TIGHAR at it again

[ZRX61]

Bone is probably from a cuttlefish...

Sorry, cuttlefish is not a fish (or a vertebrate for that matter). It is a relative of the squid, and as such has not bones at all. The silly things one learns in school...

It's not cutlery either, but i remember the beaches in the UK covered with the *bones*. Pet shops sell em for budgie beak grinding or something.


Edit:
Note to santa. need keyboard where the letters are still visible

[JBoyle]

. But after a couple of decades they have about a much credibility as your heroes W/Cheney have on WMD, or anything else. .

Quick, define "Probation"?

[EDowning]

Mudge wrote:

Bill Greenwood wrote:
For Mudge, although I doubt he would give me the same courtesy.

Perhaps 20 years ago a group started a booth at EAA events, etc, something like The Group of Historical Aircraft Research, to locate the real historic missing aircraft. They seemed sincere, if a bit naive, and were more interested in the history rather than having a restored fighter or B-25 to fly. I had some doubts, as they knew little about warbirds, but I gave them a small donation, lot's of others did also. Richard Gillespie, who is ex army and is a pilot, is the head of it, maybe with his wife.
They made a big deal about searching for The White Bird, the plane of French aces Nungeser and Coli, (sp?) and had a lot of evidence that it might have actually crossed the Atlantic and crashed in the woods of Maine, or somewhere. Lot's of tantilizing tidbits, like a farmer that heard an engine fly over, but no plane. As the mob saying goes, They probably sleep with the fishes.

They then got on the Amelia story. When a piece of aluminum skin was found on an island they claimed the rivet holes were a perfect match to her repair, when an aluminum box was found, they claimed it was from her plane. Noted author and warbird vet Jeff Ethel pointed out to me that each PBY had a similar box and PBYs were all over those islands in the war. A womans shoe sole was found, size 9 and they claimed it was probably hers. Jeff told me that Amelia, who was a slim lady, had size 5 shoes at her museum display in Kansas. Tighar, claimed that her feet must have grown from a 5 to a 9 as she got older.

Much of their stuff sounds sort of scientific, and makes good press. But after a couple of decades they have about a much credibility as your heroes W/Cheney have on WMD, or anything else. And they have actually found nothing real. I have never seen a report of their donors or finances. They did get some vacations to the south pacific paid for by others.


Mr. Greenwood,
You're right, but only because you just don't seem to be able to resist throwing in the snide political commentary.
Didn't that kind of crap get you banned once before?

Mudge

Mudge,

Some advice about this kind of drivel, someone once told me not to get in the mud and wrestle with the pigs because the pigs like it and in no time at all the observers can't tell you from the pigs because of the mud.

I think Bill is about as dangerous as an Iraqi WMD. I only wish that, like the other WMDs he was so well hidden that I couldn't find him or didn't exist in the first place.

[ZeamerB17]

Mr. Greenwood,
You're right, but only because you just don't seem to be able to resist throwing in the snide political commentary.
Didn't that kind of crap get you banned once before?

Mudge

[B17news]

the show is on now on Discovery about the Amelia artifacts. I don't know enough about these guys to form an opinion, but the show is pretty interesting.

I'd like to see Discovery get Robert Ballard to go out there and look for the plane in the water somewhere.

[groundpounder]

Mudge wrote:

Bill Greenwood wrote:
For Mudge, although I doubt he would give me the same courtesy.

Perhaps 20 years ago a group started a booth at EAA events, etc, something like The Group of Historical Aircraft Research, to locate the real historic missing aircraft. They seemed sincere, if a bit naive, and were more interested in the history rather than having a restored fighter or B-25 to fly. I had some doubts, as they knew little about warbirds, but I gave them a small donation, lot's of others did also. Richard Gillespie, who is ex army and is a pilot, is the head of it, maybe with his wife.
They made a big deal about searching for The White Bird, the plane of French aces Nungeser and Coli, (sp?) and had a lot of evidence that it might have actually crossed the Atlantic and crashed in the woods of Maine, or somewhere. Lot's of tantilizing tidbits, like a farmer that heard an engine fly over, but no plane. As the mob saying goes, They probably sleep with the fishes.

They then got on the Amelia story. When a piece of aluminum skin was found on an island they claimed the rivet holes were a perfect match to her repair, when an aluminum box was found, they claimed it was from her plane. Noted author and warbird vet Jeff Ethel pointed out to me that each PBY had a similar box and PBYs were all over those islands in the war. A womans shoe sole was found, size 9 and they claimed it was probably hers. Jeff told me that Amelia, who was a slim lady, had size 5 shoes at her museum display in Kansas. Tighar, claimed that her feet must have grown from a 5 to a 9 as she got older.

Much of their stuff sounds sort of scientific, and makes good press. But after a couple of decades they have about a much credibility as your heroes W/Cheney have on WMD, or anything else. And they have actually found nothing real. I have never seen a report of their donors or finances. They did get some vacations to the south pacific paid for by others.


Mr. Greenwood,
You're right, but only because you just don't seem to be able to resist throwing in the snide political commentary.
Didn't that kind of crap get you banned once before?

Mudge

Mudge,

Some advice about this kind of drivel, someone once told me not to get in the mud and wrestle with the pigs because the pigs like it and in no time at all the observers can't tell you from the pigs because of the mud.

I think Bill is about as dangerous as an Iraqi WMD. I only wish that, like the other WMDs he was so well hidden that I couldn't find him or didn't exist in the first place.

Sometimes you guys just start b*tching at each other for what seems the sake of b*tching at eachother. Sometimes i think this forum should be called WaaahBird information exchange. But for the most part its pretty good when everyone just sticks to the topic of the thread.
Just sayin.......

[Cubs]

I think Ballard did look for the Electra. Anyway, someone did perform an underwater sonar search northwest of Howland Island for many, many squares miles.

Anyway, my opinion is that if someone studies the facts about the Earhart disappearance and Gardner Island (Nikumaroro) they will find that it is a fairly ridiculous assumption that Earhart was on that island. The hypothesis is just too thin. But, if you don't believe me, then......
On the TIGHAR web site they explain what $50,000 dollars of your money will allow you to do on said tropical island for a couple of weeks.

[warbird1]

On the TIGHAR web site they explain what $50,000 dollars of your money will allow you to do on said tropical island for a couple of weeks.

Yea, an all expenses paid vacation to a tropical island for Gillespie and all his best friends. Who knew spending someone else's money could be so much fun!

[JBoyle]

Someone referred to Tighar looking for Nungesser and Coli...less well known are novelist Clive Cussler's attempts.
In 1984, a local expert on the theory that the pair crashed in the Maine woods, had a falling out with TIGHAR (who were also there) want started working with Cussler's real-liffe National Underwater and Marine Agency (funded by his books about a fictional agency with the same name) .
They figured the olny part of the plane that would be left would the the engine, so with side scan sonar, they checked the likely lakes.
Though ruimors abound, no one has ever found the plane's engine, large fuel tanks and prop that would have survived a carsh, fire and resulting 80 years in the woods.
After searches in 1984, 97 and 98 they still haven't found anything.

A brief account of his search can be found in his book, "the Sea Hunters II" (along with his earcgh for the USS Akron and Pt 109).

[WallyB]

What became of the expedition backed by the French Government in 2009 to 'find' The White Bird ?

There was a burst of publicity about them looking around St. Pierre and Miquelon (French islands), but other than a couple of the original announcement sites I can't find any results or conclusions via google. Probably means there weren't any and they just slunk back to France having umm... spent copious amounts of taxpayers' money.

[Iclo]

WallyB: As I remember, it was not an official search but research done by a private french association.
They only have during a few days in June 2010, the support of a French navy's ship for sonar search. But nothing was found.

The last info available, said that this association found in the US "National Archives" a message from a Coast Guard, reporting the discoveries of a set of white wings, in the area few weeks after the flight of Nungesser and Coli.

[Mudge]

WallyB: As I remember, it was not an official search but research done by a private french association.
They only have during a few days in June 2010, the support of a French navy's ship for sonar search. But nothing was found.

The last info available, said that this association found in the US "National Archives" a message from a Coast Guard, reporting the discoveries of a set of white wings, in the area few weeks after the flight of Nungesser and Coli.

No need to apologize for your "bad English". I can almost guarantee that you speak far better English than 99% of us speak Dutch, French, Flemish or German. (Pick your native language.)

Mrs. Mudge and I were in Belgium in July. We did the Battle of the Bulge tour, out of Bastogne, with a marvelous guide named Henri Mignon. We fell in love with your beautiful country.

[The Inspector]

"Lyhons and Tighars, and Beayrs, OH MY"

[tom d. friedman]

i saw discovery channel's airing last night. gillespie looked like geraldo rivera when they opened al capone's empty safe on national tv. insert foot.....

[Craig59]

i saw discovery channel's airing last night. gillespie looked like geraldo rivera when they opened al capone's empty safe on national tv. insert foot.....

Saw it as well. Loved it when the match to the DNA on the button they found belonged to....

DRUMROLL PLEASE...

Gillespie.

What a laughfest!