Interesting that in her first letter in the archive, she basically says she knew it was Amelia, but everything seemed fine and she turned the radio down ; she even apologizes for not listening attentively! By the 1962 article, she reports all kinds of details from that signal, and hearing Noonan later on, besides.
Certainly one has to consider all aspects of a witness statement, weighing the amount of time which has passed between the event and their stated recollection of it. The witness might later recall other details of what was heard (or seen). However, when years have passed, memories might tend to fade or become confused with other events. For this reason, the earlier the statement, the more accurate and vivid the memory.
Nina wrote many letters about her experience. Although there are a few minor differences from one letter to another, she seems to be pretty consistent in her basic story.
It should be noted that when Nina was hearing the transmission she believed was from Amelia, news of her disappearance may not yet have reached her. Like watching the news on television today, we are often distracted from a report by every day events in our homes like phone calls, other people talking, etc. In this sense, her statement actually seems more authentic. She later regretted not having taken more attentive notes at the start.
One has to ask - What would she gain by trying to perpetrate a hoax? Did she really hear a broadcast by Amelia Earhart, or was she being fooled by someone else as a hoax? If that were the case, why didn't others also hear it?
Nina Paxton stuck to her transcription of the broadcast which includes Amelia Earhart's OLD CALLSIGN that she had for an earlier plane (Her Lockheed Vega) KHABQ - even though the newspaper "corrected" Nina's transcription in their printed story to make it Amelia's current plane (Lockheed Electra) callsign of KHAQQ.
It is reasonable that Amelia, due to lack of sleep and the stress of a forced landing misspoke and used her old call sign and Nina dutifully wrote down what she heard. Doubtful that Nina would even have known that KHABQ was her old callsign.
There were others who claimed to have heard post crash radio signals from Amelia Earhart. Some were indeed hoaxers, but others seem possible and credible. These stories of Amelia being heard on radios after she went missing were reported as soon as news of her disappearance hit the papers.
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