what happened to the briefcase?? theories,,,
I'm curious about this as well. I guess there are only two options really. Either he tied it to himself or he just threw it out of the plane at some point before jumping. Of course throwing it out could lead to it being found and possibly traced back to you, so maybe you would want to take it with you.
But that leads me to wondering how much he really cared about leaving evidence behind. On the one hand you have him being cognizant of the fact that he needed to get the note back (which is what famously sunk MCoy) but then you have him leaving the tie for whatever reason, possibly as an oversight or maybe he just didn't think that it was worthy of being a clue so he didn't care about leaving it behind. I don't fault him for leaving the cigarette butts because DNA evidence wasn't really a thing yet.
Well, this is an interesting area and contradictory.
While dna wasn't a fully developed forensic science yet, many aspects of bio forensics and particle forensics (& finger printing) were! Cooper takes his note but leaves other personal evidence. Makes no sense.
If the titanium and other (machined?) particles on the Cooper tie connect Cooper to a technical-industrial environment where education and training are common, and he still leaves 'palpable forensic evidence' ... then there is a contradiction. Add in his presumed technical awareness implied by his notes and technical negotiations with the pilots! Is Cooper technically aware but forensically stupid!? Has he absolutely no familiarity with law enforcement forensics, but knows metallurgy? Something doesn't add up ... or maybe he didn't care? Maybe he asked for his note back just to demonstrate who was in control vs. anything to do with his finger prints etc?
It is almost as if he is operating with tunnel vision, if he is a technically savvy person. What is the point of taking his note if he leaves his finger prints all over the place, and his tie, and the match book, and his cigarette butts! Today that would be enough evidence to convict Cooper 50 times over and it wasn't much less in 1971 should the FBI chosen to do full and exhaustive forensics in his case in 1971.
No, there wont be any dna analysis in 1971 but there will be blood typing and 20 other bio markers, all from saliva on the butts! Any educated person would know that. Moreover, any deeply educated person would know that the near future was going to include "dna analysis"!
[edit] This is one of the most interesting and potentially important aspects of the case, to me. What rational was really driving Cooper based on who is actually was - his Identity? At length, he said he had a grudge. Maybe the money wasn't really that important to him? He leaves real evidence behind that can identify and convict him.
Who is this guy!? What explains his attention to details on the one hand, and total myopia on the other hand? Is this guy from Mars!? He either is not being rational, or he is! And
that goes straight to his Identity.
