By Tim Binnall
A scientific analysis of suspected debris from Amelia Earhart's plane has uncovered curious codes that had previously been invisible to the naked eye. The intriguing discovery was reportedly made by researchers at the Penn State Radiation Science and Engineering Center, who offered to examine the mysterious aluminum panel last year after lab member Daniel Beck saw a TV special on the disappearance of the famed aviator. What piqued his interest was the possibility that their technology could be used to find previously unseen details in the piece, which was discovered back in 1991 on the island of Nikumaroro, where many believe the lost pilot ultimately landed.
He explained that "we were fairly confident we'd be able to see the remnants of marks worn away or paint particles" on the debris by way of the Penn State Breazeale Reactor, which is a device that uses neutron radiography to detect tiny details in or on an object that are otherwise impossible to discern. Beck's suspicions proved to be correct as the lab announced their findings this week and indicated that they had discovered some particularly fantastic aspects of the aluminum piece in the form of snippets of text. Described by lab director Kenan Ünlü as "stamped or painted marks," the writing reads XRO, 3D, D24 and 335 or 385.
As for what the text might signify, Ünlü theorized that it "could be from the original manufacturer" and marveled that the writing is "the first new information from this panel that has been examined by various experts with different scientific techniques for over 30 years." Now armed with these new codes, Earhart researchers hope that they can be used to somehow determine the origins of the piece and, if possible, prove that it had been come from Earhart's plane. Should that be the case, it would certainly strengthen the popular theory that the aviator went down somewhere around Nikumaroro, though how and why that happened as well as the pioneering pilot's ultimate fate will likely always remain a mystery.