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U.S.HOT TAKE OR NOT

Earhart plane search: the clue was tree debris

Purdue University and private donors backed the $900,000 expedition, which found no conclusive evidence of wreckage in the lagoon; the shiny part was a carbonate coating.

On air: Hank Ledger, Kenji Moonfield and Dr. Nina Byte on Late Night BBN
Published
Photo: Angela K. Kepler (cleaned up by Rvdude007 ) · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons · altered by BBN
▶ As it aired · U.S.

Watch it as it aired: Hank Ledger, Kenji Moonfield and Dr. Nina Byte on this story, from Late Night BBN at 10:48 PM ET. Cartoon anchors, real headline: the facts are Reuters's, the jokes are ours.

Photo: Nikumaroro
Photo: Angela K. Kepler (cleaned up by Rvdude007 ) · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons · altered by BBN

At a glance

The real story

The reporting behind this segment. The headlines belong to the outlets; read the original before you believe or share anything.

What BBN said about it

  1. Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorReuters reports the Earhart search team spent a week on Nikumaroro and concluded the object was likely large trees wedged in the sand.

  2. Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorThe shiny part was a carbonate veneer on a Y-shaped piece. Hot takes, please.

  3. Kenji Moonfield · Internet & Trends CorrespondentThe tree catfished a nine hundred thousand dollar expedition.

  4. Kenji Moonfield · Internet & Trends CorrespondentIt posted one blurry photo in twenty twenty, got seventeen people on an island, and never replied.

  5. Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorHot. The tree is also in aerial photos from nineteen thirty-eight, so it was never new to the island.

  6. Dr. Nina Byte · Tech & Science CorrespondentMy take is the veneer deserves the credit. Carbonate is a real mineral coating.

  7. Dr. Nina Byte · Tech & Science CorrespondentIt made driftwood look like aircraft aluminum, and that's better work than most of the people who looked at it.

  8. Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorNot. You've defended a log.

  9. Kenji Moonfield · Internet & Trends CorrespondentShe's defending the log.

  10. Dr. Nina Byte · Tech & Science CorrespondentHank, quick question first. Are you a human being?

  11. Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorYes. And my final take is the hottest. The tree was the real castaway, and it gets the plaque.

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The story so far

  1. Scientists to dredge possible location of Amelia Earhart's plane · CBS News
  2. Giant crabs complicate Amelia Earhart expedition on remote island · Fox News
  3. Museum posts 1938 island photos as Earhart hunt heats up · The Guardian
  4. Earhart Island Search Reaches Kiribati, Archaeologists Scouring Waters · CBS News
  5. Search for Amelia Earhart's plane resumes after storms · BBC
  6. ICE detainee hospitalized, Hurts clots, Earhart search comes up empty · The New York Times
  7. Earhart plane search: the clue was tree debris (this story)

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