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[FLYJACK]

I'm beginning to think that nobody involved, actually cares about the solve...Rather, they suffer from vanity.

"Do not try and solve the case, that's impossible. Instead, only try to realize the truth...there is no case. Then you will see it is not the case that solves, it is only yourself."

[MarkBennett]

I'm beginning to think that nobody involved, actually cares about the solve...Rather, they suffer from vanity.

I'm about halfway through the book, and I'm not even sure Max Gunther didn't intend this to be a "what if" fiction book.  He talks in the beginning about how he wrote an article about a do-it-yourself divorce -- basically just disappearing and taking a new identity.  He thought to himself, how would this have worked if Cooper tried that?

Gunther gives enough details -- where LeClair was born, where he went to school, how many children he had, the types of companies he worked for, etc. that if there really were such a person, someone might have figured out who he was.

Since nobody did, and the FBI didn't take his book seriously, I suspect there is a good chance he made it all up.  Now, if Clara would turn over a $20 bill, that would definitely change my mind.

[dice]

I'm beginning to think that nobody involved, actually cares about the solve...Rather, they suffer from vanity.

I suspect there is a good chance he made it all up.  Now, if Clara would turn over a $20 bill, that would definitely change my mind.

Gunther wrote that book some 25 years after writing the do-it-yourself divorce article, so it really doesn't carry over to his True readers, as it had been defunct for more than a decade...

And Gunther doesn't seem like the type to make it up...  he was a very well-educated Princeton graduate who primarily wrote interesting finance books, notably Zurich Axioms.  To do so would be professional suicide... he was quite intelligent and wouldn't take that chnace unless he believed it.  The way I understood it, was the FBI was trying to identify Clara, and she got spooked after learning she can still be charged for harboring a fugitive. 
 
Much of the data was deliberately changed by Gunther, as to hide any possible identity, as he agreed, to get the info in the first place.  His real notes he corroborated with the FBI and they were trying to ID  Clara.  And if she made it all up?  Possible, but she could not have known about the tie evidence, which fits perfectly.

All of it makes sense, that Cooper realizes the bills are marked, and that in life was a proverbial nobody, yet he is a legend and wants the notoriety, hence contacting Gunther. He cuts it off after learning there is no statute of limitations on skyjacking.

Ask yourself this, why Cooper never came to surface, say, on his deathbed...I mean, this is instant celebrity, and to hide your identity, when the entire world admires you....this is another reason why I believe that LeClair was Cooper, as he supposedly had a heart attack awhile ago and thus didn't have time to come forward.
And how there hasn't been, other than her, a family member coming out after Cooper passed, that it was him (other than Jo).   Don't you find that incredibly odd?  We are talking about instant stardom, a folk hero... yet nothing....

If Clara was a fraud, she'd have continued her farce, as there was nothing to lose.

Mark, as you finish the book, hopefully you will come to realization as I did, that all of it...all of it, fits like a glove. The only thing I'm holding out hope for, is a relative of Clara comes clean after she dies, presuming she is still alive. Though the book said she didn't have children.

[Shutter]

If Clara was a fraud, she'd have continued her farce, as there was nothing to lose.

Where is she? as people have claimed, it should of been easy to track her down...

[dice]

If Clara was a fraud, she'd have continued her farce, as there was nothing to lose.

Where is she? as people have claimed, it should of been easy to track her down...

Why should it have been easy to track her down?  In the 80s they could have back-tracked her phone back then, with those 6 hour long calls, but that is presuming the FBI wanted or could have gotten the warrant to do so, well after the fact.  IIRC Gunther went to the FBI well after Clara phone calls.

[Shutter]

only so many people lived on the lake, so it should of been rather easy to find her, even if she lived in the area...it's not like a million people lived around there....

[Shutter]

I had some friends years back that were into ghost hunting. I started watching the video's and was amazed how people reacted to them. they believed them 100%. they would continue to believe even when the video was debunked.

we have zero proof of anything with this book. I know you believe everything in the book since it matches a lot of things, but it just doesn't match things needed. like proof? no money, no photo's, notes, chute, clothing...we got nothing. I can't see chasing a ghost? I'm sorry, but that's my opinion of this whole thing. keep trying to find something, you never know...

I have also read reviews about the book that claim a lot error's made, like the color of the chute, how the bomb was constructed, and arguing with the pilots. these are mistakes that shouldn't be there....

[dice]

I had some friends years back that were into ghost hunting. I started watching the video's and was amazed how people reacted to them. they believed them 100%. they would continue to believe even when the video was debunked.

we have zero proof of anything with this book. I know you believe everything in the book since it matches a lot of things, but it just doesn't match things needed. like proof? no money, no photo's, notes, chute, clothing...we got nothing. I can't see chasing a ghost? I'm sorry, but that's my opinion of this whole thing. keep trying to find something, you never know...

I have also read reviews about the book that claim a lot error's made, like the color of the chute, how the bomb was constructed, and arguing with the pilots. these are mistakes that shouldn't be there....

That the recent tie evidence fits perfectly with the industrial chemical sales job**, along with testimony from an author, who had alot to lose if he were making any of it up, and who pursued it the rest of his life... there is possibly more "there" in the ether, than there ever was, with christiansen, gossett, all of them.  LeClair is no less "real" that any one of these other suspects, these DB Cooper "experts" have been pining, for a comical 45 years.

** what are the odds of Clara when making up her story, to just happen to 'guess' one of the few viable occupations, that would match the tie evidence...  say, 1 in 10000 ? Im curious to a non-snark response here.

[Shutter]

so, you are implying Cooper was a sloppy salesman getting toxic chemicals on his tie? I don't think we have enough information about the tie and chemicals to make any calls...Tom already made one stating it was a Boeing employee..

why would someone in sales get chemicals on them? what chemical plant has all these elements?

[dice]

so, you are implying Cooper was a sloppy salesman getting toxic chemicals on his tie? I don't think we have enough information about the tie and chemicals to make any calls...Tom already made one stating it was a Boeing employee..

why would someone in sales get chemicals on them? what chemical plant has all these elements?

Did Tom stating it could have only been from a Boeing employee?  I doubt it.

And regarding the tie, I initially was debating to myself whether LeClair picked up the tie locally as he did his suit, or if it was his tie....A discussion with Andrade last week has me leaning with it being LeClairs tie. read below...
Re: Suspects And Confessions
« Reply #1627 on: January 24, 2017, 03:52:12 PM »
Say ThanksQuote
Quote from: diclemeg on January 24, 2017, 02:22:28 PM
I didn't read your book yet but will...
The thing about being the salesman, would he really have these exotic chemicals on the tie?  I don't know exactly what an industrial chemical salesman does but I figure it'd be more of a white collar job like a car salesman, the latter won't have oil or antifreeze on his tie, but at a distance from the cars he is selling.  Plus, IIRC the tie analysis showed some intertwined particles that imply manufacturing exposure, and not so much pure standalone chemicals.  Thus, I'd lean toward him getting the tie in Portland, along with the suit...

I hope you enjoy the book, but I'll clarify my point: LeClair, if what is written about him is true, worked in industrial chemicals for about two decades. During the two decades, it is said he went from sales to a manager. His sales job would have taken him to a variety of places across the country, including job sites and factories. As a manager, he likely supervised factory floor workers at some point. Over time, he likely did a number of jobs. Clara, through Gunther, make it a point to talk about how mechanically minded LeClair was; he liked working with his hands and would have gravitated to those jobs. Also, LeClair worked for successively smaller companies in the years before he left his family, meaning he likely would have had a more general role in the smaller companies than the specialized role he had in the larger company.

Regardless, the tie is the primary link between Gunther's story and the real Cooper. The anti-corrosive metallic particles are exactly what a guy like LeClair would have been exposed to in indsutrial chemicals. Without this connection, there is no physical evidence connecting Gunther's story and the hijacking. What are the odds LeClair would pick up a tie that belonged to a manager working in the same industry he did? Who also would have been exposed to unalloyed titanium? Nearly impossible.

[Shutter]

So, you want me to believe all of this because Andrade does? I'm not sure I follow you. neither one of you can prove it came from a chemical plant.

I never said Tom said it could only have been a Boeing employee...I said he made the mistake in saying it was a Boeing employee. he believes Cooper came from a manufacturing plant surrounding CRT's, not chemical plants..

[Shutter]

[andrade1812]

Did someone say my name three times? 

The Gunther book represents the first time physical evidence found after a suspect has come to light has confirmed part of that suspect's story. To me that was very interesting so I looked at the whole story, and got a book out of the deal. Now Tom Kaye believes Cooper came from CRT manufacturing instead of industrial chemicals. If you listen to his recent radio interview, it sounds like he admits steel production is a possibility. With 100,000 particles on the tie, we're going to get a lot of possible careers for our would-be Mr. Dan Cooper.

The Gunther text is not without problems, and I talk about those in the book too. Regardless, this is an unexplored area of the case; Gunther was not taken seriously by the FBI, and from what I can tell the FBI made no effort to investigate the matter in-depth. We can never know for sure because the FBI files on the case aren't accessible to us. I heard rumors that Geof Gray was trying to find Gunther's papers, though nothing has come of it. I believe Gunther's story is falsifiable, which means, is he exists, "Dan LeClair" would have to be from a limited pool of Canadian-born army enlistees from either New York or New Jersey. There are 3,500 total names in that pool. I've worked through about 100 of them. To me, all the other suspects have been eliminated so Gunther''s mystery man is the last real avenue to solving this case. Georger calls it mimsy, and he's probably right. Arguing about this isn't useful, if anyone wants to help me through my list of names, please, let me know.

I think Tom believes he can ID the tie from old photos. I know I recently found out Tektronix has complete photo yearbook of every employee they had from 1959-1970, if other manufacturers had similar employee yearbooks, and if they're still around, that will be another way the case gets solved.   

[Shutter]

My point is nothing has been verified with this book. Blevins use to repeat himself with asking people to look into his story, we all know what happened once that was done..this book is decades old, complete with a letter supposedly from Cooper, but lacks any real backing. I think we are in the infant stages with the tie, and jumping to conclusions seems to be the norm with this case. I always seem to have a problem with Cooper signing with a double alias, it's odd he would do this? I don't think many even knew his name was Dan Cooper back then. they all went by DB Cooper. I didn't know growing up watching it when ever it was on TV..

I'm not sure CRT's are the answer either. the people mixing the phosphor had lab coats on that I have seen watching vintage programs. I'm guessing the same for chemical plants. sales wouldn't have toxic samples to show customers, or a need for samples.

Validating things would be the first thing to do, or you might end up chasing a ghost....the things I read on your blog from last year cause more concern than I already had with all the error's made. I also noticed a lot of things Jo uses, as well as Bob Knoss through this story...

[andrade1812]

the things I read on your blog from last year cause more concern than I already had with all the error's made.

What kind of concerns? Genuinely curious.