Yet another theory as to who Copper was and his motive. Never heard of this one before. This was from a few months ago, but I don't think it's been mentioned here.

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Parrot, were you around for Bill Rollins' postings here about two years ago? He wasn't treated all that well, but he had a two-part theory that developed from his time here and his interest in the case.

First, he started with an escape scenario that was sublime, but had a lot of moving parts. Started with the hijacker arriving in the area in a pick-up truck and camper fishing in Cooper Country to develop familiarity. Then he built a special home-made device to guide him to the Merwin Dam and its lights when he jumped. Next, he took his stashed Alumacraft down the Lewis to T-Bar and a drove out to obscurity, picking up the Zodiac that he took from his starting point at T-Bar to get to river's edge at PDX unobserved. Money at T-Bar was deposited by accident in the dark during the transfer from the Alumacraft to a secret compartment in the pick-up.

Bill got excoriated here mostly for his belief in a portable beacon that could alert him to the Ariel area.

The Lakich angle was developed later as Bill had intense emotional "visions" that guided him to the 58November tragedy and Lakich. Then he got a publicist, wrote a book, and now he's getting some traction.

I like Bill and I admire his theories, and I certainly honor his intrapsychic capacities, but I think he's got it wrong on DBC.

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Parrot, were you around for Bill Rollins' postings here about two years ago? He wasn't treated all that well, but he had a two-part theory that developed from his time here and his interest in the case.

First, he started with an escape scenario that was sublime, but had a lot of moving parts. Started with the hijacker arriving in the area in a pick-up truck and camper fishing in Cooper Country to develop familiarity. Then he built a special home-made device to guide him to the Merwin Dam and its lights when he jumped. Next, he took his stashed Alumacraft down the Lewis to T-Bar and a drove out to obscurity, picking up the Zodiac that he took from his starting point at T-Bar to get to river's edge at PDX unobserved. Money at T-Bar was deposited by accident in the dark during the transfer from the Alumacraft to a secret compartment in the pick-up.

Bill got excoriated here mostly for his belief in a portable beacon that could alert him to the Ariel area.

The Lakich angle was developed later as Bill had intense emotional "visions" that guided him to the 58November tragedy and Lakich. Then he got a publicist, wrote a book, and now he's getting some traction.

I like Bill and I admire his theories, and I certainly honor his intrapsychic capacities, but I think he's got it wrong on DBC.

I thought the name Bill Rollins sounded familiar, but it's the first I'd heard of that "suspect" so I didn't make the connection. I remember him and his theory now. The problem I had with his theory, is that it was just that, a theory with no way to prove. It was plausible I guess, except for the money part. I don't think simply dropping the money at TB would explain the shards any more than a plant would. So I guess the question would be, how does his theory align with money in the Columbia? I'm not sure that it does. I don't remember how Bill was treated here, but if it wasn't good, that's unfortunate.

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I like Bill...it seems a lot of people feel that since something goes unsolved a huge chain of events are the reason it becomes unsolved. I don't believe multiple vehicles and boats are the answer..58November was still in mourning since it was not long before Cooper. everyone seems to believe the flight path was set in stone for some reason..they "had to fly that path" they were given the airspace that wanted..if you follow R99'S theory no beacon, or light will guide you to the LZ.

Once again I’d like to call everyone’s attention to facts verses fiction regarding the weather on Nov 24 and Nov 25, 1971. The weather was a typical fall day in Portland area. The precipitation was exactly on the normal of .19 inch. The wind was 10 MPH with high of 15. The visibility was 14 miles. There was no freezing weather, ice storm or snow ! Actually the temp was 48 degrees with the average for that day being 45 ! I was there and after delivering mail in Portland for 28 years, I can State for a fact......weather was pretty normal in Portland on Nov 24 and nov 25, 1971 ! Look it up if you doubt me. Captain Scott and Co-Pilot Rataczak reported seeing the lights of Vancouver/Portland out of their right window ! Stormier weather was on its way but not on day of Hyjacking. The FBI wants the public to believe the weather made the jump unsurvivable once they couldn’t find a trace of Coop or his parachute etc. don’t confuse weather at higher elevations around Ariel or weather in the Columbia River gorge with the weather in the general Portland vicinity. Just my 2 cents worth from a local who was there and lived most of my life outdoors in Portland area !

Thanks for the reality check on local weather Kermit.

I've made some jumps recently where the winds at my exit altitude (13,500 ft) were SCREAMING, e.g 63 mph, but very manageable on the DZ, e.g. 15 mph. Winds aloft can differ a lot from ground winds.

One amusing thing about Rollins' theory is the brand and type of boat used: ALUMACRAFT. We have a basis for cig brand, but not boat brand.




And when you cant solve the nav problem, resort to a fantasy device, vibrating VOR receiver corset or homemade micro DME receiver.

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I’m making no statements as to whether Coop survived or perished in the jump. I just find it so ridiculous that so many people who know nothing about the weather in Portland can consistently exaggerate the weather conditions on day of Hyjacking. I was in the Air National Guard from 1962 through 1968. The Air National Guard and the regular Air Force shared the same airfield as the commercial flights. Nobody seems to pay much attention to what was actually happening in 1971 ! It just seems like what existed in the year 2000 is how things always were. There was no Glenn Jackson Bridge or I 205 freeway. The entrance to PDX was via S.E. 82 ave.  I lived in the Portland area when the main Portland Terminal was located off Marine drive and was very small. My Uncle was a captain for United and we used to pick him up there when he was flying through Portland and had some time overnight. There was very little Industry around airport back in the day.

Just like the rest of the case even the weather has conflicts....

NOAA/NWS Daily Weather Map for 7:00 a.m. EST, November 24, 1971. An area of low pressure, centered near the Gulf of Alaska begins to move onshore in the Pacific Northwest, bringing heavy rain to coastal areas at the time the man known as D.B. Cooper jumped out of an airplane he hijacked with $200,000 in ransom into the wilderness below.

Donna Elliott who owned the Ariel Store lived in Amboy at the time and has claimed for years the rain was so heavy she couldn't see across the street. she also claims to have heard the plane..I find that hard to believe since the altitude, even though she claimed 4-5,000 feet could be heard over the sound of the rain..

Meyer Louie was another person and member here that was in the area on that night...

On November 24, 1971 I finished classes in Newberg, Oregon, at George Fox College, and a carload of us headed out to eastern washington for Thanksgiving break. I figure we left around 4 pm. We left Newberg, proceeded up 99, then to I-5 to Portland. Then we cut over to 84 and proceeded east to the 97 turnoff at Biggs Junction (which goes to Goldendale). We took our time, we made a few stops.

The Columbia Gorge for me was the stretch on 84 between Portland and Biggs junction, south side of the Columbia River.

The weather started out ominous and just got progressively worse. The only time I can remember the weather letting up was when we were well into eastern washington, north on 97, well out of the Gorge. By the time we got to The Dalles, we were afraid for our lives because of the fierce wind and rain and poor visibility. I figure we didn't reach Biggs till around 7:30 pm. We had to slow down to almost a crawl because of the wind. If you've been on that stretch of road in bad weather, you know exactly what I'm talking about.

Also, on page 41 of Norjak, Mr. Himmelsbach said "The weather was absolutely rotten." I see the time reference closest to that comment was around 8 pm. That comment, and corroborating comments of several others, make it crystal clear that the weather that night was anything but normal.

The lady at the symposium told me, in a private conversation, that she and her husband were on I-5, going north out of Portland, early evening, around 6:30 pm. She said the weather was "horrible" the whole way to Seattle.

Several other also claim stormy weather..none of these people have a reason to cover anything up, so it remains a mystery to what really happened during the flight. I don't know about the weather in Washington, but it can rain on one side of the highway down here..it can storm just a couple miles away while the sun shines here? small pockets of stormy weather can happen, does it happen in Washington, I don't know?