For those of us that enjoy getting the gears in our heads spinning just a bit faster, there’s nothing quite like a good mystery. Sometimes though, the lore associated with a really juicy and longstanding mystery can overwhelm the evidence. This results in the popular belief that these quandaries remain outstanding long after reasonable minds would have called the case closed. Of course, the media plays a pretty significant role in the drive to keep these mysteries alive — in part by publishing, on a regular basis, articles that ignore reasonable conclusions, and then exacerbating the issue by running stories touting poorly vetted possible conclusions as though they’re confirmed facts.

So, with so much contradictory information floating around regarding many of these popular mysteries, it seemed like a good idea to revisit a few and discuss some of the recent revelations that have shed new light on them. Because as much fun as it is to read about a mystery, I’d always prefer reading about a conclusion.

Amelia Earhart probably made it to Nikumaroro Island before dying

(WikiMedia Commons)

In 1940, bones were found on Nikumaroro Island in the South Pacific which, based on Earhart’s last known location and trajectory, seemed like they could have been hers. Alongside the bones, people found a woman’s shoe, a box made to hold a Brandis Navy Surveying Sextant (for use in navigation) from around 1918, and a bottle of Benedictine -Earhart’s preferred herbal liquor. Analysis of the bones at the time, however, seemed to dash those hopes. A physician named D.W. Hoodless studied the bones and claimed with high certainty that they belonged to a man and not to the famed female aviator.