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[airplane flying]
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[stewardess] We would like to remind you
to fasten your seat belts securely…
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[Gray] It's amazing to think about this.
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1971, 2021, 50 years apart.
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People are still chasing Cooper.
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[Christy] These Cooperites,
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if you go on those websites
and watch them,
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they're still going back and forth
with different theories and suspects,
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still today.
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Let's face it,
you have a 50-year-old legendary story,
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and nobody really knows what happened.
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It's infectious.
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And people have this never-ending drive
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without, really, any of the information.
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This is something everybody
has followed over the years,
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and now, the FBI is throwing in the towel.
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There are a lot of mysteries out there,
there's no question about it,
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and this is gonna be one of those.
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People are still making original content
about Cooper 50 years later.
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[Schaefer]
Once you get sucked in, you can't escape.
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There's no ending,
there's no satisfaction.
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You don't get to know the story.
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The only Cooper story we know
is on the plane.
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There's nothing before that
and there's nothing after that,
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so I think that's what keeps
a lot of people in the vortex.
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[reporter] Who knows when or where
another piece of the puzzle could show up?
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[jazzy scatting, funky music playing]
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Hello, welcome to CooperCon.
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[applause]
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[Ulis] I started doing the CooperCons
on an annual basis from 2018.
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You know, D.B. Cooper is really a part
of this Northwest lore,
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this Northwest legend,
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along with, you know, Bigfoot and UFOs.
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So it's just kind of a cool thing
to turn into a festival.
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You wanna come get checked in?
We'll get you all set.
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The CooperCon is basically
a gathering of the tribe.
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[man] I'm the owner and operator
of Northwest Escape Experience,
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which has a D.B. Cooper escape room.
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I kind of joined in on this game
coming from the Wikipedia page, myself.
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I'm a historian that's been studying
the D.B. Cooper case
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probably since I was
seven or eight years old.
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My mother was actually
in Sea-Tac Airport,
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waiting to catch a plane
to see my future father,
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and… When the hijacking ensued,
so her plane was delayed.
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He almost interrupted my existence.
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There's really something special
about being here in person.
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Closing up the laptop, if you will,
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and actually having some face-to-face
contact and communication with people.
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[no audible speech]
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I guess what makes it family
is that you got…
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You're all suffering
from the same ailment,
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which is the inability to solve the case.
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We've got the mayor
of Cooperville himself,
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the man behind the curtain
at The Mountain News.
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He will be joined
by the handsome organizer of this event.
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My good friends,
Bruce Smith and Eric Ulis.
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Was it just one guy
who wanted to make some money,
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wanted a payday?
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Or was there something else?
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Coming down here, you're able to talk
to people that are familiar with the case
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that were alive at that time.
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I know all the greats here,
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so as soon as they came in,
it's like, "Oh, my!"
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Bill Mitchell's sitting over there.
He was on the plane.
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He was, you know, five feet away
from D.B. Cooper, 50 years ago.
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I mean, if they had to count on me
as an eyewitness to identify D.B. Cooper,
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he could be here.
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[laughter]
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There's discussions
of random bizarre things
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that only people in the case
would really care about.
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Once we get these stubs,
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we put them into an electron microscope.
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This is my 1985 vintage
scanning electron microscope,
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that I personally own.
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Not very many people in the country own
their own personal electron microscope.
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So I guess I'm one of the outliers.
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-There's a little bit of a nerd family.
-Oh yes.
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[Schaefer] In the last 50 years,
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there have been over 40 books
written on this subject,
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but the case remains unsolved.
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I think Robert Rackstraw might be one
of my top suspect contenders, personally.
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Favorite suspect: Barbara.
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I have a suspect, William J. Smith,
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but there's other suspects
could have done this.
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My uncle was Lynn Doyle Cooper,
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who was the only suspect
to have never been ruled out by the FBI.
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Will I be crucified if I say
Loki is my favorite suspect?
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[laughs]
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I mean, I hate to be
the spoiler here, folks.
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D.B. Cooper's fucking dead.
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If he is alive, he is 95 years old.
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He smoked a lot of cigarettes.
He's not alive.
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And we'll talk a little more about this
over the next couple days…
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[Schaefer]
There is a lot more to this case
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than you can imagine.
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The Cooper vortex is real.
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[interviewer] Have you come across
the Dan Cooper comic book theory?
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-Oh, yeah.
-[interviewer] Tell us about it.
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I'm definitely interested
in the Dan Cooper comic book theory.
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Dan Cooper is this comic book hero
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who was a French Canadian
Royal Air Force test pilot,
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who went on all these adventures
and did a lot of skydiving.
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If you look at the covers,
or if you browse through it,
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it's almost like D.B. Cooper
took that character
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and brought it to life.
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The Adventures of Dan Cooper
was the product of Albert Weinberg,
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a Belgian artist who worked
under the legendary Hergé,
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who created Tintin.
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[Smith] It was only written in French.
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It was very popular in Belgium,
France, and French Canada
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in the '60s and '70s,
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and unknown-of in English-speaking places.
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[Abraczinskas] In the comic,
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there were several stories
that paralleled the hijacking.
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There was an airline ticket
with the name Cooper on it,
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a 727,
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there was a story of hijackings
out of Seattle,
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and there was similar clothing.
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A black tie, a dark suit, and a briefcase.
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[Gray] When this hijacking took place,
in French Canada,
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there was also tremendous paranoia
and revolt.
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[angry shouting]
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It's more important to keep
law and order in society,
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and I think that goes to any distance.
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[Gray]
And in this environment,
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Dan Cooper was a hero.
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[Guevremont] Dan Cooper was our guy.
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He was Canadian.
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And in the 1960s and '70s,
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aviation was big.
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This character was flying the latest jet.
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It was introducing all kinds of aircraft
in the comic strip to its readers,
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and gave all the Canadian kids
who could read French
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this ideal hero who was flying jets.
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And who doesn't like to fly jets
when you're a young boy?
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We all want to be fighter pilots.
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It doesn't start with Tom Cruise
and the movie Top Gun.
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I feel the need…
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-The need for speed.
-The need for speed.
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[Rondot's voice] I read it as a teenager.
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I was fascinated by the imagination
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into the stories of Dan Cooper.
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You could fly to Yemen.
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You could go into the Colombian jungle.
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You could discover Canada.
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It was beautiful.
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Albert Weinberg published
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41 albums, which is huge.
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There was an album shown
as a possible link
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in the stories of this album
with the question of the hijacking.
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That's the one.
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The techniques could be similar
between the album
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and the way D.B. Cooper
escaped from the plane.
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[funky upbeat music playing]
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[Rochefort] I first met Albert Weinberg
in our Air Force base.
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Albert always came to Canadian bases
to research new material.
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His first trip in Canada was in 1966
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at the Canadian Forces base
Portage la Prairie.
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And he got the red-carpet treatment,
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'cause he did so much
for recruiting with his books.
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So basically, he had pretty well
unrestricted access on the base.
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He would take pictures, lots of pictures,
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of the buildings,
the airplanes, the people.
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He would say, "This guy looks
like a real fighter pilot."
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And he would actually draw that
into his graphic novels.
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[Gray]
When I first looked at the comic book
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and started going through the sketches,
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it did become clear to me
that there was a relationship
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between the derring-do
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of this hero pilot
who jumped out of airplanes
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and loved to fly,
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and potentially, the aspiration
of a man with a grudge,
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and a man who wanted
to complete and do one fine thing.
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One thing Albert Weinberg told me
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was that after the hijacking happened,
like not weeks after, days,
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his sources in the Royal
French Canadian Air Force called him,
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and they said, "He's one of us.
This guy is one of us."
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[Rondot] Albert Weinberg didn't want
to have his hero
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linked to a hijacker.
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So every time some journalist
wanted to question him about that,
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he was pushing back.
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[Guevremont] Dan Cooper is the knight
in shining armor in that comic strip.
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00:11:08,669 --> 00:11:12,840
He is the man who hijacked the plane
trying to send us a message.
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00:11:12,923 --> 00:11:15,592
Or maybe the hijacker had no idea
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that a famous French Canadian
comic book fighter pilot
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was using the same title
as the one he chose.
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Who knows?
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[Schaefer]
If I boarded and robbed a train
189
00:11:31,108 --> 00:11:34,820
using the alias Tony Hawk,
and escaped on a skateboard,
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00:11:35,362 --> 00:11:38,490
would you consider me choosing
that alias a coincidence?
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I wouldn't!
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I mean, the link
193
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is just too obvious to me.
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Plus, it's so exciting,
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so I want it to be this comic-book angle.
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00:11:51,462 --> 00:11:56,091
[Guevremont] In the 1950s,
the Canadian Air Force was at its peak.
197
00:11:56,175 --> 00:11:59,636
But starting in the '60s,
they went down in size.
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They saw their role diminish.
199
00:12:02,347 --> 00:12:04,683
In 1965, the Royal Canadian Air Force
200
00:12:04,767 --> 00:12:07,478
decided to get rid of 500 pilots,
201
00:12:07,561 --> 00:12:10,314
experienced pilots, and aircrew,
202
00:12:10,397 --> 00:12:13,484
and it continued the trend
in the early 1970s.
203
00:12:14,443 --> 00:12:17,654
People were forced to leave,
and they were very bitter.
204
00:12:17,738 --> 00:12:20,783
There was no transition program
in those days
205
00:12:20,866 --> 00:12:22,576
for those who leave the Air Force.
206
00:12:22,659 --> 00:12:23,744
They're on their own.
207
00:12:26,038 --> 00:12:28,832
It's up to him to decide
what he's gonna do with his new life.
208
00:12:28,916 --> 00:12:32,753
Maybe he'll become
a Robin Hood of hijacking planes
209
00:12:32,836 --> 00:12:36,340
and steal thousands of dollars,
and that will be his retirement.
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00:12:40,761 --> 00:12:44,932
Maybe he could have been a ground crew,
a technician in the military.
211
00:12:47,434 --> 00:12:50,729
Especially because of what
was discovered about his tie.
212
00:12:52,439 --> 00:12:55,400
[reporter]
The old clip-on tie from JCPenney
213
00:12:55,484 --> 00:12:57,861
is said to be spotted with evidence.
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00:12:57,945 --> 00:12:59,988
[Ulis] When the plane landed in Reno,
215
00:13:00,072 --> 00:13:02,282
there was a skinny black clip-on tie,
216
00:13:02,366 --> 00:13:05,661
along with a mother-of-pearl tie clip
attached to it,
217
00:13:06,161 --> 00:13:08,914
that had been left on the plane.
218
00:13:09,748 --> 00:13:12,501
A tie accumulates all the particles
219
00:13:12,584 --> 00:13:14,795
from everywhere you've ever been.
220
00:13:14,878 --> 00:13:18,882
So we were able to go in
and take sticky samples off the tie,
221
00:13:18,966 --> 00:13:20,551
and look at the particles.
222
00:13:21,426 --> 00:13:24,388
The most notable particle was titanium.
223
00:13:24,471 --> 00:13:26,765
And it wasn't titanium
like in the white paint.
224
00:13:26,849 --> 00:13:29,476
That's titanium dioxide.
It has oxygen in it.
225
00:13:30,185 --> 00:13:31,854
It was pure titanium metal,
226
00:13:31,937 --> 00:13:35,148
and it actually looked like
a microscopic leaf spring
227
00:13:35,232 --> 00:13:37,192
about the size of a blood cell.
228
00:13:37,276 --> 00:13:39,695
We also found a second titanium particle
229
00:13:39,778 --> 00:13:42,656
that had a piece of stainless steel
smashed into it.
230
00:13:43,198 --> 00:13:46,660
Those two particles,
in 1971, were very rare.
231
00:13:47,160 --> 00:13:50,622
Where the hell did he come across
commercially pure titanium
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00:13:50,706 --> 00:13:53,667
and rare earth elements
on his clip-on tie?
233
00:13:54,251 --> 00:13:57,671
Really, two industries
that did use it in '71.
234
00:13:57,754 --> 00:14:01,341
One, the aerospace sector,
and also the chemical industry.
235
00:14:01,425 --> 00:14:04,761
So it gives you an idea
of perhaps where D.B. Cooper was,
236
00:14:04,845 --> 00:14:07,389
what kind of circles this guy walked in.
237
00:14:07,472 --> 00:14:10,100
The other interesting thing
about the titanium
238
00:14:10,183 --> 00:14:12,811
is that it was commercially pure titanium.
239
00:14:13,812 --> 00:14:16,315
It wasn't alloyed titanium,
240
00:14:16,398 --> 00:14:19,818
which you would see
primarily in the aerospace sector.
241
00:14:20,861 --> 00:14:25,532
I think that's a pretty strong indication
that he came from Boeing,
242
00:14:25,616 --> 00:14:30,203
because there were some R and D divisions,
and other divisions in Boeing,
243
00:14:30,287 --> 00:14:34,124
that did use and experiment
with commercially pure titanium.
244
00:14:35,876 --> 00:14:38,962
[Guevremont] A lot of speculation
was done about Boeing.
245
00:14:39,922 --> 00:14:41,965
But then we have Canadair in Montreal.
246
00:14:42,049 --> 00:14:46,094
They had that expertise
to work with titanium,
247
00:14:46,178 --> 00:14:49,056
and they included it in two trainers.
248
00:14:49,139 --> 00:14:51,683
The CT-133 Silver Star,
249
00:14:51,767 --> 00:14:54,978
and the CT-114 Tutor aircraft.
250
00:14:59,399 --> 00:15:01,526
So, we can extrapolate
251
00:15:02,152 --> 00:15:06,281
that if we have a ground crew
that work on those planes of that type,
252
00:15:07,783 --> 00:15:10,744
he would have had direct contact
with the titanium.
253
00:15:11,703 --> 00:15:15,666
There's a good chance
he might have met Mr. Weinberg himself,
254
00:15:16,333 --> 00:15:19,336
maybe fallen in love
with the comic book strip,
255
00:15:19,419 --> 00:15:21,964
and decided to adopt the name later on
256
00:15:22,047 --> 00:15:25,342
when he hijacked
the aircraft in the United States.
257
00:15:27,386 --> 00:15:29,346
It's an interesting hypothesis.
258
00:15:32,557 --> 00:15:33,934
[Mendez] During that time,
259
00:15:34,017 --> 00:15:37,562
nobody was talking too much
about obfuscation,
260
00:15:37,646 --> 00:15:40,816
about deception and illusion.
261
00:15:40,899 --> 00:15:43,026
He's got the FBI over here
262
00:15:43,110 --> 00:15:46,738
with the micro-bits of titanium
from his tie,
263
00:15:47,406 --> 00:15:50,575
when that's probably not even his tie.
We don't know.
264
00:15:51,410 --> 00:15:53,036
He probably doesn't wear a tie.
265
00:15:54,079 --> 00:15:56,623
Maybe that's what D.B. Cooper
was going for.
266
00:15:57,416 --> 00:16:00,127
So there's still plenty
of mystery in this story.
267
00:16:06,299 --> 00:16:09,678
[Rondot]
At the beginning of the D.B. Cooper case,
268
00:16:09,761 --> 00:16:14,182
the FBI went
to the Royal Canadian Air Force
269
00:16:14,266 --> 00:16:17,227
to see if they could investigate
270
00:16:17,310 --> 00:16:18,979
on the Canadian bases.
271
00:16:20,814 --> 00:16:22,357
But during the Cold War,
272
00:16:22,441 --> 00:16:24,818
nobody wanted that.
273
00:16:27,279 --> 00:16:31,575
Starting around 1959,
all the way to the '70s,
274
00:16:32,200 --> 00:16:35,996
relations were very sour
between Canada and the United States.
275
00:16:36,079 --> 00:16:38,248
Living next to you is, in some ways,
276
00:16:38,331 --> 00:16:40,417
like sleeping with an elephant.
277
00:16:40,500 --> 00:16:41,960
No matter how friendly
278
00:16:42,044 --> 00:16:43,587
or even-tempered is the beast,
279
00:16:44,379 --> 00:16:46,715
one is affected by every twitch and grunt.
280
00:16:47,466 --> 00:16:51,219
We were starting to separate
or detach ourselves
281
00:16:51,303 --> 00:16:54,347
from a North American defense structure
282
00:16:54,431 --> 00:16:58,560
that a lot of Canadians felt
was controlled by the Americans,
283
00:16:58,643 --> 00:17:01,146
and we wanted to regain our independence.
284
00:17:02,105 --> 00:17:04,024
So if, in 1971,
285
00:17:04,107 --> 00:17:07,110
the FBI would have asked
the Canadian Forces,
286
00:17:07,194 --> 00:17:11,573
"Could we check some individuals
who might have committed this hijacking?"
287
00:17:11,656 --> 00:17:15,202
there is a strong possibility
that the Canadians said, "No."
288
00:17:15,285 --> 00:17:19,498
"We refuse to let you
investigate on Canadian soil,
289
00:17:19,581 --> 00:17:23,001
or even to have access
to Canadian military records."
290
00:17:23,835 --> 00:17:27,923
It could be plausible
that both governments did not cooperate
291
00:17:28,006 --> 00:17:29,966
in the case of Dan Cooper.
292
00:17:31,718 --> 00:17:33,762
There's many great clues
that lead to Canada
293
00:17:33,845 --> 00:17:35,972
that have never been properly picked over.
294
00:17:37,140 --> 00:17:41,061
On the night of the hijacking,
D.B. Cooper requested American currency.
295
00:17:42,229 --> 00:17:45,190
If you're an American,
why would you request American currency?
296
00:17:45,273 --> 00:17:48,110
Dan Cooper might have used that phrase,
297
00:17:48,193 --> 00:17:51,029
"in negotiable American currency,"
298
00:17:51,530 --> 00:17:54,241
because English was
not his first language,
299
00:17:54,866 --> 00:17:58,245
and those are the initial words
that came to his mind
300
00:17:58,328 --> 00:18:00,789
in a moment of tension,
a moment of rush.
301
00:18:02,582 --> 00:18:05,418
Because I was thinking this morning,
"I've never heard that expression."
302
00:18:06,795 --> 00:18:08,463
It's not a French expression.
303
00:18:08,547 --> 00:18:09,881
[in French] It's bad English.
304
00:18:09,965 --> 00:18:12,175
If he's not American,
305
00:18:12,259 --> 00:18:14,678
he wants to be sure
that he can change the money.
306
00:18:14,761 --> 00:18:17,097
I saw it like that. But that's my opinion.
307
00:18:17,180 --> 00:18:19,850
[in English] So this is just my opinion.
You do a robbery,
308
00:18:19,933 --> 00:18:22,435
you're a French Canadian,
you're in a rush,
309
00:18:22,519 --> 00:18:25,981
you want to make sure they give you
US dollar bills that are small bills.
310
00:18:26,565 --> 00:18:27,732
I would say that.
311
00:18:27,816 --> 00:18:31,027
"I want a negotiable American currency."
312
00:18:32,028 --> 00:18:34,531
I'm not 100% sure on "negotiable,"
313
00:18:34,614 --> 00:18:39,953
because Cooper is relaying
his demands to the flight crew,
314
00:18:40,036 --> 00:18:43,081
who are then relaying them
to Air Traffic Control.
315
00:18:43,165 --> 00:18:45,125
So I don't know 100%.
316
00:18:45,208 --> 00:18:47,586
Did Cooper say "negotiable"?
317
00:18:47,669 --> 00:18:49,337
Or as it got relayed,
318
00:18:49,421 --> 00:18:51,423
was "negotiable" thrown in there?
319
00:18:52,174 --> 00:18:55,635
But, uh, it's totally possible
he was a Canadian.
320
00:18:58,263 --> 00:18:59,639
[seagulls squawking]
321
00:19:03,476 --> 00:19:05,896
I don't see much evidence
on any of these other folks
322
00:19:05,979 --> 00:19:07,272
that have Cooper theories.
323
00:19:08,190 --> 00:19:10,025
We all have different views on this.
324
00:19:11,359 --> 00:19:13,778
But we're the only ones
that have evidence.
325
00:19:14,446 --> 00:19:15,906
And it just keeps coming.
326
00:19:20,368 --> 00:19:23,038
[Zaid] After the Freedom
of Information Act lawsuit,
327
00:19:23,121 --> 00:19:27,417
the FBI identified 80,000 pages
of documents on this case
328
00:19:27,500 --> 00:19:31,504
of which they're giving us
500 pages per month.
329
00:19:32,005 --> 00:19:35,759
So we're talking 12 years,
it's going to take.
330
00:19:36,468 --> 00:19:39,346
So I filed a motion with the court
331
00:19:39,429 --> 00:19:43,225
to expedite the files
pertaining to Bob Rackstraw,
332
00:19:43,892 --> 00:19:46,728
because we want his files first.
333
00:19:47,395 --> 00:19:48,855
Rackstraw opposed it.
334
00:19:49,439 --> 00:19:53,360
He submits this rambling, page after page,
335
00:19:53,443 --> 00:19:57,864
of, "I'm not D.B. Cooper,
and I don't want my files released."
336
00:19:59,074 --> 00:20:03,620
He also adds this drawing
saying this is all a bunch of shit.
337
00:20:06,790 --> 00:20:09,501
It was harmful, obviously, to us.
338
00:20:09,584 --> 00:20:12,170
The court did rule
against us at that stage.
339
00:20:14,714 --> 00:20:15,966
[Colbert] I'm a stubborn SOB.
340
00:20:16,049 --> 00:20:18,343
I wasn't going to let that stop us.
341
00:20:19,010 --> 00:20:20,971
We decided we had to go through with this.
342
00:20:25,934 --> 00:20:28,353
But it was a very difficult time.
343
00:20:31,273 --> 00:20:34,192
There was one point I'll never forget.
344
00:20:34,818 --> 00:20:36,611
I was always an early riser.
345
00:20:36,695 --> 00:20:39,030
I sleep five hours a day, that's all.
346
00:20:39,656 --> 00:20:41,616
But while I was working Cooper,
347
00:20:41,700 --> 00:20:45,412
I thought I could shave it a little,
maybe getting four hours of sleep.
348
00:20:45,495 --> 00:20:48,206
There was one point, I was sitting
in front of the computer,
349
00:20:49,249 --> 00:20:51,084
and I forgot how to push the keys.
350
00:20:53,628 --> 00:20:55,338
I called out to my wife, and I said,
351
00:20:55,422 --> 00:20:57,549
"Honey, I don't even know
how to use this."
352
00:20:58,425 --> 00:21:02,178
And she took me by the hand
and put me in front of a TV.
353
00:21:04,222 --> 00:21:07,017
I sat in front of the TV,
and my brain came back.
354
00:21:08,184 --> 00:21:10,812
Took about six hours. Was a little scary.
355
00:21:11,396 --> 00:21:14,733
But I realized I had reached
my limit at that moment.
356
00:21:18,570 --> 00:21:20,530
But we were not going to give up.
357
00:21:20,613 --> 00:21:25,160
[dramatic music playing]
358
00:21:36,629 --> 00:21:39,341
A man who claimed he was one
of the most infamous fugitives
359
00:21:39,424 --> 00:21:41,968
of the last century, then took it back,
360
00:21:42,469 --> 00:21:43,386
has died.
361
00:21:43,970 --> 00:21:48,308
His name is Robert Rackstraw,
and to this day, we still don't know
362
00:21:48,391 --> 00:21:51,519
whether he was also
the hijacker known as D.B. Cooper.
363
00:21:56,858 --> 00:22:00,236
[Colbert] When he died, I told the papers,
when they called,
364
00:22:00,320 --> 00:22:03,239
"I respect, as a family man,
what he did for his children."
365
00:22:03,990 --> 00:22:07,869
But I did say that I still feel
he was breaking the law.
366
00:22:09,996 --> 00:22:11,956
[Van Zant]
To me, I think what is so fascinating
367
00:22:12,040 --> 00:22:14,125
is that he had this period
368
00:22:14,209 --> 00:22:16,586
where, in the '70s,
369
00:22:16,669 --> 00:22:20,673
he was not a law-abiding citizen,
he was this kind of con man.
370
00:22:21,549 --> 00:22:24,052
He does go to prison for his check kiting,
371
00:22:24,135 --> 00:22:26,679
and stealing planes,
and keeping explosives.
372
00:22:28,848 --> 00:22:31,810
But he gets out,
and then he leads a totally normal life.
373
00:22:34,687 --> 00:22:37,690
He pulled it together,
and nobody would know
374
00:22:37,774 --> 00:22:39,776
if they didn't dig into the records.
375
00:22:41,861 --> 00:22:44,948
[Kashanski] He was trying
to live his life as a ordinary guy,
376
00:22:45,740 --> 00:22:47,742
in a marina, fixing boats, you know?
377
00:22:52,705 --> 00:22:54,791
[Forbes]
There's character, there's tapestry.
378
00:22:54,874 --> 00:22:57,669
There are layers to him as a person.
379
00:22:57,752 --> 00:23:00,296
He's damn interesting.
He was damn interesting.
380
00:23:00,380 --> 00:23:02,674
He's still very interesting,
even in his passing.
381
00:23:05,510 --> 00:23:08,763
It was stunning, the consistency
382
00:23:08,847 --> 00:23:12,142
of everything
anyone had ever said about him.
383
00:23:15,353 --> 00:23:20,108
[Kunkel] I had noticed Bob,
every time he goes out of town,
384
00:23:20,191 --> 00:23:22,735
he takes this dark briefcase.
385
00:23:23,486 --> 00:23:27,073
Well, one day, I see the briefcase again,
386
00:23:27,574 --> 00:23:29,409
and it was unlocked.
387
00:23:30,326 --> 00:23:32,954
I open it very gently.
388
00:23:33,830 --> 00:23:37,041
And here it was, a toupee.
389
00:23:38,376 --> 00:23:42,088
A toupee and a mustache.
390
00:23:43,047 --> 00:23:48,052
Now, Bob wore a mustache all the time.
391
00:23:48,136 --> 00:23:51,556
But sometimes, he would come back
392
00:23:52,140 --> 00:23:53,766
and it was shaved.
393
00:23:53,850 --> 00:23:57,604
He was wearing a toupee when he wanted to.
394
00:23:58,188 --> 00:24:01,024
[laughing]
In disguise for someone else.
395
00:24:01,107 --> 00:24:02,525
I don't know.
396
00:24:04,861 --> 00:24:08,990
[Hunt] Bob was a member
of the Playboy Club in LA.
397
00:24:09,073 --> 00:24:11,409
And he said,
"Come on, I'll take you guys to the club."
398
00:24:12,285 --> 00:24:16,789
We pull in behind a limousine
with a little rent-a-car.
399
00:24:17,457 --> 00:24:19,375
There's got to be
a hundred people in line.
400
00:24:19,959 --> 00:24:23,713
We walk up,
and the doorman's standing there,
401
00:24:23,796 --> 00:24:26,674
and he says,
"Right this way, Mr. Rackstraw."
402
00:24:27,342 --> 00:24:29,302
They have a bunny waiting for us.
403
00:24:30,595 --> 00:24:32,472
What he had done was,
404
00:24:32,555 --> 00:24:34,224
he called the club,
405
00:24:34,307 --> 00:24:38,561
told them that Governor Reagan's
personal pilot was coming over there,
406
00:24:38,645 --> 00:24:42,732
Bob Rackstraw, and, "Please extend
all the courtesies possible."
407
00:24:43,399 --> 00:24:44,567
And they did.
408
00:24:44,651 --> 00:24:48,696
I mean, we got a front table
for the floor show.
409
00:24:48,780 --> 00:24:51,658
He was introduced by the MC.
410
00:24:51,741 --> 00:24:53,535
He gets up and waves to the crowd.
411
00:24:53,618 --> 00:24:56,037
He's got his wings on his jacket,
412
00:24:56,538 --> 00:24:57,580
his flight wings.
413
00:24:57,664 --> 00:25:03,044
And that was my first experience
with how Bob could manipulate people.
414
00:25:07,006 --> 00:25:09,592
[Immendorf] Rackstraw was a brilliant guy.
415
00:25:09,676 --> 00:25:12,637
He was an extremely talented individual.
416
00:25:12,720 --> 00:25:16,641
I think he was
a cold-blooded person, however.
417
00:25:17,141 --> 00:25:19,727
I don't believe
that he had a lot of empathy.
418
00:25:22,272 --> 00:25:24,857
[Zaid] I felt bad, of course,
when he passed away,
419
00:25:24,941 --> 00:25:28,486
but we got access
to all of the FBI files on Rackstraw.
420
00:25:30,947 --> 00:25:32,907
If you don't believe
it was Rackstraw, fine.
421
00:25:32,991 --> 00:25:34,701
Here's the original documents.
422
00:25:34,784 --> 00:25:36,995
"Thank you very much."
"You're very welcome."
423
00:25:42,667 --> 00:25:46,254
I truly believe Robert Rackstraw
was D.B. Cooper.
424
00:25:46,337 --> 00:25:50,341
There are factors, critical factors,
which I think all dictate
425
00:25:50,425 --> 00:25:52,969
that Rackstraw was Cooper.
426
00:25:53,469 --> 00:25:56,014
Robert Rackstraw was your man.
Yeah, he died.
427
00:25:56,097 --> 00:25:58,766
Certain things will probably
never be known.
428
00:25:58,850 --> 00:26:01,311
But there is a closure here.
429
00:26:04,606 --> 00:26:07,442
I've never said this before,
but I'll do it for you.
430
00:26:07,525 --> 00:26:09,152
[laughs]
431
00:26:09,235 --> 00:26:13,865
I think that, as a result
of the cold case team's investigation,
432
00:26:14,407 --> 00:26:17,619
Robert Rackstraw is D.B. Cooper,
433
00:26:17,702 --> 00:26:19,162
or was D.B. Cooper.
434
00:26:20,955 --> 00:26:23,416
[interviewer] Does the FBI agree with you?
435
00:26:27,962 --> 00:26:30,214
I don't know. I don't know.
436
00:26:30,298 --> 00:26:34,469
There have been many FBI agents,
some in very responsible positions,
437
00:26:34,552 --> 00:26:35,511
that agree with me.
438
00:26:36,220 --> 00:26:38,097
And there are others who don't.
439
00:26:38,181 --> 00:26:39,807
I'm not absolutely certain,
440
00:26:39,891 --> 00:26:42,727
but it's the best thing
that anybody's come up with yet,
441
00:26:42,810 --> 00:26:44,812
and it certainly looks like it.
442
00:26:48,941 --> 00:26:50,026
[Zaid] There are, no doubt,
443
00:26:50,109 --> 00:26:55,907
people within the D.B. Cooper
family of researchers, who…
444
00:26:55,990 --> 00:26:58,326
There is nothing we could do
445
00:26:58,409 --> 00:27:03,206
that would persuade them
that their theory is not correct.
446
00:27:03,289 --> 00:27:05,416
But that is damaging to the truth.
447
00:27:05,500 --> 00:27:09,420
And that was never what was motivating us,
as part of the cold case team.
448
00:27:09,504 --> 00:27:14,342
I would've happily walked away and said,
"Yeah, we tried, we were wrong."
449
00:27:14,425 --> 00:27:17,929
"But you know what? We contributed,
because, hey, Rackstraw's off the table."
450
00:27:18,012 --> 00:27:19,806
"Focus on these other guys."
451
00:27:19,889 --> 00:27:21,391
But we never got to that point.
452
00:27:21,474 --> 00:27:24,977
We never had a piece of evidence
that said, "You know what?"
453
00:27:25,061 --> 00:27:27,397
"We're wrong, Rackstraw's not the guy."
454
00:27:27,480 --> 00:27:31,609
It was, "Oh, here's another piece
of evidence that tends to prove
455
00:27:31,693 --> 00:27:34,070
that maybe he is the guy."
456
00:27:34,153 --> 00:27:36,531
And every step of the way,
that's what we were finding.
457
00:27:37,990 --> 00:27:40,702
Colbert, in a sense,
is one of those people
458
00:27:40,785 --> 00:27:42,829
that's done a really good job,
in some respects,
459
00:27:42,912 --> 00:27:44,706
in terms of pulling out data
460
00:27:44,789 --> 00:27:48,710
and introducing stuff
to the D.B. Cooper case.
461
00:27:49,794 --> 00:27:51,546
But looking at the files,
462
00:27:52,463 --> 00:27:55,758
I do not think
Robert Rackstraw was D.B. Cooper.
463
00:27:58,094 --> 00:28:02,890
He was investigated by the FBI
and was eliminated as a suspect.
464
00:28:03,474 --> 00:28:07,979
And I think anybody who is focusing
on Robert Rackstraw as D.B. Cooper
465
00:28:08,062 --> 00:28:11,482
would be well-served
to abandon that notion
466
00:28:11,566 --> 00:28:13,317
and start looking at some other people.
467
00:28:19,657 --> 00:28:21,492
[Van Zant] Tom loves a good story,
468
00:28:21,576 --> 00:28:24,328
and I think Rackstraw is his good story.
469
00:28:24,412 --> 00:28:28,791
It's easier to sell if he's D.B. Cooper.
That's the name people know.
470
00:28:28,875 --> 00:28:30,543
That's what you put in your title.
471
00:28:30,626 --> 00:28:33,504
And then you tell this great story
of this con man, right?
472
00:28:34,172 --> 00:28:37,425
And I think Tom really thinks
that he could be D.B. Cooper.
473
00:28:38,217 --> 00:28:39,719
[interviewer] What do you think?
474
00:28:40,595 --> 00:28:42,847
I think Tom has done a great job,
475
00:28:42,930 --> 00:28:46,768
but I would not risk my reputation
476
00:28:46,851 --> 00:28:49,562
on saying Rackstraw was D.B. Cooper.
477
00:28:52,690 --> 00:28:54,066
[Forbes] I applaud Tom.
478
00:28:54,150 --> 00:28:55,359
I so applaud Tom.
479
00:28:56,194 --> 00:28:59,155
Because that cost a lot of money
out of his pocket.
480
00:28:59,864 --> 00:29:02,158
Tom's efforts and work to get here,
481
00:29:02,241 --> 00:29:03,159
great for him.
482
00:29:05,077 --> 00:29:08,289
I just feel that there's a lot
of chasing of windmills.
483
00:29:08,998 --> 00:29:11,209
[interviewer]
How much money have you spent on this?
484
00:29:11,292 --> 00:29:13,544
Well, let's just say,
it's close to the reward.
485
00:29:14,128 --> 00:29:17,507
The amount of money Cooper took
was 200 grand.
486
00:29:17,590 --> 00:29:22,845
I would tell you, we've spent
about that much on this investigation.
487
00:29:23,387 --> 00:29:25,681
And frankly, we didn't plan to.
488
00:29:25,765 --> 00:29:28,601
We usually do
one- to two-year investigations.
489
00:29:28,684 --> 00:29:31,938
This spiraled into a seven-year,
and then a ten-year,
490
00:29:32,647 --> 00:29:34,899
because of the FBI.
491
00:29:36,025 --> 00:29:38,319
They wouldn't cooperate with us.
492
00:29:42,156 --> 00:29:43,491
[Forbes] Tom had a lot at stake.
493
00:29:44,367 --> 00:29:47,703
He is driven for his own personal reasons,
494
00:29:47,787 --> 00:29:49,288
a yearning for justice.
495
00:29:50,248 --> 00:29:52,792
But there's a big danger in that.
496
00:29:54,460 --> 00:29:58,297
You can fall into the trap
of looking to prove a point
497
00:29:58,381 --> 00:30:01,217
rather than ferret out
the facts of a story.
498
00:30:02,468 --> 00:30:05,721
And so you can be very clouded
in your judgment.
499
00:30:07,473 --> 00:30:09,350
Jim Forbes was a good friend.
500
00:30:09,433 --> 00:30:11,394
Jim was one of my mentors,
501
00:30:11,894 --> 00:30:15,022
but Jim made a decision,
at the end of History Channel,
502
00:30:15,690 --> 00:30:17,400
to change to the other side.
503
00:30:18,317 --> 00:30:21,112
I think, most likely,
he's not D.B. Cooper.
504
00:30:21,696 --> 00:30:23,948
-You truly don't think it's him?
-No. No.
505
00:30:24,782 --> 00:30:27,660
[Colbert] When he changed his mind,
it shocked the team.
506
00:30:28,286 --> 00:30:30,413
And unfortunately,
we haven't spoken since.
507
00:30:33,124 --> 00:30:35,209
It's very hard
when the stakes are so high.
508
00:30:35,835 --> 00:30:39,463
Relationships, money, lives.
509
00:30:40,590 --> 00:30:42,800
So the case becomes this jungle.
510
00:30:42,884 --> 00:30:45,803
You're trying to prove your suspect
and solve the case,
511
00:30:45,887 --> 00:30:47,889
but also protect yourself from ridicule.
512
00:30:49,098 --> 00:30:51,684
All these things happen in Cooperland.
513
00:30:54,270 --> 00:30:55,646
[Forbes] If it is Bob Rackstraw,
514
00:30:55,730 --> 00:30:58,900
then, wow, he should stand
on the mountaintop and yell
515
00:31:00,276 --> 00:31:01,903
to the end of his life,
516
00:31:01,986 --> 00:31:04,572
"I was right. You all doubted me."
517
00:31:07,283 --> 00:31:09,660
I've moved on from the D.B. Cooper case.
518
00:31:09,744 --> 00:31:13,080
I'm now working on Zodiac.
519
00:31:14,999 --> 00:31:17,710
We have also found
520
00:31:17,793 --> 00:31:22,423
what we believe is the killer's trail
and the location of Jimmy Hoffa.
521
00:31:23,674 --> 00:31:27,511
We have all these lined up,
and again, it's because the team.
522
00:31:34,435 --> 00:31:38,022
[Mitchell] My 15 minutes of fame
have lasted 50 years.
523
00:31:41,108 --> 00:31:46,238
I think most people think
that they can solve it.
524
00:31:49,158 --> 00:31:53,079
I mean, they really do think
that they can get on the Internet
525
00:31:53,162 --> 00:31:56,999
and google something
that's going to solve it.
526
00:31:58,376 --> 00:32:01,337
There's been so many, like,
historical reenactments
527
00:32:01,420 --> 00:32:02,922
and that kind of thing.
528
00:32:03,005 --> 00:32:06,550
Have you seen yourself
portrayed in these documentaries?
529
00:32:06,634 --> 00:32:08,177
And who would you want to portray you?
530
00:32:08,260 --> 00:32:09,971
[audience laughs]
531
00:32:10,805 --> 00:32:11,764
Go with George Clooney.
532
00:32:11,847 --> 00:32:13,307
Yeah!
533
00:32:13,391 --> 00:32:15,351
You know what?
I'll let my wife answer that.
534
00:32:15,434 --> 00:32:16,268
Um…
535
00:32:17,103 --> 00:32:19,188
It's kind of entertaining.
536
00:32:19,271 --> 00:32:21,691
I get to meet people.
537
00:32:21,774 --> 00:32:23,901
It's just really fascinating
to get to meet you.
538
00:32:23,985 --> 00:32:26,278
[Mitchell] But the Cooperites,
539
00:32:26,362 --> 00:32:28,531
they want to tell me their theory,
540
00:32:28,614 --> 00:32:30,282
even now, which is crazy.
541
00:32:30,366 --> 00:32:32,368
I mean, I get pictures mailed to me.
542
00:32:32,451 --> 00:32:34,036
"Do you recognize this guy?"
543
00:32:34,870 --> 00:32:41,043
And it's this Cooperite's cousin's
uncle's brother's sister's husband,
544
00:32:41,585 --> 00:32:44,422
on his deathbed, said he was D.B. Cooper.
545
00:32:48,175 --> 00:32:50,970
[Schreuder]
As time goes on, it gets more difficult.
546
00:32:51,637 --> 00:32:54,765
All witnesses have memory decay.
547
00:32:54,849 --> 00:32:57,101
People just plain forget.
548
00:32:57,184 --> 00:32:58,894
[no audible speech]
549
00:32:58,978 --> 00:33:03,357
Any crime scene evidence
that existed is certainly gone by now.
550
00:33:04,692 --> 00:33:09,280
Even the shore of the Columbia River
has changed horrendously.
551
00:33:12,241 --> 00:33:13,784
So you can't even go back there
552
00:33:13,868 --> 00:33:16,454
and recognize where you were,
or where you dug.
553
00:33:16,537 --> 00:33:18,539
He was with the money
when he went out of the plane,
554
00:33:18,622 --> 00:33:21,834
and if he lit in the river, uh,
maybe he got out and maybe he didn't.
555
00:33:22,585 --> 00:33:25,046
The longer it goes, the harder it gets.
556
00:33:26,589 --> 00:33:30,384
When the FBI announced that the case
was closed, I didn't believe it a second.
557
00:33:31,052 --> 00:33:33,929
I just don't think the FBI can kill
an open indictment.
558
00:33:34,013 --> 00:33:36,974
They just don't want to touch it anymore.
They get calls every day,
559
00:33:37,058 --> 00:33:38,476
and it saddles agents with stuff,
560
00:33:38,559 --> 00:33:40,394
and the PR people are forced
to make statements.
561
00:33:40,478 --> 00:33:42,813
But the case, really,
I don't believe is closed.
562
00:33:42,897 --> 00:33:45,524
The indictment is still open,
and there's a man at large.
563
00:33:48,486 --> 00:33:50,905
[Rymsza-Pawlowska]
It's interesting to me that D.B. Cooper
564
00:33:50,988 --> 00:33:53,616
has remained so prevalent
565
00:33:53,699 --> 00:33:56,035
in so many different types
of popular culture.
566
00:33:56,702 --> 00:33:58,996
And I do think, for the most part,
567
00:33:59,080 --> 00:34:03,876
it's that he is this kind of antihero,
outlaw, individualist figure.
568
00:34:03,959 --> 00:34:07,171
You can draw lines from the cowboys
569
00:34:07,254 --> 00:34:10,674
and the dime novels of the 1890s,
570
00:34:10,758 --> 00:34:12,676
through someone like Don Draper,
571
00:34:12,760 --> 00:34:17,598
through somebody like Walter White
from, you know, Breaking Bad.
572
00:34:18,307 --> 00:34:24,396
It's a very particular type
of gendered and raced male figure.
573
00:34:29,026 --> 00:34:31,487
[Burrough]
Cooper is a singular case.
574
00:34:31,570 --> 00:34:35,741
It clearly speaks to a yearning
of some type in the American soul.
575
00:34:39,036 --> 00:34:41,330
The romance of a skyjacking,
576
00:34:41,413 --> 00:34:46,460
a guy who puts on a parachute
and leaps into the darkness.
577
00:34:47,670 --> 00:34:49,255
I hope he's never found.
578
00:34:51,674 --> 00:34:53,759
People ask me all the time,
"Well, who's D.B. Cooper,
579
00:34:53,843 --> 00:34:55,553
if you've done so much research into it?"
580
00:34:55,636 --> 00:34:56,804
I have no idea.
581
00:34:58,514 --> 00:35:02,893
When I started the podcast, I thought,
"It's got to be one of these suspects."
582
00:35:03,602 --> 00:35:07,356
But now that I've read 30 books,
and talked to 45 different people
583
00:35:07,439 --> 00:35:08,357
about the case,
584
00:35:08,440 --> 00:35:11,694
it seems like I know less now
than I did when I started.
585
00:35:12,319 --> 00:35:13,946
[Ulis] As time has gone by,
586
00:35:14,029 --> 00:35:16,740
it's become this ever-larger mystery.
587
00:35:18,617 --> 00:35:22,121
[Mendez] The thing I don't understand is,
why he didn't fly a flag somewhere
588
00:35:22,204 --> 00:35:25,583
or leave a note and say,
"I am D.B. Cooper."
589
00:35:26,167 --> 00:35:28,127
Now a number of people have done that…
590
00:35:29,420 --> 00:35:31,380
but they're not D.B. Cooper. [laughing]
591
00:35:31,463 --> 00:35:34,008
But the real one,
he had the rest of his life to figure out,
592
00:35:34,091 --> 00:35:35,926
"How shall I reveal myself
593
00:35:36,010 --> 00:35:40,014
to be the genius that only I know I am
right now?"
594
00:35:42,183 --> 00:35:44,518
[Gray] We live in a culture now
where we know everything.
595
00:35:44,602 --> 00:35:47,688
You can't even have a debate,
because the truth is found in two seconds.
596
00:35:48,689 --> 00:35:50,024
The Cooper case defies that.
597
00:35:50,733 --> 00:35:54,904
It forces us to continue to search
for something we may never know.
598
00:35:54,987 --> 00:35:58,741
And the fact that we can't know,
I think, secretly, we like it.
599
00:36:01,285 --> 00:36:03,162
The longer Cooper gets away,
600
00:36:03,245 --> 00:36:05,748
the more we can live
vicariously through him.
601
00:36:07,708 --> 00:36:09,335
And the legend goes on.
602
00:36:10,794 --> 00:36:13,297
[jazzy scatting, funky music playing]
603
00:36:18,469 --> 00:36:20,471
[dramatic music playing]