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Speaker 1: Waine's been off the grid this week, way out in

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the woods and the land between the Lakes, doing his thing.

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That means we weren't able to record a regular episode

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of the show, but I didn't want to leave you hanging,

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so I've got something special for you instead. Today I'm

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sharing a full episode from my brand new podcast, Disturbing History.

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This is a show that takes a hard look at

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the story's history, either buried on purpose or just hoped

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we'd forget. Disturbing History is all about the strange, spooky,

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and little known parts of the past. Secret societies, eerie folklore,

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lost colonies, unsolved mysteries, and the kind of dark events

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you definitely didn't cover in school. So if you're into

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the uncomfortable, the unexplained, or just want to see what

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happens when we dig up the past and hold it

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up to the light, I think you'll really like it.

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There's a link to Disturbing History in the show notes.

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Just click it to check it out, and you can

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find it anywhere you're listening right now, follow, subscribe, turn

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on auto downloads. All that good stuff all right here

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it is. Let's disturb some history. Some stories were never

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meant to be told. Others were buried on purpose. This

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podcast digs them all up. Disturbing history peels back the

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layers of the past to uncover the strange, the sinister,

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and the stories that were never supposed to survive. From

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shadowy presidential secrets to government experiments that sound more like

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fiction than fact.

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Speaker 2: This is history they hoped you'd forget.

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Speaker 1: I'm Brian, Investigator, author and your guide through the dark

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corners of our collective memory. Each week, I'll narrate some

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of the most chilling and little known tales from history

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that will make you question everything you thought you knew.

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And here's the twist. Sometimes the history is disturbing to us,

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and sometimes we have to disturb history itself just to

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get to the truth. If you like your facts with

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the side of fear, if you're not afraid to pull

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at threads others leave alone, you're in the right place.

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History isn't just written by the victors. Sometimes it's rewritten

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by the disturbed. On a gray, rain soaked afternoon in

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late November nineteen seventy one, a nondescript man in a

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business suit boarded Northwest Orient Airlines flight three oh five

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from Portland to Seattle. The flight attendants would later describe

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him as quiet, polite, and unremarkable in almost every way.

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He ordered a bourbon and soda, paid one dollar and

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fifty cents, and left a fifty cent tip. By all appearances,

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he was just another business traveler heading home for the

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Thanksgiving holiday. Yet within hours, this seemingly ordinary man would

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pull off the only unsolved hijacking in American aviation history,

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parachuting into the stormy darkness above southwestern Washington State with

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two hundred thousand dollars in ransom money strapped to his body.

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The man had purchased his ticket under the name Dan Cooper,

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though a media miscommunication would forever label him as dB Cooper.

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His disappearance into the night sky would launch one of

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the most extensive manhunts in FBI history, spanning forty five

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years before the Bureau officially closed the case in twenty sixteen.

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In the decade since his audacious heist, Cooper has transcended

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mere criminal status to become an American folk legend, a

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mysterious figure who seemed to execute the perfect crime and

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then vanish without a trace. To understand the full magnitude

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of the Cooper hijacking, We must first consider the America

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in which it occurred. The year nineteen seventy one found

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the United States at a profound crossroads, both politically and culturally.

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The Vietnam War continued to rage overseas, claiming American lives

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and dividing public opinion. Richard Nixon I occupied the White House,

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having promised to end the conflict with peace with honor,

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yet US troops remained in combat. The Pentagon Papers had

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been published earlier that year by The New York Times,

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revealing years of government deception regarding the war and further

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eroding public trust in official institutions. The cultural landscape of

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America in nineteen seventy one reflected this disillusionment. The counterculture

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movement of the nineteen sixties had begun to fragment and

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lose momentum. The Beatles had disbanded the previous year. Iconic

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musicians Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, and Jim Morrison had all

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died within the previous fourteen months. The Kent State shootings

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in May nineteen seventy where National Guard troops killed four

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student protesters, had shocked the nation. A sense of cynicism

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had begun to replace the idealism of the previous decade,

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with many Americans questioning previously unchallenged authorities. Economically, the nation

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faced mounting challenges. Nixon had had taken the United States

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off the gold standard in August nineteen seventy one, ending

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the Breton Woods monetary system. Inflation was rising, unemployment was growing,

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and many Americans felt their financial security slipping away. The

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robust post World War II economic boom had given way

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to uncertainty and stagnation. Within this turbulent societal context, commercial

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air travel operated under conditions almost unimaginable to modern passengers.

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Airport security was virtually non existent. No metal detectors greeted

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travelers at terminal entrances, No security checkpoints stood between ticket

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counters and boarding gates. No identification was required to board

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domestic flights. Prohibitions against carrying weapons aboard aircraft existed, but

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with no screening procedures, these rules functioned largely on the

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honor system. Passengers dressed formally for flights, enjoyed meals served

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on china with metal cutlery, and could smoke freely in

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the cabin. Most significantly for the Cooper case, the early

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nineteen seventies witnessed an epidemic of airplane hijackings. Between nineteen

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sixty eight and nineteen seventy two, nearly one hundred and

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sixty American commercial flights were hijacked an average of more

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than one per week during the peak period. Many of

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these incidents involved demands to be flown to Cuba, but

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others were motivated by ransom demands. By November nineteen seventy one,

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airlines and flight crews had experienced enough hijackings to develop

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standard protocols comply with hijacker demands, protect passengers and crew,

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and resolve the situation without violence. This compliance focused approach,

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while sensible from a safety perspective, inadvertently created an environment

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where hijacking for ransom became a viable criminal enterprise. It

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was against this backdrop a nation in transition, an airline

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industry operating with minimal security but facing a hijacking epidemic

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and a general atmosphere of socilt i unease, that Dan

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Cooper boarded Flight three oh five on that November afternoon.

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What do we know about the man who called himself

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Dan Cooper? Despite decades of investigation, his true identity remains unknown,

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making him one of the most mystifying figures in criminal history.

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Based on witness accounts primarily from flight attendants Florence Schaffner

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and Tina Mucklow, along with observations from nearby passengers, Cooper

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was a white male in his mid forties, standing between

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five feet ten inches and six feet tall, weighing approximately

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one hundred seventy to one hundred eighty pounds. Witnesses described

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him as having olive toned skin, dark brown or black

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hair cut short, and what some called a Latin appearance.

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He spoke with a low, measured and educated voice that

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carried no discernible regional accent, suggesting he was either American

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born or had lived in the United States for many years.

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Cooper's attire on the flight was business lane and unremarkable

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for a traveler of that era. He wore what witnesses

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described as a dark business suit either black or dark brown,

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depending on who was asked, with a white dress shirt

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and a narrow black tie fastened with a mother of

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pearl tie pin. He also wore a black or dark

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overcoat and carried a briefcase. Several witnesses characterized him as neat, polite,

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and well spoken, creating the impression of a professional businessman

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rather than a desperate criminal. Throughout the hijacking, Cooper maintained

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a remarkably composed demeanor. He spoke quietly, made no unnecessary

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threats beyond indicating he had a bomb, and treated the

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flight crew with consistent courtesy. This preternatural calm under extreme

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pressure has led many investigators to speculate about his background.

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Was he military personnel, perhaps with special operations training, a

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law enforcement officer gone rogue, someone with extensive aviation experience.

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His methodical approach and precise technical demands have fueled endless theories,

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but yielded no definitive answers. What's particularly striking about Cooper

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is what he didn't do during the hijacking. He didn't

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engage in needless conversation. He didn't reveal personal details that

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might later identify him. He didn't mistreat the crew or

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terrify passengers, he didn't panic when plans required adjustment, And,

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most critically from an investigative standpoint, he left behind minimal

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forensic evidence. No clear fingerprints, no distinct photographs, nothing that

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would lead directly to his identification, whether through meticulous planning

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or extraordinary luck, he maintained an impenetrable shroud of mystery.

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The FBI's composite sketch of Cooper, created with input from

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flight attendants and passengers who interacted with him, became one

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of the most recognized criminal images in American history. The

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drawing depicts a man wearing dark sunglasses with a narrow face,

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receiving airline and unremarkable features. The sketch is both specific

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enough to be distinctive and generic enough that it could

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potentially match thousands of men from that era. This combination

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of ordinary appearance and extraordinary composure made Cooper the perfect cipher.

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Without a confirmed identity, he became whatever the public imagination

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wanted him to be. Let us now trace the hijacking itself,

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minute by minute to understand how this audacious crime unfolded.

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On Wednesday, November twenty fourth, nineteen seventy one, the day

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before Thanksgiving, a man approached the Northwest Orient Airlines ticket

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counter at Portland International Airport. He paid twenty dollars in

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cash for a one way ticket to Seattle Tacoma International

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Airport on flight three oh five, a short thirty minute trip.

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He gave his name as Dan Cooper and proceeded to

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the boarding area. Flight three oh five was scheduled to

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depart Portland at two fifty pm, but experienced a slight

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delay due to heavy holiday air traffic.

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Speaker 2: The aircraft was.

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Speaker 1: A Boeing seven twenty seven to one hundred registration number

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N four six seven US, powered by three Pratt and

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Whitney j T eight D seven engines, two mounted on

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either side of the rear fuselage and the third integrated

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into the tail section. This specific aircraft configuration would prove

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critically important to Cooper's escape plant. At approximately two fifty PM,

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Cooper boarded the plane and took seat eighteen C in

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the rear of the aircraft. There were thirty six other

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passengers aboard, a relatively light load for the seven to

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twenty seven, which could accommodate over one hundred travelers. The

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flight crew consisted of Captain William Scott, first Officer William Radizach,

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flight engineer Harold E. Anderson, and three flight attendants, Alice Hancock,

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Tina Mucklow, and Florence Shafner. The aircraft finally took off

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at three oh seven PM, seven minutes behind its rescheduled

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departure time. As the Boeing seven Ze twenty seven climbed

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to its cruising altitude of ten thousand feet for the

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short hop to Seattle, Cooper remained inconspicuous among the other passengers.

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He ordered a bourbon and soda, for which he paid

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one dollar and fifty cents, leaving a fifty cent tip,

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a detail often cited as evidence of his politeness and

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his effort to blend in as a routine business traveler.

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Shortly after the drink service, Cooper discreetly handed a note

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to flight attendant Florence Schaffner, assuming it contained the phone

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number of a businessman trying to flirt with her, a

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common occurrence for stewardesses of that era. Shafner initially placed

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the unopened note in her pocket. Cooper leaned toward her

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and quietly said, miss you'd better look at that note.

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Speaker 2: I have a bomb.

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Speaker 1: Startled, but following her training to comply with hijackers, Shafner

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opened the note, which was written in neat all capital

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letters with a felt tip pen. According to her later testimony,

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it read I have a bomb in my briefcase. I

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will use it if necessary. I want you to sit

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next to me. You are being hijacked. Shaffner took the

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seat beside Cooper. As instructed, He opened his briefcase just

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enough to reveal what appeared to be a tangle of

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wires and red cylindrical objects that resembled dynamite sticks. No

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one would ever independently verify whether Cooper actually possessed functional

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explosives or merely a convincing facsimile, but the appearance was

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sufficient to ensure the crew took his threat with the

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utmost seriousness. Speaking in a low, controlled voice, Cooper outlined

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his demands two hundred thousand dollars in negotiable American currency,

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specifically requesting twenty dollars bills with random, non sequential serial numbers,

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four parachutes, two primary and two reserve, and a fuel

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truck standing by in Seattle to refuel the aircraft. He

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instructed that the money should be delivered in a knapsack

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or similar bag. Cooper directed Shaffner to relay these demands

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to the captain. Captain Scott was immediately informed of the

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situation and contacted Seattle Air Traffic Control, who alerted the

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FBI Northwest Orient's Operations office and local law enforcement authorities

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quickly decided to comply with Cooper's demands while preparing their

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response on the ground. During this communication process, Cooper maintained

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a calm demeanor in his seat. He allowed passengers to

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move about the cabin normally and made no announcement of

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the hijacking to them. Most travelers remained entirely unaware that

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anything unusual was transpiring. Cooper requested that flight attendant Tina

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Mucklow replaced Shaffner, who was needed for regular cabin duties.

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Mucklow would spend the most time with Cooper during the hijacking,

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and later provided investigators with detailed observations about his behavior

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and mannerisms. While the aircraft circled Puget Sound to give

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authorities time to assemble the ransom and parachutes, Cooper revealed

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specific technical knowledge about the Boeing seven twenty seven. He

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requested that the plane land with fifteen degrees of flat

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and maintain a speed of approximately one hundred and seventy

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knots about one hundred ninety six miles per hour, technical

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specifications that would later lead investigators to believe he had

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aviation experience. Possibly even with this specific aircraft model. Throughout

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this holding pattern, Cooper displayed remarkable composure. He smoked several

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Raleigh filter tipped cigarettes, continued nursing his bourbon, and engaged

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in limited conversation with Mucklow. His few personal comments included

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observations like seems like we're holding too long and McCord

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Air Force Base is just a few minutes away, demonstrating

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familiarity with the local geography. After approximately two hours of circling,

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Flight three oh five received clearance to land at Seattle

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Tacoma International Airport. The aircraft touched down at approximately five

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forty five PM and taxied to a remote section of

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the airfield. As Cooper had instructed, darkness had fallen and

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a light rain was beginning, weather conditions that would significantly

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impact the unfolding drama. Northwest Orient's Seattle operations manager Al

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Lee had procured the two hundred thousand dollars ransom from

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Seattle First National Bank. Bank officials had assembled tenenty twenty

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dollars bills, all with serial numbers beginning with the letter

249
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L and from the nineteen sixty nine series. The airline

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took photographs of each bill before delivery, recording all serial

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numbers in case the money ever surfaced in circulation. Meanwhile,

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the FBI had obtained four parachutes, two military grade personnel

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parachutes from a nearby Air Force base and two civilian

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sport parachutes, one main and one reserve from a local

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skydiving school. Cooper permitted the passengers and flight attendant Alice

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Hancock to disembark, but insisted that the remaining flight attendants

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Shaffner and Mucklow, and all three cockpit crew members remain aboard.

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This deviation from typical hijacking protocols, where hostages were often

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retained as leverage, suggested a certain confidence in his plan.

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Ali approached the aircraft and passed the money in parachutes

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to Mucklow through the rear airstairs, which were lowered slightly

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for this exchange. Cooper inspected the money briefly and appeared

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satisfied with the delivery. When examining the parachutes, however, he

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demonstrated enough technical knowledge to recognize that one of the

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reserve chutes was a dummy used for classroom instruction and

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could not be deployed. He rejected this non functional parachute

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and demanded a replacement, which authorities quickly provided further evidence

268
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of his familiarity with skydiving equipment. With the ransom and

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parachute secured, Cooper outlined his flight plan to the crew.

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He wanted to fly to Mexico City, with a refueling

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stop in Reno, Nevada. He specified several technical requirements that

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would prove crucial to his escape. The aircraft must fly

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with the rear airstairs staircase beneath the tail extended during

274
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takeoff and throughout the flight. The cabin must remain unpressurized.

275
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The plane must not exceed an altitude of ten thousand feet.

276
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The aircraft must maintain a speed of approximately one hundred

277
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and seventy knots. The flaps must be set at fifteen degrees,

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and the cockpit door must remain closed throughout the flight.

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These highly specific technical demands further suggested to investigators that

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Cooper had detailed knowledge of the Boeing seven twenty seven's capabilities.

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Speaker 2: The aircraft was one of.

282
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Speaker 1: The few commercial jets equipped with an air stair that

283
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could be opened during flight, a feature originally designed to

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allow passengers to disembark at airports lacking ground support equipment,

285
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but one that had already been exploited in a previous

286
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hijacking earlier that year. During the refueling process, Cooper allowed

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Schaffner to leave the aircraft, leaving Mucklow as the only

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cabin crew member and his primary point of contact. The

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FBI I attempted to position special Forces personnel around the

290
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aircraft during this phase, but Cooper remained vigilant and rejected

291
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any approaches beyond what was necessary for refueling. At approximately

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seven forty pm, flight three oh five, now with only

293
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five people aboard, Cooper, Mucklow, and the three cockpit crew members,

294
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took off from Seattle. Following Cooper's instructions, The aircraft headed

295
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southeast toward Reno, with its rear airstairs extended and the

296
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cabin unpressurized, creating an uncomfortable cold environment inside the plane.

297
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Cooper had instructed Mucklow to join the cockpit crew and

298
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closed the door behind her, leaving him alone in the

299
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passenger cabin. Once isolated, he apparently began preparing for his jump.

300
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He tied the bank bag containing the ransom money to

301
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his body using cord he had brought with him, and

302
00:19:49,920 --> 00:19:51,079
began readying.

303
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Speaker 2: One of the parachutes.

304
00:19:52,640 --> 00:19:56,319
Speaker 1: At approximately eight PM, a warning light illuminated in the cockpit,

305
00:19:56,720 --> 00:19:59,480
indicating that the aft stairs had been fully deployed.

306
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Speaker 3: Stay tuned for more of that Bigfoot podcast. We will

307
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be right back. After these messages.

308
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Speaker 1: The crew noticed a change in air pressure, confirming that

309
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the stairs were indeed completely extended. At eight thirteen PM,

310
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the aircraft experienced a sudden upward surge, which the flight

311
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crew later interpreted as the moment Cooper jumped from the plane.

312
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The aircraft suddenly lighter by the weight of a man

313
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and his money. The precise location of Cooper's exit has

314
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been debated extensively. Based on the aircraft's radar track and

315
00:20:34,480 --> 00:20:38,920
the crew's observations, investigators believe he jumped somewhere between Seattle

316
00:20:39,000 --> 00:20:43,240
and Reno, most likely over southwestern Washington near the Columbia River,

317
00:20:43,920 --> 00:20:47,000
a rugged, heavily forested area that was being drenched by

318
00:20:47,039 --> 00:20:51,079
a rainstorm that night. The FBI would later establish a

319
00:20:51,119 --> 00:20:55,160
most probable jump zone near Lake Merwin, Washington, though this

320
00:20:55,240 --> 00:21:00,000
remains controversial among case researchers. Flight three oh five continue

321
00:21:00,160 --> 00:21:03,920
to Reno, landing at Reno Tahoe International Airport at ten

322
00:21:04,039 --> 00:21:08,880
fifteen pm. FBI agents, local law enforcement and search and

323
00:21:08,960 --> 00:21:13,400
rescue personnel immediately surrounded the aircraft. The crew reported what

324
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had transpired, and authorities immediately launched what would become one

325
00:21:17,240 --> 00:21:21,079
of the most extensive man hunts in American history. The

326
00:21:21,119 --> 00:21:24,359
timing and conditions of Cooper's jump at night in a

327
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rainstorm over rugged terrain, wearing a business suit and dress

328
00:21:28,400 --> 00:21:31,799
shoes rather than survival gear, led many to believe he

329
00:21:31,839 --> 00:21:36,079
could not have survived. The prevailing theory among law enforcement

330
00:21:36,079 --> 00:21:38,839
officials at the time was that they would eventually discover

331
00:21:38,960 --> 00:21:42,599
his body, along with the parachute and money, somewhere in

332
00:21:42,640 --> 00:21:47,920
the vast forests of the Pacific Northwest. FBI agents meticulously

333
00:21:47,960 --> 00:21:51,839
examined the aircraft for evidence. They recovered Cooper's clip on

334
00:21:51,960 --> 00:21:54,960
tie and tie clip, which he had removed before jumping

335
00:21:55,240 --> 00:21:59,720
on seat eighteen e. They collected eight cigarette butts, carbon

336
00:21:59,759 --> 00:22:02,440
cop of the note he had handed to Shaffner, though

337
00:22:02,480 --> 00:22:06,039
the original was never found, and several partial fingerprints from

338
00:22:06,079 --> 00:22:09,519
a magazine he had handled and from sections of the plane.

339
00:22:09,599 --> 00:22:12,759
None of these fingerprints ever matched any in the FBI's

340
00:22:12,799 --> 00:22:17,319
extensive database. The FBI initially attempted to keep details of

341
00:22:17,319 --> 00:22:20,839
the hijacking from the press, hoping to maintain an information

342
00:22:20,920 --> 00:22:24,279
advantage over any accomplices Cooper might have had on the ground.

343
00:22:25,160 --> 00:22:28,839
This strategy collapsed when a United Press International reporter in

344
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Portland learned of the incident and contacted Northwest Orient's office

345
00:22:32,519 --> 00:22:36,480
for a statement. The airline confirmed the hijacking, and by

346
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the following day, Thanksgiving, the story had become national news,

347
00:22:41,160 --> 00:22:46,000
capturing public imagination across America. In these initial reports, a

348
00:22:46,039 --> 00:22:50,359
miscommunication led to Cooper being identified as dB Cooper rather

349
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than Dan Cooper, as he had called himself. This air

350
00:22:54,160 --> 00:22:57,160
was never corrected in the public consciousness, and the name

351
00:22:57,279 --> 00:23:00,720
D B. Cooper became permanently attached to the mystery man

352
00:23:00,920 --> 00:23:04,599
and his audacious crime. The day after the hijacking, on

353
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Thanksgiving nineteen seventy one, the FBI launched what would become

354
00:23:08,799 --> 00:23:11,759
one of the most extensive man hunts in its history.

355
00:23:12,599 --> 00:23:15,559
The primary search area was determined based on the flight's

356
00:23:15,640 --> 00:23:20,519
radar track, meteorological data, and calculations of possible landing zones,

357
00:23:20,720 --> 00:23:25,319
considering Cooper's exit time and the prevailing weather conditions. Special

358
00:23:25,359 --> 00:23:29,400
Agent Ralph Heimmelsbach, who would lead the investigation for many years,

359
00:23:29,720 --> 00:23:35,079
coordinated the initial ground search. The operation faced extraordinary challenges

360
00:23:35,119 --> 00:23:39,480
from the outset. The search area encompassed potentially hundreds of

361
00:23:39,480 --> 00:23:44,119
square miles of dense Pacific Northwest forest, steep ravines, and

362
00:23:44,200 --> 00:23:48,839
other difficult terrain. The late November weather further complicated matters,

363
00:23:49,160 --> 00:23:53,960
with cold temperatures, persistent rain, and even snow at higher elevations.

364
00:23:54,880 --> 00:23:58,640
Hundreds of Army soldiers from Fort Lewis now Joint Base Lewis,

365
00:23:58,680 --> 00:24:03,720
McCord Force, horse personnel, local law enforcement officers, and civilian

366
00:24:03,799 --> 00:24:08,880
volunteers combed the most probable landing areas on foot. Military

367
00:24:08,880 --> 00:24:12,079
helicopters equipped with then state of the art infrared sensors

368
00:24:12,400 --> 00:24:15,519
searched for any heat signature that might indicate a survivor

369
00:24:15,680 --> 00:24:20,359
or recently deceased body in the wilderness. Despite this unprecedented

370
00:24:20,400 --> 00:24:26,039
mobilization of resources, the search yielded nothing. No parachute, no money,

371
00:24:26,319 --> 00:24:30,720
no body, no clothing, no briefcase, nothing that could be

372
00:24:30,759 --> 00:24:33,519
tied to Cooper or his dramatic exit from flight three

373
00:24:33,680 --> 00:24:39,960
h five. The FBI simultaneously pursued conventional investigative avenues. They

374
00:24:40,000 --> 00:24:45,079
reviewed military and civilian skydiving records, checked recent workplace absences

375
00:24:45,119 --> 00:24:49,400
near the search area, investigated known criminals with parachuting skills,

376
00:24:49,680 --> 00:24:52,799
and followed up on thousands of tips from an interested public.

377
00:24:53,720 --> 00:24:57,319
In the weeks following the hijacking, agents interviewed nearly eight

378
00:24:57,400 --> 00:25:01,200
hundred potential suspects, and extraordin dinary number for an era

379
00:25:01,319 --> 00:25:06,440
before computerized record keeping and database searches. One promising early

380
00:25:06,559 --> 00:25:09,440
lead involved a man named D. B. Cooper, who had

381
00:25:09,480 --> 00:25:13,240
a minor criminal record and lived in Oregon. This individual

382
00:25:13,279 --> 00:25:16,440
was quickly cleared of involvement, but some speculate this might

383
00:25:16,480 --> 00:25:19,519
be the true source of the dB misnomer that stuck.

384
00:25:19,240 --> 00:25:20,559
Speaker 2: In media reports.

385
00:25:21,079 --> 00:25:24,799
Speaker 1: Among the limited physical evidence recovered from the plane, Cooper's

386
00:25:24,839 --> 00:25:28,640
tie would eventually prove the most intriguing. In the immediate

387
00:25:28,680 --> 00:25:32,359
aftermath of the hijacking, the tie was cataloged as evidence,

388
00:25:32,400 --> 00:25:37,039
but didn't receive special scrutiny beyond basic fingerprint analysis. This

389
00:25:37,160 --> 00:25:40,359
changed dramatically in twenty eleven, when a group of citizen

390
00:25:40,440 --> 00:25:44,400
investigators led by Attorney Galen Cook persuaded the FBI to

391
00:25:44,480 --> 00:25:48,359
allow them to examine the tie using advanced electron microscopy.

392
00:25:49,079 --> 00:25:52,599
This modern analysis revealed significant trace evidence that had gone

393
00:25:52,720 --> 00:25:57,640
undetected for decades, pure titanium particles, which were rare in

394
00:25:57,680 --> 00:26:02,640
commercial products of the early nineteen seven aluminum fragments alloyed

395
00:26:02,640 --> 00:26:06,440
in a way consistent with Boeing manufacturing processes of that period,

396
00:26:07,079 --> 00:26:12,839
stainless steel particles, and rare earth elements including serium, strontium sulfide,

397
00:26:12,880 --> 00:26:17,640
and thorium. These microscopic particles suggested to the citizen sleuths

398
00:26:17,880 --> 00:26:21,519
that Cooper might have worked in the aerospace industry, possibly

399
00:26:21,559 --> 00:26:26,319
as an engineer or manager with access to manufacturing areas. Boeing,

400
00:26:26,400 --> 00:26:30,799
the aircraft's manufacturer, maintained extensive operations in the Seattle area,

401
00:26:31,359 --> 00:26:33,839
leading to speculation that Cooper might have been a Boeing

402
00:26:33,880 --> 00:26:37,119
employee with intimate knowledge of the seven to twenty seven aircraft.

403
00:26:37,839 --> 00:26:40,200
The particles were consistent with someone who worked in a

404
00:26:40,200 --> 00:26:44,839
manufacturing environment involving titanium and aluminum during the development of

405
00:26:44,880 --> 00:26:49,400
the Supersonic Transport program or early Boeing seven forty seven production,

406
00:26:49,920 --> 00:26:54,039
both cutting edge aerospace projects of that era. This theory,

407
00:26:54,079 --> 00:26:57,519
aligned with Cooper's apparent technical knowledge about the aircraft and

408
00:26:57,599 --> 00:27:01,319
its operations, potentially explained how he knew about the seven

409
00:27:01,319 --> 00:27:06,319
to twenty seven's unique aft staircase capability and other technical specifications.

410
00:27:06,319 --> 00:27:10,519
He demanded during the hijacking. For nearly nine years after

411
00:27:10,559 --> 00:27:14,039
the skyjacking, no physical evidence connected to Cooper had been

412
00:27:14,079 --> 00:27:18,880
found outside the aircraft itself. This changed dramatically in February

413
00:27:18,960 --> 00:27:22,400
nineteen eighty, when eight year old Brian Ingram was vacationing

414
00:27:22,440 --> 00:27:25,359
with his family on the Columbia River, about twenty miles

415
00:27:25,400 --> 00:27:28,440
northwest of Portland, Oregon, at a beach area known as

416
00:27:28,480 --> 00:27:31,680
Tina Bar. While digging a fire pit in the sand,

417
00:27:32,119 --> 00:27:36,400
Ingram uncovered three packets of deteriorating twenty dollars bills held

418
00:27:36,440 --> 00:27:40,880
together by rubber bands that had disintegrated into a gooy residue.

419
00:27:40,920 --> 00:27:46,039
The family contacted local authorities, who alerted the FBI. Examination

420
00:27:46,160 --> 00:27:48,920
of the serial numbers confirmed these were indeed bills from

421
00:27:48,960 --> 00:27:52,880
the Cooper ransom, specifically two hundred and ninety four bills

422
00:27:52,920 --> 00:27:55,759
amounting to five thousand, eight hundred eighty dollars of the

423
00:27:55,839 --> 00:28:00,160
original two hundred thousand dollars. This discovery represented both the

424
00:28:00,200 --> 00:28:04,240
major breakthrough and a perplexing new puzzle. The location was

425
00:28:04,240 --> 00:28:09,119
approximately twenty miles downstream from Cooper's suspected jump zone, suggesting

426
00:28:09,160 --> 00:28:11,359
that either he or the money had somehow ended up

427
00:28:11,400 --> 00:28:15,279
in the Columbia River and been carried by the current. However,

428
00:28:15,640 --> 00:28:18,680
the condition and arrangement of the money presented complications for

429
00:28:18,720 --> 00:28:22,880
this straightforward theory. The bills were found bundled together rather

430
00:28:22,920 --> 00:28:27,200
than scattered, suggesting they had entered the water as a package.

431
00:28:27,279 --> 00:28:30,640
More puzzling still, the money was buried several inches deep

432
00:28:30,680 --> 00:28:34,559
in sand that, according to geological analysis, had likely been

433
00:28:34,599 --> 00:28:38,400
deposited during spring flooding in nineteen seventy four, meaning the

434
00:28:38,400 --> 00:28:41,119
bills had been at Tina Bar since at least that time,

435
00:28:41,720 --> 00:28:45,680
nearly three years after the hijacking. The bills were severely

436
00:28:45,720 --> 00:28:48,680
decomposed at the edges, but relatively well preserved in the

437
00:28:48,720 --> 00:28:52,440
centers of the bundles, consistent with long exposure to water

438
00:28:52,519 --> 00:28:56,920
and the elements. This discovery spawned multiple theories, each with

439
00:28:57,000 --> 00:29:01,480
significant problems. Perhaps Cooper died during his landing, with his

440
00:29:01,559 --> 00:29:04,519
body and the money eventually washing into the Columbia River,

441
00:29:04,880 --> 00:29:08,119
and the recovered bills eventually reaching Tina Bar through natural

442
00:29:08,160 --> 00:29:11,640
water movement. But if this were true, why had no

443
00:29:11,759 --> 00:29:17,119
other evidence parachute material the briefcase, clothing, or human remains

444
00:29:17,519 --> 00:29:21,920
ever been found in the river or along its shores. Alternatively,

445
00:29:21,960 --> 00:29:24,240
Cooper might have survived but lost some of the money

446
00:29:24,279 --> 00:29:27,759
during his escape, with these particular bills somehow making their

447
00:29:27,799 --> 00:29:31,000
way to the Columbia, but this didn't explain why only

448
00:29:31,039 --> 00:29:34,279
these specific bills were found, or why they remained bundled

449
00:29:34,279 --> 00:29:37,119
together if they had traveled through moving water for miles.

450
00:29:37,960 --> 00:29:40,720
Some theorized that someone had found Cooper's money at the

451
00:29:40,759 --> 00:29:44,799
original landing site, kept most of it, but deliberately planted

452
00:29:44,839 --> 00:29:48,480
a small portion at Tina Bar to mislead investigators, a

453
00:29:48,519 --> 00:29:52,000
theory that seemed implausible given the remote location and the

454
00:29:52,000 --> 00:29:56,640
deteriorated condition of the bills. Others suggested the money reached

455
00:29:56,759 --> 00:30:01,160
Tenabar through human intervention unrelated to Cooper himself, perhaps an

456
00:30:01,160 --> 00:30:03,680
accomplice disposed of a portion of the money that had

457
00:30:03,680 --> 00:30:08,759
become damaged or compromised. The FBI conducted an intensive operation

458
00:30:08,839 --> 00:30:15,400
at tena Bar following the discovery, bringing in archaeologists, geologists, hydrologists,

459
00:30:15,440 --> 00:30:20,000
and oceanographic experts to study the site. Despite an extensive

460
00:30:20,039 --> 00:30:23,720
search and excavation of the surrounding area, no additional bills

461
00:30:23,799 --> 00:30:27,240
or Cooper related evidence was found. The ten of Bar

462
00:30:27,359 --> 00:30:30,599
money remains one of the most tantalizing clues in the case.

463
00:30:31,240 --> 00:30:34,839
The only confirmed physical evidence of the ransom ever recovered,

464
00:30:35,119 --> 00:30:39,160
representing less than three percent of the total amount. The

465
00:30:39,240 --> 00:30:42,799
remaining one hundred ninety four one hundred twenty dollars has

466
00:30:42,880 --> 00:30:46,640
never been found or traced. The FBI checked the serial

467
00:30:46,720 --> 00:30:50,640
numbers against all cash transactions they could access for years afterward,

468
00:30:51,200 --> 00:30:54,279
but none of the bills ever surfaced in circulation, a

469
00:30:54,359 --> 00:30:58,160
fact that many investigators considered the strongest evidence that Cooper

470
00:30:58,200 --> 00:31:01,599
did not survive his jump. In two thousand and eight,

471
00:31:01,680 --> 00:31:05,359
another potential piece of physical evidence emerged when children playing

472
00:31:05,400 --> 00:31:09,200
near the town of Amboy, Washington, within the primary search area,

473
00:31:09,680 --> 00:31:13,319
uncovered a deteriorated piece of fabric buried in the ground.

474
00:31:14,160 --> 00:31:17,799
The material appeared consistent with a parachute, raising hopes of

475
00:31:17,839 --> 00:31:23,000
a significant breakthrough. The FBI dispatched agents to excavate the site,

476
00:31:23,119 --> 00:31:25,799
recovering more material, Initially thought to be from one of

477
00:31:25,839 --> 00:31:31,599
Cooper's parachutes. However, subsequent laboratory analysis determined the fabric came

478
00:31:31,640 --> 00:31:35,039
from an older style Navy parachute used to drop cargo

479
00:31:35,200 --> 00:31:39,759
during World War II, unrelated to the hijacking. This promising

480
00:31:39,880 --> 00:31:42,680
lead ended in disappointment, Like so many others in the

481
00:31:42,680 --> 00:31:48,359
Cooper investigation. As decades passed without resolution, the active investigation

482
00:31:48,519 --> 00:31:53,440
gradually diminished in scale and intensity. Ralph Himmelsbach, the FBI

483
00:31:53,519 --> 00:31:57,799
agent most closely associated with the case, retired in nineteen eighty,

484
00:31:57,880 --> 00:32:00,640
still convinced that Cooper had died in the gym, but

485
00:32:00,720 --> 00:32:05,279
with the mystery unsolved. New agents were periodically assigned to

486
00:32:05,319 --> 00:32:09,000
the case, bringing fresh perspectives but facing the same fundamental

487
00:32:09,079 --> 00:32:14,599
challenges minimal physical evidence, no body, no identified suspect who

488
00:32:14,640 --> 00:32:19,160
matched all the criteria, and an increasingly cold trail. In

489
00:32:19,279 --> 00:32:23,319
July twenty sixteen, the FBI officially closed its active investigation

490
00:32:23,400 --> 00:32:27,400
of the Cooper case, the longest and costliest investigation of

491
00:32:27,440 --> 00:32:30,000
a single unsolved crime in the bureau's history.

492
00:32:30,839 --> 00:32:31,680
Speaker 2: In a public.

493
00:32:31,400 --> 00:32:34,480
Speaker 1: Statement, the FBI indicated that its resources would be better

494
00:32:34,519 --> 00:32:37,720
directed toward cases with more promising leads, and that they

495
00:32:37,720 --> 00:32:41,799
would only reopen the Cooper investigation if definitive physical evidence,

496
00:32:41,839 --> 00:32:44,720
such as the parachutes or the remaining money, were discovered.

497
00:32:45,519 --> 00:32:49,319
The FBI retained all physical evidence, including the partial ransom

498
00:32:49,319 --> 00:32:52,759
money recovered at Tina Bar, the tie, and other items

499
00:32:52,759 --> 00:32:55,960
from the aircraft, preserving them as a cold case. That

500
00:32:56,000 --> 00:33:00,319
could theoretically be reactivated if compelling new evidence ever servedst

501
00:33:01,240 --> 00:33:04,799
Over five decades, hundreds of individuals have been investigated as

502
00:33:04,839 --> 00:33:09,160
potential dB Coopers. Some suspects have been promoted by FBI

503
00:33:09,279 --> 00:33:12,920
agents or other law enforcement personnel, while others have been

504
00:33:12,960 --> 00:33:17,039
advanced by journalists, amateur sleuths, or family members.

505
00:33:16,799 --> 00:33:18,119
Speaker 2: Of deceased suspects.

506
00:33:18,960 --> 00:33:21,799
Speaker 1: Each theory and candidate has added another layer to the

507
00:33:21,839 --> 00:33:25,440
Cooper legend, but none has provided the definitive answer to

508
00:33:25,480 --> 00:33:29,599
the mystery. Just five months after the Cooper hijacking, on

509
00:33:29,640 --> 00:33:34,240
April seventh, nineteen seventy two, Richard Floyd McCoy, Junior, hijacked

510
00:33:34,359 --> 00:33:38,119
United Airlines Flight eight fifty five from Denver to Los Angeles,

511
00:33:38,559 --> 00:33:42,759
using tactics remarkably similar to Cooper's. McCoy claimed to have

512
00:33:42,799 --> 00:33:46,599
a grenade, demanded five hundred thousand dollars in four parachutes,

513
00:33:46,880 --> 00:33:49,559
and jumped from the rear airstairs of a Boeing seven

514
00:33:49,680 --> 00:33:54,440
twenty seven over Utah. Unlike Cooper, McCoy was captured days

515
00:33:54,519 --> 00:33:58,200
later when investigators traced a car spotted near his landing zone.

516
00:33:58,799 --> 00:34:01,680
McCoy seemed to fit the Cooper profile in many ways.

517
00:34:02,160 --> 00:34:05,359
He was a Vietnam veteran with Army airborne training, a

518
00:34:05,400 --> 00:34:10,320
helicopter pilot, and an experienced skydiver, qualifications that matched the

519
00:34:10,360 --> 00:34:15,360
expertise Cooper had displayed. Some FBI agents, including Ralph Heimmelsback,

520
00:34:15,440 --> 00:34:19,000
believe McCoy and Cooper might be the same person. However,

521
00:34:19,280 --> 00:34:22,639
significant problems with this theory included the fact that McCoy

522
00:34:22,679 --> 00:34:25,920
didn't physically resemble the composite sketch of Cooper and had

523
00:34:26,039 --> 00:34:29,400
verifiable alibis placing him in Utah with his family on

524
00:34:29,440 --> 00:34:33,920
Thanksgiving nineteen seventy one. The similarities in their method seemed

525
00:34:33,920 --> 00:34:37,039
to indicate that McCoy had been inspired by Cooper's widely

526
00:34:37,079 --> 00:34:42,000
publicized crime, rather than being Cooper himself. McCoy was convicted

527
00:34:42,000 --> 00:34:44,880
of the United hijacking and sentenced to forty five years

528
00:34:44,880 --> 00:34:49,400
in prison. He escaped from the federal penitentiary in Louisbourg, Pennsylvania,

529
00:34:49,679 --> 00:34:53,000
in August nineteen seventy four, but was killed three months

530
00:34:53,039 --> 00:34:56,719
later in a shootout with FBI agents in Virginia. Whether

531
00:34:56,760 --> 00:34:59,400
he might have been Dan Cooper remained an open question,

532
00:35:00,039 --> 00:35:04,400
though most investigators now consider the connection unlikely. In two

533
00:35:04,440 --> 00:35:07,639
thousand and three, Kenneth Christiansen's brother Lyle came forward with

534
00:35:07,679 --> 00:35:10,280
the claim that Kenneth, who had died of cancer in

535
00:35:10,400 --> 00:35:12,400
nineteen ninety four, was d B.

536
00:35:12,559 --> 00:35:12,920
Speaker 2: Cooper.

537
00:35:13,760 --> 00:35:16,840
Speaker 1: Christiansen had served as a paratrooper during the Korean War,

538
00:35:17,320 --> 00:35:20,199
later worked as a mechanic and flight purser for Northwest

539
00:35:20,239 --> 00:35:24,800
Orient Airlines, the very airline Cooper hijacked and bore some

540
00:35:24,840 --> 00:35:29,199
resemblance to the Cooper Sketch. After Christiansen's death, his family

541
00:35:29,239 --> 00:35:32,159
discovered he had purchased a house with cash not long

542
00:35:32,199 --> 00:35:37,039
after the hijacking, despite earning a modest salary. He allegedly

543
00:35:37,039 --> 00:35:40,000
made a cryptic statement to a friend before dying, saying,

544
00:35:40,480 --> 00:35:43,159
there is something you should know, but I cannot tell you.

545
00:35:44,119 --> 00:35:47,280
The case for Christiansen was strengthened by his intimate knowledge

546
00:35:47,320 --> 00:35:50,360
of the Boeing seven twenty seven through his airline work,

547
00:35:50,400 --> 00:35:54,239
and his familiarity with the Seattle area. However, at five

548
00:35:54,280 --> 00:35:57,559
feet eight inches tall and approximately one hundred and fifty pounds,

549
00:35:57,960 --> 00:36:01,920
he was significantly smaller than witnessed descriptions of Cooper. The

550
00:36:02,079 --> 00:36:05,760
FBI investigated Christiansen, but ultimately concluded he was not a

551
00:36:05,920 --> 00:36:10,119
likely suspect, though his case continues to attract interest among

552
00:36:10,199 --> 00:36:11,480
amateur investigators.

553
00:36:12,400 --> 00:36:13,599
Speaker 2: Robert Rackstraw, a.

554
00:36:13,599 --> 00:36:18,559
Speaker 1: Decorated Vietnam veteran with extensive military training, including parachute experience,

555
00:36:18,960 --> 00:36:23,400
explosives knowledge, and piloting skills, was investigated as a Cooper

556
00:36:23,480 --> 00:36:26,559
suspect in the late nineteen seventies after being arrested for

557
00:36:26,599 --> 00:36:30,960
possessing explosives and check fraud. His case was revived in

558
00:36:30,960 --> 00:36:34,639
twenty sixteen by a cold case team led by documentary

559
00:36:34,639 --> 00:36:38,639
filmmaker Thomas Colbert, who compiled what he claimed was substantial

560
00:36:38,719 --> 00:36:43,800
circumstantial evidence linking Rackstraw to the hijacking. This included alleged

561
00:36:43,840 --> 00:36:47,559
coded messages and letters sent to newspapers after the hijacking that,

562
00:36:48,000 --> 00:36:52,480
when deciphered, supposedly pointed to Rackstraw's military units and training.

563
00:36:53,199 --> 00:36:57,280
Rackstraw himself played coy about the accusations for years, neither

564
00:36:57,360 --> 00:37:02,000
confirming nor explicitly denying them in very media interviews. He

565
00:37:02,039 --> 00:37:05,519
died in twenty nineteen, taking any secrets he might have

566
00:37:05,559 --> 00:37:09,039
had about the Cooper case to the grave. The FBI

567
00:37:09,119 --> 00:37:12,519
had previously eliminated him as a suspect, but Colbert and

568
00:37:12,519 --> 00:37:16,280
his investigative team remained convinced of his guilt, producing a

569
00:37:16,320 --> 00:37:20,679
documentary and book outlining their theory. In nineteen ninety five,

570
00:37:20,800 --> 00:37:24,000
Joe Weber came forward claiming that her husband, Dwayne, who

571
00:37:24,000 --> 00:37:26,840
had died of kidney disease that year, had confessed to

572
00:37:26,880 --> 00:37:30,679
being d B. Cooper on his deathbed. According to Joe,

573
00:37:31,000 --> 00:37:35,519
Dwayne's final words included the statement, I'm Dan Cooper. Weber

574
00:37:35,559 --> 00:37:38,440
had a criminal record, including armed robbery, and was physically

575
00:37:38,480 --> 00:37:42,079
similar to the Cooper descriptions. Joe claimed he suffered from

576
00:37:42,159 --> 00:37:45,039
nightmares about jumping from planes and once took her on

577
00:37:45,079 --> 00:37:48,119
an unexplained trip to the Columbia River in the vicinity

578
00:37:48,119 --> 00:37:51,760
of Tenebar, where he spent time staring intently into the water.

579
00:37:52,639 --> 00:37:56,239
The FBI investigated Weber extensively, but eliminated him as a

580
00:37:56,280 --> 00:37:59,400
suspect after his fingerprints failed to match those found on

581
00:37:59,440 --> 00:38:05,760
the plane and DNA comparison with the tie provided inconclusive results. Nevertheless,

582
00:38:05,840 --> 00:38:09,280
Joe Weber continued to advocate for her husband as the hijacker,

583
00:38:09,719 --> 00:38:13,320
appearing in numerous documentaries and news programs about the case.

584
00:38:14,199 --> 00:38:18,239
In twenty eighteen, a military veteran named William J. Smith

585
00:38:18,400 --> 00:38:22,280
was posthumously identified as a potential Cooper suspect by his

586
00:38:22,400 --> 00:38:27,639
friend Warren Welch. According to Welch, Smith possessed detailed knowledge

587
00:38:27,639 --> 00:38:31,400
of the hijacking that wasn't public information, and had accumulated

588
00:38:31,440 --> 00:38:35,679
a retirement fund that seemed inconsistent with his known income sources.

589
00:38:36,519 --> 00:38:39,280
Smith had served as a paratrooper during the Korean War,

590
00:38:39,360 --> 00:38:42,320
with hundreds of jumps to his credit, and strongly resembled

591
00:38:42,320 --> 00:38:46,119
the Cooper sketch. He also apparently had intimate knowledge of

592
00:38:46,159 --> 00:38:50,320
the local geography where Cooper was believed to have jumped. However,

593
00:38:50,559 --> 00:38:54,719
as with many suspects identified long after their deaths, definitive

594
00:38:54,760 --> 00:38:59,519
evidence connecting Smith to the crime proved elusive. In twenty eleven,

595
00:38:59,719 --> 00:39:02,760
a Way woman named Marla Cooper publicly claimed that her

596
00:39:02,840 --> 00:39:07,840
uncle Lynn Doyle L. D. Cooper was the hijacker. Marla

597
00:39:07,880 --> 00:39:10,239
reported that as an eight year old girl, she saw

598
00:39:10,280 --> 00:39:13,400
her uncle arrive at her grandmother's house on Thanksgiving nineteen

599
00:39:13,440 --> 00:39:16,719
seventy one, bloodied and injured, claiming to have been in

600
00:39:16,760 --> 00:39:20,800
a car accident. She later overheard ld and another uncle

601
00:39:20,840 --> 00:39:24,480
discussing a hijacking, and as an adult, came to believe her.

602
00:39:24,440 --> 00:39:26,800
Speaker 2: Uncle was D. B. Cooper L. D.

603
00:39:26,920 --> 00:39:30,239
Speaker 1: Cooper was a Korean War veteran with parachute experience who

604
00:39:30,239 --> 00:39:33,920
physically matched the description of the hijacker. He died in

605
00:39:34,000 --> 00:39:37,440
nineteen ninety nine, but the FBI collected DNA samples from

606
00:39:37,440 --> 00:39:41,599
his daughter to compare with trace evidence found on Cooper's tie.

607
00:39:41,679 --> 00:39:45,639
The results were inconclusive, neither confirming nor ruling out L. D.

608
00:39:45,760 --> 00:39:47,000
Speaker 2: Cooper as a suspect.

609
00:39:47,880 --> 00:39:52,519
Speaker 1: Marla Cooper's story attracted significant media attention, but without definitive

610
00:39:52,519 --> 00:39:55,960
forensic evidence, L. D. Cooper remains just another name on

611
00:39:56,000 --> 00:39:58,320
the long list of potential Coopers.

612
00:39:58,840 --> 00:40:02,480
Speaker 3: Stay tuned for of that Bigfoot podcast. We will be

613
00:40:02,599 --> 00:40:04,400
right back after these messages.

614
00:40:07,519 --> 00:40:11,159
Speaker 1: One of the more unusual theories involves Barbara Dayton, a

615
00:40:11,239 --> 00:40:14,320
transgender woman who allegedly claimed to friends that she had

616
00:40:14,320 --> 00:40:19,679
committed the hijacking while presenting as male. According to this theory, Dayton,

617
00:40:19,840 --> 00:40:23,400
who had undergone gender reassignment surgery in nineteen sixty nine,

618
00:40:23,920 --> 00:40:28,519
possessed extensive aviation experience and parachuting skills, and had supposedly

619
00:40:28,559 --> 00:40:32,800
confessed to the hijacking to close friends. Years later, Dayton

620
00:40:32,840 --> 00:40:35,639
reportedly detailed how she had disguised herself as a man

621
00:40:35,639 --> 00:40:39,159
for the hijacking. Then returned to living as a woman afterward,

622
00:40:39,639 --> 00:40:44,639
making identification impossible. While intriguing, there has been little official

623
00:40:44,679 --> 00:40:49,320
investigation into this claim, and Dayton's physical characteristics didn't closely

624
00:40:49,360 --> 00:40:53,679
match witness descriptions of Cooper. In twenty eighteen, a Michigan

625
00:40:53,679 --> 00:40:56,760
publishing company released a book claiming to have identified D. B.

626
00:40:56,920 --> 00:41:02,400
Cooper as Walter R. RecA, a military paratrooper and intelligence operative.

627
00:41:03,320 --> 00:41:06,639
The book's claims were based on alleged audio recordings RecA

628
00:41:06,679 --> 00:41:09,920
made before his death in twenty fourteen, in which he

629
00:41:09,960 --> 00:41:13,639
purportedly confessed to being Cooper and described the hijacking and

630
00:41:13,719 --> 00:41:17,800
his escape in detail. According to this theory, RecA jumped

631
00:41:17,800 --> 00:41:20,519
from the plane and landed in Michigan, far from the

632
00:41:20,639 --> 00:41:24,840
FBI's search area in Washington State, a claim that contradicts

633
00:41:24,880 --> 00:41:29,000
known flight data from the hijacked plane. The publication included

634
00:41:29,000 --> 00:41:31,880
statements from individuals claiming to have helped Reka after the

635
00:41:32,000 --> 00:41:35,000
jump or who had knowledge of his involvement in the crime.

636
00:41:35,880 --> 00:41:39,840
Most Cooper experts view the Michigan landing claim as physically impossible,

637
00:41:39,880 --> 00:41:43,880
given the aircraft's known flight path and the time constraints involved,

638
00:41:44,320 --> 00:41:48,519
relegating this theory to the fringes of Cooper speculation. An

639
00:41:48,519 --> 00:41:51,000
intriguing aspect of the case that has gained attention in

640
00:41:51,039 --> 00:41:55,480
recent years focuses on the name Dan Cooper itself. This

641
00:41:55,679 --> 00:41:58,800
wasn't a randomly chosen alias. It was the name of

642
00:41:58,800 --> 00:42:01,960
a popular French Canadian comic book character from the nineteen

643
00:42:02,000 --> 00:42:05,679
fifties and nineteen sixties. The fictional Dan Cooper was a

644
00:42:05,760 --> 00:42:09,760
Royal Canadian Air Force pilot who had numerous adventures, often

645
00:42:09,800 --> 00:42:14,639
involving parachuting from aircraft. These comics were never widely distributed

646
00:42:14,679 --> 00:42:18,519
in the United States, but were popular in Canada, particularly

647
00:42:18,519 --> 00:42:23,119
among French speaking Canadians. This connection has led some investigators

648
00:42:23,119 --> 00:42:26,400
to speculate that the hijacker might have been Canadian or

649
00:42:26,440 --> 00:42:31,280
had spent considerable time in Canada, especially Quebec. The connection

650
00:42:31,400 --> 00:42:34,599
to the comic book character suggests a level of premeditation

651
00:42:35,000 --> 00:42:37,840
and possibly a sense of humor or irony on the

652
00:42:37,880 --> 00:42:41,639
part of the hijacker. It also potentially narrows the field

653
00:42:41,639 --> 00:42:43,840
of suspects to those who would have been familiar with

654
00:42:43,880 --> 00:42:49,119
this relatively obscure to American's comic book series, a tantalizing

655
00:42:49,159 --> 00:42:52,159
clue that has yet to lead to a definitive identification.

656
00:42:53,079 --> 00:42:56,719
Over the decades, several competing theories have emerged about Cooper's

657
00:42:56,760 --> 00:43:00,800
fate and the circumstances of the hijacking. These range from

658
00:43:00,800 --> 00:43:04,360
the plausible to the fantastic, but all attempt to address

659
00:43:04,400 --> 00:43:07,679
the central mystery what happened to D. B. Cooper after

660
00:43:07,719 --> 00:43:10,519
he jumped from that Bowing seven twenty seven on November

661
00:43:10,519 --> 00:43:16,519
twenty fourth, nineteen seventy one. Many FBI investigators, including Ralph Heimmelsbach,

662
00:43:16,880 --> 00:43:20,360
long believed that Cooper did not survive as jump. This

663
00:43:20,440 --> 00:43:24,039
theory holds considerable logic. Cooper jumped at night during a

664
00:43:24,119 --> 00:43:28,000
rainstorm with temperatures near freezing at altitude. He was wearing

665
00:43:28,000 --> 00:43:30,840
a business suit and loafers rather than proper jumping or

666
00:43:30,840 --> 00:43:35,679
survival gear. He parachuted into a heavily forested area with rough,

667
00:43:35,760 --> 00:43:40,840
mountainous terrain without apparent preparation for wilderness survival. None of

668
00:43:40,840 --> 00:43:43,960
the money ever entered circulation, except for the Tina Bar find,

669
00:43:44,440 --> 00:43:46,760
which could be explained by a body and the money

670
00:43:46,880 --> 00:43:51,599
washing down stream in the Columbia River system. Perhaps most tellingly,

671
00:43:51,920 --> 00:43:55,280
an experienced skydiver would have recognized the extreme dangers of

672
00:43:55,320 --> 00:43:58,519
jumping under those conditions and likely would not have attempted

673
00:43:58,599 --> 00:44:03,280
it unless desperate. In this scenario, Cooper's body and most

674
00:44:03,280 --> 00:44:06,159
of the money remain undiscovered in the vast wilderness of

675
00:44:06,159 --> 00:44:10,519
the Pacific Northwest, perhaps buried under decades of forest growth

676
00:44:10,880 --> 00:44:14,559
or in an inaccessible ravine. The lack of evidence would

677
00:44:14,559 --> 00:44:17,400
simply reflect the vastness of the search area and the

678
00:44:17,519 --> 00:44:21,079
challenging terrain that has frustrated many search efforts over the years.

679
00:44:22,039 --> 00:44:25,400
An alternative theory suggests that Cooper survived the initial jump

680
00:44:25,639 --> 00:44:28,960
but lost the money, either during the descent or upon landing.

681
00:44:29,760 --> 00:44:32,360
This would explain why the bills never circulated and why

682
00:44:32,400 --> 00:44:35,360
a portion was found at Tina Bar. The money, but

683
00:44:35,480 --> 00:44:38,599
not Cooper, ended up in the Columbia River through natural

684
00:44:38,639 --> 00:44:42,440
water movement. In this scenario, Cooper might have realized he

685
00:44:42,480 --> 00:44:46,320
had lost his prize and simply returned to his normal life,

686
00:44:46,360 --> 00:44:49,599
perhaps even following the investigation from Afar, with a mixture

687
00:44:49,639 --> 00:44:54,119
of relief and disappointment. Alternatively, he might have been injured

688
00:44:54,119 --> 00:44:56,960
in the landing and died later from his injuries, but

689
00:44:57,079 --> 00:45:00,159
in a location separated from the money and outside the

690
00:45:00,159 --> 00:45:04,760
primary search area where authorities concentrated their efforts. The most

691
00:45:04,840 --> 00:45:07,960
romantic theory, and the one that has fueled Cooper's folk

692
00:45:08,079 --> 00:45:12,360
hero status, is that he executed the perfect crime, a

693
00:45:12,400 --> 00:45:15,599
mid air heist that left no victims and no resolution.

694
00:45:16,599 --> 00:45:20,920
In this scenario, Cooper landed safely, buried or otherwise secured

695
00:45:20,960 --> 00:45:23,119
the money, and made his way out of the search

696
00:45:23,159 --> 00:45:27,719
area before authorities could establish effective containment. Proponents of this

697
00:45:27,800 --> 00:45:31,360
theory point to Cooper's apparent planning and specific technical knowledge

698
00:45:31,400 --> 00:45:34,800
as evidence of a professional approach unlikely to have ended

699
00:45:34,840 --> 00:45:38,760
in failure. This version of events suggests Cooper likely had

700
00:45:38,760 --> 00:45:43,039
a vehicle or accomplice waiting at a predetermined location, allowing

701
00:45:43,119 --> 00:45:45,880
him to quickly exit the search area before the massive

702
00:45:45,920 --> 00:45:50,119
manhunt began. In earnest, the money found at Tina Barr

703
00:45:50,199 --> 00:45:53,639
might have been a portion he deliberately disposed of, perhaps

704
00:45:53,679 --> 00:45:56,159
because it was damaged during the jump, or because he

705
00:45:56,199 --> 00:45:58,920
feared the bills might be traced if used. In circulation

706
00:46:00,119 --> 00:46:03,159
to this theory, Cooper might have lived out his life quietly,

707
00:46:03,280 --> 00:46:07,079
enjoying his ill gotten gains, perhaps amused by the continuing

708
00:46:07,159 --> 00:46:11,159
fascination with his crime, but careful never to reveal his identity.

709
00:46:11,960 --> 00:46:15,920
Some investigators have proposed that Cooper had inside help, possibly

710
00:46:15,920 --> 00:46:19,320
from someone at Northwest Orient Airlines or even among the

711
00:46:19,320 --> 00:46:23,760
flight crew. This theory attempts to explain Cooper's specific knowledge

712
00:46:23,760 --> 00:46:26,239
of the aircraft and the seeming precision of his plan.

713
00:46:27,199 --> 00:46:30,400
In variations of this theory, Cooper wasn't acting alone, but

714
00:46:30,519 --> 00:46:33,360
was part of a team, with the actual jumper being

715
00:46:33,400 --> 00:46:35,920
different from the man who boarded the plane in Portland.

716
00:46:36,760 --> 00:46:39,360
This might explain why none of the hundreds of suspects

717
00:46:39,440 --> 00:46:43,840
investigated fully matched all the criteria. Investigators were looking for

718
00:46:43,920 --> 00:46:48,039
a single individual rather than a team with distributed responsibilities.

719
00:46:48,840 --> 00:46:52,519
The inside job theory has never gained significant traction among

720
00:46:52,519 --> 00:46:56,719
official investigators, primarily due to lack of supporting evidence and

721
00:46:56,760 --> 00:46:59,559
the thorough vetting of the flight crew, all of whom

722
00:46:59,639 --> 00:47:03,760
Kawap operated fully with the investigation and maintained consistent accounts

723
00:47:03,800 --> 00:47:04,599
over decades.

724
00:47:05,400 --> 00:47:06,079
Speaker 2: One of the more.

725
00:47:06,039 --> 00:47:08,960
Speaker 1: Radical theories suggests that Cooper never jumped from the plane

726
00:47:09,000 --> 00:47:12,079
at all, but managed to conceal himself on board until

727
00:47:12,159 --> 00:47:15,559
landing in Reno. Proponents point to the lack of any

728
00:47:15,639 --> 00:47:18,840
reported sightings of a parachutist by other aircraft in the

729
00:47:18,920 --> 00:47:22,199
area and the absence of Cooper's body or equipment in

730
00:47:22,280 --> 00:47:26,039
the extensive search zone. They suggest Cooper might have hidden

731
00:47:26,039 --> 00:47:29,519
in the plane's lavatory or another compartment, then slipped off

732
00:47:29,559 --> 00:47:33,280
the aircraft during the confusion upon landing in Reno. This

733
00:47:33,360 --> 00:47:38,000
theory faces substantial challenges, including the cockpit crew's testimony regarding

734
00:47:38,039 --> 00:47:41,480
the pressure change felt when Cooper apparently jumped, and the

735
00:47:41,559 --> 00:47:46,039
limited hiding spaces on a Boeing seven twenty seven. Furthermore,

736
00:47:46,199 --> 00:47:49,280
the discovery of the money at Tenabar strongly suggests at

737
00:47:49,360 --> 00:47:51,679
least the ransom made it out of the aircraft over

738
00:47:51,719 --> 00:47:54,800
the Columbia River area, making this one of the less

739
00:47:54,840 --> 00:47:59,559
plausible scenarios. The Tenabar money find continues to generate debate

740
00:47:59,599 --> 00:48:03,159
and annaptalysis. Some researchers believed the money may have been

741
00:48:03,159 --> 00:48:06,960
deliberately placed there, either by Cooper himself as a red herring,

742
00:48:07,119 --> 00:48:09,239
or by someone who had found Cooper's body and the

743
00:48:09,280 --> 00:48:13,559
money elsewhere but kept most of it. Geological studies of

744
00:48:13,599 --> 00:48:15,880
the site noted that the money was buried in sand

745
00:48:15,960 --> 00:48:18,840
layers that appeared to have been deposited during a dredging

746
00:48:18,880 --> 00:48:22,480
operation or flood event in nineteen seventy four, about three

747
00:48:22,559 --> 00:48:26,960
years after the hijacking. This has spawned theories involving complex

748
00:48:27,000 --> 00:48:30,880
scenarios of how the money reached this location, none entirely

749
00:48:30,920 --> 00:48:35,960
satisfactory or conclusively proven. The most tangible and lasting impact

750
00:48:36,039 --> 00:48:40,480
of the Cooper hijacking was on aviation security. Within days

751
00:48:40,519 --> 00:48:44,320
of the incident, the Federal Aviation Administration instituted what became

752
00:48:44,440 --> 00:48:49,000
known as Cooper Vans or Cooper Devices, mechanical systems that

753
00:48:49,039 --> 00:48:52,159
prevented the rear airstairs on Boeing seven to twenty sevens

754
00:48:52,320 --> 00:48:56,679
from being opened during flight, closing the specific vulnerability Cooper

755
00:48:56,719 --> 00:49:00,679
had exploited. More broadly, the hijacking could contributed to the

756
00:49:00,719 --> 00:49:06,159
implementation of comprehensive security screening at American airports. By January

757
00:49:06,239 --> 00:49:10,360
nineteen seventy three, the FAA had mandated that all passengers

758
00:49:10,400 --> 00:49:13,920
and their carry on luggage be screened before boarding commercial flights.

759
00:49:14,760 --> 00:49:18,599
Metal detectors became standard features at airports, as did X

760
00:49:18,719 --> 00:49:22,880
ray machines for baggage inspection. The era of simply walking

761
00:49:22,880 --> 00:49:25,639
from the ticket counter directly to the gate without any

762
00:49:25,639 --> 00:49:30,320
security screening ended, partly due to Cooper's audacious crime. These

763
00:49:30,400 --> 00:49:35,079
changes dramatically reduced the frequency of hijackings from nineteen sixty

764
00:49:35,119 --> 00:49:38,639
eight to nineteen seventy two, American commercial aircraft had been

765
00:49:38,719 --> 00:49:44,079
hijacked nearly one hundred sixty times, an epidemic of skyjackings

766
00:49:44,079 --> 00:49:49,639
that threatened the viability of commercial aviation. After implementing universal screening,

767
00:49:49,880 --> 00:49:54,519
hijackings became rare events rather than regular occurrences, a public

768
00:49:54,599 --> 00:49:58,639
safety success story, with Cooper ironically serving as the catalyst.

769
00:49:59,400 --> 00:50:02,760
Despite being a criminal who threatened innocent lives, Cooper has

770
00:50:02,800 --> 00:50:07,000
achieved an unusual status in American folk culture, something between

771
00:50:07,079 --> 00:50:11,480
an outlaw hero and a mythic figure. Several factors contributed

772
00:50:11,480 --> 00:50:15,440
to this unlikely veneration. No one was physically harmed during

773
00:50:15,440 --> 00:50:19,039
the hijacking, and Cooper was described as polite and even

774
00:50:19,079 --> 00:50:22,320
respectful by the flight crew. The target of the crime

775
00:50:22,440 --> 00:50:26,320
was a corporation rather than individuals, aligning with a Robin

776
00:50:26,360 --> 00:50:29,760
Hood esque ethos that resonated during an era of diminishing

777
00:50:29,800 --> 00:50:34,559
trust in institutions and authority figures. The mystery itself captured

778
00:50:34,559 --> 00:50:38,239
the public imagination, not just a daring crime, but an

779
00:50:38,360 --> 00:50:43,679
enduring puzzle that invited everyone to play detective. Perhaps most significantly,

780
00:50:44,000 --> 00:50:46,840
Cooper appeared to be an ordinary man who executed an

781
00:50:46,840 --> 00:50:52,079
extraordinary plan, embodying a certain American archetype of individualism and

782
00:50:52,159 --> 00:50:57,280
audacity that transcended the criminality of his actions. Cooper's cultural

783
00:50:57,280 --> 00:51:00,760
footprint has been extensive and enduring. He has been referenced

784
00:51:00,800 --> 00:51:05,800
in countless books, songs, films, and television shows throughout the

785
00:51:05,800 --> 00:51:09,440
Pacific Northwest. Multiple bars and restaurants bear his name or

786
00:51:09,480 --> 00:51:13,840
serve Cooper themed drinks. The town of Ariel, Washington, near

787
00:51:13,880 --> 00:51:17,079
the primary search area, held an annual D. B. Cooper

788
00:51:17,119 --> 00:51:21,199
Days festival for many years, drawing thousands of curious visitors

789
00:51:21,199 --> 00:51:25,360
and amateur sleuths. Musicians have been particularly drawn to the

790
00:51:25,360 --> 00:51:30,599
Cooper story as inspiration. Songs referencing the hijacking span genres

791
00:51:30,599 --> 00:51:35,199
and decades, from folk artist Todd Snyder's explicitly titled D. B.

792
00:51:35,360 --> 00:51:39,599
Cooper to oblique references and works by Genesis, Kid Coody

793
00:51:40,039 --> 00:51:43,119
and numerous other artists fascinated by the mystery man who

794
00:51:43,199 --> 00:51:46,800
vanished into the night with a fortune. In literature, Cooper

795
00:51:46,840 --> 00:51:50,000
has appeared in novels by authors including J. D. Salinger,

796
00:51:50,360 --> 00:51:54,679
Elmore Leonard, and Don DeLillo. The nineteen eighty one film

797
00:51:54,840 --> 00:51:57,679
The Pursuit of D. B. Cooper starred treat Williams as

798
00:51:57,719 --> 00:52:01,119
a fictionalized version of the hijacker, while the two thousand

799
00:52:01,119 --> 00:52:04,320
and four comedy Without a Paddle featured a plot centered

800
00:52:04,320 --> 00:52:09,199
around finding Cooper's lost money. Television has perhaps embraced Cooper

801
00:52:09,280 --> 00:52:13,639
most enthusiastically, with references appearing in series ranging from Twin

802
00:52:13,679 --> 00:52:18,800
Peaks to prison Break to Leverage. A twenty eleven episode

803
00:52:18,840 --> 00:52:22,840
of Leverage titled the dB Cooper Job was entirely dedicated

804
00:52:22,840 --> 00:52:26,880
to a fictionalized account of the hijacking, while the twenty

805
00:52:26,960 --> 00:52:30,880
seventeen revival of Twin Peaks featured a character heavily implied

806
00:52:30,920 --> 00:52:34,320
to be an aged Cooper living under an assumed identity.

807
00:52:35,199 --> 00:52:38,519
Beyond direct references, Cooper's influence can be seen in other

808
00:52:38,559 --> 00:52:43,920
fictional characters who pull off seemingly impossible heists or vanish mysteriously.

809
00:52:44,800 --> 00:52:48,559
The nineteen ninety four films Drop Zone and Terminal Velocity

810
00:52:48,920 --> 00:52:53,000
both featured skydiving based crimes inspired partly by the Cooper case.

811
00:52:53,440 --> 00:52:57,000
While countless thriller novels and films have incorporated elements of

812
00:52:57,039 --> 00:53:02,000
his story into their narratives, the Cooper Investigation represents the

813
00:53:02,079 --> 00:53:06,719
longest running and most expensive unsolved case in FBI history.

814
00:53:07,559 --> 00:53:10,840
Over its forty five year active period, hundreds of agents

815
00:53:10,880 --> 00:53:14,320
worked on the case, interviewing more than one thousand suspects

816
00:53:14,320 --> 00:53:18,639
and exploring countless leads across multiple states and even internationally.

817
00:53:19,440 --> 00:53:22,559
The investigation pushed the Bureau to develop new techniques in

818
00:53:22,599 --> 00:53:27,360
forensic analysis and case management. The Cooper case files reportedly

819
00:53:27,400 --> 00:53:30,360
fill sixty volumes and include information on more than eight

820
00:53:30,480 --> 00:53:34,719
hundred suspects, representing one of the most extensive investigations of

821
00:53:34,760 --> 00:53:39,000
a single crime in American law enforcement history. When the

822
00:53:39,119 --> 00:53:43,960
FBI officially closed the active investigation in twenty sixteen, it

823
00:53:44,079 --> 00:53:47,920
marked the end of an era. Special Agent Larry Carr,

824
00:53:47,920 --> 00:53:50,920
who handled the case in its later years, acknowledged that

825
00:53:50,960 --> 00:53:54,119
the Bureau had exhausted all leads, but maintained that the

826
00:53:54,159 --> 00:53:58,320
case represented an important chapter in FBI history and American

827
00:53:58,360 --> 00:54:02,320
criminal lore. The Cooper investigation has become a case study

828
00:54:02,360 --> 00:54:06,159
in criminal investigation methodology, both for its thoroughness and for

829
00:54:06,239 --> 00:54:11,639
its ultimate inconclusiveness, a stark reminder that despite advanced technology

830
00:54:11,679 --> 00:54:16,840
and dedicated personnel, some mysteries remain beyond solution. While the

831
00:54:16,920 --> 00:54:20,880
FBI has closed its active investigation interest in the Cooper case,

832
00:54:20,920 --> 00:54:27,280
continues unabated among amateur investigators, forensic scientists, documentary filmmakers, and

833
00:54:27,360 --> 00:54:31,360
the general public. In two thousand one, the FBI extracted

834
00:54:31,400 --> 00:54:34,800
a partial DNA profile from the cigarette butts Cooper left

835
00:54:34,840 --> 00:54:38,119
on the plane. In two thousand seven, they attempted to

836
00:54:38,159 --> 00:54:42,280
extract DNA from the Thai Cooper left behind. Neither sample

837
00:54:42,320 --> 00:54:45,719
provided a complete profile, but these partial results have been

838
00:54:45,800 --> 00:54:50,440
used to evaluate some suspects in subsequent years. As DNA

839
00:54:50,519 --> 00:54:54,280
technology continues to advance, there remains the possibility that these

840
00:54:54,320 --> 00:54:57,679
samples could eventually be matched to a suspect through familial

841
00:54:57,760 --> 00:55:02,599
DNA matching or other emerging TIS techniques. However, the limited

842
00:55:02,679 --> 00:55:06,239
quality and quantity of the original samples may prevent definitive

843
00:55:06,280 --> 00:55:10,599
identification through this avenue. The official closure of the FBI

844
00:55:10,719 --> 00:55:15,159
investigation has, if anything, increased amateur interest in the case.

845
00:55:16,039 --> 00:55:20,679
Multiple groups of citizen sleuths continued to conduct their own investigations,

846
00:55:21,119 --> 00:55:24,519
often publishing their findings online or in books dedicated to

847
00:55:24,639 --> 00:55:28,880
unraveling the Cooper mystery. One notable example is the Cooper

848
00:55:28,960 --> 00:55:33,559
Research Team, which gained unprecedented access to the FBI's physical

849
00:55:33,559 --> 00:55:37,159
evidence in two thousand and nine and performed advanced analysis

850
00:55:37,159 --> 00:55:41,840
on Cooper's tie using electron microscopy. Their discovery of unique

851
00:55:41,840 --> 00:55:44,239
metal particles on the tie led to the theory that

852
00:55:44,280 --> 00:55:48,159
Cooper might have worked in the aerospace industry, potentially even

853
00:55:48,199 --> 00:55:51,400
at Boeing, where he could have gained intimate knowledge of

854
00:55:51,440 --> 00:55:55,519
the seven to twenty seven aircraft he hijacked. Modern computer

855
00:55:55,599 --> 00:55:58,960
mapping and modeling techniques have allowed researchers to create more

856
00:55:59,000 --> 00:56:03,760
precise models of Cooper's possible jump location and landing zone

857
00:56:03,840 --> 00:56:08,400
by incorporating historical weather data, aircraft speed and trajectory information,

858
00:56:08,960 --> 00:56:13,360
and detailed topographic mapping unavailable in the nineteen seventies. These

859
00:56:13,400 --> 00:56:17,559
analyzes have refined potential search areas and challenged some aspects

860
00:56:17,599 --> 00:56:22,039
of the FBI's original investigation. Some researchers have used these

861
00:56:22,079 --> 00:56:27,159
advanced geographic information system techniques to challenge the FBI's original

862
00:56:27,159 --> 00:56:30,920
search area, suggesting Cooper might have landed farther east or

863
00:56:31,000 --> 00:56:35,320
south than initially believed. Others have used this technology to

864
00:56:35,400 --> 00:56:39,599
identify specific locations where Cooper's remains or equipment might be

865
00:56:39,639 --> 00:56:44,719
found based on terrain features, waterways, and other geographic factors

866
00:56:44,880 --> 00:56:48,119
that would have influenced both his descent and any subsequent

867
00:56:48,199 --> 00:56:51,440
movement through the area. The ten of bar money find

868
00:56:51,480 --> 00:56:54,800
continues to generate debate and analysis half a century later.

869
00:56:55,639 --> 00:57:00,360
Recent studies of riverflow patterns, sediment deposition, and historical redging

870
00:57:00,400 --> 00:57:03,679
operations have produced new theories about how the money reached

871
00:57:03,719 --> 00:57:09,519
its discovery location in seemingly contradictory circumstances. Bundled together yet

872
00:57:09,519 --> 00:57:14,079
exposed to water, buried in sand, deposited years after the hijacking,

873
00:57:14,400 --> 00:57:17,400
yet deteriorated as if exposed to the elements for an

874
00:57:17,400 --> 00:57:21,239
extended period. Some researchers believe the money may have been

875
00:57:21,239 --> 00:57:24,719
deliberately buried by Cooper himself or an accomplice, as a

876
00:57:24,760 --> 00:57:28,440
form of insurance or evidence to be used later. Others

877
00:57:28,440 --> 00:57:32,519
suggest it was deposited by natural river processes after Cooper's

878
00:57:32,519 --> 00:57:37,440
body and the money entered the water system, perhaps miles upstream.

879
00:57:37,719 --> 00:57:40,079
The fact that none of the remaining bills has ever

880
00:57:40,119 --> 00:57:43,960
been identified in circulation remains one of the strongest arguments

881
00:57:44,000 --> 00:57:47,559
for Cooper's death during or shortly after the jump. If

882
00:57:47,599 --> 00:57:50,239
he had survived with the money, it seems likely that

883
00:57:50,320 --> 00:57:52,800
at least some of the bills would have eventually been spent,

884
00:57:53,480 --> 00:57:56,920
especially after the passage of years when the investigation had cooled.

885
00:57:57,880 --> 00:58:00,840
As the fiftieth anniversary of the hijacking passed in twenty

886
00:58:00,880 --> 00:58:05,880
twenty one, many fundamental questions remained unanswered. Who was Dan

887
00:58:05,960 --> 00:58:10,480
Cooper and what motivated his audacious hijacking. Did he survive

888
00:58:10,559 --> 00:58:14,360
the jump into the stormy Washington Knight. If he survived,

889
00:58:14,679 --> 00:58:17,519
what happened to the remaining money, and did he evade

890
00:58:17,519 --> 00:58:20,599
capture for the rest of his life? If he died,

891
00:58:21,000 --> 00:58:23,400
Why has his body never been found despite one of

892
00:58:23,480 --> 00:58:27,079
the most extensive searches in FBI history. How did a

893
00:58:27,079 --> 00:58:29,519
portion of the ransom end up buried at Tina barr

894
00:58:29,639 --> 00:58:34,039
under such puzzling circumstances. Was the hijacking truly the work

895
00:58:34,039 --> 00:58:37,280
of a lone individual or did Cooper have accomplices who

896
00:58:37,320 --> 00:58:41,840
have likewise remained unidentified. If he possessed inside knowledge of

897
00:58:41,840 --> 00:58:45,760
the Boeing seven twenty seven's technical specifications, how did he

898
00:58:45,800 --> 00:58:51,119
acquire such specialized information. These persistent questions continue to drive

899
00:58:51,199 --> 00:58:56,199
interest in the case, spawning new books, documentaries, podcasts, and

900
00:58:56,280 --> 00:59:00,000
theories with each passing year. The Cooper case stands at

901
00:59:00,039 --> 00:59:04,559
as perhaps the perfect unsolved mystery, containing enough established facts

902
00:59:04,559 --> 00:59:09,159
to make solutions seem tantalizingly possible while maintaining enough ambiguity

903
00:59:09,199 --> 00:59:13,960
to resist definitive resolution. The D. B. Cooper hijacking occupies

904
00:59:14,000 --> 00:59:17,800
a unique place in American criminal history and cultural mythology.

905
00:59:18,559 --> 00:59:22,440
It combines elements of a daring heist, a perfect disappearance,

906
00:59:22,880 --> 00:59:26,800
technical ingenuity, and an enduring puzzle that has defied solution

907
00:59:26,960 --> 00:59:30,400
for over half a century. It emerged from a specific

908
00:59:30,519 --> 00:59:36,960
historical moment, a time of social upheaval, institutional distrust, technological transition,

909
00:59:37,400 --> 00:59:41,519
and shifting cultural values. Yet its appeal has transcended its

910
00:59:41,559 --> 00:59:45,920
era to become a timeless American legend. Cooper himself remains

911
00:59:45,960 --> 00:59:50,719
an enigma, simultaneously nobody and everybody, a phantom whose true

912
00:59:50,760 --> 00:59:55,480
identity has eluded generations of investigators, both professional and amateur.

913
00:59:56,320 --> 00:59:58,880
He could have been a desperate man making one last

914
00:59:58,960 --> 01:00:04,079
audacious gamble, or a meticulous professional executing a carefully planned operation.

915
01:00:05,000 --> 01:00:08,519
Speaker 3: Stay tuned for more of that Bigfoot podcast. We will

916
01:00:08,559 --> 01:00:10,559
be right back after these messages.

917
01:00:13,719 --> 01:00:17,079
Speaker 1: He might have been a disgruntled airline employee, a former

918
01:00:17,119 --> 01:00:21,360
paratrooper down on his luck, an engineer with specialized knowledge

919
01:00:21,360 --> 01:00:26,280
of aircraft systems, or someone else entirely without a confirmed identity,

920
01:00:26,519 --> 01:00:29,519
Cooper becomes a blank canvas onto which we project our

921
01:00:29,519 --> 01:00:34,320
own interpretations and narratives, a rarshacked test of American attitudes

922
01:00:34,360 --> 01:00:38,159
toward crime, authority, individualism.

923
01:00:37,360 --> 01:00:38,039
Speaker 2: And mystery.

924
01:00:38,880 --> 01:00:42,679
Speaker 1: The cases enduring fascination likely stems from its unique combination

925
01:00:42,800 --> 01:00:47,760
of concrete facts and tantalizing unknowns. We know precisely what

926
01:00:47,880 --> 01:00:51,320
happened on the plane, supported by multiple witness accounts and

927
01:00:51,360 --> 01:00:54,880
physical evidence. We know the exact amount of money taken,

928
01:00:55,280 --> 01:00:58,199
down to the serial numbers of every bill. We know

929
01:00:58,320 --> 01:01:02,400
when and approximately where Cooper jumped from the aircraft. Yet

930
01:01:02,440 --> 01:01:05,199
we don't know who he was, whether he survived his

931
01:01:05,320 --> 01:01:07,920
leap into the darkness, or what happened to most of

932
01:01:07,960 --> 01:01:12,119
the ransom money. This balance of known and unknown elements

933
01:01:12,119 --> 01:01:16,639
has proven irresistible to both professional investigators and armchair detectives

934
01:01:16,679 --> 01:01:20,679
across the decades, offering just enough information to make solutions

935
01:01:20,719 --> 01:01:25,360
seem possible while remaining elusive enough to prevent certainty. At

936
01:01:25,360 --> 01:01:28,840
its core, the Cooper case represents something increasingly rare in

937
01:01:28,920 --> 01:01:33,920
the modern information age, a complete disappearance, a clean vanishing

938
01:01:33,960 --> 01:01:37,559
act from the grid of searchable data and digital footprints

939
01:01:37,760 --> 01:01:41,400
that now track most human activities in an era of

940
01:01:41,519 --> 01:01:46,559
ubiquitous surveillance cameras, cell phone location tracking, DNA databases, and

941
01:01:46,599 --> 01:01:51,000
interconnected information systems, the idea that someone could simply step

942
01:01:51,079 --> 01:01:53,760
off an airplane into the night and vanish without a

943
01:01:53,800 --> 01:01:57,760
trace carries a certain mystique. Cooper stepped out of the

944
01:01:57,800 --> 01:02:01,360
airstairs of Flight three five and in to American mythology

945
01:02:01,880 --> 01:02:06,199
becoming larger than any single suspect or theory. Whether Dan

946
01:02:06,280 --> 01:02:09,599
Cooper died on that reigny November nine in nineteen seventy one,

947
01:02:10,039 --> 01:02:12,960
or walked away to live another day under a different identity,

948
01:02:13,480 --> 01:02:18,159
his legacy as America's most famous unsolved hijacker is secure.

949
01:02:19,000 --> 01:02:24,039
His crime changed aviation security forever, inspired countless creative works,

950
01:02:24,480 --> 01:02:28,360
launched thousands of investigations, and left an indelible mark on

951
01:02:28,400 --> 01:02:33,119
American popular culture. In disappearing so completely, he achieved a

952
01:02:33,199 --> 01:02:35,960
kind of immortality that has outlasted many of those who

953
01:02:36,039 --> 01:02:39,920
hunted him and will likely continue to fascinate generations to come.

954
01:02:40,800 --> 01:02:43,360
The perfect crime may or may not exist.

955
01:02:43,159 --> 01:02:43,559
Speaker 2: But D. B.

956
01:02:43,679 --> 01:02:47,599
Speaker 1: Cooper created the perfect mystery. A puzzle with no solution,

957
01:02:48,039 --> 01:02:53,199
only theories, a story with no ending, only possibilities, A

958
01:02:53,280 --> 01:02:57,239
legend that continues to capture our imagination and invites speculation.

959
01:02:57,400 --> 01:02:59,920
Half a century after, a nondescript man in a bit

960
01:03:00,000 --> 01:03:03,199
business suit stepped off a commercial aircraft and into the

961
01:03:03,239 --> 01:03:07,039
stormy night skies of the Pacific Northwest, taking with him

962
01:03:07,039 --> 01:03:09,320
not just a bag of ransom money, but a place

963
01:03:09,360 --> 01:03:13,480
in American criminal folklore that no identified hijacker could ever

964
01:03:13,559 --> 01:03:17,400
hope to achieve. If today's tale left you a little

965
01:03:17,440 --> 01:03:21,400
more curious and maybe a little more uneasy, then you're

966
01:03:21,480 --> 01:03:25,800
exactly where you belong. Here on Disturbing History, we don't

967
01:03:25,840 --> 01:03:28,559
just tell stories. We dig up the ones they tried

968
01:03:28,599 --> 01:03:31,880
to bury. If you like what you're hearing, help keep

969
01:03:31,880 --> 01:03:35,719
the past alive by subscribing, following, and turning on auto

970
01:03:35,800 --> 01:03:38,559
downloads so you never miss what comes creeping out of

971
01:03:38,599 --> 01:03:41,639
the archives next. And if you've got a minute, drop

972
01:03:41,639 --> 01:03:44,239
a rating and review. It helps more than you know.

973
01:03:45,159 --> 01:03:47,440
But the most powerful way to help the show grow

974
01:03:47,920 --> 01:03:52,320
share it with your friends, your family. That one coworker

975
01:03:52,360 --> 01:03:55,599
who's just a little too into conspiracy theories, you know

976
01:03:55,679 --> 01:04:00,800
the one, Because around here we believe sometimes history disturbs us,

977
01:04:01,400 --> 01:04:06,360
and sometimes we disturb history. Until next time, Keep digging,

978
01:04:06,960 --> 01:04:09,920
keep questioning, and always keep disturbing history.

979
01:04:15,840 --> 01:04:19,039
Speaker 3: I shall your skin.

980
01:04:20,519 --> 01:04:23,840
Speaker 2: Hearth God. It tastes fun.

981
01:04:25,400 --> 01:04:26,280
Speaker 3: Your house.

982
01:04:27,800 --> 01:04:28,719
Speaker 2: I'm see.

983
01:04:30,159 --> 01:04:43,320
Speaker 3: Wat child and come fun. You better know.

984
01:04:46,639 --> 01:04:47,880
Speaker 1: Some moon is out.

985
01:04:48,159 --> 01:05:06,679
Speaker 2: Now you're gonna hear my heart. You'd better run now, SUSA,

986
01:05:07,119 --> 01:05:11,960
Now you gonna hear my

987
01:05:15,480 --> 01:05:15,519
Speaker 1: O