@mrmhead Said
I have my doubts.
It's an advert for a History Channel show
Were there "tensions" between the US and Japanese at that time? It was before WWII - I don't know my international history that well.
I assume the Marshall Islands had radar coverage.
Wouldn't Noonan and Earhart have informed various gov'ts BEFORE take-off of their intended route - so the Japanese would be aware / on the lookout for aircraft?
The gov't is blamed for many speculative cover-ups and mis-deeds. Not denying that they could, but they're not behind every suspicious event.
Japanese aggression began in the 1930s, similar to Nazi aggression prior to our involvement, but earlier. The US led the international rebuke, which included sanctions. So yes, there was tension, and was likely one of the causes of Pearl Harbor 4 years after Amelia's disappearance.
And if this flight was indeed a guise for a spy mission, I would think that the less information the Japanese knew about the flight's specifics, other than the surface story of an aviation feat, the better. Remember, this was before the use of spy planes, so it isn't too far fetched to believe the US would use what they could at the time, especially when it involved flying over the Pacific.
I'm not one to usually believe in conspiracy theories, but pictures usually don't lie, and the ones that do usually don't pass rigorous expert examination, which this one apparently has.
Sure, we don't know for sure, but it isn't too far fetched to understand why it could be true if it is.