I get asked that question every once in a while and I usually don’t have a real good answer. Today is different though. Today, I’m writing my first blog on my new web-site and I wanted to be able to express to my (potential) readers what would make me do such a thing.

 You see, I’ve been interested in the Northwest Airlines Skyjacking of November 11, 1971 every since the day it happened. It was the day before Thanksgiving, The Billboard #1 hit was “The Theme from Shaft” by Isaac Hayes, the Viet Nam war was ongoing, the My Lai Massacre had become old news, the Pentagon Papers had been published in two major American newspapers, 200,000 war protesters had marched on Washington, and there was campus unrest all over the country. I was sick of campus unrest. I had previously worked at Stanford University and became sick and tired of making my way to work in the morning through the stench of tear-gas remaining in the air from the previous night’s protest. When I had all I could take I moved to Birmingham, Alabama. By Thanksgiving of 1971, I was settled in and ready to continue my life.

 I honestly don’t remember when I first heard about the hijacking, but I do remember trying to follow it on the news. It wasn’t all that big of a story. Skyjacking had become all too common. They were usually politically motivated, and resulted in the plane being flown somewhere the hijacker wanted to go. The big difference in this case was, the hijacker bailed-out and disappeared. The story died in a few days and most forgot about it. About ’74 or ’75, D.B. Cooper T-shirts and songs about DB started showing up. Most people would ask; “Who is D.B. Cooper?” and I was more than happy to explain it to them. That’s when I really started learning the details of the incident and I have closely followed the developments in the case since then.

 The next question/statement usually is; “Why waste your time on that stuff? It happened 37 years ago, he’s probably dead by now, he’s old enough that there is no effective punishment for him, and, after all, he didn’t harm anyone. Besides, if the FBI hasn’t been able to catch him, what makes you think you can?”

 Now, I do have an answer to that!

 It is a case with at least as much (or maybe more) notoriety as the Jack-the-Ripper murders, Jon Benet Ramsey murder, or the Black Dahlia murder. It is the only unsolved domestic skyjacking in US history. It has an unusually high level of intrigue, if he lived or if he died, he still did it and (so far) he has gotten away with it. And yes, a bunch of highly trained professionals have failed to solve the crime, but just imagine if some amateurs could make a major contribution and be part of that success. And, as far as the “he didn’t harm anyone” statement, I beg to differ, he did harm many people. He harmed the psyche and careers of at least three of the crew members, he harmed Northwest Airlines (and their insurers), and he harmed the American public whose taxes supported one of the longest and most expensive manhunts in FBI history. Finally, I don’t know why others do it, but for me, it’s a “guilty pleasure” that’s cheaper than motorcycles, flying airplanes, or golf.

 The problem for amateurs is their inability to get good, factual, information. In the pre-internet days, the info came from newspaper and magazine articles. These articles were full of conjecture and non-factual information. With the explosion of the internet, the incorrect information was circulated and the narrative became full of myths. These myths were repeated and referenced by new articles, until the “myth” became the “reality”. When legitimate journalist can’t get factual information, the amateur sleuth doesn’t have a chance.

 The good news is… Help is on the way, in the persona of Agent Larry Carr of the Seattle Office of the FBI. He is the newest in a line of about a dozen agents assigned to the D.B. Cooper case since 1971. Since the Cooper legend is as robust as ever, and because so many years have passed, Agent Carr has adopted a more open approach to the case, inviting and even encouraging public participation. Agent Carr has participated in some of the discussions on a popular skydiving web forum (under the screen-name of Ckret) and helped the amateurs get good, clean, straight-from-the-source, factual information that was not previously available to the public. [Sluggo’s Note: I am going to try to get an interview with Ckret for an upcoming blog or podcast.] Agent Carr’s major duty is investigating bank robberies, he has brought the successful techniques from that area of investigation into the D.B. Cooper case. This has already yielded some results. Last month, two children in northern Clark County (where Cooper is thought to have jumped) found a partially buried parachute. Agent Carr’s publicity about the case led them to insist that their father report the find to the FBI. Unfortunately the chute was determined to be unrelated to the hijacking.

 So, that’s it for now. Please check back again for more of Sluggo’s Blog.