I speculate Amelia successfully landed her plane of the lagoon surface. The water there about 35 feet deep. Heavy engines and nose down first touches bottom and the tail settles down to give a "hanger floor" type appearance from above. Amelia doesn't get much credit as a pilot from some but she was a adequate pilot and fully capable of a Sully _Hudson River style water landing.
The Terraserver site doesn't allow the altitude to get below (1000' ? just a guess) before the screen goes blank. Slacktide or anyone know how to get down further for examination. I agree_ I can't see anything like the GE2006 image using the Terraserver site link slacktide provided. I wouldn't expect every image to show the airframe. Using the 2016 GE image as an example of why it won't appear in most images: the image is very dark in the area of the airframe- not brilliant sunshine? The relation of the clouds and the shadows they cast indicates a low sun angle making it impossible for the reflection to be aimed at the satellite camera above. Satisfying the requirement for intense sunshine, calm surface conditions, and just perfect angle relation of sun and satellite to project the reflection into the camera lens will be rare. Slacktide:how did you get down to low elevation to examine the images at the Terrserver site?
If you can’t get anybody interested enough to spend several hundred thousand dollars for a high-level exploration based on a globular photo of coral heads, but you believe it’s solid, why don’t you and a buddy go to the Republic of Kiribati and take a look on a tourist-like budget? Then, if you see something more believable, use your photos of said evidence and your eye-witness testimony to get others interested.
Or hire a couple of kids to do it if you're not physically capable.
Step 1 - Fly to Kiribati’s main island, Tarawa, via Fiji, on Fiji Airlines
http://kiribatitourism.gov.ki/practicalinformation/gettinghere
Distance: about 6,800 miles
Cost - $1,300, round trip from LAX to Fiji to Tarawa (and back)
Step 2 - Book yourself as a passenger on Kiribati Shipping Services to get from Tarawa to Kanton Island (aka Canton Island)
http://kiribatitourism.gov.ki/practicalinformation/gettingaround/between-the-islands
Distance: about 1,000 miles
Cost – don’t know. Go ask
Step 3 - Find a boat owner on Kanton Island and charter it to take you to Orona (aka Hull Island)
Distance: about 100 miles
Cost – don’t know. Go ask.
Step 4 - Bring your handheld GPS and go snorkeling and see what you see.
Adventure of a lifetime.