Analysis of the panels suggest they did not belong to Earhart's Lockhead Electra plane, instead they are said to be from a WWII aircraft that crashed six years later
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TIGHAR had hoped the aluminium panels would support their theory. It has also been considered that the piece of metal, that was discovered in 1991, was a patch that was added to Earhart's aircraft when repairs were made in Miami during her ill-fated round-the-world flight attempt.

But scientists last year discovered letters and numbers that could not been seen by the naked eye. The letters and numbers 'D24', 'XRO' and either '335' or '385' were found on the panel, which is known as 2-2-V-1.

It is now thought they are in fact manufacturing code. Gillespie added: "Our forensic imaging specialist Jeff Glickman is still working on his final report, but it is looking like 2-2-V-1 is from the upper wing surface of a WWII Douglas C-47.

"Disappointing after all these years and so many promising similarities to the patch on Earhart's Electra, but science is what it is."

The experts concluded the letter D as well as AD on another part of the panel, were stampings from the manufacturing process. They also discovered US company Alcoa, which has been manufacturing aluminium since 1888, stamped some of its sheets with 'ALCLAD 24S-T'.

This is what they believe was on the panel. When Earhart's Lockhead was constructed, the aluminium sheeting was stamped with ALC24ST. She did however have a panel from a year later. — express.co.uk/news/us/1808805/…