General Category > DB Cooper
Clues, Documents And Evidence About The Case
JimmyCalhoun1991:
Doesn't matter, you'll never convince anyone with logic or facts.
Rackstraw was a full two decades younger than Cooper's estimated age. He was just a few years older than the stewardesses. Wouldn't it be a bit insane if all three thought the guy was 20 years older than he really was? Does that make any sense whatsoever. So they interact with a guy for four hours, he's just a few years older than them, but they believe he's two decades older than them? Has that ever happened to anyone? Anyone in their life ever meet someone 25 and believe that they're actually 45? It's asinine. That's to say nothing of the fact that Bob Rackstraw was a GINGER. Reddish hair, reddish beard, pale white skin, greenish hazel eyes (or blue). Could a man with that description pass for Latin American? Would anyone ever see Bob Wesley Rackstraw and think "wow, where in Latin America does that guy come from?" Give me a freaking break, man.
Use the damned eyewitness descriptions. If they were completely invalid and never lead to suspects being arrested, why bother even take them down at all? Why would they take the time to do a half dozen sketches and hours of interviews to figure out what the guy looked like?
It's just ridiculous. We are decades removed from the incident, but go back and read what was written that night/the next days.
"Tall, thin, dark hair, dark brown eyes, Latin appearing, swarthy, dark complexion."
Sounds a lot like pale white Bob Rackstraw to me, with his five strands of sandy blonde hair swept over his bald ass head. Give me a break.
Jay Ritchie:
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Interestingly the Geoffrey Gray account - whist it could be reconciled with the FBI statement - seems different enough that one may gain a different impression of Cooper. Would be good to hear Gray on a podcast. Did he interview Lysne separately for his book?
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Interesting thing I just noticed.
It said that he "received instructions to the flight area".
Might be over-analysis, but if Cooper needed directions to the gate, then that might indicate a lack of familiarity with Portland airport.
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Its easy to form a somewhat different guess as to Coopers background with a small piece of information isn't it?
I think most articles/ videos/ podcasts about Cooper like to give the impression of some criminal mastermind. In the FBI accounts he comes across as a gray man. I don't think this is as clear cut if Geoffrey Grays book is reliable. Gray reports that Cooper was remembered specifically by the gate guy - who Gray states immediately recalled a suspicious passenger.
Gray also reports that the authorities tracked down Derek Lysne after his shift and asked him if there was anyone suspicious who boarded the flight - he specifically mentions Cooper, recalls his name, and states that Cooper asked whether the plane was a 727.
JimmyCalhoun1991:
It is very interesting indeed. I feel like Cooper likely was some kind of laborer, as two individuals described him that way, notably Tina Mucklow (in later interviews, source being a 26 November 1988 Bellingham Herald article).
Prevailing media wisdom has always been to repeat the long held belief that Dan Cooper was some kind of technical wizard, classy business exec who pulled off a flawless caper and probably got away. The first time I read through the FBI files I specifically remember feeling like it was a different portrait entirely.
He made several mistakes. He fumbled around with the aft stairs. He was dressed in the way a laborer may imagine a business person would dress, clip-on tie and all. Pure speculation on my part, but what else is there to do with DB Cooper in 2022.
People have a natural inclination to give Cooper the benefit of the doubt on every detail, and I find it to be kind of maddening and counter productive. Him choosing the worse parachute and one that was seen shut suddenly becomes "no he chose the more rugged parachute and plfft, who the hell is Earl Cossey, anyway?" Rather than looking at it objectively and seeing that his parachute choice indicated a guy with limited parachuting experience.
Speculation here, but I now tend to believe that Cooper was not entirely unlike all the other hijackers of the day. Desperate, against the ropes, a failure elsewhere in life, attention-seeking, vengeful, a bit narcissistic, thought he was the smartest guy in the room even when he wasn't, etcetera. Cooper went out of his way to make sure people thought he had things totally under control, because I think having that power was very important to him.
Cooper was definitely a cut above the average 1960s-70s hijackers, perhaps two cuts, even. However, he was not much more than that. What kind of guy threatens to murder people if he doesn't receive a bunch of stolen money? Would a "business exec" or successful career military man/intelligence operative really think 200k was worth all the trouble?
dudeman17:
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Register or LoginHim choosing the worse parachute and one that was seen shut suddenly becomes "no he chose the more rugged parachute and plfft, who the hell is Earl Cossey, anyway?" Rather than looking at it objectively and seeing that his parachute choice indicated a guy with limited parachuting experience.
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I think you're a bit misinformed on this part. It sounds like he asked for two complete freefall rigs, mains and reserves. What they gave him for 'back' rigs were not mains, but two pilot emergency bailout rigs. That makes whatever front reserves they gave him irrelevant, because the bailout rigs do not have the D-rings to attach them. The reason they don't have the D-rings is because the bailout rigs ARE reserves. If one of the canopies was steerable over non, or if one was bigger, it might make it a slightly better choice. But if the two back rigs they gave him were indeed Hayden's two bailout rigs, then it was basically a coin toss over which one to take. There was not a 'bad choice' involved.
JimmyCalhoun1991:
Really, he specified all that information on what chutes to bring aboard the plane? I could be misinformed/have forgot what is in the 302s. If it's not in the 302s or from a verified source, I haven't much interest.
Or is that just pure speculation? I've always read that he wanted "two front packs and two backpacks." Nothing more was specified. I've heard speculation about D rings and all that before. If they're (his demands about chutes and what he specifically said) in the 302s, please link them so I can refresh my memory. These days I only focus on what is black and white, printed in the 302s.
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