Pensacola Maritime Experts Preview New Amelia Earhart Search
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An October expedition will investigate an object beneath a Pacific lagoon that researchers believe could be connected to Earhart’s missing aircraft.
Pensacola maritime specialists are helping explain a new expedition that could answer one of aviation history’s most enduring questions.
University of West Florida maritime archaeologist William Wilson and Michael Krivor, cofounder of Pensacola based RECON Offshore, appeared with WEAR to discuss the October 2026 search for Amelia Earhart’s Lockheed Electra 10E.
RECON Offshore is an official supporter of the expedition. The published expedition materials do not identify Wilson as a member of the traveling team.
What researchers plan to investigate
The Taraia Object Expedition will travel to Nikumaroro, a remote island in the Republic of Kiribati between Hawaii and Australia.
Researchers will investigate a visual anomaly located beneath the water in the island’s lagoon. The object was first identified in satellite imagery in 2020, but organizers say it appears in historical photographs dating to 1938.
Earhart and navigator Fred Noonan disappeared July 2, 1937, while attempting to fly around the world.
The expedition is based on the Nikumaroro hypothesis, which proposes that Earhart and Noonan reached the island after failing to locate Howland Island.
That theory remains unproven. The object has not been identified as aircraft wreckage, and the expedition could determine that it is unrelated to Earhart.
When will the expedition begin?
Some team members are scheduled to leave from Purdue University Airport on October 3.
The complete 16 person team will meet in Tarawa, Kiribati, on October 6. Members will depart by sea October 7 and travel approximately 830 nautical miles to Nikumaroro.
The crew will include archaeologists, filmmakers, divers, safety personnel, logistics specialists and Kiribati representatives.
A precise date for inspecting or recovering the Taraia Object has not been announced. Weather, transportation and field conditions could affect the schedule.
Pensacola’s connection to the search
RECON Offshore provides maritime archaeology and marine remote sensing services from Pensacola.
The company is supporting the expedition, and Krivor is identified in Purdue’s official materials as a maritime archaeologist involved with the expedition group.
Wilson is a faculty research associate and maritime archaeologist with UWF’s Archaeology Institute. His work includes underwater investigations, geophysical surveying and the use of technology to locate submerged archaeological sites.
Their involvement gives Pensacola a direct professional connection to an international investigation taking place thousands of miles away.
What happens if the team finds an aircraft?
Finding manufactured material would only begin the identification process.
Researchers would need to document its construction, dimensions, location and condition, then compare those findings with records for Earhart’s Lockheed Electra.
Purdue and the expedition organizers have not promised that the October mission will solve the disappearance. Additional updates are expected before departure.
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