An aviation museum in the 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, vanished into thin air over the Pacific in 1937 at the age of 40 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 Nov. 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.”(AFP)
美國俄亥俄州某航空博物館尷尬地發現，該館正在展出的著名飛行員愛蜜莉亞．埃爾哈特的頭髮樣本，經DNA分析後原來是線。
克里夫蘭「國際女性航空太空博物館」在一份聲明中表示：「這結果令人失望。」自一九八六年納入館藏的這綹「頭髮」，今年展出後被證實只是線。
埃爾哈特是美國航空史上最偉大的女飛行員之一。一九三七年，四十歲的她挑戰獨自環遊世界飛行時，在太平洋上空人間蒸發。
博物館館方表示，他們一直相信這件藝品為真；埃爾哈特是第一夫人愛莉諾．羅斯福的朋友，她最後一趟飛行出發前曾在白宮短暫停留，而這綹頭髮就是一位白宮侍女撿到的。
博物館辦公室經理海瑟．亞莉珊卓對法新社表示：「我們一直深信這是她的頭髮。」
博物館把小部份的「頭髮」樣本送交某歷史學家機構，希望解開埃爾哈特的死亡之謎，並藉由DNA比對其他在太平洋中央的尼庫馬洛洛島上找到的人工製品。
這根線仍在該博物館的埃爾哈特特展中展示，展期至十一月十五日止。
「我們更換了標牌並詳加解釋，」亞莉珊卓保證說，遊客「興致更高了，還很感謝我們把事實一五一十地說出來。」
（法新社╱翻譯：袁星塵）
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