Looking at TIGHAR’s 2016 tax form, another thing really struck me – all of a sudden, for the first time ever, Gillespie is really, really serious about trying to explain and justify himself.

Looking at the forms since 2000 reveals a striking tread. Section III of the Internal Revenue Service form requires non-profits to give a thumbnail description of what they do and then summarize their major activities and how much they spend on them as a way to justify their tax-exempt status. Look at how TIGHAR’s have evolved:

2000

“What is the organization’s primary exempt purpose?” BLANK“Describe exempt purpose achievements in a clear and concise manner.” a) Projects – Research & expenditions (sic) for aircraft remains Earhardt (sic) 8 WORDS Midnight Ghost b) Courses and gatherings in aviation archeology (sic) & research 2005 “What is the organization’s primary exempt purpose?” Promoting responsible avaiation (sic) archeology (sic) and historic preservation. 7 WORDS “Describe exempt purpose achievements in a clear and concise manner.” a) Projects – Research & expenditions (sic) for aircraft remains Earhardt (sic) 8 WORDS Midnight Ghost b) Courses and gatherings in aviation archeology (sic) & research 2010 “Briefly describe the organization’s mission.” To promote responsible aviation archaeology and historic preservation. 8 WORDS “Describe exempt purpose achievements for each of the organization’s three largest program services by expenses.” a) The Earhart Project – Ongoing investigation into the disappearance of Amelia Earhart in 1937, including field work, analysis, research and writing, with the ultimate objective of recovery of the aircraft for an unrelated museum. 34 WORDS b) To Save A Devastator – 21 WORDS c) Maid of Harlech – 18 WORDS 2015 “Briefly describe the organization’s mission.” To promote responsible aviation archaeology and historic preservation. 8 WORDS “Describe exempt purpose achievements for each of the organization’s three largest program services by expenses.” a) The Earhart Project – Ongoing investigation into the disappearance of Amelia Earhart in 1937, including field work, analysis, research and writing, with the ultimate objective of recovery of the aircraft for an unrelated museum. 34 WORDS b) To Save A Devastator – 21 WORDS 2016 “Briefly describe the organization’s mission.” To educate the general public, and especially young people, in how to use the scientific method of inquiry to solve problems. 21 WORDS “Describe the organization’s program service accomplishments for each of its three largest program services, as measured by expenses.” a) The Earhart Project – Ongoing investigation (since 1988) into the 1937 disappearance of pilot Amelia Earhart and navigator Frederick Noonan. The investigation includes archaeological search and recovery expeditions, archival research and data analysis. To date, the project has been successful in establishing, to a greater than 99% degree of certainty, that the missing fliers died on the uninhabited Pacific island of Nikumaroro. Educational outreach includes publication of books, the publication of scientific papers and articles in the organization’s journal TIGHAR Tracks, postings and video presentations on social media describing the research results and methodology. Open-source historical research via 98 WORDS b) Glenn Miller Investigation – 93 WORDS c) Project Midnight Ghost – 96 WORDS ————————————————————————————————-

We’ve gone from an eight-word mission statement in 2005 to a 21-word statement for 2016, an almost three-fold increase. The Earhart Project description has ballooned from eight words in 2000 to NINETY-EIGHT in 2016, a more than 12-fold increase. Wow. The project descriptions have similarly expanded exponentially. Not to mention Project Midnight Ghost disappearing from the 990s in 2008, before suddenly reappearing in 2016. An odd inconsistency.

But the main thing, to me, is the tone of the descriptions – suddenly it is all about “education” and “outreach,” primarily with “young people.” There is no talk of aviation, aircraft recovery or putting things in museums. It is all education, education, education … which, of course, is a valid tax-exempt purpose. ‘Research’ trips to the South Pacific to grub around in the coral rubble, not so much. Something made Gillespie dramatically change his tune in these official government documents, and in the space of one year, to make TIGHAR all about “education” and “young people”.

After my 25-plus years of dealing with various federal regulatory agencies, I can think of only a few things that would cause such an abrupt, and obvious, change of direction.

Well … it’s been eight months since Gillespie announced his latest project. The last posting in TIGHAR’s forms on the Glenn Miller Project was in May.

Is he going to put the project out of its misery after a year, or is this going to be another lifelong effort?

Malcolm McKay said, “It’s sort of a cloud funding style of scientific research. Find a bunch of amateurs and allow them to contribute opinions then average those results out and bingo – scientific proof.”

Yes, we’re seeing that with the dissection of the “new” version of the radio calls analysis over on the TIGHAR forums. I’m not saying that another set of eyes on a problem or question doesn’t have value – it does – but the way Gillespie runs TIGHAR these days it’s a closed-loop decision cycle. You can only post in the forums if you’re a member, and you can only stay a member if you toe Gillespie’s line. I think the technical term is echo chamber, Malcolm may have a better one.

Regardless, TIGHAR introducing a new term, “Credible Beyond a Reasonable Doubt” for certain alleged radio calls. Talk about piling it on, or is it up? Or is it higher and deeper? Regardless, seems like a pile, to me.

jack windsor said, “…it seems that TIGAR might be thinking of a UK chapter (a virgin donation area)…”

If it is thinking of starting a serious UK effort, Gillespie has done a thorough job of trashing any potential for that with his recent denigration of British official’s efforts during the Earhart disappearance. His unsupported allegations don’t make for pretty reading.

I’m just happy that ANYONE is still making WWII movies.

Yes, they have to take liberties (especially with using any aircraft that are still flyable), but I am inclined to give them the benefit of the doubt with regards to the “technical” side. Where I have an issue is where they start trying to inject current politically-correct attitudes and standards into something that happened almost 80 years ago. That, to me, is the real crime.

TIGHAR’s 2016 IRS 990 tax form has come out, and it makes for interesting reading – a number of new items and expenditures, each of which raises more questions, it seems to me, than it answers. Some highlights:

1) Gillespie’s salary dropped dramatically – down 51 percent from last year’s – to $83,124, the first time it has dropped to five figures since 2003. Thrasher is once again claiming a salary, $8,500, although that had stopped for a while “due to tax reasons.”

2) The total salary for both, $91,624, is the second-lowest percentage of salary compared to total income since 2001. This, although the tax form showed income of $633,006, the highest since 2014. Gillespie has stuck with his reduced hours, 60 per week (he had consistently been claiming 80), and Thrasher is now claiming 30 hours a week on TIGHAR business; at her salary, that works out to not even $5.50 an hour, so the salary claimed makes little sense. It seems to be almost a randomly-chosen number.

3) New this year is a “management fee” of $5,900 that TIGHAR is paying to an unspecified outside entity to do something on its behalf. The only other time a management fee has appeared was in 2015, for $192. I am at a loss as to what TIGHAR has to pay someone else almost $6,000 to do.

4) Also new this year, Gillespie and Thrasher each loaned themselves almost $20,000 from TIGHAR. The “Executive Committee Draw Account” was not approved by the board and there is no written agreement governing its use, according to the 990 form. What Gillespie and Thrasher need an apparently unrestricted $38,195 for isn’’t discussed anywhere. Although it’s not unusual for non-profits to loan officers money, it is unusual when it’s for something as open-ended as a “draw account,” especially if the board didn’’t approve it. Although it should be noted that Gillespie and Thrasher are TIGHAR’s executive committee – – he is Executive Director and Secretary and she is President and Treasurer, and they technically didn’’t have to get anyone’’s approval, at the very least it looks questionable as to why they felt the need to do this.

5) The rent that Gillespie and Thrasher charge TIGHAR to use part of their home for an office was the highest it has ever been, $43,329. They have been paid more than $276,000 for rent since 2001.

I have to wonder if some of these changes have to do with outside parties asking hard questions about how TIGHAR does business; for example, suddenly dropping claimed hours of work by 25 percent. But then they turn around and loan themselves almost $40,000 from the organization they themselves are the sole officers of. Something’’s not computing.