Won’t spare a dime
for Amelia-hunters

An outfit known as The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery, or TIGHAR, has spotted what may be rust stains on the reef at a tiny South Pacific atoll. TIGHAR head Richard Gillespie speculates that the rust might be from components of Amelia Earhart's aircraft, missing since 1937.

TIGHAR has made an ongoing business of poking about this atoll for Earhart's remains, and every couple of years comes up with another clue, whether it's the heel of a women's shoe (it must be Earhart's!) or a scrap of aviation metal (just because the rivet pattern doesn't match a Lockheed Electra doesn't mean it's not Earhart's!) and they launch into a fund-raising drive to continue the "search." Most of the funds go to pay Gillespie and associates' salaries.

Earhart's disappearance is one of the most beguiling mysteries of all time and it's easy to get caught up in the excitement whenever a new "clue" appears. I wish the folks at TIGHAR well. But I wouldn't give them a dime.

--Burl Burlingame

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