I suppose the "Michael Jordan Autograph" could have been added(edited in) to an existing listing for the patch by request of a potential buyer as well. Possibly in a failed attempt to hide the sold listing from people like us in the future.
No, that doesn't make sense. Searching ended listings for either term will turn up the patch/autograph listing for at least 90 days after the listing ended.
As deidre said, "Michael Jordan Autograph" draws more views, not less. Anyone that has a saved search for "Area 51 Patch" set up for email alerts of new listings will get an email for it, regardless of the Jordan bit in the listing title. Same with saved searches for Jordan autograph; no matter the Patch bit in the listing title, Jordan searchers will get an alert.
Without another photo of the listing to view, one cannot be certain there was a Jordan autograph attached to the sale however a Jordan autograph isn't necessarily a high ticket item.
This one recently sold for 5 bucks:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/314663309967
A possible explanation for the listing title's inclusion of the patch and the autograph, the seller had a double-baited hook. They figured one or the other search term would hook and land a $550 buyer.
Using eBay’s Terrapeak, I was able to look at sold listings up to two years old.
It looks like one sold in March 2023 for $550.
Unfortunately “details” of the listing are not available beyond 90 days.
The correct spelling is Terapeak. One "r", not two.
eBay offers a seller tool called terrapeak. It is only available to those who have a “eBay store subscription.(I have one).
That is not correct. One does not have to have a Store Subscription to be able to view Terapeak.
https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/selling-tools/terapeak-research?id=4853
If one is registered with a regular Seller account, one can view Terapeak.
Try the instructions below:
Sign into ebay.
Go to the top of the page, hover over 'My ebay', click 'Selling' in the dropdown menu.
On that page, locate the 'Selling Tools' box, click the 'Seller Hub Reports' link.
At the top of that page, locate 'Research', hover of it and then click 'Terapeak product research'.
From there, it's all fairly obvious. Enter "Area 51 patch" into the search field.
edit: Actually, the correct search term needed to find the patch in question should only close quote "Area 51".
"Area 51" patch
To the right of the search field, set the time parameter to 'Last 2 years', and click 'Research'.
All of the "Area 51" patch listings will be shown below a graph of the last 2 years' sales gross totals.
Reorder the listings according to highest-to-lowest sale price by clicking 'Avg sold price'.
That patch is the highest priced sale with "Area 51" patch in the listing title in the past 2 years.
Since it's been over 90 days since sale, the actual listing page is no longer available to view.
Number 2 on the list is still available to view, and it maybe of some interest.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/391908472840
It's not that hard to have a patch made:
https://www.aviatorgear.com/
Disinfo is another possibility. Patch created and sold for express purpose of adding to the noise around the hearings, etc. The UFO nonsense of the past couple of months has been awfully distracting and full of nothing of value: all noise, no signal, and getting louder by the day. IMO, of course.