Afrdohgts

Would Cooper's body be found near Ingram picnic site? If Cooper died from the jump what are the dynamics of the situation if he hit the Lewis River? Would it be too much of a struggle to make it out of the cold river with all that stuff on him? He would have to cut the chute loose quickly. His clothing would also suck up the weight of the water making it more difficult to stay afloat. At the same time he has to keep possession of the money bag. And brief case? If he drowned with an open chute his body flows to the Columbia and gets snagged by a commercial boat prop and heads upstream? Is there a commercial boat log for that time period? What happens to a body/remains in that river? Does it eventually float? Would a boat prop scramble the remains eventually? Would fish eat the remains? The money find shows that Cooper lost control of the situation; at least to an extent. I don't think that bodes well for Cooper's survival. Was there even a good place for Cooper to land in that area? The parachuting aspect of his crime seems to contrast the actual hijacking in attention to detail and control over the situation. I haven't jumped even once so I came here to read what actual jumpers have to say; especially about Coopers choice of the round chute over the sport chute. Does it suggest a familiarity with the round chute and perhaps some distance in time from his jumping days? Was the sport chute a newer chute for 1971? thanks in advance Dan

I thought it was more than $5800 as it is commonly reported. That coin association verified 35 more serial numbers not recorded by FBI by putting fragments together like a jig saw puzzle. Right off I thought it was unlikely for 3 bundles to end up together which did lead me to believe that it was either buried there or there was more money than that nearby. And apparently there was more money than that as the '74 dredge appears to be the reason why there were so many fragments. If the bills came from the river then I have to ask how did Cooper get separated from them? I would also find it unlikely for a concentration of bundles to happen if he lost them from a high altitude. I think it would be unlikely that the Columbia gave up all its Cooper secrets in that one find. It would just be a matter of location. At this point I have to place Cooper in the river somewhere as a splash down(no pull, blackout etc). Perhaps impact loosened the knapsack up or maritime traffic coaxed some of it out as the articles and Cooper went downstream.

You have a picture of somebody. Where's the person with a picture of Cooper? Sure people go missing but this isn't just any person. People are coming out of the woodwork to claim Cooper. But I suppose it could be argued equally that some people would want to avoid that attention. We had to wait but even the Unabomber eventually was brought out by his brother. I suppose its just wishful thinking and a curiosity as to who this person was. There's no real strong point there as I know people simply do vanish sometimes.

I didn't compare it to today. However, in a way you can because this case is well known and lingering and people are still claiming Cooper as a relative. Where's the one's coming forward that actually went missing if Cooper died? Certainly, a person can go missing from outside the juristiction and not be missed but I would bet that the great majority of people that do go missing ARE MISSED. As far as Cooper making it or not I am on the fence. My opinion stands that he did it alone and had a vehicle somewhere to hike back to and pick up his stuff which he wouldn't be walking around with...he left the Portland area and returned to it for some reason as opposed to staying on and jumping somewheres near Reno.

Stealing a car chances more law enforcement attention. At this point my opinion is that he had a vehicle somewhere(I don't think he flew in from elsewhere otherwise you would have people coming forward saying they saw him due to the notoriety of the case) since time was of the essence and he probably did not want to leave any trail behind as well as not looking suspicious carrying around a sack of cash, briefcase, and chutes. Too many items to walk around with. He could've buried the chutes but I think that was too messy for one who had a good attention to detail. I won't dispute death as the result but this guy did not flinch in the face of these conditions. The jump is a huge part. He may have even welcomed the dummy chute since it would suggest failure. If this guy was coming out of experience in Nam then this jump may be less stressful than one where you'd get your ass shot off. As far as loners go I know almost no one that wouldn't be missed. An employer or landlord even? Complete loners are rare and many of them are that way because they are not capable of dealing with others/situations. Perhaps this homeless guy I know but because of mental problems he wouldn't be capable of this.

I can't help thinking that Cooper was special forces or something of that order as a regular weekend warrior parachutist would've been deterred by conditions. I grabbed this little book off my shelf : The Special Forces Endurance Techniques by Chriss McNabb which is just a little overview of special forces methods. The opening quote from a samuri warrior struck me: in the martial arts, the mental state should remain the same as normal. In ordinary circumstances as well as when practising martial arts, let there be no change in the state of mind- with the mind open and direct, neither tense nor unfocused, centring the thoughts so that there is no imbalance, calmly relax your mind, and savour this moment of peace. p142 Combat skills: The psychological challenge of undercover operations begins from the moment of deployment. For covert operations, night insertion is typical, often by parachute or helicopter. This presents its own set of mental challenges. If entering the contested territory by parachute, special forces often do so by one of two challenging methods of parachute technique which bring their own psychological problems. The first is high altitude high opening (HAHO).... By contrast, High altitude Low-Opening (HALO) parachuting sees the solider dropped at a similar altitude or higher, through this time he freefalls for several minutes and only deploys the parachute in the last 2,000ft of the jump. This gives an extremely rapid deployment method. Both techniques pose psychological problems. The oxygen levels at 25,000ft and over are very low indeed, and temperatures can be -50F. Lack of oxygen and severe cold can induce feelings of sluggishness, disconnection from reality, unconsciousness, confusion, and blurred vision. All these are anathema to the sharp mind required at this dangerous moment of the operation, so enough oxygen should be carried on both types of jump in order to supply the soldier to beneath 10,000ft. Clothing should also be extremely insulated. Landing in the operational area by parachute, or by the much noisier helicopter deployment, requires a switch of mind. Unless the situation demands it, the soldier should spend a few minutes still and silent in his new environment, adjusting to sights and sounds, and becoming familiar with his operational world. At night in particular, the soldier's senses are placed under acute strain. The human eye takes about 30 minutes to adjust fully from normal daylight to night vision, even longer if the soldier has been exposed to bright sunlight in the daytime(which explains why special forces soldiers in bright conditions tend to stay indoors or wear very DARK SUNGLASSES....

Thanks Jerry. I want to untangle myself from this one but I don't know if I can. Perhaps a few more details. I won't dispute a Cooper death but man...nothing besides that cash and placard just makes me want to think he might have made it. If the guy had a plan in the air there must've been one for the ground and that's why I can't shake thinking he had a vehicle somewhere that he would hike back to and then retrieve the cash, chutes, briefcase because you wouldn't want to be walking around with that stuff. Its too bulky as well. Was Cooper being too cocky by wearing a suit? What would've been the difference if he was wearing a George Costanza puffy winter jacket? I suppose I would wear a suit to my own funeral but then why ask for the hijacking note back? Orange, I am Afraid of Heights. I have been up in planes though...not without some nerves but I can do it. Had a near miss in a Cessna.

How did Cooper get to Portland? If it was a flight wouldn't fellow fliers have stated that they saw this person after the case hit the news? I just assumed he had a car somewhere in the area and walked to the Portland airport and was planning to get back to the car to pick up the loot and evidence. I wouldn't think he would want to bury that stuff. He had to come back for the cash anyway. Burying would be messy and at night you can't tell what a mess you left for FBI to find. It would also muddy his clothing. I just got sucked into this by the recent news story so I'm sorry if I ask anything that has been hashed over and over. I read some details and it conflicted with what I thought happened. The cash reported as 3 bundles seemed odd to me that they would travel down the river together and end up on the same spot. The dredging does seem to answer some of the contradictions of the cash find . Tena Bar seems far from the flight path but I'm not sure which way the wind was blowing. The placard was found well north of Lake Merwin so maybe it popped out at 8pm when Cooper opened the staircase? Was pilot in error when he assumed Cooper jumped at 8:13 over Lewis River? The Columbia seems quite a bit south of there and wouldn't the Columbia have to be his crash spot if all of the cash ended up in the drink along with Cooper himself? If Cooper lived maybe he tossed the whole 200G in a brief case off a bridge over the Columbia once he found out bills were actually marked? The rational manner of Cooper during the hijack makes me think that this is a guy who knew how to jump. Its a rather big part of the plan. I assumed he was military to do this at night and not be put off by bad weather. But, you can say the whole enterprise itself calls into question his mental state...hijacking a plane with a bomb threat and all.