Bruce, I agree that there was quite a bit of Japanese air activity at Mili during WWII, including both land aircraft fields and a seaplane base. One reason I think the access plate/whatever it is, is Japanese is the reddish paint residue. That strongly resembles one of the more common anti-corrosion paint colors the Japanese used during WWII. Earhart's plane had International Orange on the leading edges of the wings and the top of the stabilizer. That might, might mind you, have weathered to a reddish color in the ensuing seven decades - but that is an awful stretch and one that would be almost impossible to prove, I feel. Her plane did not have any red paint on it that I am aware of.
Trying to find where on a Japanese Rufe (float fighter), Zero (land fighter) or Betty (land bomber) that this very small piece of metal might have come from is beyond difficult. I've tried to find matches with my limited resources, without success to date. US aircraft that operated in that area include the P-39, P-40, B-24, B-25, SBD and F4E. The only US aircraft lost on Mili was a B-25 that was shot down and ditched in the lagoon. Theoretically the access plate could have come from an undocumented US crash, or the B-25, but the reddish paint is a disqualifier in my view.
To throw their assertions back at the leaders of this effort, I would like them to document where, exactly, on the Lockheed 10-E this cover plate might have come from. Close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades; this has to be an exact fit for them to garner any real credibility.
Talk is cheap. Answers are expensive. It's time for them to demonstrate exactly what they think they have. Otherwise, it's just more random chunks of aluminum from an area that is covered with random chunks of aluminum.
LTM,
Monty Fowler, TIGHAR No. 2189 ECSP