Re: Plane in the lagoon at Orona
Posted: Sat Feb 20, 2016 10:31 am
The Best of the Saipan Theory: the Saipan theory is a theory that will not go away. Primarily because of the statements of WWII USMC veterans who served on Saipan during the battle for liberation of the island. For someone to believe the crash and sink or the Nikumaroro theory, they must assume the veterans are simply creating war stories: i.e. lying to create attention to themselves. The Orona-Saipan theory believes the marines and incorporates the recollections into the theory. Different from most versions of the Saipan theory, the Orona-Saipan theory does not connect Amelia with a spy mission planned by the US Government and coordinated by the US Navy. The majority of Saipan theory has the spy story upside down. The IJA created a spy hoax to influence the IJN strategy and executed it brilliantly such that many researchers today assume that Amelia was flying as a spy mission for the US. The salient points of the Saipan theory that support the Orona-Saipan theory are:
Eyewitness and next generation stories of seeing Amelia at Milli Atoll and Jaluit are abundant. According to the Orona theory, the IJA wanted local Marshallese citizens seeing Amelia to be eyewitness to the capture of the "spy". As a major element of the spy hoax, this eyewitness testimony would be presented to the IJN leadership that the US was indeed spying on Japanese facilities. After being spirited away from the Phoenix Islands via submarine, undetected by the huge USN search effort, Amelia and the navigator were paraded about as spies on Milli. The Orona theory speculates the IJA used a similar aircraft to represent the "spy plane". While the original eyewitnesses are long gone, the descendants still recount this story and it has become an official part of the Marshallese history and culture. In the 1980's a Marshallese stamp was issued commemorating the event.
US forces at Kwajalien Roi-Namur found a barracks quarters fitted out for a women and a book annotated as "Amelia Earhart's 10 Year diary". The "diary" disappeared in the mud and blood of war. The Orona-Saipan theory speculates that Amelia was held on Roi-Namur, a secure military installation for 5 years. After the IJN defeat at Midway, and certainly after Yamamoto's death in spring 1943, the IJN influence waned and the IJA wrested control of Amelia's captivity away from Yamamoto's control. Yamamoto took care to ensure her well being from his flagship headquarters at the Truk lagoon. Why would Yamamoto seek to care for Amelia? In short, insurance. Yamamoto, having traveled and studied in the US, knew he could never defeat the industrial might and resultant Naval power of the US. As he turned his navy to the offense, he realized that a good word from an American heroine might save him from the gallows, if he considered life after defeat. Unlikely for a samurai, but why not as the protection would be low cost.
USMC Wallack found a briefcase after blowing a safe in a IJA military building on Saipan. It was stamped "AE" and contain documents belonging to Amelia. It too disappeared into the fog of war. The investigation of the plane at Orona will be proof or failure of the theory: is the briefcase in the plane or not? Is Amelia's camera in the plane or not? Proof awaits with the investigation of the plane.
USMC Devine described a plane at the As Lito field hanger(note: I have been misspelling As Lito earlier) as being that of Amelia Earhart that was later burned by unidentified US forces. Devine wrote a book about his encounter.
USMC Ford described the plane in the hanger at As Lito as having "two windows at the rear just like Amelia Earhart's plane". The TIGHAR research has revealed that Amelia's plane had but one window when it left the US. This concurs with the Orona theory that a fake L10 model was presented to the IJN as Amelia Earhart's "spy" plane. Japan had earlier purchased at least one Lockheed L10 model prior to the aircraft sales embargo the US applied as tensions between the two countries escalated. After the island was liberated, the plane was destroyed to cover the embarrassment that would arise if John Q. Citizen discovered that military capable sales to Japan did occur before the embargo.
Eyewitness and next generation stories of seeing Amelia at the Garapsn prison are abundant. The timeline of these stories are confusing. According to the Orona theory, the IJA was not too worried about local citizens, including Japanese who might communicate with the home islands, seeing Amelia at the Garapan prison. As the war continued and the attitude of the two societies progressed from shock and anger to abhorrence and hatred, the attitude toward Amelia changed such that there was no reason to fear some reprisal if news of her imprisonment leaked out. Amelia was very popular in Japan before the war and spoke Japanese. That proved useful on Roi-Namur, but nothing could save her as the conditions at the Garapan prison were terrible. Her health declined and in the late sumer 1943 she died of complications from simple bacterial infectious decease rampant in the tropical Pacific during the war years. The rudimentary care by the medical staff did not include antibiotics.
In the attached image, the dogleg back to Nikumaroro from Orona is not shown. The IJA pirates returned to clean up the listening post camp and place the dead body of the copra worker from Orona before departing for the Marshall Islands by submarine.
Eyewitness and next generation stories of seeing Amelia at Milli Atoll and Jaluit are abundant. According to the Orona theory, the IJA wanted local Marshallese citizens seeing Amelia to be eyewitness to the capture of the "spy". As a major element of the spy hoax, this eyewitness testimony would be presented to the IJN leadership that the US was indeed spying on Japanese facilities. After being spirited away from the Phoenix Islands via submarine, undetected by the huge USN search effort, Amelia and the navigator were paraded about as spies on Milli. The Orona theory speculates the IJA used a similar aircraft to represent the "spy plane". While the original eyewitnesses are long gone, the descendants still recount this story and it has become an official part of the Marshallese history and culture. In the 1980's a Marshallese stamp was issued commemorating the event.
US forces at Kwajalien Roi-Namur found a barracks quarters fitted out for a women and a book annotated as "Amelia Earhart's 10 Year diary". The "diary" disappeared in the mud and blood of war. The Orona-Saipan theory speculates that Amelia was held on Roi-Namur, a secure military installation for 5 years. After the IJN defeat at Midway, and certainly after Yamamoto's death in spring 1943, the IJN influence waned and the IJA wrested control of Amelia's captivity away from Yamamoto's control. Yamamoto took care to ensure her well being from his flagship headquarters at the Truk lagoon. Why would Yamamoto seek to care for Amelia? In short, insurance. Yamamoto, having traveled and studied in the US, knew he could never defeat the industrial might and resultant Naval power of the US. As he turned his navy to the offense, he realized that a good word from an American heroine might save him from the gallows, if he considered life after defeat. Unlikely for a samurai, but why not as the protection would be low cost.
USMC Wallack found a briefcase after blowing a safe in a IJA military building on Saipan. It was stamped "AE" and contain documents belonging to Amelia. It too disappeared into the fog of war. The investigation of the plane at Orona will be proof or failure of the theory: is the briefcase in the plane or not? Is Amelia's camera in the plane or not? Proof awaits with the investigation of the plane.
USMC Devine described a plane at the As Lito field hanger(note: I have been misspelling As Lito earlier) as being that of Amelia Earhart that was later burned by unidentified US forces. Devine wrote a book about his encounter.
USMC Ford described the plane in the hanger at As Lito as having "two windows at the rear just like Amelia Earhart's plane". The TIGHAR research has revealed that Amelia's plane had but one window when it left the US. This concurs with the Orona theory that a fake L10 model was presented to the IJN as Amelia Earhart's "spy" plane. Japan had earlier purchased at least one Lockheed L10 model prior to the aircraft sales embargo the US applied as tensions between the two countries escalated. After the island was liberated, the plane was destroyed to cover the embarrassment that would arise if John Q. Citizen discovered that military capable sales to Japan did occur before the embargo.
Eyewitness and next generation stories of seeing Amelia at the Garapsn prison are abundant. The timeline of these stories are confusing. According to the Orona theory, the IJA was not too worried about local citizens, including Japanese who might communicate with the home islands, seeing Amelia at the Garapan prison. As the war continued and the attitude of the two societies progressed from shock and anger to abhorrence and hatred, the attitude toward Amelia changed such that there was no reason to fear some reprisal if news of her imprisonment leaked out. Amelia was very popular in Japan before the war and spoke Japanese. That proved useful on Roi-Namur, but nothing could save her as the conditions at the Garapan prison were terrible. Her health declined and in the late sumer 1943 she died of complications from simple bacterial infectious decease rampant in the tropical Pacific during the war years. The rudimentary care by the medical staff did not include antibiotics.
In the attached image, the dogleg back to Nikumaroro from Orona is not shown. The IJA pirates returned to clean up the listening post camp and place the dead body of the copra worker from Orona before departing for the Marshall Islands by submarine.