Northwest 305 Skyjacking

Are you tired of hearing it?

2009-12-03T19:49:00Z

I spend a lot of my time on a particular internet forum that has the (currently) most active DB Cooper thread anywhere. It is a skydiver forum that has been kind enough to provide the bandwidth for everyone, skydivers and non-skydivers (they call non-skydivers “whuffos”) a cyber-soapbox to stand on and spout on and on about their pet NORJAK theories (present company included).

The supporting website has a rule that all DB Cooper discussion MUST take place on that particular forum thread and can NEVER take place on other threads. Because Cooper used a parachute to escape out of Flight 305, skydiving has become immutably linked to skydiving and skydivers. My guess is that they got tired of other threads constantly being hijacked (no pun intended) by Cooper theorist and now have all those discussions quarantined to a single thread. Whatever their motives, I (for one) appreciate the bandwidth and appreciate that they do not exclude whuffos.

But alas… it IS an internet forum and is fraught with all the weaknesses of those cyber-fighting cages! On that thread, lives the full spectrum of internet citizens. There are trolls, lurkers, smart-asses, butt-heads, intellectuals, comedians, pontificators, pretenders, and dumb-heads. However, an unbelievably large amount of serious information has been transferred via that thread in the last 2 years.

In a recent discussion some of the posters were complaining that the FBI seems to “play favorites” when it comes to allowing private citizens access to the FBI files on NORJAK. It seems that one group of “citizen sleuths” were invited into the Seattle Division office of the FBI and allowed to spend several hours looking at evidence and FBI “work product” and even allowed to obtain samples for analysis. Their efforts were featured on the National Geographic Television program “The Skyjacker That Got Away” which was first aired July 2009. Several other persons, authors and journalist doing research were denied the same level of access. If fact, on author was not able to obtain some specific information under the Freedom of Information Act (FIOA) was forced to sue the FBI for access. The conclusion that the posters came to was: if you are making a television program the FBI will open their doors to you, but otherwise don’t even ask.

The unwillingness to disclose information about NORJAK to “just anyone” is not limited to the FBI. There are some serious researchers and investigators out there that are very cautious and selective about with whom they share information. This caution is a necessary offshoot of having knowledge of “the good stuff.” Authors, journalist, and scientific researchers all operate under the same constraint… the possibility of “premature release.” Authors and journalist efforts are considerably compromised if the blockbuster information in their book or article is leaked. Scientist almost never (and should never) release the results of their research before it has been accepted for publication in a prominent (refereed) journal. [NOTE: This cardinal rule of the scientific method seems to be violated more and more often in modern times, driven by the “publish or perish” mentality inherent with obtaining funding for research.] This is the reason that the “citizen sleuths” have not been heard from (other that the Nat Geo film) yet. Their research is slow and painstaking, and no information will be release until they are ready to publish.

So why do the FBI, authors, researchers, film producers, and journalist share the “latest and greatest” info with some and not others? Why did the FBI allow access to the “citizen sleuths” and not to the author of a book. In my opinion, it has little to do with the activity in which they were involved and everything to do with their publically visible reputation.

When the decision to share guarded information is made is always a “liability vs. benefit” equation. “How much can giving out this information to this individual (or group) HURT me,” as compared to; “How much can giving out this information to this individual (or group) HELP me.” The “citizen sleuths,” based on their individual and collective reputations must have seemed like a “good bet” to the FBI in a risk vs. benefit sense.

When this topic was being discussed on the Cooper thread, I made a statement that I had made several times previously and one person said that they were tired of hearing it. I said; “those that know… aren’t talking and those that are talking… don’t know.” The responses to this statement made it clear to me that my point was not getting through. The typical assumption was that I meant that if someone had really good information, they kept it to themselves, and people who talked about the information they had, were just blathering about things that may or may not be important, new, or factual.

My meaning is something quite different. What I mean is; “those who cannot and do not kept confidential information confidential” are a high risk and low benefit to anyone possessing such information. Hence, they can be a considerable liability be able to obtain confidential important, new, or factual information. Why would the FBI choose to share with someone who has made 100 posts accusing the FBI of incompetence or has made a statement that they believe that no information should be confidential?

So, if you want the “good stuff,” behave yourself (in public and online), prove you are trustworthy, and show that sharing information with you will be “value-added” for the owner. But remember this… once you get the info… you can’t talk about it!

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: “those that know… aren’t talking and those that are talking… don’t know.”

Are you tired of hearing it?

Internet Forums

2009-03-17T03:27:00Z

You know, I just don’t know what it is about posting on an internet forum that brings out the bad behavior in people.

Is it the anonymity, the separation distance (in most cases you are miles away from the people with whom you are communicating)? Could it be the “virtual aspect” (the feeling that the other parties aren’t real people, but rather their avatars)? Maybe it’s the lack of important social, aural, and visual cues, that leads to a dulling of one’s ability to know how someone feels about what you are saying.

At any rate, several times in the last few years, I have “sworn-off” posting to internet forums.

In 2001 I started posting to a forum for an outdoor activity called “geocaching.” At that time it was a new thing and everyone wanted to share information with each other. The regular (frequent) posters were always willing to help a “newbie” and shared the common desire to bring others into the fold. Then people began to carp at each other. Cliques formed. Senior posters were rude to newbies. Everyone seemed to have an “axe to grind” and didn’t care who got hurt while they ground it.

Finally, I gave up and quit posting there. There was nothing there for me.

Similarly, last January, I started posting to a popular skydiver’s forum that ran a particular interesting thread about NORJAK (DB Cooper). At first it was mostly serious posts about the NORJAK case and it was obvious that most of the regular posters had a common goal. That was, to try to make some sense of NORJAK.

But alas, it took a turn to the dark side. The posters abandoned spirited debate, for outright bullying. The discussions became circuitous and nothing was being accomplished. It was just too much time and energy expended with little or no payout.

So, today I abandoned it.

I made some good friends while I was there, some are probably reading this. If so, I would like to invite you to the “NORJAK Forum” (http://305forum.dbcoopersite.com/). I promise that it will be a place for open discussion about NORJAK, a place where you can discuss your ideas without ridicule or having to face the “cyber schoolyard bully.”

So, if you want to join me (us), come aboard, but don’t leave good manners behind.

Sluggo

The New Suspect and Another Book

2008-06-01T01:32:00Z

Ever since November of 2007 when lawyer and former investigator Galen Cook started making assertions on the Coast to Coast AM syndicated talk show stating that he had located D B Cooper, people have asked me what I think about the likelihood that his new suspect is the “Real” D B Cooper.

Well, that question has no simple answer. On one hand, if the assertions that Cook claims have more than a small grain of truth in them, he may well have happened onto the most reasonable suspect to date. On the other hand, Cook has offered absolutely nothing in the way of “proof” to validate these assertions.

A good place to start if one wishes to determine if Cook is on to something or not, is the manner and location he chose to make his debut release of the astonishing assertions. He chose the Coast to Coast AM syndicated talk show. This show is the last vestige of the old (and very entertaining) Coast To Coast with the late Art Bell. The show in now hosted by George Noory, but Ian Punnett is the Saturday host. This show deals with “far-out” and “fringe” clams of the paranormal almost exclusively. It concerns itself mostly with claims of UFO and Bigfoot sightings, government conspiracy, and events of extra-sensory nature. Here are a few current articles featured on its web site:

ü $1,000,000 for Bigfoot Trail Cam Photo

ü Isolated tribe spotted in Brazil

ü UFO blamed for mystery explosion in Vietnam

ü Purported UFO video to be shown Friday - Footage is said to depict a living, breathing space alien.

ü Sliders & the Streetlight Phenomenon - Why do some people cause streetlights to go out?

ü Titanic search was cover for secret mission to inspect wrecks of two Cold War nuclear subs

Well, you get my point. After a half-dozen appearances on Coast To Coast, each time not naming his suspect “out of respect for the suspect’s family,” Cook finally announced that the man’s name would appear in a article in the suspect’s home town newspaper.

A person wanting to be taken seriously about solving one of the most baffling crimes of the twentieth century, does not chose the radio equivalent of a grocery store tabloid to release the information. Jo Weber released her story to US News and World Report, The Christiansen story was first released to New York Magazine, but Cook chose Coast To Coast AM (Radio) and an article (Print) in a relatively obscure Depoe Bay, Oregon local paper called “The Depoe Bay Beacon.”

The article, written by Rick Beasley, makes the following points about the suspect, now known by all as William Pratt (Wolfgang) Gossett. Beasley says:

ü Galen Cook is one of the nation’s leading authorities on D.B. Cooper

ü Punnett was interviewing Cook when Gossett’s son Greg called and said he believed his father was D.B. Cooper

ü He (Beasley) knew Gossett and wrote his obituary in September 2003

ü Gossett confessed to a retired Salt Lake City Judge

ü Gossett once took his attorney on a mysterious trip to a Vancouver, B.C. bank where some of the ransom money may [emphasis mine] have been stashed in a lock box

ü Gossett attended dozens of elite [emphasis mine] Armed Services schools

ü Gossett became a skilled survivalist and combat parachutist with hundreds of high-altitude and night jumps

And then finally:

ü Cook also explains how D.B. Cooper selected the one parachute among the three brought to the aircraft that actually worked. But those details, and others, will have to simmer until the publication of his book.

So let’s take a look at what Beasley has just said

ü Galen Cook is not one of the nation’s leading authorities on D.B. Cooper in fact he gets about half of his “facts" wrong. It’s obvious that he gets his information from internet sites and has paid very little attention to the information released by the FBI. If there is a “nation’s leading authority,” it’s FBI Agent Larry Carr (or maybe even Sluggo [Big Silly Grin]).

ü Greg Gossett, didn’t contact law enforcement or a recognized expert, he was a “phone in” on a talk show. Obviously, it wasn’t important to him until he heard the broadcast.

ü What would be the normal action of a retired judge when hearing someone had committed a crime that had an open indictment?

ü Since Beasley and Gossett were friends, was he the right person to be writing an expose?

ü The bank box may have held the money, and my bank box may hold the body of Jimmy Hoffa.

ü Which elite schools might this be?

ü Skilled parachutist? Survivalist? So he went to jump school, no proof was offered for this claim.

ü More details will be in the book. Hmmmm… I guess I’ll have to buy that book to know more.

When Beasley wrote Gossett’s obituary in 2001 he said:

ü Gossett was an administrative clerk and physical training instructor

ü He worked as an administrative personnel chief and law specialist

ü He worked for the U.S. Army Judge Advocate's office in New York City

ü He served with the Judge Advocate General in France

ü He was in Vietnam as a military law specialist

ü He was a radio talk show host for KCGL Radio

So when Beasley wrote about his friend in 2001, there was no mention of “elite service schools” and nothing about HALO jumps at night or otherwise or about Gossett being a survivalist.

So, what conclusion is to be drawn here? It is very plain to see:

ü Cook is writing a book.

ü Cook wants to sell a lot of copies of his book.

ü Cook knows what kind of people will read his book, people who knew Gossett and people who love great stories about mysteries but don’t require any proof of claims.

I guess you can see where I stand on the issue of Wolfgang Gossett being D B Cooper. I see nothing here but a contrived tale designed to enhance book sales. Where do you stand? Leave me a comment whether you agree or disagree with me.

Excuse me, now… I have to go watch WWF Wrestling and then listen to George Noory on Coast To Coast AM. They’re going to be talking to a woman who was abducted by Bigfoot and sold to aliens in the center of the earth.

The Air Force and the Light Bulb, Rumors and Misinterpretations

2008-05-23T17:51:00Z

It has been a busy week for me. Thanks to the help of a collaborator (known only as snowmman), I was able to track down the persistent rumor that an Air Force C-130 was trailing Flight 305 all during the skyjacking. I also gained further knowledge about the two F-106 Delta Darts scrambled out of McChord AFB. Unfortunately, I have little or no information on the Air National Guard (or Army) helicopter that is rumored to have joined the chase (with FBI Agent Ralph Himmelsbach onboard). I’ll run that to ground eventually. I also was able to get the handwritten “crew’s notes” up on my website.

First, let me tell you about the Air Force’s participation in the Northwest Flight 305 skyjacking (NORJAK). There has been a rumor that two F-106s were scrambled to pursue Flight 305, it turned out to be true. Here is an excerpt from history of the 325th Fighter Wing, 318th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron known as "Green Dragons" at McChord AFB:

“On Thanksgiving eve 1971 a man calling himself "D.B Cooper" boarded a Northwest Orient flight in Portland, OR and once aloft threatened to blow up the plane if did not receive $200,000 and four parachutes. The plane landed at Seattle-Tacoma Airport were his demands were met, Cooper ordered the Boeing 727 to take off and head for Mexico.

A short time later Two F-106's from the 318th FIS were called in to action to chase the airliner. Their task that night was to the shadow hijacked airliner and track its escape to Mexico. Cooper would later jump from the rear of the plane somewhere over Washington State, taking the money with him. His “whereabouts” is still one of the great mysteries of the 20th Century.

Squadron Members of the 318th would commemorate this incident with an annual dinner which was held until the units deactivation in 1989.”

An annual dinner, huh? I’ll bet that was fun while it lasted.

Also, the rumor about the C-130, was confirmed when I got a history of the 39^th Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Wing, 41^st ARRS. From it I was able to find that:

A Lockheed Hercules C-130 out of Hamilton Air Force Base, California, commanded by Captain Bruce Kennard of the 41^st ARRS, was sent to intercept Flight 305. The HC-130 intercepted the B-727 around Red Bluff, CA, at which time they turned out their lights and followed at 12,000 ft MSL and five miles in trail (about 1000 feet above Flight 305). The Tail # of the HC-130 was 65-0983, the call sign was Air Rescue 50983.

So, the score: two F-106s, confirmed. An HC-130, confirmed. An Army or Air National Guard helicopter, unconfirmed.

Last week I introduced the term “cultural goggles.” Well, I’m not done with that topic yet. Since the handwritten crew’s notes have been released, there has been a lot of speculation as to what they actually say. The notes were hastily scribbled and later annotated. The crew was under about as much stress as humans can take. Put yourself in their place. A man with (what he represented as) a bomb is threatening to blow-up the airplane (with you in it) if his demands aren’t met. Needless to say, under those conditions the lessons learned in Mrs. Green’s 3^rd grade Penmanship class or Mr. Brown’s 10^th grade English Composition class went out the door. Therefore, sometimes the meaning is difficult to understand and some interpretation is required.

The same is true of the Communications Transcript the FBI released a few months ago. The first section (from page 89 through page 106) is composed of output from a teletype machine (TTY). An individual is listening to radio transmissions and typing what he or she hears into the TTY so it can be read at Northwest’s headquarters in Minnesota (it is believed). There was no backspace key on a TTY terminal, mistakes were usually indicated by a string of Xs like this “TODAYXXX TOMMOROW” indicating that the operator had meant to say Tomorrow instead of today.

A case in point is a passage that occurred at 7:57PM PST and is found on page 104 of the transcript:

MSP FLT OPS   HAVE STEW DESCRIBE TO U
THE BRIEF CASE CONTENTS    UNDERSTAND
RED DYNAMITE STICKS WIRE AND BATTERY
305 STEW    IN BRF CASE LEFT CONRNER HAD 8
STICKES OF XXXX DYNAMITE     ABT 6 INCHES LONG
AND   1 INCH IN DIAMTR    TWO ROWS OF THEM
THEN A WIRE OUT OF THERE     THEN A BATT LITE
A FLASHLITE BATT    ONLY AS STHIK AS MY ARM
AND 8 INCHES LONG

This passage has generated a lot of discussion on some of the Internet Forums because it is often interpreted to give credence to a rumor that there was a light bulb in the briefcase. I am referencing the word “LITE” in the third line from the bottom.

Now here is where cultural goggles come in. For me, having used TTY equipment in about the same time as NORJAK, and having seen a battery that has not been manufactured in about 25 years, there is no argument here. It clearly means (even though it’s not what it says):

Then a battery, like a flashlight battery, only a thick as my arm.

Whose arm, Scott’s, Mucklow’s, I don’t know, but it doesn’t matter, because, I can see the battery in my mind. Albeit, through my cultural goggles.

To me, she is describing a Columbia Battery (Columbia Dry Cell). In the 1950s and 1960s, every kid interested in science had one or two. Originally designed for telephone systems and battery powered radios, they were the mainstay high-output battery for hobby projects and science experiments. They were 6.0625 inches long and about 2.5 inches in diameter. What else could she be describing? It wasn’t a flashlight battery, she tells you that. There weren’t nearly as many styles of consumer batteries available in 1971 as there are now. No MP3 players to run, no battery powered tooth brushes, etc.

But to a younger person, the passage clearly indicates that there was a light bulb and a flashlight battery in Cooper’s briefcase.

As a result, the web is full of speculation about why Cooper had a light bulb in his briefcase. Was it to light his way during his dark night in the woods? Was it part of a detonation system for the bomb? Or, was it a nonexistent, figment of the imagination of a group of people too young to remember the No.6 Columbia Battery, and unwilling to admit that human beings, under stress, don’t type worth squat.

Do you want to discuss this topic with me? Post your comments below, we can agree, we can disagree, but in any case…. Bring your cultural goggles because it’ll get messy and you’ll want to cover your eyes.

The Culture of the NORJAK Investigation

2008-05-15T19:44:00Z

The Culture of the NORJAK Investigation

There was no blog last week because it was Mother’s Day, and even at my advanced age, I must visit my Mom on Mother’s Day.

Speaking of advanced age, I want to talk about the culture of the NORJAK investigation.

Culture? You might ask. Yes, the culture. I’m not saying “culture” in the sense of: sophistication, refinement, cultivation, or urbanity. I’m using the word in the sense of: ethos, philosophy, mores, background, and way of life. Since the NORJAK event happened over 36 years ago, a huge gradient has been formed between the culture of D B Cooper’s day, and culture of our current times. The international readers, may notice a North American bias in the blog. Well, I’m guilty as charged, because my “culture goggles” in regard to NORJAK definitely have a North American filter.

The cultural aspect of NORJAK has played a major part in the development of the “D B Cooper as a mythical hero” paradigm (meme). It has also stimulated the involvement of private citizens in an attempt to do what authorities have been unable to do, namely, solve the mystery. The cultural aspects of the case were what drove Ralph Himmelsbach and his colleagues, throughout the 1970s, to focus on some suspects while rejecting out-of-hand some others. The cultural aspects of the case were what caused some of the younger generation to idolize Cooper as a guy who “stuck it to the man,” or to laude him as a “modern day Robin Hood.” Remember, this was the effect of a man, described by many witnesses as forty-five to fifty years old, at a time when the younger generation was saying; “don’t trust anyone over thirty.”

Why were they saying that? When NORJAK happened, the Viet Nam war was in full stride, there was unrest on college campuses, and since the release of the “Pentagon Papers” the citizens of the

United States

had come to realize the unthinkable. Their government, the government of the people, by the people, and for the people, had been lying to them. The natural offshoot of that realization was, “Are they lying to us now?”

So what does all this mean to the amateur sleuth pouring over ancient records, newspaper clippings, magazine articles, and internet web-sites. It means simply, place all data (especially witness testimony) in the proper cultural context. Be aware of when the testimony was taken, who was recording the testimony or formulating the questions, and the cultural profile of the witness.

Here’s an example of cultural bias with no intent of malice. I was talking to someone very dedicated to solving the NORJAK mystery. This person is in his late thirties, or early forties, so he was a child when NORJAK happened. I asked about the possibility of Cooper (or a confederate) bringing his own parachute or a suitcase with proper jump gear on board (or having the confederate leave it on board). His response was; “That just isn’t possible.” I thought to myself, “I wonder how many plane trips he took in 1971?”

I was remembering an incident that I witnessed in 1970, when a man brought a fly-rod on an Air California flight. It was hilarious. The rule was anything you brought on board (which might include guns, explosives, drugs, etc.) had to fit under the seat in front of you or in the overhead bins. This guy had not put his precious fly-rod in his checked baggage, and the plane was pushing back before the stewardess discovered it. She finally took it from him, took it out of it’s tube-like case, and put it (standing upright and bent) in the galley with the case (broken down into two pieces) next to it. Now I ask you; “In 1971, could a Cooper confederate have brought a small case of clothes, or a parachute on board?” Filter your answer through the culture of the times.

Another example of possible cultural bias is the way some people perceive Jo Weber the widow of Duane Weber, who made a death-bed confession to being Dan Cooper. A point of contention involves two statements that Jo has made that seem at odds with each other. Here are the two statements:

In 1979 Duane took Jo on a trip along the Columbia River. Jo says her husband pointed to a power line cut and said to her, "That's where D.B. Cooper walked out of the woods." She said to him, “How do you know that?”' And he said, “Maybe I was on the ground.” Jo just took it as a joke.

In March 1995, when Duane was dying, he whispered; "I have a secret to tell you," "I'm Dan Cooper." Jo says; “The name meant nothing to me.”

What seems to be a contradiction really isn’t, if you look at it through your “cultural goggles.”

Let’s look at the 1979 trip to the northwest:

In 1979 Jo had been married to Duane for approximately one year. In 1979, D B Cooper was a vague memory in the minds of most people. If you used the name D B Cooper most would understand who you were talking about. They might think; “A hijacker… jumped from a plane… somewhere…” In 1979, not one in a thousand people could have told you that the name used by “D B Cooper” to purchase the ticket was “Dan Cooper”. That was probably Jo’s mindset at that time.

Now think about the 1995 confession:

Duane was dying. They both knew he was dying. No salvation was on its way. He had family members who had died of the same thing. She knew he would pass in a short while. She was distraught. She was losing her husband of 17 years. She was going to be alone in life and away from her family. Now, if you were in that state, how would you respond to “I’m Dan Cooper” At the time, under the stress she was experiencing, she just didn’t make the link. Oh yeah, in 1995, (still) not one in a thousand people could have told you that the name used by “D B Cooper” to purchase the ticket was “Dan Cooper”.

So, I hope I have made a good case for being “culturally aware” when reviewing witness testimony. I have really only scratched the surface. Like I mentioned in my last blog, when talking about the difference in Himmelsbach’s description of Cooper’s behavior and Florence Schaffner’s and Tina Mucklow’s description of the same, it’s all about the color of your “culture goggles.”

How do you feel about the cultural difference between 1971 and now, as it relates to the NORJAK investigation? Leave me a comment.

"How to spoil a good investigation"

2008-05-04T16:13:00Z

How to spoil a good investigation

She said; “Do you think he was a bigot? I mean, was he prejudiced?” I said; “Against who?” “The Cabin Attendants,” she replied. I thought, hmmm… was he? “Why?” I asked. She said; “Because no one seems to believe them about Cooper’s behavior, and they spent more time with Cooper than anyone, more than the passengers, more than the Cockpit Crew, more than anybody!”

The above conversation went on between me and my wife (Sugar) while she was pouring over some of the data that I have gathered over the years. We were talking about Ralph P. Himmelsbach, who until his retirement in 1980, was the FBI Agent in Charge of the Northwest Flight 305 skyjacking (NORJAK). Sugar and I think differently to say the least, and she almost always sees things differently than I do. And, although I’d never tell her, I value that “different” point of view.

Before I go any further, I want to make something perfectly clear, I don’t know Ralph Himmelsbach, I’ve never met him, never seen him, and I’ve never read his book(s). Any opinions I have about him, come from statements about him, or statements by him, in other references. So, there’s the disclaimer! And while I’m at it, here’s another. I am an honest person, maybe honest to a fault. I call things the way I see them and when it comes to NORJAK, it is more important for me to know the truth, and help solve this case, than to try not to step on anyone’s toes.

Himmelsbach was probably a good, hard-working public servant, who put in nine hard years on the case, but, if he brought his own brand of prejudice into the investigation, then he may have hurt the case more than he helped it. Oh… and one more thing. Not only have I never read books by Himmelsbach, I have never read any books about NORJAK. The reason: I want to dig out the facts on my own, not be influenced by the conclusions of others.

In 1971 there were not as many career opportunities for young women as there are now. In just a few years it would begin to change, but in ’71 a young woman wanting a career (as opposed to being a housewife) had few choices. She could choose any career she wanted as long as it was Nurse, Schoolteacher, Hairdresser, Airline Stewardess (the term “Cabin Attendant” didn’t exist then), Waitress, Telephone Operator (yes we used to have them to assist you with calls) and Secretary. Of those career choices the Airline Stewardess was the “glamour job” of the bunch. The stewardesses were selected by their physical attributes as much as anything else. (Look at photo’s of Mucklow and Schaffer as an example.)

Careers for men were much more plentiful and varied, certainly too many to list. But from the man’s choices, being an FBI Agent would certainly be the “glamour job” on the men’s side of the aisle. And that position was usually filled by a “man’s man”. And sometimes, that macho-man, who’s whole world may have revolved around his precious daughter (or granddaughter), could not think of an airline stewardess as anything but something to look at and bring him coffee on long flights. I don’t know if Himmelsbach felt that way, but I certainly wouldn’t be surprised if he did.

Consider this statement, it is one that you can find paraphrased in almost every account of the skyjacking:

Cooper's manners and temperament have been the subject of some disagreement.

By the FBI's account, he was boozy and rather raunchy. Ralph Himmelsbach, a lead FBI investigator on the case, said; “the hijacker used filthy language and was obscene. Yet Mucklow, who spent more time with Cooper than any other crew member, has described him as a gentleman. She said, "He seemed rather nice. He was never cruel or nasty. He was thoughtful and calm.”

Now, who would know how Cooper behaved? Most passengers weren’t even aware the plane was being hijacked until they were on the ground in Seattle. The cockpit crew never left the cockpit. The FBI agent was out chasing crooks. However, Mucklow was shoulder-to-shoulder with him for hours. Was it Himmelsbach’s point of view that Mucklow was just a “dumb blonde!”

Unfortunately, it is not hard for me to imagine that “man’s man”, Ralph Himmelsbach, thinking of those “stews” as just soft fluffy things without a brain in their heads. And by extension, how many other “Official FBI Conclusions” were filtered through a prejudicial lens? Two percent, ten percent, seventy percent, or 100 percent?

Was Cooper a heavy smoker as the FBI claimed? Eight cigarettes in five hours, is that heavy? Was he a boozer? One drink, and he spilled half of that. Was he smart, or dumb? A meticulous planner or a devil-may-care rouge. All of these perceived characteristics went into the profile of Dan Cooper. If any of them are wrong, the FBI was probably looking for the wrong man in the critical first few years of the investigation. Himmelsbach may or may not have been prejudiced… but… he was the Agent-In-Charge.

“What’s with this D. B. Cooper thing?”

2008-04-27T05:13:00Z

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.