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WASHINGTON (AFP) – An aviation museum inthe US state of Ohio that believed it was displaying a hair sample from famed flyer Amelia Earhart made an unfortunate discovery, after DNA analysis revealed it to be a piece of thread.
"In a disappointing turn of events," as Cleveland's International Women's Air and Space Museum described it in a statement, the lock of "hair" in their possession since 1986 was revealed as thread only after they put it on display this year.
Earhart, one of the greatest female pilots in the history of US aviation, disappeared over the Pacific in 1937 at the age of 60 while attempting a solo flight around the world.
Museum officials said they had confidence in the artifact, having been recovered by a maid at the White House after Earhart -- a friend of first lady Eleanor Roosevelt -- stayed there shortly before her final flight.
"It was always believed it was her hair," Heather Alexander, the museum's office manager, told AFP.
The museum had lent a small sample of the "hair" to a historian's organization hoping to uncover the truth of Earhart's demise and seeking to match DNA to other artifacts found on the central Pacific island of Nikumororo.
The thread remains on display at the museum as part of an Earhart exhibition that is on show until November 15.
"We've changed the sign and explained everything," assured Alexander, adding that visitors "show more interest and are very grateful that we are telling the truth and the whole story."
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