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[JAG]

             Kudos to the forum members that appeared in the Netflix production! I am impressed, very professional looking and sounding! Although the Colbert part got somewhat boring to me, I enjoyed the rest. I really enjoyed hearing and seeing Mr. Mitchel! I enjoy hearing from those that were directly involved as well as those that were alive and living in that area at the time of the hijacking. Good job members, I think you made the Vortex proud!

Agreed, I enjoyed the production.  This was more or less a Colbert/Rackstraw show with the key Vortex commenting on it and some other aspects of Cooperville.  For those that don't think it was Rackstraw, that is a little bit of a bummer.  It would have been nice for them to cover other suspects or go into more depth about other aspects of the case.

Some random thoughts/take aways for me:
- Not sure if this is new, but Derwin Schroeder stating he is in on Rackstraw being Cooper was new to me.
- I had forgotten that Tina Mucklow was part of the HC Colbert/Rackstraw show, I want go back and watch her part again.
- Tom Fuentes, has anyone here interviewed him ?  Has gone on the record since the HC show with any comments about the case?  I wonder if he would be a good guest on Darren's pod cast ?
- When they show the Colbert team confronting Rackstraw on the porch of that marina building and offering him the $20k check, I could of sworn Rackstraw told them at least twice something to the effect "I am not Cooper", yet later in the show someone from the team stated that Rackstraw never denied it. Am I missing something ?
- It's funny the power of TV and presentation, I found myself thinking, maybe it was Rackstraw ?  I am going to revisit Rackstraw suspect just as a refresher.
- If they can make a 4 part series like this which is mostly about Rackstraw, I think that they can probably make another 100 shows about the other key suspects or aspects of the case.  I mean, there is so much to cover, there should a DB Cooper series like Oak Island--there should be seasons to this. 

[Parrotheadvol]

             Kudos to the forum members that appeared in the Netflix production! I am impressed, very professional looking and sounding! Although the Colbert part got somewhat boring to me, I enjoyed the rest. I really enjoyed hearing and seeing Mr. Mitchel! I enjoy hearing from those that were directly involved as well as those that were alive and living in that area at the time of the hijacking. Good job members, I think you made the Vortex proud!

Agreed, I enjoyed the production.  This was more or less a Colbert/Rackstraw show with the key Vortex commenting on it and some other aspects of Cooperville.  For those that don't think it was Rackstraw, that is a little bit of a bummer.  It would have been nice for them to cover other suspects or go into more depth about other aspects of the case.

Some random thoughts/take aways for me:
- Not sure if this is new, but Derwin Schroeder stating he is in on Rackstraw being Cooper was new to me.
- I had forgotten that Tina Mucklow was part of the HC Colbert/Rackstraw show, I want go back and watch her part again.
- Tom Fuentes, has anyone here interviewed him ?  Has gone on the record since the HC show with any comments about the case?  I wonder if he would be a good guest on Darren's pod cast ?
- When they show the Colbert team confronting Rackstraw on the porch of that marina building and offering him the $20k check, I could of sworn Rackstraw told them at least twice something to the effect "I am not Cooper", yet later in the show someone from the team stated that Rackstraw never denied it. Am I missing something ?
- It's funny the power of TV and presentation, I found myself thinking, maybe it was Rackstraw ?  I am going to revisit Rackstraw suspect just as a refresher.
- If they can make a 4 part series like this which is mostly about Rackstraw, I think that they can probably make another 100 shows about the other key suspects or aspects of the case.  I mean, there is so much to cover, there should a DB Cooper series like Oak Island--there should be seasons to this.

My honest opinion is that this show was hot fu##ing garbage. Way too much of Tom Colbert, who as I said on another forum recently, would have a hard time beating a couple of ten year olds at a game of clue, much less solving cases like DB Cooper and the Zodiac. Give me a break. That said, I do think that Bruce, Eric and Darren all represented the Vortex and themselves very well. They were pretty much the lone bright spots in the whole thing. I liked that they touched on the tie and the comic, but to me that seemed like a filler to take up space after they had presented all of the Colbert garbage.

The one thing I noticed that they kind of never revealed, was that they never really said what the results of the Ron Carlson polygraph was. They said that he answered truthfully on one question, and then Colbert said he believed his story. I would think that if he passed that polygraph with flying colors, they would have made a point of mentioning that. Did I miss that?

[Parrotheadvol]

- It's funny the power of TV and presentation, I found myself thinking, maybe it was Rackstraw ?  I am going to revisit Rackstraw suspect just as a refresher.

And I think that it's ok to do that. Not that I believe that any of the known "suspects" were Cooper, but I think that sometimes we tend to group the suspects in with the people that are pushing them. While guys like Colbert and Blevins have unbelievably bad confirmation bias, we shouldn't disqualify their suspects, simply because they don't know what the hell they are doing when trying to prove theirs was the guy. If either of those guys were Cooper, I doubt that Colbert / Blevins would be able to come up with the goods to prove it regardless. So yeah, take another look at Rackstraw. Just put aside all of the craziness that Colbert threw in there. The "parachute find", the Norman DeWinter story, the ridiculous code breaking, the Briggs / Carlson connection. All that stuff is pure nonsense, even if Rackstraw were Cooper.

[Lynn]

OMG you guys, I almost stopped watching because I wasn't a Rackstraw believer but had to see the Coopercon part. Looks like you did a fantastic job and OMG when I saw my own book on Netflix my jaw dropped and hubby and I started dancing around. It was just a little clip but made me feel so good. Thank you thank you a million times, Bruce, for so generously representing my work and others' at the convention - recognized Marty's right away, it's on my reference shelf - but I was a bit bummed at the end of summer week-off and that just gave me the biggest boost. And shout-out to Kermit for always being supportive and kind.

[Lynn]

The pain is gone, my mother passed away this morning..caretaker said she was talking to my dad last night saying she would be there soon..

Shutter

Oh, Shutter, I'm so sorry to hear this - heartbroken for you. Hugs and condolences from afar.

[RaoulDuke24]

Just watched the Netflix doc. Great job by Bruce, Eric and Darren.

Was pretty disappointed to see Colbert offer a 20k check to Rackstraw in exchange for going on camera and giving a confession. In my former life, I was a newspaper reporter. And paying money to sources for testimony (known as "checkbook journalism") is one of the biggest no-no's of legitimate journalism. That's tabloid journalism. When a celebrity or politician has an affair, the National Enquirer will pay the mistress for the juicy details. But no legitimate journalist is ever going to do that as it's considered highly unethical outside the world of the tabloids. For the right price, you can get a lot of people to confess to things they didn't do or testify against others for things those people didn't do. Hell, I'll confess to being Cooper for 20k plus royalties. And that's why it's such a no-no and any journalist offering up money for confessions or testimony cannot be trusted.

Upon seeing that, it makes me question everything about the Colbert investigation. If he's doing one unethical thing, he's probably doing others. How much of his evidence (all circumstantial by the way) was bought? Like perhaps all those old Oregon State alums in Colbert's History Channel documentary who were students in 1971 who somehow remembered this random guy they met once at a party or who crashed on their couch for a night 40+ years ago? Were they paid to go on camera and say they recognized Rackstraw? It really discredits his whole thing in my opinion.

Anyway, overall I thought the film was entertaining. Was disappointed they dedicated that much of it (well over half) to Colbert and Rackstraw though. Would have loved more of Tom Kaye's stuff and the various theories behind the science. But oh well. I'm sure it won't be the last Cooper film to be made.

[Bruce A. Smith]

             Kudos to the forum members that appeared in the Netflix production! I am impressed, very professional looking and sounding! Although the Colbert part got somewhat boring to me, I enjoyed the rest. I really enjoyed hearing and seeing Mr. Mitchel! I enjoy hearing from those that were directly involved as well as those that were alive and living in that area at the time of the hijacking. Good job members, I think you made the Vortex proud!

Thanks, Haggar. I though the crew did a superb job. The editing and production values from Fulwell73 were also top-notch.

I just finished watching all four parts of the series and I thought it was often uneven - even boring - but overall I enjoyed it. It was mis-titled though. It was not so much about DB Cooper - ie: Where are you?-  as it was Thomas Colbert and his efforts to get The World to believe that Airborne Bob was DBC. From that angle I kinda of enjoyed all the inside stuff of the Colbert crew. The interviews with the Cold Case Team members really showed how zealous many of them are - the code breaker, the attorney Mark Zaid, etc.

But the Netflix production really failed to nail down Colbert on the outstanding evidence. How did the money get to T-Bar and how did summer-time diatoms-only get on the money? How did the large and small shards that the FBI found post-Ingram get there. How did Rackstraw get on the plane? How did Rackstraw know how to configure the 727 for a jump?

I loved seeing Dorwin Schreuder. But I was aghast that he supports the Rackstraw candidacy. Whew.

I loved the Canadian angle and all the inside stuff, like the US govt not being allowed by the Canadian govt to investigate their pilots. Good to,learn more about the comics. Albert Winestein was quite a character. Got total access to RCAF facilities? WOW!

I thought Eric's and Darren's analysis of the legitimate contributions from Colbert, ie: his lawsuit against the FBI opened up the floodgates on the release of federal documentation, was spot on. I wish Netflix dug a little deeper into that dimension of the investigation.

I was surprised that Geoffrey Gray has now become the apparent spokesperson for the DB Cooper case. At times that really pisses me off as he hasn't done a thing on the case for ten years. But he is superb TV. Sigh.

I was surprised and disappointed that they didn't dive into the diatoms. Fulwell73 knew about Tom's findings as they were at CC21.

[Bruce A. Smith]

... If they can make a 4 part series like this which is mostly about Rackstraw, I think that they can probably make another 100 shows about the other key suspects or aspects of the case.  I mean, there is so much to cover, there should a DB Cooper series like Oak Island--there should be seasons to this.

I agree completely. We need to do something about that.

[haggarknew]

         Good point Bruce about the Canadian angle! I also would like to hear more on that. Although I was surprised by Mr. Grey's appearance, I thoroughly enjoyed his presentation! 

[DBfan57]

Thanks! It was really amazing. Yellowstone was certainly my favorite park, and I thought Yosemite didn't live up to the hype. Had a chance to visit some of the locations associated with the Zodiac case which was interesting for me.

I was just about to ask if you were the one on here investigating that Zodiac case.  I was not sure if it was you or Shutter? Do you think its solvable?  I mean, do you think its more solvable than the Cooper case?  If you had to bet money, which one gets solved first?  Or neither beyond any doubt ever?

[Chaucer]

Thanks! It was really amazing. Yellowstone was certainly my favorite park, and I thought Yosemite didn't live up to the hype. Had a chance to visit some of the locations associated with the Zodiac case which was interesting for me.

I was just about to ask if you were the one on here investigating that Zodiac case.  I was not sure if it was you or Shutter? Do you think its solvable?  I mean, do you think its more solvable than the Cooper case?  If you had to bet money, which one gets solved first?  Or neither beyond any doubt ever?

Yeah, I'm the Zodiac guy lol

I think the Zodiac case is far more solvable than Cooper, for the simple reason that there is more physical evidence associated with the Zodiac case. There's multiple letters, stamps, handwriting. All we have with Cooper is the tie, and that doesn't have DNA.

I think Zodiac gets solved in the next ten years. I am doubtful we will ever know who Cooper was.

Just my opinion. I could end up being very, very wrong.

[Robert99]

Thanks! It was really amazing. Yellowstone was certainly my favorite park, and I thought Yosemite didn't live up to the hype. Had a chance to visit some of the locations associated with the Zodiac case which was interesting for me.

I was just about to ask if you were the one on here investigating that Zodiac case.  I was not sure if it was you or Shutter? Do you think its solvable?  I mean, do you think its more solvable than the Cooper case?  If you had to bet money, which one gets solved first?  Or neither beyond any doubt ever?

Yeah, I'm the Zodiac guy lol

I think the Zodiac case is far more solvable than Cooper, for the simple reason that there is more physical evidence associated with the Zodiac case. There's multiple letters, stamps, handwriting. All we have with Cooper is the tie, and that doesn't have DNA.

I think Zodiac gets solved in the next ten years. I am doubtful we will ever know who Cooper was.

Just my opinion. I could end up being very, very wrong.

Chaucer, on the Zodiac matter, as I remember it you were previously saying that you and your friends would have it solved (I believe that you earlier claimed that you had already done so) by the end of this year which is 2022.  Now you are saying you will get it solved in the next 10 years. 

An excellent way to make some progress on solving the Zodiac ciphers is to figure out what constitutes those ciphers in the first place.  You and your friends have not been able to do this.  And none of the ciphers have been solved to date regardless of claims otherwise.

It remains to be seen if the Zodiac ciphers can be solved.  The Zodiac certainly didn't intend for them to be solved.  He wasn't crying out for help.  He killed people just for the hell of it.   

[Robert99]

Here are a couple of items that bear directly on the Cooper hijacking.

First, everyone should read Dr. Robert Edward's July 21st post on his blog.  If the FBI lives up to its word, then significant new information may become available in the very near future thanks to Dr. Edward's FOIA requests.  Soderlind is the NWA official whose name is redacted in the FBI information.

Second, everyone should also read FlyJack's post #57342 on DropZone.  Again, Soderlind is the individual who provided the information to the FBI agent within a day or two of the hijacking.  Soderland gives an 8:12 PM PST time as the latest for Cooper jumping.  And at 8:12 PM PST, the airliner would be well north of the Columbia River in the Portland International Airport area.

So this eliminates any theory that Cooper jumped after 8:12 PM or south of the Columbia River in the PIA area. 

[JAG]

Here are a couple of items that bear directly on the Cooper hijacking.

First, everyone should read Dr. Robert Edward's July 21st post on his blog.  If the FBI lives up to its word, then significant new information may become available in the very near future thanks to Dr. Edward's FOIA requests.  Soderlind is the NWA official whose name is redacted in the FBI information.

Second, everyone should also read FlyJack's post #57342 on DropZone.  Again, Soderlind is the individual who provided the information to the FBI agent within a day or two of the hijacking.  Soderland gives an 8:12 PM PST time as the latest for Cooper jumping.  And at 8:12 PM PST, the airliner would be well north of the Columbia River in the Portland International Airport area.

So this eliminates any theory that Cooper jumped after 8:12 PM or south of the Columbia River in the PIA area.

Here is the direct link to the blog:

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[Chaucer]

Thanks! It was really amazing. Yellowstone was certainly my favorite park, and I thought Yosemite didn't live up to the hype. Had a chance to visit some of the locations associated with the Zodiac case which was interesting for me.

I was just about to ask if you were the one on here investigating that Zodiac case.  I was not sure if it was you or Shutter? Do you think its solvable?  I mean, do you think its more solvable than the Cooper case?  If you had to bet money, which one gets solved first?  Or neither beyond any doubt ever?

Yeah, I'm the Zodiac guy lol

I think the Zodiac case is far more solvable than Cooper, for the simple reason that there is more physical evidence associated with the Zodiac case. There's multiple letters, stamps, handwriting. All we have with Cooper is the tie, and that doesn't have DNA.

I think Zodiac gets solved in the next ten years. I am doubtful we will ever know who Cooper was.

Just my opinion. I could end up being very, very wrong.

Chaucer, on the Zodiac matter, as I remember it you were previously saying that you and your friends would have it solved (I believe that you earlier claimed that you had already done so) by the end of this year which is 2022.  Now you are saying you will get it solved in the next 10 years. 

An excellent way to make some progress on solving the Zodiac ciphers is to figure out what constitutes those ciphers in the first place.  You and your friends have not been able to do this.  And none of the ciphers have been solved to date regardless of claims otherwise.

It remains to be seen if the Zodiac ciphers can be solved.  The Zodiac certainly didn't intend for them to be solved.  He wasn't crying out for help.  He killed people just for the hell of it.   

Negative.

I have never made any claims about solving the Zodiac case let alone giving a timetable.

What I have said is that David Oranchak, a friend of mine, and two of his associates solved what is known as the Z340 cipher in December of 2020. Their solution was confirmed by the FBI. I had nothing to with the solution nor have I ever claimed I did.

You can read the details about that here:

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You continue to claim that the ciphers have not been solved. That is simply factually untrue. Both the Z408 and Z340 have been solved and their solutions confirmed by experts including the FBI.

I have posted this link before. I will post it again.