Bettmann Collection / Getty Images A newly unearthed photograph suggests there may be a different final chapter to Amelia Earhart's story.
The famed pilot, who mysteriously disappeared during her attempted flight around the world in 1937, is a subject of a photograph recently discovered in the National Archives by History investigators.
While the cause of her disappearance and her whereabouts leading up to her death have been long theorized and speculated, this picture may be the proof many have been waiting for to support conclusions beyond a plane crash.
In the picture, a group of people are standing on a dock, including two figures suspected to be Earhart and Fred Noonan, the only other crew member on board. The photograph was labeled as taken in the Jaluit Atoll in the Marshall Islands, a string of islands under Japanese control at the time the picture was supposedly taken.
According to photographic analysts and recognition technology, one figure bares a resemblance to Noonan, particularly in his sharp hairline and mouth while a second figure—seated at the edge of the dock—features the signature crop and ensemble of Earhart. In the background, it has been suggested that the Japanese survey ship Koshu Maru can be seen towing something 38 feet long—the same length as Earhart's plane.
Many theories suggest Earhart and Noonan were taken prisoners by the Japanese and brought to Saipan, however little is known still about how they died and, according to Today, the Japanese military have denied possessing any documents or evidence of Earhart in Japanese custody.
Amelia Earhart: The Lost Evidence, a History special, explores the possibilities linked to this new photograph and will premiere Sunday night.
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