NEW YORK — The photo is haunting. Among a number of figures gathered on a dock, the fuzzy image seems to be that of a woman, her back to the camera, gazing at what may be her crippled aircraft loaded on a barge, and perhaps wondering what her future might hold.

Is this Amelia Earhart, the world-famous aviator, witnessed after her mysterious disappearance while attempting the first round-the-world flight 80 years ago this month?

That is the theory put forth in “Amelia Earhart: The Lost Evidence,” a two-hour documentary airing Sunday at 9 p.m. EDT on the History channel. It uncovers records, including this newly revealed photograph that shows what may be a healthy Earhart along with her navigator Fred Noonan, after they were last heard from.

The film also argues that after the pair crash-landed in the Japanese-held Marshall Islands, they were picked up by the Japanese military and that Earhart, perhaps presumed to be a U.S. spy, was held prisoner.

And there’s more: The United States government knew of her whereabouts and did nothing to rescue her, according to the film.