Amelia Earhart's family says this is closest step to solving the mystery
Bram Kleppner, Earhart's great-nephew, told Fox News Digital that he's excited about Deep Sea Vision's potential discovery, but doesn't want the country to forget Earhart as a force in women's rights.
Amelia Earhart's family heard it all for decades: The rumors, the conspiracies and the "breakthrough" that will solve one of America's most gripping mysteries.
But Tony Romeo's underwater sonar images of what he's "certain" is Earhart's missing Electra plane is "the most promising lead that anyone has found in almost 87 years of searching," the iconic pilot's great nephew, Bram Kleppner, said.
"There have been many, many searches, and really, not a single shred of evidence has ever turned up," he told Fox News Digital. "I would say we have learned not to expect anything from these searches.
"But I was chatting with my brother this morning, and he says the same thing, that we feel like this is more likely than anything that's come up… The image they got does look like a plane, and it is in about the right place where Amelia would've crashed."
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Sonar image side by side with Earhart’s Electra at scale. (Tony Romeo/CEO Deep Sea Vision)
Earhart's plane vanished on July 2, 1937, near uninhabited Howland Island, just north of the equator in the central Pacific Ocean.
The only person left in Earhart's family who knew and remembered the glass-ceiling-breaking pilot is Kleppner's mom, who is now 92. Earhart's plane disappeared just shy of his mom's sixth birthday.
Romeo tracked down Kleppner's mom to let her family know that he and his team were about to embark on a 90-day expedition, and his mom forwarded the call to Kleppner.
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"I really appreciate the fact that he actually made the courtesy to our family to track down my mother, which is not easy to do, and reached out to her, but she doesn't really talk to the public anymore," said Kleppner, who became the de facto family spokesperson.
He chatted with Romeo before Deep Sea Vision embarked on their three-month expedition, which appeared to be a dud for 89 days, Romeo told Fox News Digital in a previous interview.
On day 90, sonar images from 16,000 feet underwater – nearly 4,000 feet deeper than the Titanic's wreckage – captured what appeared to be a plane within a 100-mile radius of Howland Island.
Bram Kleppner, Amelia Earhart's great nephew, said the recent, underwater sonar images are "the most promising lead that anyone has found in almost 87 years of searching." (Chris Eberhart/Fox News Digital via Zoom)
Amelia Earhart after the first Hawaii-to-California flight, Jan. 12, 1935. She was the first pilot to succeed at flying the route. (©Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images)
Romeo texted Kleppner from the boat about the potential miraculous finding and kept it under wraps until they investigated further and took the findings to experts, like the Scripps Institute and the Smithsonian, which backed Romeo's strong belief that he found Earhart's plane.
After the news broke, Kleppner said he and Romeo exchanged a few texts, and now his family is "excited" to see what's next.
Kleppner put Deep Sea Vision's discovery in perspective. Even with modern technology, no one found a trace of the plane for nearly 87 years.
The family's theory, which is widely accepted by many experts, as well as Romeo, is that Earhart ran out of fuel and crashed off Howland Island.
"They had to cross 2,500 miles of ocean. They'd been flying for a lot of hours. It's a tiny island, and a miss in navigation by less than two degrees in either direction puts you more than 100 miles off land," Kleppner said.
"That's a pretty big area (around Howland Island), and you're searching at the bottom of very deep water looking for a pretty small plane… All these people searched all these places, and no one has ever found a thing."
Amelia Earhart's missing plane may have been found off the small, uninhabited Howland Island in the Pacific Ocean near the equator. (Google Earth)
Howland Island, where it's believed Amelia Earhart was trying to land before crashing in the water. (Google Earth)
Until now. Deep Sea Vision's sonar image is blurry, but it appears to be the shape of a plane, and the Air Force veteran used a prop plane to show distinguishing features of Earhart's plane that appear to be present in their findings.
He also explained that Earhart likely would have tried to essentially land the plane on the water to escape out of the top hatch.
Sonar image taken of potential Amelia Earhart aircraft. (Tony Romeo/CEO Deep Sea Vision)
"The airplane would have probably fairly quickly nosed over (because of the weight) and then just spiraled all the way down the seafloor," Romeo said.
And the conditions at that depth underwater would likely have preserved the plane.
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Although the images have a rough outline similar to a plane, they're blurry and grainy. Kleppner said it could be anything. "It also kind of looks like an anchor. It kind of looks like a giant squid."
But he alluded to Romeo's previous interview with Fox News Digital when he talked about the flat, sandy ocean floor without a lot of rock outcroppings, and here's this plane-shaped object protruding from it.
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"With all the searches that have gone on over the last 86 years, you know, I think it's fair to say, no one has found a single scrap of real evidence," Kleppner said. "There's lots of circumstantial evidence out there and lots of third party stories."
He praised Romeo and his crew's research. "They had a very specific theory about what direction they likely would've gone and the navigation error they might've made," Kleppner said. "So it feels like this is a more promising lead than anything we've seen to date."
Team members review data from the sonar system once it returns to the surface. A thorough review of all the sea floor imagery can take days to complete. (Tony Romeo/CEO Deep Sea Vision)
Lasting legacy of an instrumental fighter for women's rights
Earhart's legacy and her instrumental role in the women's rights movement is more important to Kleppner, his mom and the rest of their family than the mystery of her disappearance.
He understands the natural fascination and curiosity, but he said his mom has always wanted explorers and companies to put resources, time and effort into solving major world issues, and doesn't want Earhart's contributions to American history to be overshadowed.
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"Our family has always been asked if finding (Earhart's) remains or finding her plane would bring closure to our family. I think the fact that it was a long time ago, and it's not like someone killed her and we don't know who the bad guy is," Kleppner said.
"We know she died doing something that she loved that she knew was dangerous, especially back in those days, when planes disappeared without a trace. That's not all that unusual."
Amelia Earhart at the Oakland Airport, March 12, 1937. The pilot disappeared over the Pacific Ocean just four months later. (MediaNews Group/Oakland Tribune via Getty Images)
Earhart – nicknamed "The Flying Feminist" – tore down barriers for future generations of women, and became one of the most influential women in American history.
Her bravery and world-renowned accomplishments made her one of the most recognizable celebrities in the 1920s and '30s, and she captivated the public's admiration. She knew she was a leader, and she knew she could bring change, Kleppner said.
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"Amelia didn't see herself primarily as an aviator or an adventurer. She primarily thought of herself as an advocate for women's rights," Kleppner said.
"It's a feeling my mom has, and one we all share in, but it's that part of her legacy that is mostly forgotten."
Amelia Earhart disappeared while flying over the Pacific Ocean. (AP)
She was one of five members of the National Woman's Party who lobbied President Herbert Hoover for the equal rights amendment (Lucretia Mott Amendment).
"I know from practical experience of the discriminations which confront women when they enter an occupation where men have priority in opportunity, advancement and protection," Earhart told Hoover, according to the Feminist Majority Foundation.
"In aviation the Department of Commerce recognizes no differences between men and women licensed to fly. I feel that similar equality should be carried into all fields of endeavor, so that men and women may achieve without handicap because of sex."
She wanted to toss out stereotypical gender roles that "shunted" women into cooking and sewing classes.
"I know a great many boys who should be making pies – and a great many girls who would be better off in manual training," she reportedly told the 31st president of the U.S.
Kleppner said Earhart wanted women to have a full education and be allowed to pursue careers they wanted, and he and his family want to continue to keep her legacy alive, as well as her mission.
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"It's a privilege that comes with a responsibility to bring forward the important parts of (Earhart's) work," Kleppner said. "Yes, she had a really interesting life. But I want to rebalance the discussion a little bit.
"The focus should extend beyond that one very last day (when Earhart disappeared), and focus on her life and legacy during all her days before July 2, 1937."
Fox News Digital's Emmett Jones contributed to this report
