DURING the 5th Marianas History Conference held recently via Zoom, local author Marie P. Castro recounted the stories of local residents who said they saw Amelia Earhart on Saipan in 1937 — the year she and her navigator Fred Noonan disappeared over the Pacific while attempting to fly around the world.
Local author Marie Castro, left, and Frances Sablan, vice president of the Amelia Earhart Memorial Monument Inc., participate via Zoom in the 5th Marianas History Conference on Friday at the office of the Marianas Alliance of Non-Governmental Organization or MANGO in Gualo Rai.
Photo by Bryan Manabat
Castro said the eyewitnesses — Matilde Arriola San Nicolas, Ana Villagomez Benavente and Maria Cruz — were considered creditable people of high integrity in the community.
“They had nothing to gain from their testimonies,” she added.
“A sighting of Amelia Earhart would have stuck out and made an indelible and unforgettable impression upon the locals,” Castro said.
It was speculated that Amelia Earhart was tasked by the U.S. military to map Japanese activities and movement in the Japanese-administered islands in the Pacific, which included the Northern Marianas, Castro said.
“Saipan was the Japanese military headquarters for Micronesia. Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan would have been brought to Saipan for interrogation and confinement.”
Since their disappearance, “every methodology and technology possible was utilized in the search of Amelia Earhart and her navigator,” Castro said.
“After 80 years of searching, the best evidence remains to be the eyewitness testimonies of locals on Saipan.”
In her presentation, Castro also advocated for an Amelia Earhart Memorial Monument on Saipan, which is the goal of a non-profit group, Amelia Earhart Memorial Monument Inc.
“Why not create a monument on Saipan to commemorate Amelia Earhart?” Castro said. “Amelia Earhart was a forerunner for women aviatrix. She paved the way for other women to enter the field of aviation…. She was the first woman to fly over the Atlantic and the Pacific…and there are creditable eyewitness accounts of her being on Saipan.”
She said the Marshall Islands has stamps commemorating the sighting of Amelia Earhart there.
“People throughout the world have…been waiting for decades for a recognizable reason to visit the island where she was last seen,” Castro added, referring to Saipan. “The monument will act much like a magnet in attracting people to the CNMI, especially history buffs and people in the field of aviation.”
The 5th Marianas History Conference – One Archipelago, Many Stories: Navigating 500 Years of Cross-Cultural Contact was streamed online from Feb. 19 to 28.
It was co-organized by the Northern Marianas Humanities Council, the University of Guam, Humanities Guåhan, Guampedia, Guam Preservation Trust, and Northern Marianas College.
