On June 8th 1924, two members of the British Mount Everest Expedition, George Mallory and Sandy Irvine left their camp high on Mount Everest to attempt to reach the summit of the world's tallest mountain. They never made it back to camp, both men disappeared, after being briefly sighted on the ascent, and were presumed dead. Nobody knew what had happened to them, including whether they had actually made it to the summit of Everest. The general assumption was that they had perished on the ascent.
After persistent alleged sightings over the years, following the first officially recorded ascent of Everest in 1953 by Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay, the body of George Mallory was finally located in 1999. However, no trace has been seen of the body of Sandy Irvine. Mallory's body carried no camera, but a photo that he was going to deposit at the summit if the two men succeeded in their ascent was not found on his body, which was intact and well-preserved. An extensive search of the area around Mallory's body showed no traces of Sandy Irvine.
However, a recent detail and searching examination of aerial photos of Mount Everest has turned up an artifact which may be the body of Sandy Irvine. The emphasis is on the word "may", since only an expedition to the site will reveal if this is a breakthrough or another false lead.
The Holy Grail that experts will be searching for, in addition to finding Irvine's body and bringing closure for his remaining relatives, is whether they can locate one or both of the two cameras that Irvine carried on his person. Any photographic film that is preserved enough to be developed might show if Mallory and Irvine actually reached the summit of Everest.