Alex Mandel

“ Trying to explain Amelia’s alleged uncharacteristic actions relative to her loved ones, proponents of the survival theory have advanced the idea that her family in fact did know about her repatriation but were sworn to secrecy about it. Such an explanation, fabricated without any evidence to support it, certainly seems improbable. Every member of Amelia’s family was an object of media interest, and had many friends and extensive social contacts. All of them would have to have been the very best actors in the world to be able to keep such a secret for decades. ”

“ It is especially unfortunate that this theory is used by some as a basis upon which to attribute to her a variety of dishonorable and irresponsible actions that are without any historical precedent in Earhart’s life prior to her disappearance.
The longtime efforts expended by enthusiasts of the survival-and- repatriation theory may be commendable, but it certainly seems that any claims to its legitimacy are more a reflection of their natural desire for a final and spectacular solution to the Earhart mystery than their conscientious devotion to unbiased research and verifiable facts. ”

“ More puzzling is why the U.S. government would use the name and identity of a real person, known by many people and living an active, normal life, in a plot to transform this individual into another, much better-known and discrete individual – the world-famous Amelia Earhart – without having this scheme immediately recognized and exposed by many. The “evidence” that Monsignor James F. Kelley allegedly assisted Earhart in her repatriation does not merit serious consideration. Analysis of Kelley’s other, similarly outlandish claims has proven them to be patently false. ”

“ The material presented by proponents attempting to support the theory does not begin to do so in any objective, convincing manner.
The amateurish “forensic research” conducted by Tod Swindell, with photographic overlays and “morphing” programs, was entirely unconvincing to professional forensic experts hired by Swindell and Rollin Reineck in an attempt to gain legitimate confirmation of their claims by the scientific community. These forensic experts refused to validate the Earhart-as-Bolam “same identity” hypothesis in any way. ”

“ As informed readers probably remember, the theory was born in August 1965, when Major Joe Gervais claimed that he “recognized” Amelia Earhart in New Jersey housewife Irene Bolam during his very first meeting with her at the Sea Spray Inn, in Long Island, N.Y. But can Gervais’ claim of “instantly recognizing” Amelia Earhart in the person of someone named Irene Bolam be accepted as credible?
Generally, it seems obvious that it is possible to “recognize” – more or less immediately – a person whom one has known well. ”

“ Even the father of the Earhart-as-Bolam theory, Joe Gervais, admitted this idea – that the Japanese would use Earhart anonymously as one of their “Tokyo Roses” – was completely without merit. “The whole propaganda value would have been in who she was,” Gervais said. “There would be no point at all in Amelia Earhart broadcasting Japanese propaganda under the name of ‘Tokyo Rose.’”
The Bolam theorists claim the mysterious woman, Irene Craigmile Bolam, lived a life in the postwar decades that could be considered “semi-public.” ”

“ The legal depositions of Irene Bolam circa 1973, discovered in Joe Gervais' papers, reveals Irene Bolam discussing dozens of details of her past life (under oath) going back as far as her first husband (late 1920s) right through her many different residences and occupations on Long Island, NY. It would have been impossible for an outsider (Amelia Earhart) to have memorized the minutia of details as disclosed by Mrs. Bolam, including revealing personal husband-to-wife relationships that could be known only to a true Irene Bolam. ”

“ The bigger question, never addressed by Klaas, Gervais, Reineck or (Tod) Swindell, is WHY Amelia Earhart – who is so determined to live out her days incognito – would continue to associate with her old aviation pals AND wear one-of-a kind decorations which could ONLY have been worn by Earhart. Seems a pretty sloppy way of safeguarding IB’s “secret identity,” which the government has spent millions to establish.
Another curious thing about the Sea Spray Inn photo is how Guy Bolam towers over Irene, even though he was standing behind her. ”

“ Speculation circulating during the postwar years led some researchers to lend some credence to this idea. Was it really so? How credible were these stories and speculations?
The goal of this paper is to explore and analyze this intriguing theory, and to propose some conclusions based on facts, logic and common sense. The “Japanese capture” theory is a popular one in the Amelia Earhart Society (AES) – the small, disparate collection of dedicated enthusiasts who have worked for several decades studying this and other proposed solutions to this historical problem. ”

“ Alternatively, if Roosevelt’s military and intelligence organizations had not been aware of Earhart’s captivity in Japanese hands until 1945, he would most certainly bear the brand of total incompetence for time immemorial. Since one of these two scenarios likely did exist after Earhart’s disappearance and continue to this day officially unremarked upon, this argument – although not original to the Irene Bolam allegations – advanced by the theory’s proponents to justify the U.S. government’s clandestine operation to repatriate Earhart under an assumed identity, is quite reasonable in itself. ”

“ Long Island telephone books in 1942 and 1943 list her as living at Wantagh, at another address in the same community from 1944 to 1950, and in Lynbrook and later Great Neck until she married Guy Bolam. This material can justifiably prompt some definite conclusions: Irene Bolam was an honest, upright individual. She was not a mysterious woman, and she was not Amelia Earhart. She was a normal, real person, whose life contained no real “connections” to Amelia Earhart. ”

“ If the time passed since the last meeting with an individual was significant (let’s say, 10 to 15 years or more) , the chances to “recognize” that person become less, but still exist. Even if the person’s appearance has changed, such things as mannerisms and other characteristic behavior and habits, gestures and voice, usually remain fairly constant. Major Gervais was a dedicated and enthusiastic Earhart researcher, and the claim has recently been made that he met Earhart when he was a teenager in the 1930s, and obviously he saw many photos and newsreels. ”

“ In addition, according to the National Institutes of Health, after age 70 people don’t put on body fat; they lose it. Earhart would have been 68 when this photo was taken in 1965.
Accordingly, if the woman in this photo is Amelia Earhart, then she has clearly put on 30 to 40 pounds since her flying days – contrary to her lean-and-lanky body type and, evidently, her heredity. She has grown breasts and is married to a guy well over six feet tall. ”

“ The book was a sensation, but it didn’t please its heroine, Irene Craigmile Bolam. A private person who valued her autonomy, she was irritated by this intrusion into her life and outraged by the media’s avid curiosity and numerous speculations about her. ”

“ This revelation alone is a dead proof against the theory, as Irene Bolam is seen to be well known and “traced” by two people back to her early school days. How and when could Amelia Earhart have come into the scene and “become” Irene Bolam? All of the above leads to the conclusion that Kelley’s statement about his participation in the “repatriation of Amelia Earhart” must be rejected by serious researchers. ”

“ This scenario suggests that Earhart, a well-known American patriot, would willingly betray her country in an extremely vicious way. It would have been unthinkable for the Japanese to permit a captured person, especially a world-famous one, to have any contact with the outside world. This would have been especially true for Earhart, whose presence in Japan could only have been a highly guarded secret known by a very few people in the Japanese government and military establishment. ”

“ As were many educated young ladies of the period, Irene was fascinated by aviation. She took up flying in 1932 at Floyd Bennett Field, then Roosevelt Field, Long Island, and received a pilot’s license on May 27, 1933. Irene then married her flight instructor, Alvin Victor Heller. According to available evidence, in June 1933 she stopped flying – perhaps because she was pregnant, and in March 1934 she gave birth to a son, Clarence Heller, in Newark. ”

“ However, it remains a reasonable question to ask how Gervais could so quickly recognize Earhart in Irene Bolam under such conditions.
What logic tells us
It is worth mentioning that no hard evidence exists to support an Earhart survival theory. Specifically, no evidence has been found that supports the idea that Earhart ever left Saipan – either documented or anecdotal – although much eyewitness and hearsay evidence indicates her presence there after her disappearance in July 1937. ”

“ Moreover, in her interview with Reineck, Hession mentioned that Irene Bolam had a close friend, Mary, who was an old friend of Bolam’s, knew her as Irene O’Crowley and was her classmate at Mount St. Dominic’s Academy, where she was sent by her grandparents. ”