Five cords on the pink parachute had cut lines:
Line #7 had 186 ¾ inches of cord removed
Line #11 had 169 ¾ inches of cord removed
Line #12 had 169 inches of cord removed
Line #15 had 213 inches of cord removed
Line #22 had 217 ¼ inches of cord removed
The length of an uncut cord (including the double-sewn cord used to tie into the cross-connector, the bundle of cords located between the butterfly snap-hook rings in the reserve container) is 218 inches (or 18.2 feet).
Exactly how much suspension line is currently missing from the pink parachute?
955 ¾ inches (or 79.6 feet).
Shutter, your listed numbers add up tp the 79.65 feet that are missing. So it is a safe assumption that Cooper used those 79.65 feet in securing the money bag to himself and possibly other uses. I think the shroud lines are rated at 550 pounds strength. Cooper could have tied the money bag securely to himself with this much line and that discounts the idea that he lost the money in the jump.
I don't think you can fairly say that just because the rope was strong enough that it discounts the idea that he lost the money in the jump. He still had to tie it to himself, and who knows how good of a job he did with his knot. He still had to secure the rope to the bag and then also secure the rope and bag to himself and who knows how tightly and efficiently he did that. Yes, he had rope that was both strong enough and long enough to do the job. But there's just no way you can say that he definitely did not lose the money during the jump just based on that alone (and the $5,800 found in the sand would support that). Rock climbers fall to their deaths despite having rope that is both long enough and strong enough to get to the top.
Here's the point. The money plus the money bag weighed less than 25 pounds. A four foot section of the shroud line should easily wrap around the entire money bag. The result is that the money bag could have been wrapped up to 20 times with the shroud lines. But with proper securing, the money bag could survive a 20+ g-load opening shock (assuming he had an open parachute, which I don't believe he did) with a single four foot shroud line. But adding another 16 feet of shroud line means Cooper could have wrapped the money bag three or more additional times and tied it to his harness. A 12 year old boy scout could secure that money bag sufficiently to prevent it separating from Cooper.
The end result of the above is that, in my opinion, it is beyond belief that the money separated from Cooper during the jump even with a violent parachute opening (which, again, I don't think happened). I put the probability of losing the money bag during the jump as zero.
Fair enough. But how do you account for the bundles of money being found by the Ingrams if it never separated from Cooper? If it was secure enough to survive the jump, how was it then not secure enough to survive anything after that? In other words, if the money was so securely fastened to Cooper's body, how did at least a handful of bills wind up separated from him in the sand?
Okay, if I ever get the time, I will elaborate a bit more about this on the Flight Path Analysis thread. But basically, if Cooper did not pull (and I am personally convinced that he did not), then when he hit the solid ground near Tina Bar at about 180+ MPH it could have caused a rupture of the money bag. Some of the money may have headed downstream earlier, but within a few years (probably no later than the mid-1970s) the remainder of the money bag and maybe most of Cooper headed downstream as well during a high water event. Remember that the money was found at an elevation several feet higher than the normal surface of the Columbia River. It is my opinion that the bill bundles arrived at Tina Bar about the same time as the fragments but both the bundles and fragments were traveling under water when this happened. The bundles may have come directly out of the money bag at the same time.
In any event, there is no good explanation as to how the fragments got buried beneath the bundles at the present time. Stay tuned.
I can get behind that. Basically, you were not including the moment of impact in "the jump" whereas I was including that as being "part of the jump." So in essence, we are actually in agreement.
Cooper theory must now evolve and modernize. Now that we know Tina is sane and Cooper was a pilot and engineer, the new explanation for the Money Finds may soon rest with Magnetic Monopoles - since Tom found iron (Fe) in the bills. Each monopole will seek its own level relative to the magnetic center of the Earth magnetisphere, independent of water. This would account for money being at different levels regardless of other factors. The Moon circling the Earth would only enhance this effect. See: You are not allowed to view links.
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LoginAl Fazio observed that a full Moon and high tide had just passed prior to Ingram finding the money along the magnet high tide line. Jerry Thomas confirmed this based on measurements with ping pong balls released from the Washougal - it's true!
Stay tuned for more on this at the Mountain News.
ps: If Cooper was attracted to Tina Bar because it is the focus of magnet activity this may indicate Cooper was suffering from a prior major injury, and had a steel plate in his head! This steel plate could then be the cause of abnormal thinking patterns resulting in a grudge and a hijacking. Lists of people with plates in their heads who smoked Raleighs could now be searched. I feel Cooper calling to me and I am sure we are very close to him now! Stay tuned at Mountain News.
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