Trump moves to declassify Amelia Earhart records

President Trump told his administration on Friday to declassify any federal records about Amelia Earhart, the pilot whose 1937 disappearance over the Pacific Ocean has drawn decades of public fascination.

“Amelia made it almost three quarters around the World before she suddenly, and without notice, vanished, never to be seen again,” the president wrote on Truth Social. “Her disappearance, almost 90 years ago, has captivated millions.”

Earhart and navigator Fred Noonan disappeared as they flew toward Howland Island in the Pacific, part of her attempt to become the first female aviator to circumnavigate the world. 

It’s widely believed that Earhart crashed into the ocean near Howland Island after running out of fuel, says Laurie Gwen Shapiro, a journalist who wrote a book on Earhart. But other theories about where she and her plane ended up have circulated for decades — many of which lack clear evidence. Researchers are planning an expedition to a remote island later this year.

It’s not clear what, if any, classified documents the government may have on Earhart. 

But a lawmaker who represents the Northern Mariana Islands territory in the U.S. House pushed Mr. Trump to declassify and release Earhart records earlier this year, referring to “credible, firsthand accounts” that the aviator was spotted on the Pacific island of Saipan.

“Despite these recollections, her disappearance and the possibility that she may have died on our islands remain matters of unresolved historical inquiry,” Del. Kimberlyn King-Hinds, a Republican, wrote in a July letter to the president.

One of the theories is that Earhart was on a spy mission for the U.S. government when she landed in Saipan and was taken into custody by the Japanese. 

Documents previously released by the FBI contain a 1967 request for a security review of a manuscript that cites Navy files on Earhart that were marked “confidential,” a level of classification. The manuscript’s author, a senior officer in the Air Force, wrote that the conclusions in the Navy report were that Earhart was not on a spy mission, did not crash-land in Saipan and was not held as a prisoner or executed as a spy. 

The FBI, in approving that manuscript for publication — which is a typical process for current and former government officials — noted that the Navy files did “not warrant classification since the release of it would not be prejudicial to the national defense.” 

Shapiro called the theory that Earhart was taken captive in Saipan “nonsense.”

“It’s 99.9% that she ran out of gas,” Shapiro told CBS News. She said Earhart and Noonan were low on fuel and “very ill-prepared” for their attempted flight to Howland Island, a tiny, difficult-to-find island in the middle of the ocean.

“It’s very boring to tell people, you know what, she ran out of gas,” said Shapiro. “The fantasy around it is amazing.”

The National Archives and Records Administration has also previously released documents on the search for Earhart.  

In 1993, two Hawaiian lawmakers introduced bills in the House and Senate to require the government to release all records relating to Earhart’s last flight and disappearance. The bills called for the declassification of any such relevant records that have been classified as government secrets.” The measures never made it out of the committees they were referred to. 

Mr. Trump’s push to declassify Earhart records follows his decision to release records on the 1960s-era assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr., John F. Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy. His administration is also under pressure to release records on the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

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Joe Walsh is a senior editor for digital politics at CBS News. Joe previously covered breaking news for Forbes and local news in Boston.

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