Post: #1

This is one the greatest mysteries in U.S. law enforcement history. While I have not been able to confirm the story elsewhere, the explanation makes perfect sense. Only someone with military and covert training would try such a daring and audacious stunt (remember, this happened in 1971).

Quote:Investigators: We've Solved Notorious 'DB Cooper' Skyjack
Thursday, 01 Feb 2018 03:06 PM

Crack investigators believe they have finally unmasked the mysterious skyjacker known as "DB Cooper" some 47 years after his notorious crime.

Tom Colbert, who led a team of ace gumshoes, says the man who hijacked a Boeing 727 at Seattle-Tacoma airport in 1971 and parachuted midair into the Pacific Northwest with $200,000 in cash is believed to be a Vietnam War pilot and black ops CIA agent named Robert W. Rackstraw.

Colbert said Thursday that newly-uncovered evidence points to the FBI stonewalling the case for years because of Rackshaw's government ties, preventing it from being solved, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports.

According to Colbert, secret coding in five different notes supposedly written by "Cooper" ties him to Rackstraw, a Vietnam War pilot in the 1st Cavalry Division, and shows he had a covert history with the CIA.

Colbert, who revealed his findings outside the J. Edgar Hoover Building in Washington D.C., said the coding in one note reading, "IF CATCH I AM CIA… RWR' refers to Rackstraw's initials and the fact he expected leniency if he was ever caught.

"The new decryptions include a dare to agents, directives to apparent partners, and a startling claim that is followed by Rackstraw's own initials: If captured, he expects a get-out-of-jail card from a federal spy agency," Colbert said.

The Post-Intelligencer said it had a brief conversation with Rackstraw who told the newspaper it should verify Colbert's claims, "but "didn't issue a denial, or comment further" on the investigation.

The case centered on a man calling himself Dan Cooper, who hijacked a Boeing 727 over the Northwest between Portland and Seattle on Nov. 24, 1971. He extorted $200,000 in ransom money and jumped out the back of the plane wearing a business suit and a parachute.

FBI investigators said that Cooper likely did not survive the dangerous jump, but no body was ever discovered. And despite an exhaustive manhunt, Cooper was never found, although some of the cash he took was discovered through matching serial numbers in 1980.

https://www.newsmax.com/us/db-cooper-boe...id/840913/

Post: #2

"Cooper was never found, although some of the cash he took was discovered through matching serial numbers in 1980..."

...which is the very year a fantastic California new wave band called D.B. Cooper released their first of two albums. They soon fell into obscurity, but are remembered by weird people like myself who think that their fake Elvis Costello-isms are often better than the real thing.

Sorry to hijack the thread (pun intended), but this does give me an excuse to post some of my favorite old music. Truth be told, I wasn't clear about how this group got its name until after I found their records.

Post: #3

(02-02-2018 11:36 AM)Days of Broken Arrows Wrote:  "Cooper was never found, although some of the cash he took was discovered through matching serial numbers in 1980..."

...which is the very year a fantastic California new wave band called D.B. Cooper released their first of two albums. They soon fell into obscurity, but are remembered by weird people like myself who think that their fake Elvis Costello-isms are often better than the real thing.

Never heard of them, but your description is a good one.

As for Cooper, its an interesting theory but they didn't post many details of the "code" and didn't explain why some of the money was found in a location no one expected to find it. If he had planted it there, then why did he choose a spot where no one would expect it, and the money deteriorated for years before being found by an 8-year old.

Also, the FBI supposedly monitored all of the serial numbers and none of the money was ever spent, so if he did survive the jump then why didn't he ever spend any of the money?

If he was ex-CIA, then he probably would have had the ability to get the money out of the country, like to Mexico, South America, or Russia, and spend it or launder it there where it would eventually be detected by the FBI. But that never happened; none of the bills have ever been recovered anywhere in the world except for the ones found by the kid along the river.

Post: #4

(02-02-2018 01:15 PM)Hypno Wrote:  Also, the FBI supposedly monitored all of the serial numbers and none of the money was ever spent, so if he did survive the jump then why didn't he ever spend any of the money?

If he was ex-CIA, then he probably would have had the ability to get the money out of the country, like to Mexico, South America, or Russia, and spend it or launder it there where it would eventually be detected by the FBI. But that never happened; none of the bills have ever been recovered anywhere in the world except for the ones found by the kid along the river.

One possible explanation is that most $100 bills circulate outside the United States: "In fact, as of 2011, roughly two-thirds of all $100 bills were held outside the U.S., according to an estimate by Ruth Judson, an economist at the Fed." How likely is it that the FBI is capable of monitoring all the hundreds of billions of dollars (now about a $1 trillion) abroad on a yearly basis for 47 years? An auditor's report recently revealed that the U.S. military could not account for $21 trillion in unauthorized spending -- and we expect the FBI to competently search for $200k over 47 years?

https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2013/...de-the-u-s

A second possible explanation is that if the FBI, or the CIA, did stonewall the case for years because of Rackshaw's government ties, it also stonewalled any search for the money.

Post: #5

Pretty impressive. I read that book Chickenhawk by Robert Mason, which got me on to Huey Helicopter pilots during the Vietnam War. Since then I have been watching videos about special ops teams in South East Asia during the late 60s and early 70s. Fascinating stuff, the training and combat experience those guys had was simply next level. Makes sense that one of them would implement a tea spoon of that training and make a load of money from it.

Post: #6

^ recommend any videos?

Post: #7

(02-02-2018 03:16 PM)polar Wrote:  ^ recommend any videos?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7Rrw9mCc-c

I don't know how to attach the URLs, so you will have to go with that.

It is about the Ravens, they basically were civilian contractors in Laos who worked in the CIA. You get what I mean.

Post: #8

This has certainly been an intriguing mystery over the years. I wonder why this information suddenly got out. And what was the motive?

Cooper jumped out of a staircase that was underneath the plane. It landed with the stairs still dragging on the runway.

Post: #9

(02-03-2018 12:13 AM)puckerman Wrote:  This has certainly been an intriguing mystery over the years. I wonder why this information suddenly got out. And what was the motive?

This morning, I could find only a single article on this topic. Now, if you Google "D.B. Cooper," it is all over the news. It seems that a filmmaker and author assembled a 40-member team to investigate the case and also gained access to new information under the Freedom of Information Act.

http://www.newsweek.com/who-db-cooper-fb...new-717197

Post: #10

(02-03-2018 01:12 AM)Tail Gunner Wrote:  This morning, I could find only a single article on this topic. Now, if you Google "D.B. Cooper," it is all over the news. It seems that a filmmaker and author assembled a 40-member team to...

... do some guerrilla marketing for his film.

Post: #11

I lived in Seattle,wash..for over a decade working as a nurses aide,and before that I worked as a CNA in a old folks home in Redmond wash...Now I am not saying this guy was D.B Cooper but alot.of times when I took care of him he would always rub his key chain that he hung around his neck for over 20 years (so he claimed). Anyways this guy would go on about jumping out of a plane with wads of cash. He even sing melodies...in the shower like " me and a couple of lads...way back planned a thing..yes...we did...we jumped outta planes yes we did...with wads of cash...yes we did.." hed sing these types of tunes especially during shower time.Nonetheless, the guy one time did fall asleep taking off the key leaving it by the lamp shade( an act his seldom did). I took it and opened the safe in his closet and lo and behold the safe was full of news paper clippings (I am talking hundreds) .A real treasure trove, all referring to the D.B Cooper Phenomenon .But what stood out as strange was the fact that there was a photo amidst the clippings.. of a young pilot standing next to a military jet. The guy ended up dying but this story by Op got me thinking maybe that was Cooper or he plotted the deed with Cooper I don't know. Back then I chalked it up to dementia and whatnot!
But does one ever know anything

Signed : Jojo Brown.

Post: #12

You did that?

Post: #13

(02-05-2018 02:17 PM)PUSSYPOUNDER Wrote:  I lived in Seattle,wash..for over a decade working as a nurses aide,and before that I worked as a CNA in a old folks home in Redmond wash...Now I am not saying this guy was D.B Cooper but alot.of times when I took care of him he would always rub his key chain that he hung around his neck for over 20 years (so he claimed). Anyways this guy would go on about jumping out of a plane with wads of cash. He even sing melodies...in the shower like " me and a couple of lads...way back planned a thing..yes...we did...we jumped outta planes yes we did...with wads of cash...yes we did.." hed sing these types of tunes especially during shower time.Nonetheless, the guy one time did fall asleep taking off the key leaving it by the lamp shade( an act his seldom did). I took it and opened the safe in his closet and lo and behold the safe was full of news paper clippings (I am talking hundreds) .A real treasure trove, all referring to the D.B Cooper Phenomenon .But what stood out as strange was the fact that there was a photo amidst the clippings.. of a young pilot standing next to a military jet. The guy ended up dying but this story by Op got me thinking maybe that was Cooper or he plotted the deed with Cooper I don't know. Back then I chalked it up to dementia and whatnot!
But does one ever know anything

Signed : Jojo Brown.

Please don't ever get banned.