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Famed US aviator's hair actually 'piece of thread'

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.

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.

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.

Read entire article at AFP