Anything related to vanished aviatrix Amelia Earhart — who was, incidentally, a fan of Miss R.E. Barrett, a city manager of Warrenton — draws tremendous interest. In fact, Heritage Auctions in Dallas recently sold one of Earhart’s leather flying caps for $825,000.

Backed up by “photo match documentation,” Earhart apparently wore this particular cap when she became the first woman fly across the Atlantic Ocean. About 14 months later, in August 1929, Earhart participated in the National Air Races in Cleveland, Ohio, which Anthony Twiggs‘ mother attended with friends.

Among them was a young man who ran down into the field, found the cap on the ground near Earhart’s plane, and gave it to Twiggs’ mother. Inside, the name “A. Earhart” is handwritten in black ink. The cap has been tucked away in a closet ever since, “an absolute dream piece for the advanced Earhart collector,” the auction company claimed.

Not so fast, says The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery, in an email titled “Due Diligence”: There appears to be no evidence that Earhart wore that type of cap during the 1929 race, but at least one other woman flyer did; those caps were commercially available for $1 ($16 now); and, the handwriting in the cap does not match Earhart’s. 

“If the auctioned helmet is the one Earhart wore during the 1928 transatlantic flight, it belongs in a museum,” the group concluded. “If it’s not, it’s right where it belongs.” (Photo courtesy of Heritage Auctions)