One of America’s greatest mysteries may have just been solved, thanks to a previously unknown photograph in the National Archives.
Legendary aviator Amelia Earhart went missing 80 years ago during her attempt to become the first woman to circle the globe. In the near-century since, her mysterious vanishing has become near myth.
Now, a newly discovered photo from the National Archives — first released Wednesday — may have closed the books on the Earhart mystery for good.
The image lends weighted evidence to the theory that she was captured by the Japanese after surviving a crash with her navigator Fred Noonan.
Retired government investigator Les Kinney has been on the hunt for clues regarding what happened to Earhart for 15 years, and after examining the photo, he told NBC that it “clearly indicates that Earhart was captured by the Japanese.”
He’s not alone. Numerous experts have come forward to agree.
Former executive assistant director for the FBI and an NBC News analyst Shawn Henry also studied the image and said, “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.”
The 1937 photograph, labeled Jaluit Atoll, shows a group sitting on a dock in the Marshall Islands, which was under Japanese control at the time.
When examined further, it seems a Caucasian man and woman can be seen, prompting speculation on their identities. At the time, Westerners were generally banned from the island.
National Archives
At first glance, the image doesn’t appear notable or significant. But closer examination, experts say, reveals multiple clues that suggest the Japanese captured Earhart and Noonan.
The short-haired Earhart can be seen from behind, wearing pants in a style that was common for her… but unheard of for a native woman of the Marshall Islands.
Facial recognition expert Ken Gibson studied the image, and is citing the hairline and nose as proof that the white man is almost certainly Noonan, and his presence — along with body shape of the sitting woman — as evidence she is likely Earhart.
“It’s my feeling that this is very convincing evidence that this is probably Noonan,” Gibson told NBC.
National Archive
But the clues don’t stop there.
In the background of the image is a long Japanese ship, the Koshu, is seen towing some kind of barge. Experts determined the barge is approximately 38-feet-long — the exact same length as Earhart’s missing plane.
There are even witnesses of Earhart’s crash and subsequent capture.
Locals on the islands have long claimed that they saw Earhart’s plane crash, and for decades numerous native schoolchildren have come forward to say they saw Earhart being taken into Japanese captivity.
In fact, Earhart’s crash landing is a very popular local legend on the Marshall Islands. For example, stamps issued by the island in the 1980s depict Earhart’s crash nearby on July 2nd, 1937, the last day the world-famous aviator was heard from.
It is believed that the newly discovered image was captured by a spy for the United States, who was later executed by the Japanese after his true identity was revealed.
The History Channel will air a special on the image Sunday night. Gary Tarpinian, the executive producer of the special, said that their experts are very sure of the conclusion: “We believe that the Koshu took her to Saipan, and that she died there under custody of the Japanese.”
Japanese authorities told NBC News that there were no records indicating Earhart had ever been in their custody, but admitted there are no current officials still on file that were present on the Marshall Islands during the time of her disappearance, and many documents were destroyed following the war.
And while there is no evidence telling whether the U.S. government was aware of Earhart’s whereabouts, there was a 170-page file on Earhart in the Marshall Islands in the Office of Naval Investigations that has also been missing for years.
In the post-war period, when the U.S. was aiming to gain a new ally in Japan, there is some weight to the theory the the U.S. government would want to keep the capture of Earhart quiet in order to aid a friendly war recovery effort with Japan.
Perhaps this photo proves it once and for all.
— The Horn editorial team