Experts express skepticism over stunning new claim about Amelia Earhart's death

Some experts have cast doubts about a new photo fueling speculation that aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart and her navigator Fred Noonan may have been captured by the Japanese after their plane went down.

The photo, which was found in the National Archives, seems to show a group of people on a dock on an atoll in the South Pacific including a short-haired woman — possibly Earhart — with her back to the camera.

The hypothesis is a key part of the upcoming documentary "Amelia Earhart: The Lost Evidence," but at least two investigators have serious concerns about the evidence.

One source questions the date. The envelope containing the batch of photos was reportedly identified as being taken after 1940, but Earhart and Noonan vanished in 1937.

Meanwhile, Mike Campbell, another expert who's looked into the case, has said that the pair is "absolutely not in the photo and it's incredible that anyone could believe they are."

"Nobody in the photo remotely resembles Earhart inasmuch as anyone's facial features can be determined at all," he added.

SEE MORE: New photo could prove Amelia Earhart survived her final flight

But some news outlets have stood by the evidence, including NBC News which notes that former FBI official Shawn Henry remains confident that Earhart and Noonan are in the photo after studying the image.

"When you pull out, and when you see the analysis that's been done, I think it leaves no doubt to the viewers that that's Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan," Henry said.

But not everyone remains convinced.

"People take photos and interpret them, and they're free to do that. It has not persuaded me," Dorothy Cochrane, of the Smithsonian, told CNN.

Japanese officials reportedly said they have no record of Earhart's captivity, but as the BBC notes, these archives are not always accurate.