back. That's correct.

1703
01:16:59,967 --> 01:17:03,600
And it was just sitting there, or
it was buried? It was sitting there,

1704
01:17:03,600 --> 01:17:05,700
so if you get there, that's where the box was.

1705
01:17:05,700 --> 01:17:08,833
Well, that seems like that's
our spot to start digging around.

1706
01:17:10,400 --> 01:17:11,833
Here we go.

1707
01:17:11,833 --> 01:17:15,200
So, please, just ... caution as you go through.

1708
01:17:15,200 --> 01:17:17,333
Uh, okay.

1709
01:17:19,233 --> 01:17:21,100
Definitely some spiders. God.

1710
01:17:22,767 --> 01:17:24,833
So, John, you're talking about that post there?

1711
01:17:24,833 --> 01:17:26,733
Correct, right in the middle of the house.

1712
01:17:26,733 --> 01:17:28,867
If I find any money under here, I keep it, right?

1713
01:17:28,867 --> 01:17:29,900
[Laughs]

1714
01:17:29,900 --> 01:17:32,033
[Exhales sharply]

1715
01:17:32,033 --> 01:17:35,567
Doesn't look like anyone's really been down here

1716
01:17:35,567 --> 01:17:37,733
in the past 40 years.

1717
01:17:37,733 --> 01:17:39,033
I found a button.

1718
01:17:39,033 --> 01:17:41,300
Looks like a button off a piece of clothing.

1719
01:17:41,300 --> 01:17:43,367
This is the first thing
I've really found down here

1720
01:17:43,367 --> 01:17:44,800
that looks from the human world.

1721
01:17:44,800 --> 01:17:48,000
Lots of broken bits of pottery.

1722
01:17:48,000 --> 01:17:49,500
[Clink]

1723
01:17:49,500 --> 01:17:51,100
Some glass.

1724
01:17:51,100 --> 01:17:54,267
Looks like a child's marble.

1725
01:17:54,267 --> 01:17:57,133
Yeah, we used to play with
those things in the younger days.

1726
01:17:57,133 --> 01:17:59,767
You've lost your marbles, John. [Laughs]

1727
01:18:01,800 --> 01:18:03,333
Okay, John, I'm pushing over

1728
01:18:03,333 --> 01:18:06,133
toward the area where you found the box.

1729
01:18:06,133 --> 01:18:07,567
[Sighing] Oh, boy.

1730
01:18:07,567 --> 01:18:11,367
There has got to be a better way to make a living.

1731
01:18:12,733 --> 01:18:14,967
Is it this beam right here, this
small one? Yep, you're there.

1732
01:18:14,967 --> 01:18:16,933
You're right there. That's it?

1733
01:18:16,933 --> 01:18:18,300
That's it. Okay.

1734
01:18:18,300 --> 01:18:20,433
So this was where the box was.

1735
01:18:25,533 --> 01:18:26,733
[Sighs]

1736
01:18:30,167 --> 01:18:31,600
Lot of coral down here.

1737
01:18:31,600 --> 01:18:34,633
They must have, when they were building the house,

1738
01:18:34,633 --> 01:18:36,867
used this as part of the landfill.

1739
01:18:40,567 --> 01:18:41,633
John? Yeah?

1740
01:18:41,633 --> 01:18:43,767
Just making sure you didn't go home.

1741
01:18:43,767 --> 01:18:46,200
When you found the box... Yes?

1742
01:18:46,200 --> 01:18:49,400
... did they go through the underside of this house

1743
01:18:49,400 --> 01:18:51,333
with a fine-tooth comb? No.

1744
01:18:51,333 --> 01:18:53,433
I just wanted to get rid of the box.

1745
01:18:53,433 --> 01:18:56,067
But the police didn't come down here. No.

1746
01:18:56,067 --> 01:18:58,467
You would think after they
found this box filled with bones,

1747
01:18:58,467 --> 01:18:59,833
they would have come down here

1748
01:18:59,833 --> 01:19:01,567
and done a more thorough search, but...

1749
01:19:01,567 --> 01:19:03,367
I don't see anything around there

1750
01:19:03,367 --> 01:19:05,867
other than a lot of dirt and some of this coral.

1751
01:19:08,933 --> 01:19:10,533
Hold on. Let me see what's down here.

1752
01:19:12,300 --> 01:19:15,067
This does not look like coral to me.

1753
01:19:18,233 --> 01:19:19,933
This looks a lot like bone.

1754
01:19:29,200 --> 01:19:31,067
Hold on. Let me see what's down here.

1755
01:19:31,067 --> 01:19:33,633
GATES: I'm in Fiji, searching underneath a home

1756
01:19:33,633 --> 01:19:35,100
for bones that some believe

1757
01:19:35,100 --> 01:19:37,233
may be the remains of Amelia Earhart.

1758
01:19:37,233 --> 01:19:40,733
After a bit of digging, I
may have found something.

1759
01:19:40,733 --> 01:19:42,933
This does not look like coral to me.

1760
01:19:45,900 --> 01:19:47,700
This looks a lot like bone.

1761
01:19:49,633 --> 01:19:53,367
I got a bone down here, for sure ...

1762
01:19:53,367 --> 01:19:55,433
a big piece of bone.

1763
01:19:55,433 --> 01:19:57,733
I don't know if it's human or not, but...

1764
01:19:57,733 --> 01:20:00,633
this is definitely bone. Wow.

1765
01:20:00,633 --> 01:20:03,367
That is a bone. I mean, that
looks like a human bone to me.

1766
01:20:03,367 --> 01:20:07,267
Another one ... part of a vertebrae.

1767
01:20:07,267 --> 01:20:08,667
My goodness.

1768
01:20:08,667 --> 01:20:10,200
More.

1769
01:20:10,200 --> 01:20:11,967
In a million years, I didn't think

1770
01:20:11,967 --> 01:20:14,300
I was gonna actually find bones under this house,

1771
01:20:14,300 --> 01:20:16,700
but I'm looking at a handful of them right here,

1772
01:20:16,700 --> 01:20:20,033
and I'm just barely scratching
the surface. Amazing.

1773
01:20:20,033 --> 01:20:22,700
There's more down here. There's more down here.

1774
01:20:22,700 --> 01:20:24,500
I mean [bleep]

1775
01:20:24,500 --> 01:20:26,200
There's a [bleep] skeleton down here.

1776
01:20:26,200 --> 01:20:28,400
There's bits of bone all over the place down here.

1777
01:20:30,600 --> 01:20:32,900
More bones. I mean, what is that from?

1778
01:20:32,900 --> 01:20:34,433
It's everywhere I look.

1779
01:20:34,433 --> 01:20:36,700
I mean, I'm putting a skeleton together down here.

1780
01:20:36,700 --> 01:20:38,733
It might be time to call the police department

1781
01:20:38,733 --> 01:20:40,500
to come over here and take a look,

1782
01:20:40,500 --> 01:20:43,267
'cause a couple of them
could be human. I don't know.

1783
01:20:47,767 --> 01:20:49,433
All right, I'm coming out.

1784
01:20:55,967 --> 01:20:57,400
Oh, my goodness.

1785
01:20:57,400 --> 01:20:58,533
[Sighs]

1786
01:20:58,533 --> 01:21:01,233
Well, there's more under the house, John.

1787
01:21:01,233 --> 01:21:02,833
Vertebrae. This, obviously ...

1788
01:21:02,833 --> 01:21:05,667
This could be a chicken
bone, something much smaller.

1789
01:21:05,667 --> 01:21:07,300
This could be a cow bone.

1790
01:21:07,300 --> 01:21:10,533
But this ... I mean, things
like this, I don't know.

1791
01:21:10,533 --> 01:21:11,900
That could be human.

1792
01:21:11,900 --> 01:21:15,200
We assumed that what was in the box

1793
01:21:15,200 --> 01:21:16,500
was all that there was.

1794
01:21:16,500 --> 01:21:20,200
And for a 13-year-old kid,
you'd never want to go back in

1795
01:21:20,200 --> 01:21:22,133
to find out if there's anything else.

1796
01:21:22,133 --> 01:21:25,867
[Siren wailing]

1797
01:21:25,867 --> 01:21:27,900
Yeah, okay. I got to ... I got to ...

1798
01:21:27,900 --> 01:21:30,500
Please, we don't need any cameras at the moment.

1799
01:21:30,500 --> 01:21:31,500
Oh, yeah?

1800
01:21:31,500 --> 01:21:32,767
Yeah. No cameras. Okay.

1801
01:21:38,333 --> 01:21:40,933
GATES: The bones that I found under the house

1802
01:21:40,933 --> 01:21:43,167
transformed our television production

1803
01:21:43,167 --> 01:21:44,833
into a criminal investigation.

1804
01:21:44,833 --> 01:21:47,600
After lengthy questioning at the police station,

1805
01:21:47,600 --> 01:21:50,600
the Fiji CSI unit has bagged
the evidence for review,

1806
01:21:50,600 --> 01:21:51,900
and I've got no choice

1807
01:21:51,900 --> 01:21:54,967
but to head back to my hotel
for a much-needed shower.

1808
01:21:57,233 --> 01:22:00,100
The next morning, I return
to the scene of the crime,

1809
01:22:00,100 --> 01:22:03,167
only to find more investigators
crawling under the house.

1810
01:22:03,167 --> 01:22:04,667
Hazmat suits.

1811
01:22:04,667 --> 01:22:07,367
Why didn't I think of that?

1812
01:22:07,367 --> 01:22:09,300
[Police radio chatter]

1813
01:22:09,300 --> 01:22:11,467
The police tape says it all.

1814
01:22:11,467 --> 01:22:13,567
The case is now out of my hands,

1815
01:22:13,567 --> 01:22:17,333
and I'm told that analysis and
DNA testing could take months.

1816
01:22:17,333 --> 01:22:19,900
However, the lab has already confirmed

1817
01:22:19,900 --> 01:22:23,233
that at least one of the bones is human ...

1818
01:22:23,233 --> 01:22:27,667
a revelation that turns
out to be front-page news.

1819
01:22:34,367 --> 01:22:36,267
As I make my way back to the airport

1820
01:22:36,267 --> 01:22:38,067
to bring my expedition to a close,

1821
01:22:38,067 --> 01:22:39,633
I have a lot to reflect on.

1822
01:22:39,633 --> 01:22:42,067
The shocking discovery of human remains

1823
01:22:42,067 --> 01:22:43,600
beneath John Grey's house

1824
01:22:43,600 --> 01:22:45,367
is a genuinely newsworthy lead

1825
01:22:45,367 --> 01:22:47,900
in the search for the queen of the skies.

1826
01:22:47,900 --> 01:22:50,733
In addition, the potential identification

1827
01:22:50,733 --> 01:22:53,867
of the aluminum panel from
the island of Nikumaroro

1828
01:22:53,867 --> 01:22:55,633
makes it tempting to conclude

1829
01:22:55,633 --> 01:22:59,300
that Earhart did indeed crash
on or around the remote island.

1830
01:22:59,300 --> 01:23:02,500
But much of the evidence,
though hugely compelling,

1831
01:23:02,500 --> 01:23:04,000
is still circumstantial.

1832
01:23:04,000 --> 01:23:05,300
Until her bones

1833
01:23:05,300 --> 01:23:08,300
or the full wreckage of the Electra is identified,

1834
01:23:08,300 --> 01:23:09,933
no one can say for certain.

1835
01:23:09,933 --> 01:23:13,767
Back in Papua New Guinea, the
overgrown World War II wreckage

1836
01:23:13,767 --> 01:23:15,567
that we found in the jungle,

1837
01:23:15,567 --> 01:23:18,200
and the eerie wrecks beneath the waves,

1838
01:23:18,200 --> 01:23:21,900
are, in a sense, every bit as
important as Earhart's plane.

1839
01:23:21,900 --> 01:23:25,033
After all, pilots went missing. Lives were lost.

1840
01:23:25,033 --> 01:23:28,467
My hope is that the bones
from the sunken Allied plane

1841
01:23:28,467 --> 01:23:31,033
can be identified and repatriated home

1842
01:23:31,033 --> 01:23:32,867
for the burial they deserve.

1843
01:23:35,033 --> 01:23:37,567
At the heart of Earhart's world flight

1844
01:23:37,567 --> 01:23:40,300
was a commitment to opening new frontiers,

1845
01:23:40,300 --> 01:23:43,133
and to unite the many cultures of the world.

1846
01:23:43,133 --> 01:23:46,167
In that regard, her mission has been a success.

1847
01:23:48,367 --> 01:23:51,800
She helped herald in the modern age of aviation,

1848
01:23:51,800 --> 01:23:55,333
which now serves to connect every nation on Earth.

1849
01:23:55,333 --> 01:23:59,233
In the end, I'm most drawn
to the unanswered question ...

1850
01:23:59,233 --> 01:24:01,400
Why do we continue the search?

1851
01:24:01,400 --> 01:24:04,400
To me, the magnificent thing about Amelia

1852
01:24:04,400 --> 01:24:08,000
is that in the eyes of the
world, she never died ...

1853
01:24:08,000 --> 01:24:11,733
her fear never witnessed,
her failure never recorded.

1854
01:24:11,733 --> 01:24:14,900
Earhart's legacy of inspiration is amplified

1855
01:24:14,900 --> 01:24:18,800
because her adventure is
perpetual, unbroken by gravity.

1856
01:24:18,800 --> 01:24:21,400
We simply think of her as missing.

1857
01:24:21,400 --> 01:24:24,267
And perhaps that's where she belongs ...

1858
01:24:24,267 --> 01:24:27,433
somewhere over that limitless blue horizon.