“The fact that it came out of the National Archives as opposed to somebody’s basement or garage somewhere — that to me gave it a lot more credibility.”

The photograph was rediscovered a few years ago in a mislabeled file at the National Archives by a former U.S. Treasury agent named Les Kinney, who began looking into Earhart’s disappearance after he retired, according to previews for a new History channel documentary, “Amelia Earhart: The Lost Evidence,” that airs July 9. Story highlights A newly discovered photo appears to show Amelia Earhart after her crash landing, some experts say

But other experts remain unconvinced the photo proves anything

(CNN) A newly unearthed photo showing blurry figures on a dock may shed light on the 80-year-old mystery of what happened to Amelia Earhart. The show features former FBI executive assistant director Shawn Henry as he investigates evidence supporting the theory that Earhart crash-landed in the Marshall Islands and eventually died in Japanese custody on the island of Saipan. The investigators also claim that the U.S. government may have covered up Earhart’s fate, citing the possibility that she was on a spying mission. But look closely and you'll see two blurry people, with Earhart's back allegedly to the camera:

Henry and his team investigate the photo, along with other evidence like plane parts and eyewitness interviews, to make their claim about what happened to Earhart and Noonan. Earhart, the pioneering aviator who became the first female pilot to fly solo across the Atlantic, famously disappeared with her navigator Fred Noonan on July 2, 1937, while attempting to fly to Howland Island in the Pacific Ocean. The channel says it could hold the key to solving one of history’s all-time greatest mysteries.
The aviator Amelia Earhart and her navigator Fred Noonan may have survived in the Marshall Islands and were held captive by the Japanese according to an allegedly undoctored photo in the National Archives. Experts remain divided on the claim, however.