OF MISSING PILOT BE SOLVED?
National Archives, could shed new light on the mystery.
Mr Henry said: “I was originally sceptical until we could get the photograph authenticated.
“The fact it came out of the National Archives as opposed to somebody’s basement or garage somewhere – that, to me, gave it a lot more credibility.”
Investigators believe the photo was taken in the 1930s on the Marshall Islands, north west of Howland Island.
Japan took over control of the Marshall Islands from Germany during the First World War and ahead of the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbour they became an important military post for Tokyo.
Japanese archives have no record of Earhart as a prisoner – but, like so many documents during the Second World War, such a record could have been lost.
The black-and-white 8in by 10in photograph was only rediscovered a few years ago in a mislabeled file at the National Archives. It was among a stack of 20 or 30 photos and had been ignored for months. But Les Kinney, a former US Treasury agent who began investigating Earhart’s disappearance after he retired, decided to take a closer look. In the photo, a figure with Earhart’s haircut and body type sits on the dock, facing away from the camera. Referring to the man on the left, facial recognition expert Ken Gibson, who studied the image, said “the hairline is the most distinctive characteristic”. He added: “It’s a very sharp receding hairline. The nose is very prominent. It’s my feeling that this is very convincing evidence that this is probably Noonan.” The image was released by the History Channel ahead of a documentary to be shown this weekend, called Amelia Earhart: The Lost Evidence. But rival researchers deny the photo shows Earhart and Noonan. They say the image forms part of a set captured after 1940, three years after the pair went missing. Investigator Mike Campbell lashed out at what he described as the “bogus photo claim”.
Some remain convinced Earhart was forced to ditch her plane, insisting that traces of the pilot have been found which back up their claim.
A mission is now under way to prove the theory as researchers make their way toward Nikumaroro, a coral atoll that is part of the Phoenix Islands of Kiribati.
A Pennsylvania-based organisation called the International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery (TIGHAR) believes Earhart was forced to land there as her plane ran out of fuel.
Injured but still alive after a crashlanding on what was then called Gardner Island, the pair attempted to call for help for several days using the radio from their wrecked plane, the team claims.
Joining the team on the journey to Nikumaroro are four forensically trained border collies, whose mission is to sniff out human bones that, through DNA matching, would confirm Earhart and Noonan died castaways. The dogs – Berkeley, Piper, Marcy and Kayle – have been sponsored by National Geographic as part of TIGHAR’s eight-day expedition.
The crew are also joined by experts divers whose job is to search for the Electra at sea, while the dogs do their work on land.
TIGHAR believes that Earhart veered south of their planned flight path and landed on Nikumaroro before sending out distress signals. A high tide then washed the aircraft away, preventing Navy spotter planes that flew over the island from seeing the marooned pair.
Parts of a skeleton that were found on Nikumaroro in 1940 were initially thought to have been Earhart’s but doctors at the time decided they belonged to a male body.
A 1930s vanity case was also said to have been found on the tiny atoll.
Each clue only adds to the mystery surrounding Earhart – and fuels the appetite to discover the truth.