I need to share that this artifact has created a major tipping point in my view of the Niku landing hypothesis -
In my opinion as an A and P Mechanic / IA of some 36+ years - 33 of those in various roles at a major airframer including maintenance, repair, inspection and engineering, I find this surprisingly complex artifact to be compelling: this skin truly could have originated from the belly repairs done to NR16020 prior to the world flight. In fact, it represents such a unique slice of potential that to me it cannot be just "anything": too much is now realized about the character of this item and where it lies in the aviation timeline for material, construction practices and the circumstances of the belly repairs done on NR16020 to ignore the potential.
Couple that with the strong context of so many other things shared here -
including other 'odd' things like plexiglass matching in thickness and contour to that of L10 Lockheed windows and the case only gets stronger.
The Lockheed L10 has proven herself a stand-out in yet another new way to this old mechanic: her belly skins do include a large number of no. 3 rivets as primary strucural fasteners. This had been a hard sticking point with me for some time and threw me into the "could be anything" camp for quite some time. Now I realize the first all-metal transport used some arcane features as it pioneered so much taken for granted today - the Lockheed engineers mastered the reduction of material to build a light but durable stressed-skin bird before the onset of later guidance that tended toward heavier building practices. I now believe we are seeing an example of repair to none other than one such craft. I also know of only one such example that would have borne such light work in that part of the world.
Are there other possibilities? Of course - but a time has come for me to seriously suggest that they are very limited indeed: AN 455 brazier rivets of no. 3 size coinciding with a similar feature in the L10 is not so common, nor are the pre-war markings we find on this sheet.
One realizes that this sheet of ruined metal 'could be anything' to many eyes and minds - but training, experience and now observation and acceptance of some hard data make this complex item very pointed in its meaning. The scales have tipped IMO - if there is a better explanation as to where this came from given the web of circumstantial (but substantial to this writer) evidence we have - including plexiglass of correct curvature and thickness, etc. - I would respectfully ask the challenger to provide evidence of it.
This is of course my humble opinion, but I suggest the skeptic study and look hard if they'd offer a better idea of what became of the flight. As to where found and how it got there - a worthy consideration, consider what now appears to be strong provenance as to this part: if it came from the Electra, but not at Niku - then where else?
I merely (but now strongly) suggest that there is not a wealth of other possibilities. The reader must of course draw his own conclusions. But mine, after quite a journey, is that somehow a unique piece of aviation repair history managed to beach itself on the shores of Niku - among other nested things that support the circumstance of a stranded L10E belonging to Amelia Earhart.
This is my own opinion - others may of course play the odds as they will, but I submit that TIGHAR's pain-staking efforts have produced plausible material that reaches beyond reasonable doubt.
This is reason itself for me after a long journey - I can think of no better notion of where this piece of history came from given all we know to-date - and now what I discern in this part is just too specific to ignore. The full context as underpinned by the specifics of this part and others like the plexiglass tells me that Earhart found Gardner in 1937.
Hats off to all those who care about and search for the lost aviators, whether they agree or not - may they always be reasoned and reasonable in their arguments. TIGHAR's reasoning after much labor tips the case strongly to Niku IMO - I respect that a great deal. It is my hope that further searching will produce the airplane, but short of that and barring something more weighty than we have here (not expected, frankly), the circumstances of what has been found point to Gardner as host to a certain famous L10E in 1937. Thanks to Ric and TIGHAR for the vision of it, and the hard work to reveal all that can be found to prove it.