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[Shutter]

Everything that Shutter has posted this evening here far exceeds everything that I've known about the guy

This is a small portion of our conversation..I'm just trying to find things out first hand.. he appears to be as sincere as one can get, but that doesn't prove anything...as Georger pointed out, if some of this is true the FBI has a lot of explaining to do..

You continue to allow the farmer to plant his "shit seeds" so with Robert it's a never ending cycle until someone puts a stop to it...

[Bruce A. Smith]

Shut, I'm not sure RMB is ever gonna shut up.

But the Bobby Blevins show has some purposeful good to it, I suppose. It did bring Gene Bland out of hiding. Maybe he just needs a certain kind of white noise to make him feel comfortable. Kind of like wind blowing past his ears at 109 mph.

Also, Bobby is going my arithmetic for me. The comments are now at 736 he says.

[georger]

Background details to the Gene Bland Story

Gene Bland first popped up on our radar screen about a year ago when 377 gave us a link to his DB Cooper posts on Facebook that got noticed by the skydiving community.

I followed up, and was able to determine that Gene is now in Texas, most likely living on a ranch in the northern part of the state and flying/woreking at Astroid Aviation in a suburb south of Dallas. He was unresponsive to phone messages and snail mail.

Out of the blue a few days ago he posted at the MN in the middle of the current shitstorm between Shutter and Blevins.

Everything that Shutter has posted this evening here far exceeds everything that I've known about the guy, or is an extension of everything he posted at the MN.

Is he legit? Hard to say. He speaks authoritatively, but cryptically. He seems pretty cranky, too. I imagine Georger in a parachute... just sayin'...(smile.) One thing we do know is that everything he has said so far is in direct conflict with the evidentiary facts as we have known them.

He sounds very influenced by Cossey. I would imagine they knew each other prior to Coop.

Lastly - and for those far from Cooper Country - the Willamette Valley is a great place to skydive into to escape a hijacking, imho. It is mostly flat, farming country. Large stretches of it are home to fruit and nut trees, which I would consider an excellent canopy to land upon. At worst one is only 30 feet off the ground, and well-hidden from the roads, etc. The Valley stretches from the Portland suburbs south to Tina's house in Eugene!

Why do you always come here to pick a fight!? You always have negative remarks. ("He seems pretty cranky, too. I imagine Georger in a parachute... just sayin'...(smile.)"  Fact is Mr Smith, you dont know me at all! Keep your strife on your own website and leave us and me alone!

That said,  you dont appear to know Gene Bland at all, either! Have you actually read our remarks here about Bland after doing actual research? Have you done any actual research? There are a number of reasons why Bland would be saying the things he is saying. His distinguished vita is real. His work with the FBI after the hijacking is probably real. But, he has a different story from a different perspective. Why would that be the case? I assure you the explanation would not rely on your psychoanalysis of Bland - so you can drop that pretense!

Let me collect some documents if I can find them tomorrow and I will come back and explain this further, if I can locate the right documents.  Keep in mind we dont even know what dates of tenure Bland had in his work on NORJAK and the people he worked with, etc. Those dates and people and offices could be important. Unless of course you know and can tell us?     

[Shutter]

Someone needs to verify that Cossey had a nickname of "Mousey" that's what Gene calls him according to his post on Bruce's site. he believes it was related to his gambling debts...if the nickname can be confirmed it might help verify some of Gene's story..the correct spelling of his name has been pointed out several times but he keeps writing Causey..

[Shutter]

Apparently "mouse" is Cossey's nickname...

2008, a skydiver replies to Jo Weber...

Jo, are you aware that "Mouse "is earl cossey's nickname?

[georger]

Today I have reviewed a lot of files and I talked to two retired agents who do not recall the name, Gene Bland.

These agents reminded me that up to the time NWA released an event-based (pressure event) search map, the whole flight path was under examination and searches were being conducted by all kinds of personnel from the area north of Portland clear down to Reno itself. The area around Eugene Oregon was being given special attention, and there were reasons for that (as we have commented before). FOIA files support that view (see attached).

After the release of the NWA search map based on a specific pressure event at ~8:10-11 pm, searches south into Oregon fell off, unless a specific tip had been reported warranting a specific search in a specific area. It is possible that Mr. Bland is recalling news of one of those searches but I cannot find any FBI file that documents any specific search in Oregon which involved 'muddy tracks leading to a vehicle'. There should be documentation of such a search if it happened.

Why would Bland have been brought in as a consultant at Reno? Was it because of his affiliation with skydiving - he seems to be saying that was the reason? There are no documents I can find that mention Bland at all, or the search and identification of a drop zone-escape event, in Oregon. Nevertheless until the NWA Search Map all areas of the fight path were under consideration, as expressed in the documents attached ...         

<edit> There were searches being conducted in Oregon. That is a fact and it is documented in FBI files. Just none with the results Bland describes - at least no documents I can find document what Bland is describing. I will continue to research docs and report back later tonight and post some of the files I am finding . 

[Shutter]

I reached out to Tom Kaye the other day...here is his response..I asked him if he heard of the name before and pasted his comment from Bruce's site about the tracks prior to my talking with him...

No i sure have not heard of him.  The things he says are plausible individually but less so combined. I can't believe footprints leading to a vehicle would not have been reported in the 302s. 

In China right now so comma are short.

Tk

[Shutter]

This can be haunting...remember the FBI buried files about a raft found on Angel Island after the escape, with footprints...

I don't think anyone from the FBI has commented on this find, or why it was buried in the archives (deep)..it sounds like they were protecting Federal property, a building that was considered "escape proof " many state, or claim the FBI does not like being wrong...

[Shutter]

we obviously have proof the FBI does cover things up...even if the raft turned out to be a balloon, it was never reported to the press, nor was the 55 Chevy stolen the next morning...they reported no crimes committed...they searched for a while and come to the conclusion that they drowned...

The Cooper case is similar...lots of missing key evidence, no crime scene found, so, like Alcatraz, he died...both cases keep the reputation high..can't chase the dead...

did this occur with the Cooper case, I'm not so sure..at this point Gene Bland is not found in any documents what so ever. his story conflicts with just about everything known....

[boneman]

These agents reminded me that up to the time NWA released an event-based (pressure event) search map, the whole flight path was under examination and searches were being conducted by all kinds of personnel from the area north of Portland clear down to Reno itself. The area around Eugene Oregon was being given special attention, and there were reasons for that (as we have commented before). FOIA files support that view (see attached).

After the release of the NWA search map based on a specific pressure event at ~8:10-11 pm, searches south into Oregon fell off, unless a specific tip had been reported warranting a specific search in a specific area. It is possible that Mr. Bland is recalling news of one of those searches but I cannot find any FBI file that documents any specific search in Oregon which involved 'muddy tracks leading to a vehicle'. There should be documentation of such a search if it happened.

Georger, if you know...what was the approx time-frame until the release of the NWA pressure event search map?  Hours or days?

[georger]

These agents reminded me that up to the time NWA released an event-based (pressure event) search map, the whole flight path was under examination and searches were being conducted by all kinds of personnel from the area north of Portland clear down to Reno itself. The area around Eugene Oregon was being given special attention, and there were reasons for that (as we have commented before). FOIA files support that view (see attached).

After the release of the NWA search map based on a specific pressure event at ~8:10-11 pm, searches south into Oregon fell off, unless a specific tip had been reported warranting a specific search in a specific area. It is possible that Mr. Bland is recalling news of one of those searches but I cannot find any FBI file that documents any specific search in Oregon which involved 'muddy tracks leading to a vehicle'. There should be documentation of such a search if it happened.

Georger, if you know...what was the approx time-frame until the release of the NWA pressure event search map?  Hours or days?

Yes, I think Bruce or I or Shutter or R99 can fix a date. In fact, I have the FOIA Seattle doc announcing the release of the first NWA map with a copy of the map ... but the date escapes me so let me look that doc up ... and I will post the doc. I do remember it was around 6:00pm mountain time so somebody was working overtime in Minneapolis that night.  Great question.

Let me find the doc and I will post it..

[georger]

we obviously have proof the FBI does cover things up...even if the raft turned out to be a balloon, it was never reported to the press, nor was the 55 Chevy stolen the next morning...they reported no crimes committed...they searched for a while and come to the conclusion that they drowned...

The Cooper case is similar...lots of missing key evidence, no crime scene found, so, like Alcatraz, he died...both cases keep the reputation high..can't chase the dead...

did this occur with the Cooper case, I'm not so sure..at this point Gene Bland is not found in any documents what so ever. his story conflicts with just about everything known....

I think there is substance to Bland's Willamette LZ story! Maybe even including 'footprints in the mud leading to ...." I am still searching files! I may switch to searching news stories but I think Bland's story was mentioned somewhere years ago ... where exactly I cannot remember.  There are so many files to search. Did this story emerge out of Colbert's theories and that is where I am recalling it ?

While Im here Dave: do you have a link to the latest FOIA release, on Colbert's site or somewhere else?   

[georger]

I reached out to Tom Kaye the other day...here is his response..I asked him if he heard of the name before and pasted his comment from Bruce's site about the tracks prior to my talking with him...

No i sure have not heard of him.  The things he says are plausible individually but less so combined. I can't believe footprints leading to a vehicle would not have been reported in the 302s. 

In China right now so comma are short.

Tk

I agree with Tom! Im going to start searching old newspaper files. May do a DZ search - maybe the story was posted there years ago?

If I dont find something by tomorrow there is someone else I can call and ask ...   

Let me find the first NWA search map file and I will be back to post it for Boneman.

[georger]

These agents reminded me that up to the time NWA released an event-based (pressure event) search map, the whole flight path was under examination and searches were being conducted by all kinds of personnel from the area north of Portland clear down to Reno itself. The area around Eugene Oregon was being given special attention, and there were reasons for that (as we have commented before). FOIA files support that view (see attached).

After the release of the NWA search map based on a specific pressure event at ~8:10-11 pm, searches south into Oregon fell off, unless a specific tip had been reported warranting a specific search in a specific area. It is possible that Mr. Bland is recalling news of one of those searches but I cannot find any FBI file that documents any specific search in Oregon which involved 'muddy tracks leading to a vehicle'. There should be documentation of such a search if it happened.

Georger, if you know...what was the approx time-frame until the release of the NWA pressure event search map?  Hours or days?

Ok that was quick. My files are pretty well organised for retrieval.

The first formal notice of an NWA search/flight path map, based on the pressure event,  was on 12/4/71 at 6:06 PM PST. Other offices were notified immediately. The NWA fax included copies of the map. The map sent was large! Easily 30-150mb in today terms. I have reduced these docs to fit on this page -

Before 12/4 all searches were based on an informal understanding there had been a pressure event which occurred somewhere in the Woodland area. The 12/4/71 map formalized the prior more general understanding spread by NWA.

12/4 is the effective date.  so right in that time period end of Nov to early December.

   

[Shutter]

While Im here Dave: do you have a link to the latest FOIA release, on Colbert's site or somewhere else?

are you talking about the McCoy files...if so I don't think he posted them....I have the files...if it's his link to all of his uploaded files,I can post that?