In July 1937, 15-year-old Betty Klenck said she heard a woman on shortwave radio identify herself as Amelia Earhart. Klenck wrote fragments in a notebook as the signal faded in and out over several hours. The notebook preserves her account, but it does not establish who was speaking or prove that Earhart survived.
What Betty Klenck said she heard
TIGHAR’s archive of Betty Klenck’s notebook places the episode in St. Petersburg, Florida, on an unspecified afternoon in July 1937. Klenck was at her family’s radio console at about 3 p.m., listening to shortwave and moving across the dial. Her father had erected a long-wire antenna that the archive estimates at perhaps 60 feet.
According to the archive’s account, Klenck heard a distressed woman say, “This is Amelia Earhart. This is Amelia Earhart.” Klenck began writing after she heard the name, but she could not capture everything. The signal was distorted and came and went, with pauses lasting minutes.
What the notebook records—and what it does not
The surviving notebook is the central artifact behind the story. TIGHAR describes it as an alleged contemporaneous transcription, with notes and drawings from the period. Among the fragments reproduced in the archive are “Help me,” “waters high,” and “SOS.” One entry reads “This is Amelia Putman”; Klenck later commented that she may also have heard “Earhart” after “Putman.”
Do these 3 things before closing this tab:
1Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches2Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors3Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute#1 Best Overall
Those fragments are not a complete, continuous transcript. The distinction matters: some wording is preserved in the notebook, while other details come from Klenck’s later recollection or clarification. There is no audio recording in the account that would let listeners independently identify the voice.
How long did the reported reception last?
TIGHAR says the transmissions came intermittently until 6:15 p.m.—roughly three hours after the episode began around 3 p.m. The archive also says Klenck’s father came home at 5:15 p.m. and listened. He reportedly later contacted the local Coast Guard station and was told government ships were in the area and the situation was under control. That Coast Guard exchange is reported in TIGHAR’s account; the cited page does not provide an independently verified Coast Guard record.
Why the account does not confirm Earhart’s identity
The notebook supports the claim that Klenck recorded fragments she associated with a distressed woman and Amelia Earhart. It cannot, by itself, establish that the voice was Earhart, that the transmission came from Earhart’s aircraft, or that the account’s details identify a specific event. The exact date of the radio entry is unknown, and the archive notes that the notebook also contains references to songs and movies that could help assess chronology.
TIGHAR’s position is explicit: “TIGHAR has made no judgment at this time about the possible authenticity of the transmissions.” An archived 2000 TIGHAR discussion shows the group considering three possibilities: Klenck made up the story, someone else staged a hoax that she believed, or a genuine transmission occurred. Researcher Ric Gillespie argued that basic verification should come before judging credibility. That discussion records an early, provisional approach, not a final finding.
How this fits the wider post-loss radio record
Reports of radio signals after Earhart and Fred Noonan disappeared have not all been treated alike. TIGHAR’s post-loss radio signal catalog assigns different credibility labels to individual cases and gives supporting notes and limitations. Those evaluations concern particular reports; they neither authenticate Klenck’s account nor prove that every reported signal came from Earhart.
The most careful description, then, is that Klenck’s notebook preserves a teenager’s account of hearing a woman claim to be Amelia Earhart. It is an intriguing historical record, not proof that the speaker was Earhart or that the transmission was genuine.
Quick Recap
Rank #4
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
