One more thing; does it even matter if SP actually had a numbered account? Wouldn't even claiming he did when he didn't point to something shady? Obviously having one is far shadier, and blows his Nepal alibi, but even saying he had one raises flags. It doesn't mean the flags point to DBC - he could have been a secret agent of some sort, say, and not necessarily for his own govt - but it doesn't make him less suspicious.

One more thing; does it even matter if SP actually had a numbered account? Wouldn't even claiming he did when he didn't point to something shady? Obviously having one is far shadier, and blows his Nepal alibi, but even saying he had one raises flags. It doesn't mean the flags point to DBC - he could have been a secret agent of some sort, say, and not necessarily for his own govt - but it doesn't make him less suspicious.

I concur. But it is interesting....

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I believe I did write up a MN article on my interview with Sheridan's brother, Alden, and SP's sister-in-law, Barbara, if I recall her name correctly. If you can't find it, I'll dig in my notes.

As for the wife, the current word is that SP's wife is alive in the Philippines. That's according to EU and his communications with SP's first family - Claire, and their son Robert. Ol' Petey's got some 'splaining to do.

The people that I would really like to speak with are Petey's kids that traveled with him after Nepal. But they are resistant. I called Ginger and the guy who answered hung up on me - like my one phone call to Sheridan himself back when. Further, I've felt that reaching out to SP III is not wise at this time, and I've deferred to EU's efforts for contact.

I'm not pushing SP any further than that. Others have a better rapport with him, such as it is, and here I'm thinking of 377 and EU. I'm letting them do the heavy lifting, and EU has given us a lot of great new information in the past year or so. I trust that he will continue.

I continue to work on the Sheridan story. I have come frustratingly close at times to proving he is DBC but always come up a little short.

Examples of this would be:

1) His Filipina wife: Multiple members of his family say she was alive into the 2000s. Yet Sheridan stated she died in 1977 in the Philippines. If this is true--which has been very difficult to verify--it means Sheridan lied to the FBI during his 2003 interviews. Of course, even if he did lie it doesn't prove he was DBC, but it is highly suspect considering the FBI wanted to speak with her.

2) His knowledge of the dummy reserve in 2003 FBI interview: I've talked at length about his references to the dummy reserve being daisy-chained. Why would he mention this to the FBI if he didn't really know? The problem here is that I have been unable to verify if it was daisy-chained.

3) His knowledge of the emergency rig in his 2003 FBI interview: Sheridan told the FBI that DBC jumped with and emergency rig in his 2003 interview. How would he know this? After all, I've looked into this and couldn't find any official comment stating an emergency rig was used by DBC before this 2003 interview. And as it were we learned after 2003 that, in fact, DBC did jump with an emergency rig. Again, how did Sheridan know this? At this point I thought I had him nailed until I discovered that Tosaw referenced the NB6 in two sentences in his 1984 book. So, even though Sheridan lived out of the country almost the entire time until 1999, it is theoretically possible that he picked up this nugget, believed it, and  committed it to memory by reading Tosaw's book two decades later.

4) Numbered bank account: Sheridan said he had a secret bank account in 1971. I really don't know why he'd lie about that. I can't point to a single boast on his part that hasn't been true. Yet, even if he had a numbered bank account flush with cash it still doesn't prove the money came from 305. But, it is highly suspicious.

5) The DNA: Sheridan is one of three suspects known to have had a DNA comparison. Two of the three have been publicly cleared by the FBI. On the other hand, Sheridan has not. Why? I've tried to get this from the FBI but they will say nothing. I even asked Sheridan to get the info from the FBI--after all, he's the subject of the test--and told him if the results were negative per the FBI's test that I'd publicly say as much. I provided Sheridan the materials to make the request and it would cost him nothing...but, of course, Sheridan refused. Again, why?

I could go on an on about this. In fact, I'm updating my report with a significant amount of new information and am having it properly published in book form. Also, I'v been working with a production company about a DBC documentary that focuses on Sheridan. All of this should be out within the year.

One thing about Sheridan is his passive-aggressive stance re- the Cooper Hijacking. At one moment he's an expert on it, then he claims to know nothing (says it wasn't him and he wasn't even in the USA at the time). He's hard to take seriously. Nothing about Sheridan seems to be set in stone except he did have high level parachuting skills at one time - that were demonstrated. Then he turns around and lives the life of a hermit-fugitive! He's had a kind of Protester's schizophrenic life which makes sense at one level but then he turns around wanting social service and support, and recognition, ... and it turns out he really isnt the impoverished hapless hermit not even when he was living in Tibet. He actually had a rather full life over there by most accounts of people who have been there ?

Sheridan really is a walking contradiction. That said, part of why I like him as DB Cooper is because Sheridan is not a career criminal and because he marches to the beat of his own drum and has no problem with keeping secrets. Sheridan's ex, Claire, with whom I've had a lot of conversations and can say I know quite well, has fleshed out a lot about Sheridan's personality. I must say it isn't all negative. It is best described as multi-faceted.

I have tried to explain how Sheridan could have known that DBC jumped with an emergency rig per his written comments that this is what he told the FBI in 2003 before anything official was mentioned regarding DBC's use of the NB6. This along with his comment about the daisy chained dummy reserve has been very incriminating in my mind. Obviously if he demonstrated unique knowledge regarding the equipment that was known only to the authorities that would be quite close to a smoking gun.

All of that said, I think I have a rational explanation that occurred to me last night that actually helps Sheridan's claims of innocence. And, out of a commitment to intellectual honesty I feel if I should explain my theory here.

Here it goes:

I re-read Sheridan's 2007 Smokejumper article in which he describes his interview with the FBI in 2003. On top of that, I re-read Musika Farnsworth's series about Cooper printed in Parachutist in 2010.

I noticed something quite odd about Sheridan's 2007 comments in Smokejumper and Earl Cossey's 2010 comments in the Parachutist article. Specifically, Sheridan described his conversation with the FBI and says that he mentioned that all four parachutes were picked out by someone at Issaquah Sky Sports and sent to the airport. And, that these parachutes included a sport parachute along with an emergency rig. Moreover, that Cooper jumped with the "inferior" emergency rig.

The notable thing is that this is incorrect. All four parachutes did not come from Issaquah Sky Sports. Furthermore, Cooper did not receive a sport rig along with the emergency rig.

Interestingly, this is also precisely the same scenario Cossey described in the 2010 Parachutist article. In other words, all four parachutes came from someone at Issaquah Sky Sports, and Cooper received a sport rig with the emergency rig. Moreover, that he made an inferior choice.

Obviously to read the same incorrect account from both Sheridan in 2007, discussing his comments made in 2003, and Cossey in 2010 was perplexing. However, there is an explanation.

To begin, the Musika article written in 2010 was a slightly modified re-print of an article that she wrote for Parachutist in November 2003, several months after Sheridan had his FBI interviews. I believe what happened is that Sheridan, as a member of the United States Parachute Association, received a copy of the November 2003 edition of Parachutist and read Musika's article along with Cossey's account of what happened on November 24, 1971. Then, in 2007, when Sheridan wrote his Smokejumper article recounting his 2003 FBI encounter, he mistakenly thought he actually mentioned the things to the FBI that he read about from Cossey in the November 2003 Musika article.

What this means if this is accurate is that Sheridan did not demonstrate any special knowledge regarding Cooper's parachutes. Obviously this supports the notion that he is innocent.

Also, I now think it is likely Sheridan was not aware that he was a suspect in the NORJAK case until he was approached by the FBI in 2003. I have always assumed that he discovered this fact within months of the skyjacking. This may explain why Mary Jean Fryar stated that Sheridan seemed to enjoy being a suspect. Additionally, according to Sheridan's son Mark, when Sheridan took part in a smokejumper reunion in Boise in April 2007 he (Sheridan) openly bragged about being interviewed by the FBI. Again, he seemed to enjoy the attention.

All of this helps Sheridan's claim of innocence in my mind. It makes sense. Sheridan's memory had simply faded over the years and some details had been changed innocently enough.

All of this said, Sheridan no longer enjoys the attention. And, I still have some very real questions about the secret bank account in Singapore in 1971 which cannot be accurate. The Filipina wife story. The DNA saga. And, his apparently false alibi. Not to mention his uncanny knack for checking all of the DBC boxes.

This is a strange case indeed.