FLYJACK

Road flares are bright red... The bomb was described as reddish rusty color... and also wrapped in red plastic tape.

The FBI/Soderlind analysis generally got it right, the only thing I'd change is expand the wind direction to include SW-SE but they do admit it was an estimate. Without hard evidence to contradict that is the default position.

That assumes the oscillations reported were Cooper going down the stairs or at the bottom.. The sled test showed no matching rapid pressure oscillations with a guy on the stairs, not until the weight was dropped, then it matched NORJAK. IMO, the rapid increase in oscillations seen on the gauge by the crew culminated in the pressure bump, an extreme oscillation, within seconds not minutes. That is why the FBI/Soderlind treated them as one event.. If there was a significant delay they would have figured that out. But, I'd go to 8:09 - 8:15 and close to Brush Prairie max but with a diminishing probability after 8:13 and before 8:10.. 8:11-8:12 is the sweet spot. The other big factor in this is a no pull.. a pull requires another 1.5 minutes further down the path to account for drift. So, you need a pull at about 8:19 to land on the N side of the Columbia. I can't imagine any hijacker jumping over a well lit urban area.. I estimate a no pull at less than 1%.

In the Dan Gryder interview, Rataczak said Cooper was gone before Portland... So, to have Cooper jump over/next to the Columbia.. we have to reject and alter.. The path timing - shift it several minutes. Rataczak's statements - conclude he was making many false statements. Soderlind's analysis which includes his crew/comm notes - conclude that somehow Soderlind's notes were inaccurate and the call to him was well after Portland. The oscillation/jump time - create a delay of 5-7 minutes between the oscillation report and pressure bump. IMO, there is no evidence to change these things... you can create doubt individually but to alter all of them with no evidence and only speculation isn't enough.

Do you think he was a no pull? If he pulled, as I said he would have had to jump over Portland to land on the Vancouver side of the River. That is why I said 8:15 wasn't Portland. I have always thought 8:15 was the southern jump zone boundary.. but the higher probability is more like 8:11-8:13. I said nearer Battle Ground.. The Battle Ground Vortac was 8:14 between Battle Ground and Brush Prairie... That is almost 10 miles from the Columbia River. IMO, Vancouver City proper is between 8:17-8:18.. And you need to factor in the wind drift if he pulled. To land just on the N side of the Columbia Cooper would have had to jump at about 8:19 right over Portland.. Is there a greater Vancouver Wa?? Here in Canada we have a greater Vancouver which includes many surrounding cities and municipalities and often the entire area is defined as Vancouver..

All the stuff that went into Soderlinds analysis.. it is listed in the files. Soderlind had his own notes of comms with the crew and was in a position to interview them at the time. If the crew knew Cooper jumped over Portland we would have heard more about it. To the contrary, they didn't mark it themselves..To me, it was general speculation that Cooper jumped near Portland. To a plane crew the vicinity of Portland may be a larger area than you think. IMO, the crew did not actually know were he jumped, only that it was between last contact at 8:05 and the call to Soderlind time marked 5 or 10 minutes later. Soderlind has that call if it was after Portland it would be clear to him. I don't believe the plane was over Portland at 8:15.. it was nearer Battle Ground. To jump over Portland it would be about 20:18. Granted there is a little wiggle room but not enough. IMO, the oscillations and bump were the same series of fluctuations but they differed in magnitude... the needle movement increases rapidly and drew their attention then an extreme final movement was also felt as a pressure bump.. this series of oscillations is in seconds not minutes. I believe they called Soderlind before Portland and being after Cooper jumped that puts Cooper's jump roughly Battleground and N.. Also, it is hard to believe Cooper would have jumped over Portland or the Airport.. to drift back over the River if he pulled of course. Portland/Vancouver is a well lit urban area. I just don't see anything that undermines the LZ analysis. You can play with the wind direction slightly, the time stamps slightly or the error in the path map.. that gives you a little wiggle room but nothing significant. You really have to change everything to make Cooper's jump over Portland. IMO, it is just a very very low probability.

Generally, the FBI/Soderlind had access to more info and fresh witnesses that we do not have today. If for example, the crew claimed at the time that they knew Cooper jumped over Portland that would have been incorporated in their analysis. To undermine the analysis done at the time you need more than a speculative comment in a summary, some actual evidence. We know there are errors in the investigation and files but they can be determined with evidence. Could Cooper have jumped over Portland.. like anything, it is possible but extremely unlikely and not supported by evidence. IMO, more is needed to overcome the evidence for a Merwin to Battleground jump.

I know, the first one is from early crew interviews for a summary.. the crew was speculating about Cooper's knowledge of the Seattle-Portland area. Those summaries can be misleading based on the way they are created, it is not the actual interview. It also states that Cooper probably jumped between Seattle and Portland. Nothing indicates they are claiming they knew Cooper jumped over Portland. Clearly, based on other info they did not know or mark the jump. We don't even know the "crew" source... IMO, this was general speculation that Cooper jumped between Seattle and Portland but closer to Portland, that is about it. Rataczak later narrowed down and defined the parameters based on his belief that the two events would have been time stamped. He did not claim a location for the jump but just an estimate between two presumed times.. and since Soderlind was listening in and taking notes he would have known the timing of the call since they called him after Cooper jumped.. IMO, this summary of early speculation is not strong enough to overcome the weight of all the other evidence. In fact depending on what they meant by "vicinity" it may not even be contradictory.

My take is the first summary was an early general statement... they did not know Cooper jumped over Portland or where exactly he jumped. They admitted they neglected to pinpoint the jump. Then Rataczak was pinpointing the jump time as he knew it by giving a time estimate between two parameters he believed were recorded.. which was 8:05, last contact and before the call 5 or 10 minutes later to Soderlind in the suburbs of Portland... presumably recorded by NWA The crew didn't know exactly where Cooper jumped but used those two parameters to narrow the estimate. This is corroborated by Soderlind's notes and the FDR..

There is an explanation to move the move the money from Cooper's LZ to the River. If the flow is adequate the money may not touch the bottom, or minimally. The Columbia River is sandy and very flat. This occurred in Spring during a flood when the River was well above the money find spot. Tom's Washougal test showed the money sink and move in the flow then settle to the bottom in still water. Current can push debris up to a beach but still underwater even if slightly uphill,,, I don't see any problem in theory.

I thought that somebody at work mentioned the Cooper money to Dwayne... if the money wasn't so damaged they wouldn't have reported it.. they tried to separate it and even kept 4 bills from the FBI initially.

People who find money aren't going to report it.. The Ingrams only called the FBI after realizing the money was too damaged and might be related to Cooper.. a high profile case.

5 second search... https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-08-16-mn-742-story.html

You lived and jumped on TBAR,, back when the money spot was periodically underwater? Was this when you were hanging with those reliable coke dealers... who claimed to be Cooper and buried the money they got from some rando who gave the real Cooper a ride. He intentionally buried the money in a spot that was underwater a week earlier, is that about right.

There are far fewer Lefty forks... not many people are aware.. have you ever had food unexpectedly fall of your fork, you were probably using a right handed fork. My wife is left handed but uses the right hand for the fork.... probably due to the lack of left handed forks growing up.

Lots on Ebay... both a L and R.. People probably took them home, maybe for camping.. they don't fall from a plane.

During TBAR excavation in 1980.. The first thing they did was to remove all surface debris in their search area. TBAR Just N of the search.... Money spot was behind the tree in the background. High water mark packed (near right shoulder) with debris and low water full of debris.

Was it left handed or right handed?

Debris on TBAR a few days after the money find 1980..

The money spot was periodically underwater, like a week before. Money was found in an upper reworked sand layer... containing pop cans and other debris, not severely damaged or rusted... (aka, fresh, NOT OLD). A soda can found in the same layer as the money was first manufactured in 1973. The lower layer above the "dredging" layer contained older soda cans and rusted artifacts.

This is just not true.

Anybody have a 1971-1980 depth chart for the Columbia. Columbia R depth off TBAR... Granted this is not 1971... the anchorage channel is on the E side and there is no meaningful slope from W to E (TBAR)..

We all know how reliable coke dealers are...

So, swimming in a River about 160 miles away from TBAR as a 10 year old makes you an expert on River flow... TBAR was said to be a dump by locals, the layer the money was in was full of stuff.. When the River turns North the flow pushes debris across toward TBAR.. that is how River flow works. The River is the most likely source for the money.. How and when it got in the River is the tricky part.

Ducking what? Sometimes you just make no sense.