Chasing Earhart

We’re 27 episodes into my little experiment with this rebrand now - I never thought we’d still be going. It continues to baffle me. One of the things I really wanted to do when I decided to bring the show back was to make sure I brought new voices into the ongoing conversation that we’ve been having for decades. If you follow the pattern closely though, these last 27 episodes tell a bigger stor...

Several years ago, I started hearing about a man making his way through the Amelia Earhart/Fred Noonan disappearance case. What caught my attention wasn’t just his research—it was the way his name kept coming up. From the moment I became involved in this story, I’ve been drawn to the lesser-known nuances that make up the towering mystery of Amelia Earhart. As I got to know people in the field,...

If you’ve ever heard me guest on other podcasts or in media of any kind, you’ve heard the story of how this podcast all started for me. But just in case you haven’t, here it is. The Chasing Earhart project (which this podcast is a part of) officially launched in 2017. But nine years before that, I started what I often refer to as the pre-research phase - a part of the project that lasted a litt...

In 2021, I had a conversation with brothers Mike and Robert Ashmore regarding a highly curious satellite image they’d discovered in a lagoon on an island that’s gotten a lot of play in this Earhart investigation over the years. It’s been some time since that interview and the wheels of this case turn slowly……but they do turn. Tonight, in a follow up to that episode, I welcome a man that has be...

If you’ve ever attended the annual Amelia Earhart festival in Atchison Kansas, then you're familiar with an event that’s been a staple of that weekend every year since its inception. It’s called Breakfast with the Books. An event that brings Amelia Earhart authors to the town where the legend began to present their stories and discuss AE’s enduring legacy. A couple of years ago, while I was hol...

In August of 2017, I helped introduce the world to a man that had been quietly working on an idea that could blow the wheels off the Amelia Earhart/Fred Noonan story. He’d recently put out a book via the Paragon Agency called Tracking Amelia Earhart: Her Flightpath to the End. I happened to know the publisher of that book, Doug Westfall, who I’d met just a few months earlier and it was at that ...

Nearly a year ago, the Amelia Earhart story was rocked by a mysterious and compelling sonar image produced by ocean exploration company Deep Sea Vision. The suspiciously plane-shaped image taken in an area out in the Pacific near Howland Island, rattled the case to its core, and forced a full investigative stop while the world anxiously awaited a confirmation. As history was potentially unfold...

We’ve all been on a pretty incredible run lately. This little rebrand idea for the show I had about a year ago, was only supposed to be a couple of new episodes. Never in a million years did I think we’d still be going with more debuts, returning guests and new revelations. The last year has been one of the most tumultuous years in the history of this  Earhart game and I’ve learned that in this...

The longer this rebrand goes, the more I continue to be surprised. Years ago, I reached out to a man that was a part of my original 25. He’s perhaps the most well known name in the entire Earhart case. Some people also consider him to be a bit of a polarizing figure. When I reached out, I was a nobody - I had no contacts, no experience except my own handful of years in pre-research and I had no...

Over 15 years ago now, I sat down to make a list of dream participants for what would become the Chasing Earhart project. I came up with a list of 25 names and on that list was a man who’s been associated with the search for Amelia Earhart since the first deep ocean expedition for her took place in 1999. In fact, he’s the man who led that search almost 25 years ago. In that time, every search t...

In 2014, as this project was in pre-research, the world was fixated on an around the world flight that dominated the media and much of the aviation related conversation that year. Chief among the many reasons why was the pilot - a woman who shares a namesake with the biggest aviation icon to ever fly the skies. On July 11th, 2014 Amelia Rose Earhart completed her world flight without incident ...

One of my very favorite parts of the rebrand for this show has been the flood of new voices that we’ve been able to bring into the ongoing conversation regarding the life, legacy and disappearance of Amelia Earhart. Over the years, a lot of attention has been paid to AE’s upbringing in Atchison, Kansas - and for good reason. Every year, thousands and thousands of visitors flock to the beautiful...

“It is interesting to note that because of Earhart and Noonan’s particular course, they did cross local midnight on their flight path causing the local date to move forward one day and, for several hours, the pair was alive on July 3rd – one day after they officially disappeared.” Over the last few months of recording this show, I’ve started hearing from dozens of people either by email or by ...

You know, anytime I get the chance to sit down and record another conversation for this show, I consider it an honor. I try to never forget why I’m doing this. The reasons are very important to me. In all the conversations we’ve had for this show, we’ve only ever had one of Amelia’s family members as a guest - that was back in 2018 when Amy Kleppner - daughter of Muriel Earhart Morrissey and t...

About 2 years ago, my book Rabbit Hole: The Vanishing of Amelia Earhart & Fred Noonan was released, and I could only think of one place to launch it - Atchison Kansas, during the Amelia Earhart festival. It remains as one of my very favorite moments of this entire crazy ride. I knew then, that a deep ocean search was about to take place somewhere off the coast of Howland island - a destination ...

Of all the people I’ve met during my experience running the Chasing Earhart project, there is one person that you may be surprised to know has never been on this show, despite how close we’ve become over the years. We’re about to right that wrong, right now. In 2019, when I reached out to her, she had no iron in this fire, and very little knowledge on just how big this story had become. But sh...

Several years ago, during the first season of Vanished, I met a historian and researcher out of the UK that immediately caught my interest. Tonight, you’ll see why. We’ve got a very kindred  fascination and love for the Earhart story, and some of the behind the scenes work he’s been quietly doing is the exact representation of what historical research should look like. Chris Hare is a digger. ...

Jill Meyers is a public speaker, mentor, aerospace engineer and so much more. You can learn more about her and tonight's conversation at: LINKS & SHOW NOTES Her Official Website (https://www.jillrmeyers.com/) Jill Meyers on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/jillrmeyers/) Jill Meyers on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/jillrmeyers/?hl=en) SHOW NOTES & FURTHER READING 'Katharine Wrigh...

For years, I’ve been discussing a dream expedition that would bring some of this case's brightest minds together in a collaboration that could rewrite history forever. Sometimes, when you’re investigating a scene like the one unfolding in Buka, you get lucky enough to pull an ace. And boy have we ever got one for you tonight. Dick Spink is one of my very favorite people in all the Earhart sto...

If you know me, you know how much I adore the Amelia Earhart Birthplace Museum in Atchison Kansas. It’s a place that’s special to me for many reasons. Back in 2017, my wife and I brought our production for the Chasing Earhart documentary there, and we were welcomed with open arms. So much so, that we were allowed to shoot over 20 interview segments there over the course of that year’s Amelia E...

You know what’s really wild? You never know when to stop pursuing something. When it seems hopeless - sometimes, you get a hand from a source you never dreamed possible. The following audio is only possible because of the folks over at Pratt & Whitney’s Dependable Engines Association who were kind enough to invite project guest Bill Snavely to discuss the latest discoveries out at Buka - and a...

For over 100 episodes of this show, I’ve sat behind my microphone and asked some of the biggest names in the Earhart world for answers to the questions that have been burning in my mind all my life. Never in a million years did I ever think the show could flip the format and pull off what we’re about to do. Tonight, in a very different approach to our show, my good friends Sean Keatts and Bri ...

About five years ago, we visited Atchison, Kansas to film segments of our documentary during the Amelia Earhart festival. While we were there, we met two women that would become an integral part of Chasing Earhart project, working with us on events and helping us gain a sense of credibility in the Earhart historical record. While they both prefer to be behind the camera, current events have no...

A Conversation with Mike Harris

A couple of years ago, before we ended this show’s original run, I sat down with Guy Noffsinger, Jim Janicki, and Jeff Riegel of the Lost Clipper Team. The story they told me then, and the one that continues tonight, is utterly amazing. It’s a story that the world may not be ready to accept or believe. Was the crew of the lost Clipper really sent to retrieve Amelia Earhart in exchange for a 3 ...

Please note that Mandy Horvath is a writer, in process of writing her own novel. She does not permit anyone the rights to "ghost write," her story for any publication purposes. Thank you!

Hey folks - I bet you never thought you’d hear this show again. It’s been a while since the podcast ended, but in the last few months, I’ve quietly been working on what I consider to be the next chapter in the evolution of this show. Earlier this year, I began hearing from people that wanted the podcast to continue. At first, I really didn’t feel it. I had walked away and moved onto covering o...

A little over a year ago we stepped away from the Amelia Earhart/Fred Noonan disappearance case forever; having nothing further to add to a project that spanned almost 15 years at the time. But it turns out, we couldn’t stay away for long. Just like you’ll hear time and time again in this case, we got pulled back in as new developments in multiple theories have come to the surface and are ready...

Our journey is over. We created something that I didn’t know that we could. And we did it together. And now as I look back on everything that we accomplished, I can finally move forward into an exciting future. One of hope. One of faith. And one where the skies are the limit. I think Amelia would appreciate that. So, goodbye Amelia & Fred. Wherever you are...

We’ve reached the final time that we’ll be discussing theory on this podcast. It’s been a long road, but we wanted to wrap with fresh faces, new ideas and a twist on this story that you’ll never see coming. If you’re familiar with this podcast or with Vanished Amelia Earhart, you’ve likely heard of the Hawaii Clipper, but you might know its fate. And no one listening would ever know that its fa...

Within the Congressional Armed Services Committee, the Intelligence Community retains a non-itemized appropriation referred to simply as “the black hole”. For over two decades, part of the funding of that program went toward analyzing whether or not the human mind could be used to gather reliable information. What you are about to hear is the report that the US Intelligence Community would have...

On this 82nd anniversary of the vanishing of Amelia Earhart & Fred Noonan, we bring you a special message from Chris Williamson & the Chasing Earhart Project.

"So many young readers are focused today on looking for heroes; looking for people who they can look up to; looking for people they can be inspired by. Amelia is a natural fit for that." Jim Buckley is a prolific author of nonfiction for young readers, with more than 150 books to his credit (and still typing!). He is the author of more than a dozen titles in The New York Times' best-selling "W...

I have always known that Amelia Earhart’s reach in legacy and inspiration loomed large over modern day aviation, aerospace and STEM. However, when we started this project many years ago, even I didn’t understand just how deep that reach stretched. Tonight, we’re all gonna find out. Amelia Earhart’s legacy and inspiration touches us all. And what she set out to achieve so long ago, is showing to...

"It’s interesting when I watch people watch the documentary. When her face comes up on the screen, people just light up. I think she’s one of those people that is sort of an iconic figure for all the best reasons." "Fly Like A Girl" is more than just a film. It’s a movement of young girls and women relentlessly pursuing their passion for aviation. A field currently dominated by men. Hearing fi...

Dr. Lois Frankel is a guest that when you look at her bio or research her career, you would never in a million years think she’d pop up as a project guest for Chasing Earhart. But oh, how little do you know…. Dr. Frankel is the president of corporate coaching international and she literally wrote the book on coaching people to succeed in businesses both large and small around the globe. Some of...

In part, it’s the way that we identify with these individuals; the notion of getting lost at sea; the horror of that and how deeply in our core as individuals we fear something like that happening. That reaches into something that’s very personal for everybody. Forensic image processing and analyzation is one of the most crucial areas of expertise in the entire Amelia Earhart/Fred Noonan disap...

"As years go on, it’s not just the flight but it’s about a woman, it’s about encouraging people to be in aviation. It’s about the era." Perhaps no other institution on the planet is more recognizable than the Smithsonian. The air and space museum on Washington DC houses some of the most iconic aviation exhibits on the planet. And the museum staff are some of the most knowledgeable experts that...

“This 50th anniversary, I’m doing it for my crew. They’re all gone now; they were about ten years older than I was. Of course, I miss them, but I can think of them. All my animals, my crew, my family; they’re all close to my heart and they’ll always be there. But this was the beginning of sharing this will people like you and people all over the world.” In 2017, on the 50th anniversary of her ...

“I truly believe that this was a woman who was an adventurer and who wanted to break barriers in many, many ways.” Tonight, you’ll hear from an author that takes a different approach to her writing and her thoughts on Amelia Earhart’s relevance. Project guest Patricia Lakin has written multiple children’s books including the well received and long lasting “Amelia Earhart: More Than a Flyer”. T...

“This wasn’t about a flight. This really was about what Amelia worked so hard to teach. Amelia didn’t fly and do these things to say ‘look what I can do’. She did it to say ‘look what you can do’.” The moments you hear at the opening of tonight's episode, took place 21 years ago on what was the 60th anniversary of Amelia Earhart’s circumnavigation attempt around the world. Project guest Linda...

“I think Amelia is more well known than possibly even Lindberg. Amelia is just part of the psyche of the public. She was a really positive role model doing some amazing things; certainly laying it all out there on the line. The mystery of the disappearance adds to her story." Considered by many to be a purist when it comes to locating Amelia Earhart's Lockheed Electra 10E, Dana Timmer has been...

"A lot of it was just imagining myself in Earhart’s shoes on Nikumaroro and thinking about what she’d do." Our first three-peat on the podcast, Dr. Tom King formally of TIGHAR returns for a different kind of discussion on his third sit down with us. Dr. King's latest novel, "Amelia Earhart Unrescued" is a prequel to his earlier novel "13 Bones" and takes a unique approach in telling the story ...

"I think her story resonates with anybody who’s ever been told no they can’t do something and maybe have been frustrated with that answer. There’s this little girl who really pushed her boundaries and whether or not she was courageous or foolhardy I think at the end of the day the courageousness is what we focus on. Her story inspires readers to say “Maybe I can try something”. Project guest D...

Following the disappearance of aviation icons Amelia Earhart, Fred Noonan and their Lockheed Electra 10E in 1937, the world speculates on their fate; creating multiple theories to explain their vanishing over the Pacific Ocean. In 2018, documentarian Chris Williamson begins an investigation over a decade in the making. Shortly after his investigation begins, he soon finds there’s much more to t...

“Amelia Earhart was an explorer and an adventurer who took risks and someone who was doing so in a time where it may not have been attractive or easy to do something like that as a woman. I kind of see somebody who doesn’t really care what the status quo is and is doing whatever the hell she wants anyway.” Emily Calandrelli is a lot of things. A speaker, an author a STEM advocate and a scienti...

“The defiant human spirit is something that we all have the potential to tap into and that’s what Amelia had; she had this defiant spirit and the defiant spirit is saying “ I’m not gonna let life beat me; I’m gonna go out and live fully and fearlessly”. It’s about getting out there and doing the things that ignite you.” Janine Shepherd is a living, breathing miracle. A former cross-country ski...

“I think for women she was a symbol of freedom and independence and her fame made her larger than life. Her story and her disappearance live on as the ultimate historical mystery. That idea keeps her alive in people’s minds in a way that a lot of figures from history aren’t.” Of all the missing persons cases in history, perhaps no other has captured the world like that of Amelia Earhart & Fred...

“She was one of those first women to push through those mail dominate field barriers; she inspired women to go into these male-dominated fields, go into aviation. She was a big start in this whole idea; getting into schools and telling her story. She continues to have that impact on girls. This is something that you can do if you really want it”. Back in the 1930’s when women were breaking thr...

“There’s no doubt in my mind that because of the status that Earhart had in her lifetime; she opened people’s minds. People that probably had never had anyone encourage them to have a career outside of the home. She was able to do that for women. People still pick up on that love she had for empowering other women. This is why we get two-year-old girls in the archives with pilot’s outfits who a...