What I think.
A few posts ago, either here or in another thread, someone mentioned "conspiracies," and Gawd Knows I get all tingly when we start talking that kind of talk.
So I thought I'd post my overview on what I think is going on vis-Ă -vis the flight path, money find, and actions of the FBI that foist our thoughts of conspiracy in Norjak.
Chapter 42
What I Think Happened to DB Cooper
Since nothing substantial has ever been found from the skyjacking other than the three bundles of twenties and the shards, there are a lot of blank spaces to fill in the DB Cooper case. I am asked routinely what I think happened, and here is my view:
I think DB Cooper made it. I say that because the jump wasn’t too tough and all the copycats who jumped made it successfully to the ground. Further, I think DB Cooper was trained to do the jump since he had a top-secret level of information.
Specifically, I think DB Cooper was special ops, possibly SOG or some subset of the Special Forces such as the Delta Force, Seal Team Six, or even a mercenary. I say this because that’s what commandos have told me.
“DB Cooper was one of our guys,” a SOG trooper told me. “The skyjacking looked like one of our operations—it had all the hallmarks of how we do things. It was well-planned and well-executed—and clearly Cooper was well-trained. So, like they say, if it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it’s a duck.”
Since DB Cooper had top-secret information, it is possible that he also had relationships with top-secret types of people, such as commandos who could compose an extraction team. They could have possessed state-of-the-art radios and tracking devices to retrieve all the gear, and travel with a variety of vehicles replete with medical supplies, clothing, and disguises to conduct a successful getaway.
Added to that, DB Cooper and his extraction team had at least an 11-hour head start before anyone flew over LZ-A, and no one on the ground was looking for the skyjacker for at least 40 hours. That would give the team plenty of time to make contact with Cooper, grab all the gear, pull any parachutes out of the trees, and vacate the area before anyone could spot them.
As for the money at Tina Bar, I lean towards the theory that Cooper landed near there and buried at least a portion of the ransom, with the intention of retrieving it later. Somehow, three bundles got separated, perhaps with a few loose bills, and were re-discovered in 1980. I say this as Eric Ulis’ research in 2020 on the western flight path becomes more compelling, along with his finding that the money site was not near the dredge spoil location. Why the FBI looked in the dredge sites is incongruous with this theory, however, so it needs to be investigated more thoroughly.
In addition, I believe the FBI, or certain elements within the Bureau, have perpetrated a cover-up for all the reasons speculated throughout this book, most likely to minimize the exposure of clandestine combat operations in Southeast Asia or to build the political momentum to federalize airline safety. Back in 1971 this would have been a dicey proposition politically, but the federal government was needed to organize and enforce standards so that all aircraft and all airports had the same equipment and procedures to ensure that no “weak links” in the safety net would be exploited by low-cost airlines. This issue is a primary topic for researchers to address in the future.
I further believe that MKULTRA-like techniques were used to control principals involved in Norjak, such as the FBI agents in Reno who now can’t remember anything. Also, I think it possible that Tina Mucklow is affected by these types of processes.
Plus, I strongly believe that Earl Cossey was murdered because of his knowledge of unsavory actions in the Norjak case, such as orchestrating a campaign against the image of DB Cooper as “The Man who beat Da Man.”
Lastly, I don’t think any of the suspects brought forward – either here or by their advocates elsewhere, and NONE of the confessees – are DB Cooper. Rather, I believe that when we learn who DB Cooper actually is, we’ll be saying, “Who Dat?”
