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 showing a photo supposedly depicting Amelia Earhart survived a crash landing in 1937 was actually published two years before the famous aviator vanished.


The photograph in question was featured in a History Channel special and received widespread media attention. Here's how NPR's Laurel Wamsley described the discovery of the image:

In the History Channel special, some analysts argued that the photo showed Earhart (sitting at the end of the dock, facing away from the camera) and her navigator Fred Noonan (on the far left of the image). They identified the ship in the background as the Koshu Maru, and argued that the Koshu Maru rescued Earhart and Noonan after they crash-landed in 1937.

But a Japanese military history blogger, who goes by @baron_yamaneko on Twitter, found evidence the photo predated Earhart's famous disappearance. The History Channel is aware of the evidence and says it is investigating.

, the blogger explains that "the photograph was first published in Palau under Japanese rule in 1935, in a photo book ... So the photograph was taken at least two years before Amelia Earhart disappear[ed] in 1937 and a person on the photo was not her."

The photo book in question was digitized and 

 by Japan's National Diet Library. The publication date is listed in the traditional Japanese style as "Showa 10" — that is, 1935.
The blogger also 

 the ship in the image as the Koshu, which the Japanese seized in World War I, rather than the Koshu Maru, which was launched in 1937.


The History Channel tells NPR it has "a team of investigators exploring the latest developments about Amelia Earhart and we will be transparent in our findings.

Arts and Culture

An undated photo in the U.S. National Archives ignited speculation that Amelia Earhart survived a 1937 crash. But the same photo appears in a book published two years before Earhart disappeared.

Japanese blogger points out timeline flaw in supposed Earhart photo

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