DB Cooper

[FLYJACK 654]

21 minutes ago, georger said:

Any smoker needs a backup?  Had cigs and a few basics in the green paper bag ?  What store in the area packaged people's purchases in green paper bags? Any? Green shopping bags is a  little distinctive in that era?  An upscale paper bag?  A bag from an airport store?

The bag was described as yellow/green..  my guess is a pharmacy..

[olemisscub 466]

Sent Detlor the 302 of the Heisson store and he says he has no memory of that. Bummer. 

[ParrotheadVol 70]

On 9/4/2023 at 3:12 PM, FLYJACK said:

Boots were not stolen...  "survival rations" were. At 11:30PM, dark and isolated.

I can't imagine a small store like that kept a very detailed inventory to the point that they knew some beef jerky was missing. Unless he took all that was there, which he may very well have.

In any event, it seems there were quite a few criminals out and about in that area that evening. Heisson Store, attempted break in at a house, and most likely a hijacker!

[ParrotheadVol 70]

On 9/3/2023 at 11:25 PM, olemisscub said:

Another from Broer. This one from 1965. I like the dude with the briefcase staring out the window. Cool visual. 

A lot of suits. I wonder how many of those were thrift shop purchases? 

[Coopericane 44]

11 hours ago, FLYJACK said:

If boots were stolen that would have been something mentioned in that file..

Stolen boots would have been important...

And why steal boots when you're already wearing them?

[georger 197]

5 hours ago, FLYJACK said:

The bag was described as yellow/green..  my guess is a pharmacy..

Which pharmacy - where !  I think that color is distinctive.  ?

[olemisscub 466]

5 hours ago, FLYJACK said:

The bag was described as yellow/green..  my guess is a pharmacy..

A pharmacy? Little too big for that, no? Tina said it was the size of a department store bag for a shirt. 

[Chaucer 103]

Rather than talking in circles,, let's look at the source documents.

This was the very first memo indicating the crew's statement to the FBI. It was likely sent within a couple of hours after touchdown at Reno:

This the the 302 typed up days later using notes taken within an hour of the hijacking: :

Now, I don't know anything from anything, but it seems like the crew is referring to Vancouver here, not Ariel. Not Battle Ground. Not Heisson. Not Brush Prairie. Not Orchards. 

I've spoken to multiple locals, including those who lived in the area in 1971, and including pilots, and they all say - to a person - that these descriptions could only refer to Vancouver. No one, not even a pilot travelling at 165 knots would describe Lake Merwin or Battle Ground or Orchards as "within or in proximity of Portland" or "not yet...Portland proper, but...definitely in the suburbs or immediate vicinity".

To underscore this point, is this video, done by Shutter, indicating that anything resembling Portland or its suburbs would be far south of the original DZ.

Finally, in speaking with a local pilot, she said that Vancouver/Portland "sneaks up on you" especially in bad weather. 

So, if we want to get our panties twisted up about a jump near Battle Ground, we should look at the primary sources and what they mean. 

 

Edited September 6, 2023 by Chaucer

[FLYJACK 654]

11 hours ago, olemisscub said:

A pharmacy? Little too big for that, no? Tina said it was the size of a department store bag for a shirt. 

Tina said the bag was green, House yellow/pink and 12x14x4..

No design or logo/name seen..  

That isn''t consistent with a chain store with no name or design, the bag isn't big, but not small. The colour is unique and reminds me of something an drugstore or a stationary store might use. 

Total speculation,,, it may be from an independent drugstore or stationary store..

 

[FLYJACK 654]

9 hours ago, Chaucer said:

Rather than talking in circles,, let's look at the source documents.

This was the very first memo indicating the crew's statement to the FBI. It was likely sent within a couple of hours after touchdown at Reno:

This the the 302 typed up days later using notes taken within an hour of the hijacking: :

Now, I don't know anything from anything, but it seems like the crew is referring to Vancouver here, not Ariel. Not Battle Ground. Not Heisson. Not Brush Prairie. Not Orchards. 

I've spoken to multiple locals, including those who lived in the area in 1971, and including pilots, and they all say - to a person - that these descriptions could only refer to Vancouver. No one, not even a pilot travelling at 165 knots would describe Lake Merwin or Battle Ground or Orchards as "within or in proximity of Portland" or "not yet...Portland proper, but...definitely in the suburbs or immediate vicinity".

To underscore this point, is this video, done by Shutter, indicating that anything resembling Portland or its suburbs would be far south of the original DZ.

Finally, in speaking with a local pilot, she said that Vancouver/Portland "sneaks up on you" especially in bad weather. 

So, if we want to get our panties twisted up about a jump near Battle Ground, we should look at the primary sources and what they mean. 

 

First thing is, that is from a summary.. 302's are investigative notes, not conclusions. You have to look at all evidence. It is not the actual interview with the crew. It is notes taken by an FBI agent then summarized.

Isolating a single vague phrase isn't enough.

Portland may have been used as a general reference in the context for a flight from Seattle to Reno.. it could have been used by the agent since we don't have the actual crew statements. 

They speculated hijacker familiar with Seattle - Portland generally..  probably parachuted closer to Portland..  that is how I read that.

Also, from that summary, they (the crew) speculated AT THE TIME that hijacker left the plane AND oscillations reported to Northwest headquarters.

Some have claimed the crew didn't believe Cooper had jumped.. here they speculated at the time that he did. So, clearly they thought he did but weren't sure. This is consistent with other evidence.

They also summarized from last comm at 8:05 within (5 to) 10 minutes and PRIOR to Portland, 8:15 is ten minutes later and about Battleground. The crew believed the time of the oscillation was when Cooper jumped. The crew knew the last comm occurred with Cooper but did not know were they were at exactly 8:05.. that was later determined.

 

 

The big problem with trying to move the FBI DZ 50 years later is that we do not have all the info they had at the time.. Clearly, they had this vague summary and actual crew statements, but the totality of evidence pinpointed the DZ more accurately. 

It is not unusual for FBI notes to be vague or even contain inaccuracies or conflicts. 

Soderlind was listening in and taking notes, they had all the info we have and more including access to fresh witnesses. 

If you want to move the FBI's DZ, you need a lot more than interpreting a vague summary in the notes.

 

There is no known substantive evidence to move the DZ, only speculation.

A couple of you guys are trying to move the DZ, challenging the DZ is appropriate but there is no evidence. Moreover, you have less info than the FBI had at the time.

Do you really think the FBI did not weigh the actual crew statements in their analysis. 

 

The crew had two factual parameters that they believed were timestamped...  to help pinpoint the time Cooper jumped/oscillation.

The last comm,,  and the call to Soderlind (Northwest) 5-10 min later.

They likely did not know the times but knew those times were recorded and that it was before Portland.

 

I believe that when Rataczak later learned of the plane's location at 8:05, he concluded Cooper jumped nearer the Lewis R..  about 25 miles N of Portland..

During the initial interview he did not know that information.

 

Edited September 6, 2023 by FLYJACK

[Chaucer 103]

In re-reading my original post, I see that it comes off as unnecessarily aggressive. Wasn't my intention, and I apologize to everyone. My point stands, however. The initial crew statements indicate a jump much closer to Portland than the original DZ. 

[georger 197]

2 hours ago, FLYJACK said:

First thing is, that is from a summary.. 302's are investigative notes, not conclusions. You have to look at all evidence. It is not the actual interview with the crew. It is notes taken by an FBI agent then summarized.

Isolating a single vague phrase isn't enough.

Portland may have been used as a general reference in the context for a flight from Seattle to Reno.. it could have been used by the agent since we don't have the actual crew statements. 

They speculated hijacker familiar with Seattle - Portland generally..  probably parachuted closer to Portland..  that is how I read that.

Also, from that summary, they (the crew) speculated AT THE TIME that hijacker left the plane AND oscillations reported to Northwest headquarters.

Some have claimed the crew didn't believe Cooper had jumped.. here they speculated at the time that he did. So, clearly they thought he did but weren't sure. This is consistent with other evidence.

They also summarized from last comm at 8:05 within (5 to) 10 minutes and PRIOR to Portland, 8:15 is ten minutes later and about Battleground. The crew believed the time of the oscillation was when Cooper jumped. The crew knew the last comm occurred with Cooper but did not know were they were at exactly 8:05.. that was later determined.

 

 

The big problem with trying to move the FBI DZ 50 years later is that we do not have all the info they had at the time.. Clearly, they had this vague summary and actual crew statements, but the totality of evidence pinpointed the DZ more accurately. 

It is not unusual for FBI notes to be vague or even contain inaccuracies or conflicts. 

Soderlind was listening in and taking notes, they had all the info we have and more including access to fresh witnesses. 

If you want to move the FBI's DZ, you need a lot more than interpreting a vague summary in the notes.

 

There is no known substantive evidence to move the DZ, only speculation.

A couple of you guys are trying to move the DZ, challenging the DZ is appropriate but there is no evidence. Moreover, you have less info than the FBI had at the time.

Do you really think the FBI did not weigh the actual crew statements in their analysis. 

 

The crew had two factual parameters that they believed were timestamped...  to help pinpoint the time Cooper jumped/oscillation.

The last comm,,  and the call to Soderlind (Northwest) 5-10 min later.

They likely did not know the times but knew those times were recorded and that it was before Portland.

 

I believe that when Rataczak later learned of the plane's location at 8:05, he concluded Cooper jumped nearer the Lewis R..  about 25 miles N of Portland..

During the initial interview he did not know that information.

 

And this, in a nutshell, is why TK thinks there is a piece of the story missing. Quote Deputy Jones:  'if the money is here, Cooper was here'.  He may have been returning to Portland after landing and something happened ?

BTW:  did this Hippie surplus clothing store exist at Portland in the 70s ?   (shirt sized green store bags ?)  https://www.oregonlive.com/entertainment/erry-2018/05/96d191c51d6900/14_more_longgone_portland_stor.html

[FLYJACK 654]

2 hours ago, Chaucer said:

In re-reading my original post, I see that it comes off as unnecessarily aggressive. Wasn't my intention, and I apologize to everyone. My point stands, however. The initial crew statements indicate a jump much closer to Portland than the original DZ. 

No worries..

I spent years trying to find evidence that the DZ or path was wrong but never did...

Challenging the status quo is always worthwhile,, I have just never seen any evidence to change their conclusions.. IMO, given the totality of information, they got it right.

[olemisscub 466]

45 minutes ago, FLYJACK said:

No worries..

I spent years trying to find evidence that the DZ or path was wrong but never did...

Challenging the status quo is always worthwhile,, I have just never seen any evidence to change their conclusions.. IMO, given the totality of information, they got it right.

Attacking the flight path is absolutely ludicrous given the evidence, but there is some wiggle room on the DZ regarding the whole oscillations vs. pressure bump issue/possible conflation, etc. Some of us interpret the same data you have differently and that shouldn't be a problem. Orchards is as far south as I'm comfortable placing his jump and I believe the farthest south you are willing to go is Battle Ground (don't let me misquote you there), and that's ok to disagree. None of us here are mouth breathers and we have all reached certain conclusions based on our independent research and interpretations of the evidence that exists. 

It goes back to the agenda discussion. I have no agenda whatsoever regarding Cooper's DZ. If the way I interpreted the data led me to the conclusion that he jumped over La Center or whether it led me to believe he jumped over Orchards, then so what? Why would I care? Why should anyone have a motive regarding his DZ? This is why I've never really understood why people have so vehemently argued about his DZ. It's not something that will help us find Cooper. It's merely intellectual case knowledge. It's arguing for the sake of arguing. We'll never know precisely when he left the aircraft so it has never struck me as something worth fighting over. If I reached the conclusion that he jumped over Brush Prairie and you say he jumped over La Center, so be it. What does it matter, ya know?

Arguing flight path is a different issue. Promoting an alternative flight path DOES have consequences. I wish that Eric had placed the same effort with the media that he just displayed about Tena Bar and WFP along the actual flight path. I'm guessing 99.9% of Clark County residents who know anything about Cooper think he jumped near Ariel, which is understandable. Now, if they see Eric on TV talking about Cooper landing near TB, they may be convinced that Cooper jumped over in that area. If people living in Vancouver up to Battle Ground knew that Cooper actually jumped in their neck of the woods, then who knows, maybe someone would be motivated to go hiking through the woods of their backyard and just happen to find something. 

Eric does an excellent job of keeping the story alive with the media. That exposure is very beneficial for the case because as long as it's still in the public eye then someone might happen to remember something about a great uncle, etc., and come forward. Placing so much focus on Tena Bar doesn't help, sadly. 

 

[FLYJACK 654]

20 minutes ago, olemisscub said:

Attacking the flight path is absolutely ludicrous given the evidence, but there is some wiggle room on the DZ regarding the whole oscillations vs. pressure bump issue/possible conflation, etc. Some of us interpret the same data you have differently and that shouldn't be a problem. Orchards is as far south as I'm comfortable placing his jump and I believe the farthest south you are willing to go is Battle Ground (don't let me misquote you there), and that's ok to disagree. None of us here are mouth breathers and we have all reached certain conclusions based on our independent research and interpretations of the evidence that exists. 

It goes back to the agenda discussion. I have no agenda whatsoever regarding Cooper's DZ. If the way I interpreted the data led me to the conclusion that he jumped over La Center or whether it led me to believe he jumped over Orchards, then so what? Why would I care? Why should anyone have a motive regarding his DZ? This is why I've never really understood why people have so vehemently argued about his DZ. It's not something that will help us find Cooper. It's merely intellectual case knowledge. It's arguing for the sake of arguing. We'll never know precisely when he left the aircraft so it has never struck me as something worth fighting over. If I reached the conclusion that he jumped over Brush Prairie and you say he jumped over La Center, so be it. What does it matter, ya know?

Arguing flight path is a different issue. Promoting an alternative flight path DOES have consequences. I wish that Eric had placed the same effort with the media that he just displayed about Tena Bar and WFP along the actual flight path. I'm guessing 99.9% of Clark County residents who know anything about Cooper think he jumped near Ariel, which is understandable. Now, if they see Eric on TV talking about Cooper landing near TB, they may be convinced that Cooper jumped over in that area. If people living in Vancouver up to Battle Ground knew that Cooper actually jumped in their neck of the woods, then who knows, maybe someone would be motivated to go hiking through the woods of their backyard and just happen to find something. 

Eric does an excellent job of keeping the story alive with the media. That exposure is very beneficial for the case because as long as it's still in the public eye then someone might happen to remember something about a great uncle, etc., and come forward. Placing so much focus on Tena Bar doesn't help, sadly. 

 

Attacking is the wrong word.. Challenging.

Challenging the dominant narrative can reinforce it.

but figuring out where Cooper jumped or didn't jump does define other aspects of the case.

Could the chute found in the south Fork Lewis be Cooper's... Could he have been the Heisson store robber..  or not..  etc.. what about other found chutes.

Could he have lost the money and it recovered by a land owner who didn't report it. 

Is there any evidence still out there, perhaps he landed just W of the path.

Did he land near the railroad tracks...  was his landing place evacuation restricted by a River.

Did he land in a searched area or unsearched...

All these things tell us something.

Does it tell us who he is,, no, but neither does anything else in the case evidence.

[olemisscub 466]

2 minutes ago, FLYJACK said:

but figuring out where Cooper jumped or didn't jump does define other aspects of the case.

Could the chute found in the south Fork Lewis be Cooper's... Could he have been the Heisson store robber..  or not..  etc.. what about other found chutes.

What's fascinating to me is that if they DID get the DZ wrong (let's say it was between BG and BP), how many potential leads and stories have we missed out on? What tips and information might have been revealed if agents were canvassing homes in the Battle Ground area instead of La Center? Imagine a scenario where a gas station clerk in Orchards allowed an oddly acting man to use the phone that night, but opted against reporting it because the FBI’s focus was on an area ten miles away. Stuff like that. Interesting to speculate what we may have missed. 

[FLYJACK 654]

21 minutes ago, olemisscub said:

What's fascinating to me is that if they DID get the DZ wrong (let's say it was between BG and BP), how many potential leads and stories have we missed out on? What tips and information might have been revealed if agents were canvassing homes in the Battle Ground area instead of La Center? Imagine a scenario where a gas station clerk in Orchards allowed an oddly acting man to use the phone that night, but opted against reporting it because the FBI’s focus was on an area ten miles away. Stuff like that. Interesting to speculate what we may have missed. 

There was a report of a suspicious guy walking on a road North of Merwin and another near Eugene.

Another thing I have worked on is evacuation routes and speed/time...

If he lands at X location, how long and what route to get out.. Limited river crossings alter the routes and time..

For example,, the railroad tracks go through Brush Prairie, if he landed there he could walk straight to Heisson store using the tracks by 11:30..  whereas if he landed further away, no way he could get to Heisson and couldn't be the robber.  or did he take the tracks South?

 

What did he do??

hunker down or travel at night?  how, by road, rail or hitch a ride??

What is the best way to get out of there and where do you go first. You are wet, maybe dirty and possibly injured.

 

 

Edited September 6, 2023 by FLYJACK

[olemisscub 466]

5 minutes ago, FLYJACK said:

What is the best way to get out of there and where do you go first. You are wet, maybe dirty and possibly injured.

So much of this depends on whether he had an accomplice or not. If he had an accomplice waiting for him in the Portland area he'd just need to stash the loot and get to a phone somehow. If he was solo he'd need to get back to his vehicle somehow (assuming he didn't fly into Portland). 

[FLYJACK 654]

5 minutes ago, olemisscub said:

So much of this depends on whether he had an accomplice or not. If he had an accomplice waiting for him in the Portland area he'd just need to stash the loot and get to a phone somehow. If he was solo he'd need to get back to his vehicle somehow (assuming he didn't fly into Portland). 

No evidence for an accomplice, possible I guess. Pay phone calls were checked.

but, I believe Cooper had planned to jump farther South when he got on the plane and made his fly to Mexico demand, the course change to land in Reno caused him to jump early. There is a good argument for this,,, I have posted it before.

[Robert99 37]

1 hour ago, FLYJACK said:

No worries..

I spent years trying to find evidence that the DZ or path was wrong but never did...

Challenging the status quo is always worthwhile,, I have just never seen any evidence to change their conclusions.. IMO, given the totality of information, they got it right.

FlyJack, you seem to have at least a semi-open mind about the flight path.  So, I have some questions after reading your recent post about AFM 51-40.  Anyone with actual facts is free to jump in here also.

Where and why did the World Geographic Reference System (GEOREF) enter into your thinking about the flight path of the airliner?  Please be specific.

Why do references to the SAGE system keep popping up when the radar system of the interceptor aircraft (presumably F-106s) was plugged into the SAGE system and interested in determining the flight path of the bandit aircraft relative to itself so it could get a missile lock on it?

In all probability, the Seattle Air Traffic Control Center was using information from the same radar station at McChord as the USAF.  So, why didn't the FBI just get the flight path information from the FAA?  [Actually, the FBI apparently did, and it conflicts with the flight path from the USAF, so the Seattle ATC Center's actual radio transcripts are heavily redacted and not being released to the public.]

Personally, I have NEVER seen the GEOREF system used in any flight planning either military or civilian.  

[georger 197]

21 minutes ago, FLYJACK said:

There was a report of a suspicious guy walking on a road North of Merwin and another near Eugene.

Another thing I have worked on is evacuation routes and speed/time...

If he lands at X location, how long and what route to get out.. Limited river crossings alter the routes and time..

For example,, the railroad tracks go through Brush Prairie, if he landed there he could walk straight to Heisson store using the tracks by 11:30..  whereas if he landed further away, no way he could get to Heisson and couldn't be the robber.  or did he take the tracks South?

 

What did he do??

hunker down or travel at night?  how, by road, rail or hitch a ride??

What is the best way to get out of there and where do you go first. You are wet, maybe dirty and possibly injured.

 

 

I will just note*  this is the first time in my memory that 'what would cooper do - what did he do'  has been discussed. Its refreshing TNX....

[FLYJACK 654]

30 minutes ago, Robert99 said:

FlyJack, you seem to have at least a semi-open mind about the flight path.  So, I have some questions after reading your recent post about AFM 51-40.  Anyone with actual facts is free to jump in here also.

Where and why did the World Geographic Reference System (GEOREF) enter into your thinking about the flight path of the airliner?  Please be specific.

Why do references to the SAGE system keep popping up when the radar system of the interceptor aircraft (presumably F-106s) was plugged into the SAGE system and interested in determining the flight path of the bandit aircraft relative to itself so it could get a missile lock on it?

In all probability, the Seattle Air Traffic Control Center was using information from the same radar station at McChord as the USAF.  So, why didn't the FBI just get the flight path information from the FAA?  [Actually, the FBI apparently did, and it conflicts with the flight path from the USAF, so the Seattle ATC Center's actual radio transcripts are heavily redacted and not being released to the public.]

Personally, I have NEVER seen the GEOREF system used in any flight planning either military or civilian.  

Obviously, the SAGE system is not GEOREF,, Sage is distance and angle from beacon to lock on target in 3 dimensional space... GEOREF is noted in the FBI documents as the means used to produce the ground map which is 2 dimensions.. lat/long conversion.

So, either Spangler converted the Sage data to GEOREF or Sage has some output option for long/lat or GEOREF.. Spangler marked the GEOREF data on the map by hand estimation...  

The FBI files further state that sometime later in late 72 or early 1973, a computer was used to get a more accurate path.. GEOREF had a mile error and the new computer had a half mile error. There was a very minor area identified for searching. It confirmed Spanglers path.

I remember reading that the FAA was tracking the plane,

but the map was created from SAGE.. I would assume the Air Force would also have had regular radar tracking planes...

Also, the FDR had heading recorded..  

Also Rataczak mentioned the "FBI" flightpath map being due to his hand flying the plane. That is his confirmation of the map.

Edited September 6, 2023 by FLYJACK

[georger 197]

1 hour ago, olemisscub said:

Attacking the flight path is absolutely ludicrous given the evidence, but there is some wiggle room on the DZ regarding the whole oscillations vs. pressure bump issue/possible conflation, etc. Some of us interpret the same data you have differently and that shouldn't be a problem. Orchards is as far south as I'm comfortable placing his jump and I believe the farthest south you are willing to go is Battle Ground (don't let me misquote you there), and that's ok to disagree. None of us here are mouth breathers and we have all reached certain conclusions based on our independent research and interpretations of the evidence that exists. 

It goes back to the agenda discussion. I have no agenda whatsoever regarding Cooper's DZ. If the way I interpreted the data led me to the conclusion that he jumped over La Center or whether it led me to believe he jumped over Orchards, then so what? Why would I care? Why should anyone have a motive regarding his DZ? This is why I've never really understood why people have so vehemently argued about his DZ. It's not something that will help us find Cooper. It's merely intellectual case knowledge. It's arguing for the sake of arguing. We'll never know precisely when he left the aircraft so it has never struck me as something worth fighting over. If I reached the conclusion that he jumped over Brush Prairie and you say he jumped over La Center, so be it. What does it matter, ya know?

Arguing flight path is a different issue. Promoting an alternative flight path DOES have consequences. I wish that Eric had placed the same effort with the media that he just displayed about Tena Bar and WFP along the actual flight path. I'm guessing 99.9% of Clark County residents who know anything about Cooper think he jumped near Ariel, which is understandable. Now, if they see Eric on TV talking about Cooper landing near TB, they may be convinced that Cooper jumped over in that area. If people living in Vancouver up to Battle Ground knew that Cooper actually jumped in their neck of the woods, then who knows, maybe someone would be motivated to go hiking through the woods of their backyard and just happen to find something. 

Eric does an excellent job of keeping the story alive with the media. That exposure is very beneficial for the case because as long as it's still in the public eye then someone might happen to remember something about a great uncle, etc., and come forward. Placing so much focus on Tena Bar doesn't help, sadly. 

 

Placing so much focus on Tena Bar doesn't help, sadly.  .................   I could NOT agree more for 10,000 reasons.  

It brings Ulis attention but detracts from the case in a major way.  Eric's approach is NOT evidence based.  It seems more designed to bring Eric attention as an outlier .......... than working the facts of the case to solve it.  Eric has fans to be sure, but also has some people wishing he would just go away!  

Let Eric find the source of the yellow-green paper bag!   That would nail Cooper to a specific time and place!  

BTW Eric. DB Cooper was not Chinese who had a shack near Tena Bar!  That wild goose chase is off the table!  

Its interesting, the paper bag was not found left behind on the airplane. Why ?  What was special about keeping it ?

Edited September 6, 2023 by georger

[FLYJACK 654]

How did Cooper get to PDX..

Own car

Accomplice

Plane

Bus

Bicycle/Unicycle

Boat

Skateboard

Train

Taxi

[Robert99 37]

1 hour ago, FLYJACK said:

Obviously, the SAGE system is not GEOREF,, Sage is distance and angle from beacon to lock on target in 3 dimensional space... GEOREF is noted in the FBI documents as the means used to produce the ground map which is 2 dimensions.. lat/long conversion.

So, either Spangler converted the Sage data to GEOREF or Sage has some output option for long/lat or GEOREF.. Spangler marked the GEOREF data on the map by hand estimation...  

The FBI files further state that sometime later in late 72 or early 1973, a computer was used to get a more accurate path.. GEOREF had a mile error and the new computer had a half mile error. There was a very minor area identified for searching. It confirmed Spanglers path.

I remember reading that the FAA was tracking the plane,

but the map was created from SAGE.. I would assume the Air Force would also have had regular radar tracking planes...

Also, the FDR had heading recorded..  

Also Rataczak mentioned the "FBI" flightpath map being due to his hand flying the plane. That is his confirmation of the map.

FlyJack, the "FBI" flight path is NOT consistent with anyone flying the aircraft.  It wandered up to three miles from the centerline of V-23 and that would not have happened if a pilot was trying to track the centerline which anyone hand flying it would have done.

Perhaps Rataczak did hand fly the aircraft, but the FBI flight path does not support this.

Also, as I have repeatedly stated, a more accurate flight path could be determined from the Seattle ATC Center data than GEOREF.