MFowler
December 9, 2024 at 4:57 pm

TIGHAR's last hurrah?

With great (self-generated) fanfare, Ric Gillespie has trumpeted the publication of what he self-labels as the definitive solution to the Amelia Earhart mystery. You have to wonder if this latest book is the last gasp at relevancy for this group; although Gillespie is touting what he calls fantastic sales; looking at the Amazon metrics tells a very different and less spectacular story.

Gillespie has now moved on to other adventures, but one lingering question that will probably never fully be resolved is: What about all the money? What was it spent on, where did it go, how was it used? Unfortunately the Internal Revenue Service 990 forms that TIGHAR is required to file are so broad brushed that it is difficult to get all but a high-level view to answer those questions. Looking at the forms for 2000-2021, we find that:

TIGHAR had revenues of $9.65 million;
TIGHAR spent at least $9.33 million;
Project costs accounted for at least $7.32 million, or 78 percent of revenues.
Salaries accounted for at least $2.63 million, or 28 percent of revenues;
Occupancy, TIGHAR paying rent to Gillespie for its office in his private home, was at least $491,843, or about 5 percent of revenues.

These percentages and dollar amounts don’t add up to 100 due to the sheer impossibility of corralling expenses into a single category; it’d take a forensic accountant months to sort things out into any kind of comprehensive order.

I did the best I could, but … looking at the basic expenses over revenues, it’s apparent that there is at least $318,000 “extra” in revenue.

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By: dhfan - 22nd December 2024 at 21:58

Mark Pilkington described them perfectly a few years ago:

The International Group for Not One Historic Aircraft Recovery

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By: JohnH - 22nd December 2024 at 18:44

Thanks for keeping up the heat on this scammer. We in the preservation scene here in the US have known he is a joke for decades. Tighar have never actually recovered a single airplane as far as I know .

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By: MFowler - 21st December 2024 at 16:54

Well, Sabrejet, I freely admit to being one of those taken in by Gillespie’s showmanship. He’s very, very good at spinning an extremely small and insignificant amount of stuff (of whatever nature) into a convincing-looking pile of … other stuff. It took me a long time to figure that out, but once you start applying critical thinking and normal scientific rigor to Gillespie’s many “facts,” well, they collapse like a proverbial house of cards.

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By: Sabrejet - 21st December 2024 at 16:17

I think TIGHAR’s total lack of any output during its existence should make anyone wary of their abilities or motives. It’s a shame that people have been taken in by their promises over the years.

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By: MFowler - 21st December 2024 at 13:48

Hey, I’m the first one to admit that TIGHAR is kind of my one-trick pony in here. The main reasons are that Key Aero is in the UK, and hence beyond the easy reach of US-based lawyers and their love of cease-and-desist letters, and that the public deserves to be fully aware of TIGHAR’s practices.

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By: J Boyle - 21st December 2024 at 03:51

Pity about the “electra” not panning out.

I would really like to see the group’s “theory” thoroughly and publicly repudiated before the group closes.

Not that the leadership would be embarrassed, I fear they’re far beyond having any shame.

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By: adrian_gray - 18th December 2024 at 11:47

Bugger! Thanks for letting me know, though, John.

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By: JohnH - 18th December 2024 at 03:51

” I intend to get the popcorn handy for when the chaps who found the Electra- shaped seabed anomaly go back with cameras. Obviously I’d love to see it found, but seeing TIGHAR’s reaction if it is should be priceless.”

I wish this had a better ending , you missed the story a month ago. They did go back . It was a rock. I would have loved it if it really was the Electra.

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/researchers-thought-they-foun…

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By: adrian_gray - 15th December 2024 at 13:11

I intend to get the popcorn handy for when the chaps who found the Electra- shaped seabed anomaly go back with cameras. Obviously I’d love to see it found, but seeing TIGHAR’s reaction if it is should be priceless.

Anyone fancy predicting what they (he?) will do?

I do worry, though, what MFowler (sorry, forgotten your first name, if I ever knew it) will do to keep himself entertained

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By: Newforest - 15th December 2024 at 08:53

Good questions and homework! I misread the title as LAST LAUGH. This would be if real, genuine tangible evidence would appear at last.

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By: Sabrejet - 9th December 2024 at 19:42

It constantly surprises me that this individual has escaped prosecution. Maybe one day?