P-MAN VIII (2006)               

The P-MAN VIII expedition is finished!

Dates for P-MAN VIII were 15 February through 15 March 2006.

Reports

Click here to read regular PROGRESS REPORTS that were posted during this year's expedition.

Click here to read the FINAL REPORT for this year's expedition.

The year leading up to P-MAN VIII

We brought back a ton of information and new questions that we accumulated on the 2005 expedition - which left our list longer than it was when P-MAN VII started. Over the rest of 2005, here are some of the things we accomplished:

The results of any given JPAC team's recovery efforts may not be known for some time after the field mission is complete. Even given recovery of remains from the land and water sites in Palau, that's just the beginning of the process. Remains are returned to Hawaii for identification, which can take months. Although we're all deeply committed to the identification and repatriation of remains of American MIAs, we have to remember that it's sometimes a long and technically challenging process, and that it's not always possible to identify remains. When we learn anything that can be released to the public, we'll let you know...

Daily Progress Reports for P-MAN VIII

While the expedition was under way, Reid Joyce posted progress reports daily here on the BentProp site:

Mike's Blog

Mike Olds has a personal blog to which he contributed regular updates during this year's trip. You can read his slant on the proceedings at http://www.michaelolds.com/archives/archive_2006_02.shtml (this link no longer working).

Flip Flips; his blog doesn't

As in some past years, it was the intention of team member Flip Colmer to post his perspective on the expedition's progress on his blog. Unfortunately, Flip was unable to join us this year - he blew out a knee the week before P-MAN VIII began, at the end of a practice skydive in Thailand, in preparation for the world-record 400-way jump that the World Team subsequently completed - alas, without Flip. With all his new-found (recovery) time on his hands, he helped the team with research and pumped out some interesting stuff on his blog - while lounging on his couch in Michigan, eating bonbons and directing other people's snow-clearing activities. You can read Flip's musings at bentprop.org/flip/.

To head off any more questions: despite what it says in Flip's blog, Mike Olds is NOT Flip's son...although they do resemble one another in terms of cunning, perseverence, and sense of humor.