I would agree with Mark to the point that the aluminum sheet may not be from a C-47, but I’m not prepared to dismiss it outright simply because the sheet isn’t an exact, to-the-millimeter match with a known C-47 (although that’s the standard Gillespie is insisting on). This is simply due to the huge number of minute variances between the many different manufacturers of C-47s during WWII – something I’ve seen on C-47s I’ve inspected.
TIGHAR has artificially limited the potential sources for the artifact to known Allied aircraft crashes and wrecks in the area of Nikumaroro, specifically at Canton Island, which was a HUGE transshipment, repair and supply depot for that part of the Pacific. Doing that left them with:
- P-39 Airacobra( 1 loss)
- Boeing B-17 Fortress (2 losses)
- PBY Catalina (8 losses)
- B-24 Liberator/Navy PB4Y-1 (3 losses)
- C-87 cargo version of B-24 (1 loss)
- C-47 Skytrain (1 loss) This aircraft crashed on Sydney Island, 230 miles east of Nikumaroro.
- Lockheed 10E Special (1 loss)
- PV-1/Army C-60 Ventura (1 loss)
- l-749A Constellation ( 1 loss)
- PBM Mariner (3 losses)
- B-25/ Navy PBJ Mitchell (2 losses)
- Sikorsky S-42B (1 loss)
None of these aircraft can be positively excluded as the source of the aluminum sheet, Gillespie’s definitive statement and “research report” to the contrary. None of the aircraft TIGHAR examined at the National Museum of the US Air Force were inspected on the upper surfaces or many interior surfaces; not all types that could have been the source were available for inspection, and no systematic notes, measurements or photos were taken during the inspections.
Another issue that TIGHAR hasn’t addressed as a possible source of the aluminum is the large number and types of aircraft that passed through Canton Island that may have needed a wing panel or whatnot repaired. You can add the list:
- P-40 Warhawk
- P-51 Mustang
- P-47 Thunderbolt
- P-38 Lightning
- F4F Wildcat
- F4U Corsair
- F6F Hellcat
- C-46 Commando
- C-56 Lodestar
- PB2Y Coronado
- B-26 Marauder
- TBF/TBM Avenger
- SB2C Helldiver
- PV-2 Harpoon, and I’m sure others. As I said, a lot of aircraft passed through Canton on their way somewhere else.
How many of those aircraft have 0.032-inch aluminum sheet anywhere on them, and rivet holes with the correct diameter and spacing? I don’t know – but neither does TIGHAR. Until Gillespie positively eliminates all these potential US WWII aircraft as the source of his artifact, all he has is a piece of aluminum that could have come from anywhere.
There’s also the matter of TIGHAR’s metallurgical analysis …
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