Amelia Earhart's Faustian Bargain

By Dr. Justin B. Clearsky

About the Book
On July 09, 2017, the History Channel aired a television documentary called Amelia Earhart: The Lost Evidence, which attracted a world-wide audience of 4.3 million views. The highlight of the History Channel’s Earhart documentary was a photograph discovered by retired federal agent Les Kinney in the National Archives stamped with official Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) markings. In the photo, a ship can be seen towing a barge with an airplane on the back and on a nearby dock are several people, of which two of them resemble Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan.
For the truth seeker who is interested in understanding the “whole story” behind Earhart’s round-the-world flight, who earnestly desires to know who really sponsored and funded the flight; why the Electra was modified the way it was; why the plane crashed in Hawaii; why an identical plane of the same model was in Miami, the same week Earhart departed on her trip; what Earhart really did during the week she was in Bandoeng; why Earhart’s radio messages were crafted the way they were; and what really prevented Earhart and Noonan from completing the flight are all questions that are answered in this work (and more), with evidence to back them.

About the Author
The author’s work also devotes one entire chapter to a detailed forensic study and analysis of all that is captured in the Kinney-discovered dock photo and as a result, can once and for all, time-stamp the date the photograph was taken.
A work that reexamines the mountain of evidence that all along, has been staring the world in the face ever since Earhart and Noonan disappeared. A work that is crammed with informative photographs, charts, diagrams, maps and analyses from an author who is now retired and free from all former oaths and obligations formerly made to and given in, the service of “the devil.”

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dorrance Publishing Company
• Release date: May 24, 2023
• ISBN: 9798887297231

Book preview

Brantingham_Page_i.eps

The contents of this work, including, but not limited to, the accuracy of events, people, and places depicted; opinions expressed; permission to use previously published materials included; and any advice given or actions advocated are solely the responsibility of the author, who assumes all liability for said work and indemnifies the publisher against any claims stemming from publication of the work.

All Rights Reserved

Copyright © 2023 by Dr. Justin B. Clearsky

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted, downloaded, distributed, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, including photocopying and recording, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented without permission in writing from the publisher.

Dorrance Publishing Co

585 Alpha Drive

Suite 103

Pittsburgh, PA 15238

Visit our website at www.dorrancebookstore.com

ISBN: 979-8-88729-223-6

eISBN: 979-8-88729-723-1

Fair Use Disclaimer

Most of the photographs shown in this work of Amelia Earhart, Fred Noonan and Earhart’s 1937 flight were downloaded from the website (ameliaarchive.org). Although the site claims full ownership of the photos but not full copyright on most of them, the site says that it is displaying them under fair use. Considering the fair use disclaimer cited on the ameliaarchive.org website and given the chief aim of this work, which is to inform and educate the public about a historical event that took place 83 years ago that was covered by news organizations and outlets and their publications both in the United States and around the world, in this author’s view, the use of the photos fully credited to ameliaarchive.org also constitutes fair use of this material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law.

Note: Anyone intending to use any of the photographs in this work credited to ameliaarchive.org or any of the other photographs, diagrams, charts or maps in this work for profit, or for purposes that go beyond fair use, must get permission from ameliaarchive.org and this author.

Although conventional wisdom frowns upon any writer or author using or quoting the words of others without permission and seeks to limit what can be quoted without permission by use of a word or line-count, since this work is not for profit, some of the direct quotes used in this work exceed the conventional word and line-count limit. In this work, where the length of quoted material from online encyclopedias, dictionaries, websites, books and periodicals exceeds the conventional word and line-count limit, this was done without malice and done out of respect to the writers or authors of that quoted material. This was done to ensure that the meaning, accuracy and original integrity of all quoted material is maintained, as all too often an original meaning, thought or idea can lose its significance when someone else attempts to paraphrase it.

Therefore, given the chief aim of this book which is to inform and educate the public about a historical event that took place over 80 years ago, in this author’s view, the use of all quoted material cited from various sources throughout this work, constitutes a fair use of this material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law, and is in the public interest.

Under Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material in this work is distributed without profit to those who have asked about receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.

Acknowledgements

This work is dedicated to the memory of Amelia Earhart and Fred Noon and all those who have dedicated their time, energy and passion doing all they can to inform the public that Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan’s Flight did not ditch at sea nor did they starve to death on a nearby island but ended on dry land in the Marshall Islands.

Amongst this group, this author would like to single out Les Kinney for finding and staking his reputation on a photograph that is the subject of detailed analysis in this work and for having the long-suffering patience and perseverance necessary to make the discovery. This author would also like to thank the entire team that made up The Swedish-Russian Dyatlov Pass Exhibition 2019 whose exhibition, findings and conclusions inspired this author to share his Earhart exhibition findings and conclusions in this work.

This author also wishes to acknowledge and thank the website: https://www.ameliaarchive.org/ The website https://www.ameliaarchive.org/ owns, preserves and maintains a cache of original photographs related to Amelia Earhart which has been the primary source of the photos used in this work. And last, to Tamara, whose love and support makes all this author’s lunatic-laden endeavors possible.

Dr Justin B. Clearsky

October 1, 2020

Preface

The disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight 370 on March 08, 2014 and the helicopter crash that killed the basketball star, Kobe Bryant and eight other people on January 26, 2020 were both painful tragedies felt and watched around the world. Losing a friend, acquaintance, or loved one to an accident is always a painful and difficult situation for anyone to endure that causes unspeakable grief. However, where no crash site or body is ever found, the experience of grief is made a hundred times worse because it makes the process of closure nearly impossible for loved ones.

The disappearance of Amelia Earhart in 1937 left not only Americans, but her world-wide audience of admirers in a state of shock, disbelief and grief. The grief felt by many was deeply personal because the publicity that surrounded Earhart in the years before, during and after her last flight had brought her face and personality into everyone’s living room in a way that made people see her as a member of the family. This grief was then made worse over the ensuing days, months, and years, when no aircraft, oil slicks, wreckage, or bodies were ever found.

The same can be said of the pain and misery that Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 has caused all the family members of the victims. Family members who have been left in a hellish state of limbo since there has been no concrete evidence to prove or substantiate how or why their loved ones were killed. Nor has anyone found any irrefutable or compelling evidence to prove conclusively that the victims’ families should give up all hope of ever seeing their loved ones again.

Although other world-renowned tragedies such as the sinking of the Titanic lost many more lives than Malaysian flight 370 did, the difference is that with the Titanic we more or less know what happened, why it sank, where it sank. And besides the 706 people who survived the accident, there were also 340 bodies that were recovered.

It has now been eighty-three years since Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan went missing. From that time until now the public has had a longing and a yearning to know what really happened and why. Since that time, many a book, article, movie, television program and website have been made or published, all offering different degrees of evidence (some more thorough and credible than others) that seek to explain and solve the mystery resulting in the four to five main canonical theories that exist today.

There is another well-known tragedy-mystery that occurred in Russia (then the Soviet Union) twenty-two years after Earhart disappeared. Although this mystery had nothing to do with flying or aviation, it shares some of the similar hallmarks of the Earhart mystery both in its perplexity and in the high number of explanations and theories that have since tried to explain it.

This tragedy-mystery is referred to as the Dyatlov Pass Incident. In this tragedy, somewhere between February 1 and 2, 1959, nine Russian hikers died in the northern Ural Mountains in bizarre and uncertain circumstances. In this tragedy, an experienced trekking group, all from the Ural Polytechnical Institute and led by team leader Igor Dyatlov, had established a camp on the slopes of Kholat-Syakhl where during the night, something caused them to tear their way out of their tents and flee the campsite in scant and inadequately dressed clothing in heavy snowfall and subzero temperatures.  After the group’s frozen bodies were discovered, an investigation by Soviet authorities determined that six of the hikers had died from hypothermia while the other three showed signs of physical trauma. One victim had a fractured skull, two others had major chest fractures, one body was missing both its eyes, and one was missing a tongue. The investigation concluded that a compelling natural force had caused the hikers’ deaths.¹

Although the exact location of the tragedy is known and all nine bodies were later found and recovered, the seemingly strange and different locations where the bodies were found and the seemingly strange and bizarre state some bodies were found in, has led to no less than twenty-three different explanations and theories. Theories that offer various explanations and interpretations of the physical and circumstantial evidence, in their respective attempts to explain what might have happened that night.

As a former investigator, prosecutor, judge and intelligence officer who has spent the last twenty years reading, studying and analyzing both the Earhart and Dyatlov Pass mysteries and all the known theories associated with both, two events have surfaced in recent years that have shed valuable new light on both mysteries.

The first event was the Les Kinney discovered dock photograph that the History Channel aired: Amelia Earhart: The Lost Evidence on July 9, 2017, that purported to show Earhart and Noonan alive in the Marshall Islands. (A photograph that is examined and analyzed in great detail in Chapter Twelve of this work).

The second event was The Swedish-Russian Dyatlov Pass Expedition 2019. This was an expedition that was put together in 2019 to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Dyatlov Pass tragedy. The expedition comprised a Russian support team and a second team comprising two Swedes and two Russians who retraced the trail taken by the Dyatlov nine on the exact days that the nine Russian trekkers had made them, sixty years earlier.

After the expedition, the Swedish members later posted their experiences and a new theory explaining what they believed happened to the Dyatlov nine on a website dedicated to that purpose. In this author’s view, the Swedes’ interpretation and explanation surrounding the tragedy’s chain of events were the most logical, natural and plausible of all the twenty-three known theories. The most plausible because the Swedes’ theory best explain how all the individual and bizarre parts of mystery all fit together to give one a clear, logical and coherent view of that night’s events, from a whole picture point of view.²

It is not that the Swedish-Russian expedition stumbled onto new evidence or drew new conclusions that others had not thought of or postulated before. In this author’s view, what was unique about the Swedes’ explanation of what they believe took place and happened to the nine hikers was their holistic view of all the evidence. A view that does not dwell or focus on any one piece of evidence or part of the story but views all the evidence as a chain or series of events that tell and paint a larger whole story. Thus, when viewed all together as a whole, the Swedes’ findings and conclusions fit all the pieces of the seemingly strange and bizarre part of the puzzle together into a perfectly logical explanation of what likely took place that night, that resulted in the death of the nine hikers.

Thanks to the Swedish-Russian expedition of 2019, we can see and appreciate a new and better detailed explanation of the disaster. A logical explanation that in this author’s view finally gives the Dyatlov nine the honor and respect they deserve. The Swedish-Russian expedition findings, conclusions and insights help show that the tragedy was no bizarre mystery at all, but a story of heroism and comradery by a team desperately trying to survive the sudden onset of impossible conditions.

It often takes a new set of eyes that are not biased with an agenda or overburdened from the opinions of so-called experts to see and discern what others did not or could not see or could only see partially. Considering all the above, it is this author’s desire that this work might help contribute to the Earhart mystery what the Swedish-Russian Dyatlov 2019 expedition helped contribute to the Dyatlov Pass mystery. Therefore, if any of the analysis and conclusions shared in this work create in just one reader a new sense of appreciation and respect for Earhart and Noonan, as the Swedish-Russian expedition conclusions did for this author for the Dyatlov nine, then the writing of this work will have been worth it.

Brantingham_002.JPG

June 24, 1937

Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan at Batavia, Dutch East Indies

(www.ameliaarchive.org)

Introduction

The analysis and conclusions put forward in this work assume that the reader is already acquainted with Amelia Earhart’s round-the-world flight at large and the major events of that flight, starting with her first departure from Oakland to Hawaii, the crash, then her second attempt from Oakland to Miami, then Miami all the way to Lae. It also assumes that the reader is familiar with all the various theories and explanations that have tried to explain the reasons behind her disappearance, including the location of the aircraft’s final resting place, as claimed by the various theories. Before we begin, a clarification of terms, words and concepts used throughout this work is necessary, in order to give readers a better understanding of the central thesis of this work.

Faustian Bargain

According to the Encyclopedia Britannica a Faustian Bargain is:

A pact whereby a person trades something of supreme moral or spiritual importance, such as personal values or the soul, for some worldly or material benefit, such as knowledge, power, or riches. The term refers to the legend of Faust (or Faustus, or Doctor Faustus), a character in German folklore and literature, who agrees to surrender his soul to an evil spirit (in some treatments, Mephistopheles, or Mephisto, a representative of Satan) after a certain period of time in exchange for otherwise unattainable knowledge and magical powers that give him access to all the world’s pleasures. A Faustian Bargain is made with a power that the bargainer recognizes as evil or amoral. Faustian Bargains are by their nature tragic or self-defeating for the person who makes them, because what is surrendered is ultimately far more valuable than what is obtained, whether or not the bargainer appreciates that fact.³

Some people make a deal with the devil with their eyes wide open. These are all the ambitious souls who desire and crave fame and fortune and will do anything to get it, no matter what the cost is to them and others. Then there are people who make a deal with the devil with their eyes wide shut. These are the foolish and naïve souls who don’t understand that there is no free lunch in life and don’t understand that fame and fortune are never free and always come at a price, usually realized too late.

And finally, there are those people who make their pact with the devil with one eye open and one eye shut. These are those souls who are talked into accepting the bargain because it is pitched as being necessary for the greater good as a project or endeavor that they and only they, are qualified to do. In this scenario, although the bargain deliberately strokes the person’s ego, it is at the same time cleverly wrapped up and packaged as something that will also benefit the group or society of which they are a part.

One of the chief objectives of this work is to show that sometime in the years before 1937, Amelia Earhart was offered a Faustian Bargain of the third type. It was a bargain that would guarantee her a place in the record books and promised to bring her greater fame and financial security than she had and knew. As likely presented, the bargain would not cost her a thing except her time and all Earhart had to do was take a few aerial photographs along the way.

Therefore, we can surmise that the taking of a few photographs was likely pitched as a harmless patriotic mission that was necessary for the greater good, necessary to help keep her country safe and necessary to help America pre-empt war with Japan.

Giving Credit Where Credit is Due

To varying degrees, we humans face difficult decisions and bargains all the time. Therefore, although the title of this work includes the words Faustian Bargain, the purpose of this book is not to blame or criticize Amelia Earhart or Fred Noonan morally in any way, shape or form. Rather, this work seeks to provide a new perspective on the mountain of circumstantial and direct evidence that points to the following: that Earhart and her navigator Fred Noonan knew exactly where they were at all times on their round-the-world trip; knew exactly what they were doing and why; and that the reason the pair failed to reach Howland Island had nothing to do with radio incompetence or navigational errors.

A mountain of circumstantial and direct evidence that points to the fact that it was not Earhart, but the devil who hatched, planned and all but flew the plane in what was an almost flawlessly carried out pre-World War II military operation. A mountain of circumstantial and direct evidence that points to the fact that it was the devil who offered Earhart the bargain and the devil and not Earhart and Putnam, who funded and equipped Earhart with the plane that she flew.

A mountain of circumstantial and direct evidence that points to the fact that it was the devil who actually owned the flight and not Earhart and Putnam as are generally assumed. A fresh perspective on evidence that readers can hopefully judge for themselves, will give Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan the heroic honors and respect that this author feels both deserve. Not for any patriotic reasons, but out of respect for their bravery and gutsy can do attitude as pioneering aviators.

Definition of Terms: Direct vs. Circumstantial Evidence

According to the American Bar Association, evidence is explained as follows:

Steps in a Trial:  

The heart of the case is the presentation of evidence. There are two types of evidence: direct and circumstantial.

Direct evidence usually is that which speaks for itself: eyewitness accounts, a confession, or a weapon.

Circumstantial evidence usually is that which suggests a fact by implication or inference: the appearance of the scene of a crime, testimony that suggests a connection or link with a crime, physical evidence that suggests criminal activity."

Both kinds of evidence are a part of most investigations and trials, with circumstantial evidence probably being used more often than direct. Either kind of evidence can be offered in oral testimony of witnesses or physical exhibits, including fingerprints, test results, and documents. Neither kind of evidence is more valuable than the other and depending on the country, strict rules govern the kinds of evidence that may be admitted into a trial, and the presentation of evidence is governed by formal rules.⁴

According to Encyclopedia Britannica’s definition:

Circumstantial evidence, in law, is evidence not drawn from direct observation of a fact in issue. If a witness testifies that he saw a defendant fire a bullet into the body of a person who then died, this is direct testimony of material facts in murder, and the only question is whether the witness is telling the truth. If, however, the witness is able to testify only that he heard the shot and that he arrived on the scene seconds later to see the accused standing over the corpse with a smoking pistol in his hand, the evidence is circumstantial; the accused may have been shooting at the escaping killer or merely have been a bystander who picked up the weapon after the killer had dropped it. The notion that one cannot be convicted on circumstantial evidence is, of course, false. Most criminal convictions are based on circumstantial evidence, although it must be adequate to meet established standards of proof.

By contrast, direct evidence supports the truth of an assertion (in criminal law, an assertion of guilt or of innocence) directly, i.e., without an intervening inference. For example: a witness who testifies that they saw the defendant shoot the victim gives direct evidence.⁵

Since we now live in a world of 24-hour news where reality TV shows expose and document in real time all aspects of human life and existence, to the public, the word and the concept of circumstantial evidence has lost much of its original meaning and intent. As originally intended, the word and the meaning of the word is actually a very helpful thought concept designed to help humans analyze the truth or falsehood of a situation. Especially where there is no direct evidence in the form of witnesses, photographs or video recording of the smoking gun, which today accounts for the vast majority of human life and human interaction as we know it.

Therefore, in today’s world, where our mobile phone provides us with a built-in, high-resolution digital recorder, the art of examining the circumstantial evidence of a crime or a situation has become a lost art. And as we will also see later on in this work, even when an event is captured or recorded on film and even when there is a smoking gun, for many, the mind sees only what it wants to see and does not see that which is difficult to control, or that which threatens one’s vested self-interests, whether those interests are professional or otherwise.

Definition of Terms: Conspiracy

This author also feels it necessary that the public take a much needed timeout to re-examine two words that are currently in Vogue which have taken on a new life and meaning of their own. These are the two words, conspiracy and conspiracy theory.

According to the Cambridge English Dictionary, the definition of the word conspiracy is: a secret plan made by two or more people to do something bad, illegal or against someone’s wishes. And from this we get the word conspiracy theory, which, according to the online dictionary, www.dictionary.com means:

1. A theory that rejects the standard explanation for an event and instead credits a covert group or organization with carrying out a secret plot;

2. a belief that a particular unexplained event was caused by such a covert group, and

3. the idea that many important political events or economic and social trends are the products of deceptive plots that are unknown to the public.⁶

Unfortunately, the word and the phrase have become twisted and now carry an entirely new connotation. Some scholars have suggested that the phrase conspiracy theory was originally a neutral term and only gained a derogative connotation in the 1960s, with the implication that the theorist is paranoid. (Others have similarly suggested the term was deployed by the CIA in the 60s to discredit JFK assassination conspiracy theories). A few scholars have rejected such claims, asserting the term has always been derogatory and can cite examples showing that it has been so since at least the nineteenth century.

An overview of the depth and implications of the phrase can be seen from Wikipedia’s explanation and definition, where conspiracy theory is explained as:

An explanation for an event or situation that invokes a conspiracy by sinister and powerful groups, often political in motivation, when other explanations are more probable. The term has a negative connotation, implying that the appeal to a conspiracy is based on prejudice or insufficient evidence. Conspiracy theories resist falsification and are reinforced by circular reasoning: both evidence against the conspiracy and an absence of evidence for it are re-interpreted as evidence of its truth, whereby the conspiracy becomes a matter of faith rather than something that can be proved or disproved.

Research suggests that conspiracist ideation - belief in conspiracy theories - may be psychologically harmful or pathological and that it is correlated with psychological projection, paranoia and Machiavellianism. Psychologists attribute finding a conspiracy where there is none to a mental phenomenon called illusory pattern perception. Conspiracy theories once limited to fringe audiences have become commonplace in mass media, emerging as a cultural phenomenon of the late 20th and early 21st centuries.⁷

This author is not condoning or embracing the many fools of this world who live, work and trade in falsehoods, disinformation and deceit, but is simply pointing out that the phrase has now become codified to the point where conspiracy theory has now become a popular catchword of scorn. A phrase used to discredit or sow doubt on a subject or a person’s credibility by implying that the person is indeed paranoid and devoid of rational thought. As used today, the word has gradually become the lazy man’s best straw man because today’s use of the phrase seems to exempt the user from offering any contrary or alternative evidence.

Therefore, in this work whenever the word conspiracy is used, the author means it in the Cambridge English Dictionary’s sense of the word: i.e., a secret plan made by two or more people to do something that is harmful or illegal. And whenever the word conspiracy theory is used, the author means it in the Cambridge English Dictionary’s sense of the word: i.e., is a theory or explanation that rejects the standard explanation for an event and instead credits a covert group or organization with carrying out a secret plot.

Definition of Terms: The Devil

As used throughout this work, the devil refers to the handful of ruthless societies / oligarchs who control the White House, all levels of government, all the financial and educational institutions and the media. And who does so from behind the scenes in ways and through secret and clandestine organizations that are not known or visible to the hoi polloi (the masses) who the societies / oligarchs view with disdain. Therefore, whenever the devil is used in this work, it can either mean this group of men, or the White House, or any of the above organizations and institutions, or their subordinates, underlings or agents.

The Million Dollar Question

Given all the above, and the clarification of definition of words and terms that are used in this work, it is this author’s view that the Earhart mystery and all of its parts cannot be fully comprehended or understood until one has first asked and answered one important question. Was Earhart’s round-the-world flight planned, orchestrated and paid for by the devil or was it planned, orchestrated and paid for by Amelia Earhart and her husband George Putnam? It