This is where I think the Palmer Report got it wrong.
First, Palmer identifies a clay layer which he thinks is likely from the 1974 dredge. Also, that the top of this clay “1974 dredge” layer is apparently a couple of feet below the surface of the beach in 1980—5½ years after the August 1974 dredge. Moreover, that the layer itself is between 2 and 4 feet deep.
Well, this would mean that the level of the money find spot would have to have been at least 4 feet lower—and likely more—than it was in February 1980. Is this believable?
Second, given that the beach has been under a constant state of erosion since the 1974 dredge, how is it that approximately 2 feet of sand built up on top of the dredge in 5½ years? It’s impossible. The beach has been eroding, not building up.
Forty years later Mother Nature has uncovered the entire beach for quite a distance and we can now identify the clay “1974 dredge” layer as a natural layer that has been there all along—not just since August 1974. This fact alone destroys the foundation of the Palmer Report.
Third, Palmer refers to two layers of sand on top of the clay layer. He refers to the “upper sand layer” which he describes as 6”-8” deep and containing “soda pop cans and other debris, which were not severely damaged or rusted.” Then Palmer describes a “post dredging sand layer” of unknown depth containing “older soda pop cans, rusted nails and spikes, and other rusted artifacts, which were in a much more deteriorated condition.”
Note everything Palmer references is heavy and rusted and made of metal. Nothing like paper or cotton is referenced. Doesn’t it make sense that heavier objects would tend to sink deeper over time? Doesn’t it make sense that metal objects that are two feet down would have been buried longer than items that are four inches down? This is common sense.
Palmer also suggests the money likely arrived on Tena Bar within two or three months of the money find. When questioned about the fact the rubber bands were still intact Palmer stated, “The condition of the rubber bands would tend to lend credence to the assumption that the money had been at the location where found for a longer period of time.” Nonetheless, Palmer still believed the money had arrived within a year based upon the aforementioned clay “1974 dredge” layer—which we now know to have been misidentified.
This is a significant example of how Palmer and the FBI got it wrong in a very fundamental and critical manner. Indeed, believing the Palmer Report “hook, line and sinker” put the truth out of reach for 25 years. It wasn’t until Tom and the Cooper Research Team discovered the truth of the clay layer that the truth of when and how the money arrived at Tena Bar was put within reach.
I had lunch with Tom Kaye yesterday. We talked a lot about the money find and Tena Bar. Tom believes, as do I, that the money could not have arrived at Tena Bar via water. More to the point, that it was delivered and buried at Tena Bar by “living” intervention. Meaning, either Cooper, another person, or an animal brought the money to Tena Bar and buried it. It did not arrive and self-bury by natural means.