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[Shutter]

The dog at the end of the video was a friends from work 

[MarkBennett]

This is kind of off topic, but it made me think of these boards anyway.

I just finish reading Clifford Irving's "The Hoax", his story about his attempt to sell as genuine an autobiography of Howard Hughes, that he helped write.

What was remarkable (and what reminds me of some people who have a favorite suspect) was how long he was able to drag this out because people so wanted to believe it was true, they'd overlook what was right in front of them.  True, Irving had access to all of Time-Life's files on Hughes and had obtained a bootleg copy of an unpublished manuscript by Hughes' long time assistant, so the book was credible.

But, professional handwriting analysts paid by his publisher validated the handwriting on his forged notes.  A lie detector test on Irving was "inconclusive".  Even a reporter who knew Hughes, but hadn't talked to him in a few years, believed it was genuine even after a conference allegedly from Hughes himself saying he never met Irving.  It didn't really fall apart until a Swiss bank released information that the H.R. Hughes depositing the checks was a woman (it turned out to be Irving's wife).

People believe what they want to believe and facts and evidence can't dissuade them.  Hmmmm....I wonder why that made me think of these boards.

[Shutter]

I've always been interested in Hughes. he had one heck of a life, good, and bad. a month back I was looking at the office building he had for the production of his movie reading about people saying they waited on the street to get there pay checks lowered down from the second floor of the building on a string 

I also looked into the crash he had that almost killed him, and of course the senate hearings where he slammed Brewster..

[Robert99]

I've always been interested in Hughes. he had one heck of a life, good, and bad. a month back I was looking at the office building he had for the production of his movie reading about people saying they waited on the street to get there pay checks lowered down from the second floor of the building on a string 

I also looked into the crash he had that almost killed him, and of course the senate hearings where he slammed Brewster..

The matter with Senator Brewster was basically related to the good Senator not wanting his friends at Pan American Airways to have TWA, which Hughes owned, as a competitor on  international flight routes.  TWA required US Government approval to operate internationally and Brewster did not want that to happen.

TWA's headquarters were in Kansas City, Missouri and the President of the USA at the time this was happening was a fellow named Harry Truman, who was also from the Kansas City, MO area.  Further, Jack Frye, the President of TWA, was a regular visitor to the White House where he played poker with Harry Truman.  And Truman had the final say on the awarding of those international routes.  And you can guess what his decision was.

I had the privilege to be a passenger on a lot of TWA flights when Hughes owned the airline and after he lost control of it.  It was a great airline when Hughes controlled it and things went downhill when he lost control.  And, of course, PAA eventually went bankrupt and disappeared. TWA merged with another airline (I don't remember which one) and lost its identity. 

[MarkBennett]

TWA was bought by American.

The "Autobiography" is available on Amazon (Irving has made all of his books $2.99 this week on Kindle) and it's actually a very good book.  It talks about the case with Sen. Brewster.  The trouble, of course, is you don't know whether it's true (discovered in Irving's research) or made up out of whole cloth by Irving.

[nmiwrecks]

We have 13 names on our suspect list:

Don Burnworth
Ted Braden
Ken Christiansen
Jack Coffelt
L.D. Cooper
Bobby Dayton
William Gosset
Robert Richard Lepsy
Ted Mayfield 
Richard Floyd McCoy
Sheridan Peterson
Duane Weber
Melvin Wilson

And want to create a spreadsheet containing

1. Height
2. Weight
3. Eye Color
4. Hair
5. Age at time of skyjacking

Shutter, do you want this info in excel spreadsheet form, the body of an email, or a word type document?

I'm going to take a stab at creating a spreadsheet containing the information mentioned above.  Does anybody have some of this info or decent sources for this information?

[Shutter]

Cool, a word doc would be good....

[nmiwrecks]

Cool, a word doc would be good....

I've got Lepsy and Wilson, but that's about it:

Name          Age   Height   Weight   Hair color   Eye color
               
Dan Cooper   45       6'              180   Black   Brown
               
Don Burnworth               
Ted Braden               
Ken Christiansen               
Jack Coffelt               
L.D. Cooper               
Bobby Dayton               
William Gosset               
Ted Mayfield                 
Richard Floyd McCoy               
Sheridan Peterson               
Duane Weber               
               
               
Robert Richard Lepsy    35   6'   180   Black   Brown
Melvin Wilson            44   6'   185   Brown   Blue

[Shutter]

Kenny 45 years old 150 lbs 5' 8" hazel eyes

[Shutter]

I know I informed a lot of you guys through a PM about Bruce Smith, and Galen Cook on Ground Zero with Clyde Lewis. if you missed it, I think this link will work. I haven't check yet though, but here it is...I called in towards the end...


That link didn't work....I'll find one that does...


This one should work  you can skip through parts, commercials etc.

You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login

[Shutter]

The show was pretty much about Gossett. I really didn't get to ask the things I wanted to ask, or say....

[MarkBennett]

I listened for about an hour...it took the host 40 minutes to even introduce Galen and another 10 minutes just to talk about how they met.

I didn't listen to the rest....I'll try to catch it later.

[sailshaw]

Shutter
Sheridan Peterson:     1971 Age 46, Height 6'-1", Weight 180 lbs, Hair black, Eyes blue but brown with cosmetic brown lens

I listened to the show last night with Bruce and Cook on Ground Zero and it was all about Gosset with a little Tina Mucklow thrown in and possible connection with Gosset as a Priest. Cook is way off base with his Gosset theories.

Bob Sailshaw

[Shutter]

I don't know if it was a time issue, but I wanted the hear more about the theory on the St Johns area landing. as soon as I mentioned it, it went silent? I had to ask again, but didn't get my question really answered. that was one of the things that interested me. they seem to believe he drifted west when he jumped.

I got some PM's, one was about the chutes. I didn't listen to the start of the show, but it appears they got some chute info wrong. I'm not sold on the buried money either, or the letters. Galen made it sound good, but I still wonder if Dan Cooper would sign the letters by DB Cooper...

[377]

I enjoyed the show even though it was heavily Gossett weighted. Galen made an error when he said the NB 8 parachute was what Gossett trained on. The NB 8 was a Navy emergency bailout rig and quite different from any Army USMC or USAF freefall or static line rigs Gossett may have used in intentional (non emergency) military jumps. The NB 8 and NB 6 rigs have a very non intuitive chest strap configuration that often baffles people who are used to more conventional rigs. If Cooper donned one with ease, it suggests that he had done so before. If (there is controversy about this) he easily located the packing card he almost certainly was familiar with these Navy rigs. The packing card is extremely well hidden on NB 6 and NB 8 rigs. Himmelsbach told me that the FBI had no evidence that supported the alleged packing card inspection by Cooper.

Bruce gave great sound bytes and stayed off the paranormal track. If Cossey carried, as Bruce alleged, huge sums of cash (e.g. 50K) it sure opens up some obvious motives for his murder. I am still puzzled by Cossey's lies about chute ownership and his role as an initial supporter of the FBI's certain death jump story. A jet jump from 10,000 ft isn't so tough, especially if you pull off the stairs. Its all about the landing. Cossey knew it wasn't a certain death jump so why did he support the FBI's conflicting theory?

Galen is a smart articulate guy and I enjoyed his contribution to the show. He is stuck on Gossett, but who knows if he is right or wrong? Everybody has a favorite suspect.

Kinda surprised Jo didn't call in. She lost her audience when Dropzpone shut down the Cooper forum and she was excluded from this site. I still wish she would get probationary privileges here just as an act of kindness. This Duane=Cooper stuff is her life and she is now quite isolated.

377