Posted on 07/05/2017 1:25:49 PM PDT by Main Street
A newly discovered photograph suggests legendary aviator Amelia Earhart, who vanished 80 years ago on a round-the-world flight, survived a crash-landing in the Marshall Islands.
The photo, found in a long-forgotten file in the National Archives, shows a woman who resembles Earhart and a man who appears to be her navigator, Fred Noonan, on a dock. The discovery is featured in a new History channel special, "Amelia Earhart: The Lost Evidence," that airs Sunday.
Independent analysts told History the photo appears legitimate and undoctored. Shawn Henry, former executive assistant director for the FBI and an NBC News analyst, has studied the photo and feels confident it shows the famed pilot and her navigator. [Amelia Earhart mystery may have new clue in never-before-seen photo] Amelia Earhart mystery may have new clue in never-before-seen photo 6:25
"When you pull out, and when you see the analysis that's been done, I think it leaves no doubt to the viewers that that's Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan," Henry told NBC News.
Earhart was last heard from on July 2, 1937, as she attempted to become the first woman pilot to circumnavigate the globe. She was declared dead two years later after the U.S. concluded she had crashed somewhere in the Pacific Ocean, and her remains were never found. Amelia Earhart Amelia Earhart sits in her Electra plane cabin at the airport in Burbank, California, on May 20, 1937. Albert Bresnik / Paragon Agency via AP
But investigators believe they have found evidence Earhart and Noonan were blown off course but survived the ordeal. The investigative team behind the History special believes the photo may have been taken by someone who was spying for the U.S. on Japanese military activity in the Pacific.
Les Kinney, a retired government investigator who has spent 15 years looking for Earhart clues, said the photo "clearly indicates that Earhart was captured by the Japanese."
Japanese authorities told NBC News they have no record of Earhart being in their custody.
Related: The Search Is Still On for Amelia Earhart 80 Years After She Disappeared
The photo, marked "Jaluit Atoll" and believed to have been taken in 1937, shows a short-haired woman — potentially Earhart — on a dock with her back to the camera. (She's wearing pants, something for which Earhart was known.) She sits near a standing man who looks like Noonan — down to the hairline.
"The hairline is the most distinctive characteristic," said Ken Gibson, a facial recognition expert who studied the image. "It's a very sharp receding hairline. The nose is very prominent."
Gibson added: "It's my feeling that this is very convincing evidence that this is probably Noonan." A newly discovered photo shows a woman who resembles Amelia Earhart and a man who appears to be her navigator, Fred Noonan. National Archives
The photo shows a Japanese ship, Koshu, towing a barge with something that appears to be 38-feet-long — the same length as Earhart's plane.
For decades, locals have claimed they saw Earhart's plane crash before she and Noonan were taken away. Native schoolkids insisted they saw Earhart in captivity. The story was even documented in postage stamps issued in the 1980s.
"We believe that the Koshu took her to Saipan [in the Mariana Islands], and that she died there under the custody of the Japanese," said Gary Tarpinian, the executive producer of the History special.
"We don't know how she died," Tarpinian said. "We don't know when."
It is not clear if the U.S. government knew who was in the photo. If it was taken by a spy, the U.S. may not have wanted to compromise that person by revealing the image.
There was a great apocryphal story by Chuck Yeager and some gal flying into Russia with 2 compass devices and cameras.
When they returned to the plane, the Russians were trying to take it apart.
No doubt, Trump was there, helping the Russians. /OK this last line is for CNN’s next Breaking News
NBC ? Ask Brian Williams. He was there.
Drat, you beat me by over 10 minutes. :-P
Wasn’t this event the creation of the phrase “epic fail”?
He probably remembers taking the picture!
Actually, more than similar. The stamp has the ship by name, Koshu. What are the odds that the Marianas release a stamp claiming a particular ship recovered the airplane, then years later a spy photo comes up with the same ship towing an “Electra-like object”, and people resembling Earhart and Noonan are on the dock.
Whatever archive this photo came from should have a report from the person who took the shot. Release all the files!
The woman standing on the dock appears islamic.....You mean the bomb belt?
They need to call in the expert who claims he can identify Marco Rubio by the back of his head.
This photo came from the Office of Naval intelligence.
I’m waiting for the video.
= = = = = = = = = = =
All those people standing around you would think at least one of them would have been recording it.
Then again, if NOBODY knew who was who etc etc etc
“She’s not a hero,” “She was a hero because she got lost and crashed. I like people who didn’t get lost and crash.”
No. Noonan kept telling her she was off course and she ignored him, this on her flight to Europe on “her” round the world flight. It was Noonan that tried to keep her straight.
They ended up in the Delta quadrant.
Star Trek ref
And if she is a prisoner, where are the guards?
Pretty sure she and Janeway knocked boots before they parted ways.
Their chemistry was off the charts.
This supports the theory that Earhardt was brainwashed by the Japanese and led the raid on Pearl Harbor.
Treasonous bitch.
Fact is: this picture matches up with the stamps that were issued in the 1980s about the capture & a lot of the eyewitness accounts. The plane that we see being towed is 38 feet long...same as the Earhart plane. I would not be so quick to discount this.
All the people on the dock are looking towards the grassy knoll where experts say the camera shots came from.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.