A new film claims to solve the mystery of the fate of historic aviator Amelia Earhart.
NEW YORK — The photo is haunting. Among a number of figures gathered on a dock, the fuzzy image seems to be that of a woman, her back to the camera, gazing at what may be her crippled aircraft loaded on a barge, and perhaps wondering what her future might hold.
Is this Amelia Earhart, the world-famous aviator, witnessed after her mysterious disappearance while attempting the first roundthe-world flight 80 years ago this month?
That is the theory put forth in “Amelia Earhart: The Lost Evidence,” a twohour documentary airing Sunday at 9 p.m. EDT on the History channel. It uncovers records, including the newly revealed photograph that shows what may be a healthy Earhart along with her navigator Fred Noonan, after they were last heard from.
The film also argues that after the pair crash-landed in the Japanese-held Marshall Islands, they were picked up by the Japanese military and that Earhart was held prisoner. The United States government knew of her whereabouts and did nothing to rescue her, according to the film.
The disappearance of Earhart and Noonan on July 2, 1937, in the Western Pacific Ocean has gained legendary status among unsolved mysteries.
By then she had already logged numerous aviation feats, including that of being the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean in 1932. Yet the U.S. government closed the book on its investigation just two weeks after her disappearance. Was there a cover-up? The film proposes there was.
The documentary is hosted by former FBI Executive Assistant Director Shawn Henry.
In the documentary, that photo is subjected to facialrecognition and other forensic testing. It is judged authentic, and likely that of Earhart and Noonan.
The film also displays plane parts found in on an island of the Marshall Islands by Earhart investigator Dick Spink that are consistent with the aircraft that Earhart was flying on her round-the-world attempt. And it hears from the last living eyewitness who claims to have seen Earhart and Noonan after their crash.