On your first paragraph above, the airliner was not actually assigned a specific route as is the normal case for IFR operations today as well as in 1971. The flight crew was told prior to take-off that they were free to do anything that they needed to do and that ATC would keep other aircraft out of their way. It was more or less assumed that they would generally follow V-23 south and ATC told the airliner that they would keep other aircraft more than 4000 feet from them vertically. Since the airliner was at 10,000 feet, this basically meant that there would not be other aircraft below them and that any aircraft above them would be at 14,000 feet or higher.
As you have probably noticed, there are 19 redactions (if I remember correctly) in the ATC radio transcript for the flight from SEATAC to the Fort Jones VORTAC in Northern California where the airliner was handed off to the Oakland ATC Center. These redactions removed ever single bit of information that would help pinpoint the location of the airliner while in the Seattle ATC area. There are no redactions whatsoever in the radio transcripts for SEATAC tower, Oakland Center, and Reno tower.
There are a number of reasons, which have been discussed at length elsewhere, for believing that the airliner did fly from the Malay Intersection direct to the Canby Intersection. During this off-airway (but still in controlled airspace) flight, the airliner would be flying vectors provided by the appropriate Seattle ATC sector controller. At the same time, the controller was busy trying to direct several different aircraft to intercept and trail the airliner, so he was quite busy.
"The plane was where the radar said it was." ---MGAsr
We read through most of your writings on the flight path, including your thread (last summer?) with your estimates and calculations. He has consistently refused to weigh in on the topic, and believes only the radar data can solve the mystery.
Your father is absolute correct in saying that "something" produced those radar returns, other things being equal.
My understanding is that the USAF radar facility at McChord AFB was a joint use operation and the one that the FAA also used for air traffic control purposes. There is a document in the FBI files that was prepared by an FBI agent who indicates that he picked up "tapes" from that facility. If he actually picked up tapes, did the FBI have the equipment to read those radar tapes?
But I think I can say that under absolutely no conditions would an airline pilot and crew fly the track shown on the "FBI map" or on TC's recent map. The airline crew apparently did not have trouble flying a specific track before they got to the Malay Intersection or after they got south of Portland.
How about taking a look at the original jump diagram, and its supporting paperwork, and see if you can estimate the time that chart was prepared.
Where in the "FBI files" is an agent picking up Air Force radar tapes ... from McChord ?
Can you post the file or give a url to this ? Can you quote the passages from the file?
Why would the FBI be picking up radar tapes? Who would read them! Oh! Himmelsbach with his Sony Decoder Ring fresh from a cracker jack box This is completely counter to the story released by the TAG Group people at McChord, who as a matter of coincidence were interviewed?! What's the next iteration - where is this going! ?? The FBI drew the NWA Search Map? Maybe the FBI flew the frckin plane and the socalled crew were all FBI studio standins?
Are these Sony radar tape Decoders/Readers used by the FBI available on eBay? Show us one! Just who in the FBI used this equipment back in '71?
This is getting a little far fetched dohn cha think?
How is the Russian Moon Base going? Any recent contacts with NFL players and owners there?