New Forum & News Updates

[Bruce A. Smith]

Just saw the Expedition Unknown show. I thought it was very well done. For those wanting to see it, Discovery Plus costs $6.99/month, no ads. They also have a free, seven-day trial period.

[georger]

Just saw the Expedition Unknown show. I thought it was very well done. For those wanting to see it, Discovery Plus costs $6.99/month, no ads. They also have a free, seven-day trial period.

Recca look alike. FREE!

[fcastle866]

Just saw the Expedition Unknown show. I thought it was very well done. For those wanting to see it, Discovery Plus costs $6.99/month, no ads. They also have a free, seven-day trial period.

Recca look alike. FREE!

I watched part of it, and will finish it later. I did fast forward to the end to see what this new deathbed confession stuff was.  I won't give it away.  Frankly I had low expectations from the start, and so far have not been disappointed.  These shows can make it look like aliens killed JFK if they spin it the right way, and people will believe it (the general public).  Just look at UFOs, flat earth, and all the idiots not getting vaccinated. If you're one of them, I don't apologize to you, you should apologize to us.  I digress.  I watch those shows to see guys like Bruce, Eric, Tom, and Mark.  People who I respect when it comes to this case.  So good job to all of you. 

As for the Reca believers, I put them in the flat earth, COVID conspiracy group.  Reca as a suspect is a complete joke.  I don't even laugh.  It is a joke.  They broadcast a guy who was the lead investigator on Jimmy Hoffa.  Really, the lead investigator?  How many lead investigators have there been on Jimmy Hoffa?  It's a sales pitch.  So he was on the Jimmy Hoffa case, and therefore he can solve DB Cooper?  I've been in the service for much of my adult life.  Those of you who know me know where I work.  All of us in government service are cogs in a wheel, if you're a big fish, there are always bigger fish, whether it be someone higher ranking, or someone in the political system appointed above you.  I'm ok being a cog in a wheel in a huge system. I love America.  I've met plenty of warriors and "secret guys" and by and large they don't talk about what they do or what they did, especially to the news.  Reca may have served, he may have seen combat, but someone is exagerating that he was a spy and infiltrated the KGB or whatever.  Or that he speaks like 8 languages.  I'm not buying it.  When I hear these things that seem too good to be true, they are usually not true.  We have a term called Stolen Valor for a reason.  I also like to use the term "Stolen Notoriety". 

Reca doesn't look at all like Cooper, he couldn't even get the jump area right in his story.  How does that happen?  And some truck driver remembers picking him up 50 years ago?  Who remembers that stuff?

I'm not coddling some of these folks.  I know the Reca crew are nice people, but this guy as a suspect is a joke, and it takes away from legit research on the case.

Nothing really in my mind points to Cooper being a commando/special ops, etc.  Sorry Bruce, I know you've put some work into that.  He just is too average.  Those guys may not talk about what they do, but they do stand out amongst their peers.  Cooper just does not have that style.  I don't even think he was in the airborne in the Army during WWII or Korea. Even that would have stood out.

Good to see some publicity on the case and some of our team get on TV and show what they've done.  I guess for now the public wants to hear about guys like McCoy, Rackstraw, Reca, and Weber.  It still amazes me how so many people can't look at basic facts.  Oh well.

[EU]

Just saw the Expedition Unknown show. I thought it was very well done. For those wanting to see it, Discovery Plus costs $6.99/month, no ads. They also have a free, seven-day trial period.

Recca look alike. FREE!

I watched part of it, and will finish it later. I did fast forward to the end to see what this new deathbed confession stuff was.  I won't give it away.  Frankly I had low expectations from the start, and so far have not been disappointed.  These shows can make it look like aliens killed JFK if they spin it the right way, and people will believe it (the general public).  Just look at UFOs, flat earth, and all the idiots not getting vaccinated. If you're one of them, I don't apologize to you, you should apologize to us.  I digress.  I watch those shows to see guys like Bruce, Eric, Tom, and Mark.  People who I respect when it comes to this case.  So good job to all of you. 

As for the Reca believers, I put them in the flat earth, COVID conspiracy group.  Reca as a suspect is a complete joke.  I don't even laugh.  It is a joke.  They broadcast a guy who was the lead investigator on Jimmy Hoffa.  Really, the lead investigator?  How many lead investigators have there been on Jimmy Hoffa?  It's a sales pitch.  So he was on the Jimmy Hoffa case, and therefore he can solve DB Cooper?  I've been in the service for much of my adult life.  Those of you who know me know where I work.  All of us in government service are cogs in a wheel, if you're a big fish, there are always bigger fish, whether it be someone higher ranking, or someone in the political system appointed above you.  I'm ok being a cog in a wheel in a huge system. I love America.  I've met plenty of warriors and "secret guys" and by and large they don't talk about what they do or what they did, especially to the news.  Reca may have served, he may have seen combat, but someone is exagerating that he was a spy and infiltrated the KGB or whatever.  Or that he speaks like 8 languages.  I'm not buying it.  When I hear these things that seem too good to be true, they are usually not true.  We have a term called Stolen Valor for a reason.  I also like to use the term "Stolen Notoriety". 

Reca doesn't look at all like Cooper, he couldn't even get the jump area right in his story.  How does that happen?  And some truck driver remembers picking him up 50 years ago?  Who remembers that stuff?

I'm not coddling some of these folks.  I know the Reca crew are nice people, but this guy as a suspect is a joke, and it takes away from legit research on the case.

Nothing really in my mind points to Cooper being a commando/special ops, etc.  Sorry Bruce, I know you've put some work into that.  He just is too average.  Those guys may not talk about what they do, but they do stand out amongst their peers.  Cooper just does not have that style.  I don't even think he was in the airborne in the Army during WWII or Korea. Even that would have stood out.

Good to see some publicity on the case and some of our team get on TV and show what they've done.  I guess for now the public wants to hear about guys like McCoy, Rackstraw, Reca, and Weber.  It still amazes me how so many people can't look at basic facts.  Oh well.

Good post. I agree.

I simply do not believe Walter Reca walked out of the woods in Cle Elum on November 24, 1971. Some dude saying he did and that he remembers it 50 years ago is frankly laughable.

The common thread among those who have confessed to being DB Cooper: They lie. There can be only one DBC. Also, they can never back up the claim. They can never provide a twenty, hand written note from Tina or Flo, or provide an explanation for how it all went down without bordering on ridiculousness.

Some guy just saying he was DB Cooper with absolutely no evidence to back it up? Well, in the sage words of Shania Twain, "That don't impress me much."

[Chaucer]

The thing I find interesting is that suspects similar to Reca (Peterson, Mayfield, McCoy, Rackstraw, etc.) are all hyper-qualified parachutists:  smoke jumpers, special forces, skydiving instructors, etc.

I know why this is so.

People really want Cooper to have lived, and therefore they need an expert to be able to explain how he pulled it off and survived. However, there isn’t any real evidence that Cooper was an experienced skydiver. He could have been some Joe Blow off the street who attended a couple of trainings to get the basics.

My point is that skydiving experience should not be a qualifier for Cooper suspects as it seems to have become.

[andrade1812]

The thing I find interesting is that suspects similar to Reca (Peterson, Mayfield, McCoy, Rackstraw, etc.) are all hyper-qualified parachutists:  smoke jumpers, special forces, skydiving instructors, etc.

I know why this is so.

People really want Cooper to have lived, and therefore they need an expert to be able to explain how he pulled it off and survived. However, there isn’t any real evidence that Cooper was an experienced skydiver. He could have been some Joe Blow off the street who attended a couple of trainings to get the basics.

My point is that skydiving experience should not be a qualifier for Cooper suspects as it seems to have become.

I would not have Cooper as an expert skydiver. McNally wasn't. Hahnemann wasn't, as far as I know. Even McCoy was a relative novice compared to Heady.

[fcastle866]

The thing I find interesting is that suspects similar to Reca (Peterson, Mayfield, McCoy, Rackstraw, etc.) are all hyper-qualified parachutists:  smoke jumpers, special forces, skydiving instructors, etc.

I know why this is so.

People really want Cooper to have lived, and therefore they need an expert to be able to explain how he pulled it off and survived. However, there isn’t any real evidence that Cooper was an experienced skydiver. He could have been some Joe Blow off the street who attended a couple of trainings to get the basics.

My point is that skydiving experience should not be a qualifier for Cooper suspects as it seems to have become.

Good point.  I'll add that people really seem to want him to be some special guy, CIA, SEAL, etc.  It would not make for a good news story if we found out he was some average Joe mechanic at JFK airport.  Think mass shootings.  It is always a bigger news story when the guy is a disgruntled veteran versus some average guy.  DB Cooper is mythical now, like Rambo or Chuck Norris.  If he turns out to be some regular guy who didn't skydive, didn't serve in war, was not a secret agent, then it might ruin some of the fun.

[Chaucer]

The thing I find interesting is that suspects similar to Reca (Peterson, Mayfield, McCoy, Rackstraw, etc.) are all hyper-qualified parachutists:  smoke jumpers, special forces, skydiving instructors, etc.

I know why this is so.

People really want Cooper to have lived, and therefore they need an expert to be able to explain how he pulled it off and survived. However, there isn’t any real evidence that Cooper was an experienced skydiver. He could have been some Joe Blow off the street who attended a couple of trainings to get the basics.

My point is that skydiving experience should not be a qualifier for Cooper suspects as it seems to have become.

I would not have Cooper as an expert skydiver. McNally wasn't. Hahnemann wasn't, as far as I know. Even McCoy was a relative novice compared to Heady.

Agreed. While my opinion is that it is unlikely, Cooper could have survived the jump. That possibility does not require him to be an expert skydiver or survivalist however.

[georger]

The thing I find interesting is that suspects similar to Reca (Peterson, Mayfield, McCoy, Rackstraw, etc.) are all hyper-qualified parachutists:  smoke jumpers, special forces, skydiving instructors, etc.

I know why this is so.

People really want Cooper to have lived, and therefore they need an expert to be able to explain how he pulled it off and survived. However, there isn’t any real evidence that Cooper was an experienced skydiver. He could have been some Joe Blow off the street who attended a couple of trainings to get the basics.

My point is that skydiving experience should not be a qualifier for Cooper suspects as it seems to have become.

I would not have Cooper as an expert skydiver. McNally wasn't. Hahnemann wasn't, as far as I know. Even McCoy was a relative novice compared to Heady.

Agreed. While my opinion is that it is unlikely, Cooper could have survived the jump. That possibility does not require him to be an expert skydiver or survivalist however.

The facts favor him surviving with some experience in tactical planning. His choice of plane requires he will parachute from the plane. He even asked if it was a 727 coming. If the tie is his then he is a person with above average intelligence with exposure to a technical work background/experience. Cooper is not your average idiot who drinks or recommends Clorox to protect against Covid. In today's terms, Cooper has been vaccinated! and so it goes ... and depending on which jump scenario you use, he may have landed in fairly open terrain (as the military skydiver Amazon thought).   

[Bruce A. Smith]

...However, there isn’t any real evidence that Cooper was an experienced skydiver. He could have been some Joe Blow off the street who attended a couple of trainings to get the basics...

Chaucer, how would you rate knowing that the 727 could be flown with the aft stairs deployed?

[georger]

...However, there isn’t any real evidence that Cooper was an experienced skydiver. He could have been some Joe Blow off the street who attended a couple of trainings to get the basics...

Chaucer, how would you rate knowing that the 727 could be flown with the aft stairs deployed?

anyone might have assumed that! Cooper said he knew it could be done!

[Bruce A. Smith]

Anyone? Like whom? 377 didn't know it could be done. Nobody up at Thun Field knew that, either.

[georger]

Anyone? Like whom? 377 didn't know it could be done. Nobody up at Thun Field knew that, either.

who can account for your biased samples ASSUMPTIONS!     Joe Blow standing in an airport might have assumed it.

[Bruce A. Smith]

Besides Joe Blow, anyone else?

[dudeman17]

A couple points -

------
One - I'm not saying this to disagree or argue with what has been said, I don't buy Recca as a suspect either, but to one isolated point - A couple of you said that it's ridiculous for a truck driver to pick someone up on a road and remember it 50 years later. Not necessarily. If the driver picks up the guy and helps with that phone call, then in the following days/weeks/months Cooper is all over the news and the driver thinks 'was that him?', that could well imprint on his memory.

-----

Two - I do disagree with the idea that if Cooper was not an experienced jumper, then that indicates that he most likely went in. The following 'copycat' non-experienced jumpers all lived. And again I would refer you to Andrade's research into air crew bailouts, almost all of whom lived. Again, my take is that he almost certainly got under an open parachute. The question is whether he was injured on landing.