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Robert, I’ll concede that you know much more than any of us about publishing and distribution but ponder this for a moment: Sheridan’s book has very limited appeal. Even if it were sold for $5 I doubt that it would sell more than a few dozen copies. It’s interesting to me because it gives insight into a person I knew. On its own merits as a novel it hasn’t and won’t sell well. Price isn’t the reason. Content is. I hope Snowmman makes a cheap version available (Kindle?) to test my prediction. Sheridan made efforts to get Oliver Stone interested in the book. That went nowhere. I found the book interesting and gave it a positive review but I’m well aware that my interest is unique and not based on literary merit. What’s your personal opinion of the book? I suppose with MAJOR revisions it had a possibility of success, but Sheridan would never ever allow it. Not a chance. As it stands, none of the editions will get much attention from readers outside of the Vortex. If, however, it were proven that SP was DBC it would likely sell like crazy just based on the fact that it was written by Cooper. You are reasonably convinced (but not 100% certain) that Kenny C. was Cooper so perhaps it’s hard for you to envision such a turn of events. I’m jumping again after taking a break for Covid safety. Vaccination rates are now very high in my area which gives me some protection. Skydivers still get more than their share of STDs. Jumpers obviously aren’t the best group for rationally managing health risks, especially if it requires reducing a thrill. Fortunately they seem to embrace Covid vaccination. 377

Nice truck Robert. 4 Liter engine. Nice to have the towing power but is it a gas hog? Many aftermarket LED “upgrade” headlight bulbs that are installed in place of incandescent actually perform worse. It depends on the type of headlight reflector and lens. I went full circle from incandescent to HID to LED and now I am back to the original incandescent bulbs. Live and learn. The Candlepower Forum is full of real experts, optical engineers and such. You wrote “Fortunately, I have extricated myself from the Cooper Vortex and now have other goals.” Nobody extricates themselves from the Vortex. The recent UFO feint didn’t fool me. I’m one of the few people who haven’t dissed you online, ever. I do, however, think your accusations against Snow for “ripping off” Sheridan Peterson are undeserved. I knew Sheridan and know Snowmman. To imply that there was a material financial gain misappropriated by Snow is just absurd. Sheridan’s book is hardly a best seller to put it mildly. I doubt if it has sold even 25 copies. Snow put a HUGE amount of work into editing and improving Sheridan’s book. He was alternately praised and ripped by Sheridan regarding this selfless work. Sheridan did the same to me. One moment he was singing my praises but these good times were inevitably followed by disrespectful and inaccurate accusations. He published posts accusing me of being FBI and CIA. He also accused me privately of hacking his computers and his cell phone, a complaint he made about many others. Truth is he was a novice and gullible user who screwed things up himself and consistently mistook the results of his own missteps for malicious third party hacks. I did occasional pro bono work for him mainly to prevent evictions. He had a real knack for pissing off landlords and fellow residents. Eric Ullis also helped keep Sheridan housed. Sheridan was mercurial to say the least. Still, I really liked Sheridan. He was a troubled soul who just could never find peace or maintain long term friendships. If he found peace he’d wreck it, every single time. Sheridan’s book is far more readable after Snow’s editing. He didn’t change anything Sheridan said in the first edition. He just did what any good editor does. He cleaned up clumsy structure and syntax. Working with Sheridan must have been trying. You experienced some of that. I’m a very patient person and I found it hard to help him. Was SP DBC? I honestly don’t know. If someone could credibly tag Sheridan as a smoker I’d be less inclined to exclude him. Nobody has done that to the best of my knowledge. 377

As for military surplus round canopies, I’m so glad they are in my past. I jumped last Saturday with my modern “square” ram air canopy. See pics below. Cushy landings. The military rounds could give you “crunchy” landings, with the crunch coming from your ankle bones breaking. Fortunately my 100+ surplus round jumps were injury free.

I strongly believe that Cooper’s rig is out there somewhere. No reason to carry it with him. Good reason to quickly conceal it. No reason for a deep burial. The concealment requirements were modest and temporary. Just keep it from being easily sighted in the initial hours of the search. Discovery of the rig would allow the cops to center their search. I believe the rig was an NB8 with an unmodified C9 28 ft diameter round canopy. It was easy to find C9 canopies in surplus stores back then. I never once saw a Navy 26 ft Conical in a surplus store and I did a LOT of looking. The parachute gear companies seemed to snag them all in DOD surplus auctions. I bought my Navy Conical from a sailor-skydiver who was based at Iwakuni Japan. The base rigger “traded” him this perfect but time expired canopy for some trashed sport canopy. The rigger needed to destroy/demilitarize the timed out canopies.

Metal isn’t needed to reflect radar signals, I saw birds nearly every day on X band marine radar when I was skippering commercial fishing boats. Radar signals are reflected by any object having a density difference from air. Furuno makes specialized S band bird radars that can image a single seabird many miles away. I got it first hand from an FAA controller who also skydives that exiting skydivers can be seen on radar. He has seen them many times.

No video recording for 2019 but the 2018 talk is here:

I think some of you may have missed the part where I said I do NOT believe LD was DBC and I give credit to Robert Blevins for leading me to this conclusion. I just don't ascribe evil cunning motives to Marla. It's easy for time and subsequent events to morph memories, especially distant ones from childhood. 377

Thanks Flyjack. I recall reading something about a jettisonable tailcone on some DC 9s. 377

I jumped from a DC 9-21 in 2006. The ventral airstair door wasn't small. Are you saying that there was another door that LaPoint used? 377

I thought Marla's written answers were, as usual, quite articulate. Sure there was some sarcasm, but that is certainly understandable given the disrespect and hostility thats been directed towards her. I don't think her uncle was Cooper, but I think her story reflected childhood memories not made-up facts. I talked with her at some length at Grays Portland symposium and didn't detect any indicia of lying. I asked her a lot about the CB walkie talkies used by LD and her answers told me without any doubt that she really saw these in use. We really should try to get her to speak at Coopercon 2019. She lights up a room. Very attractive, intelligent, articulate and willing to answer tough questions. It has occurred to me that LD wasn't Cooper but was trying to find Cooper's loot right after the news broke and before the authorities found it. One could get pretty banged up searching through thick brush at night. 377

ParrotheadVol wrote: "To me, the biggest evidence against Reca being Cooper is the recorded confession. He was led on many of the answers. Some of the other answers he gave were very questionable as well, such as when he said that he had no idea what kind of plane he was hijacking, and had planned to jump out the side door and had no knowledge of the aft stairs. That to me is a bigger red flag than the Cle Elum thing." Good points. The interviewer's question were sooooo leading, which would be impermissible on direct exam in a courtoom. Opposing counsel: "objection, leading question." Judge: "OBJECTION SUSTAINED! Counsel, I suggest you ask your witness questions not suggest his answers" Also, no experienced skydiver and PJ would take such a lackadaisical attitude about the aircraft type and exit locations, especially in a jet, simply not credible. In any high-speed exit, aircraft structure strikes are a huge risk. Lots of folks who haven't made much out of their lives sling bullshit about being CIA, Navy SEAL, Special Forces, etc. Undercover work can explain away years of apparent non-productive time. I don't know much about military special ops activities but I do know the parachuting aspects of that work. When I hear a barroom claim about being a SEAL, I ask parachute questions. It almost always filters out the liars. I had one alleged SEAL go on and on about the "parasails" they used for deep black HALO insertions into Sakhalin Island at night where they planted acoustic tracking devices on Soviet subs. Real Mission Impossible stuff. I should have got his autograph. 377

Recca (a USAF trained PJ and accomplished skydiver) had ALL the skills but the Cle Elum landing story is just not credible. Why on earth would he tell such a story? A liar would, of course, pick a credible V 23 proximal landing area. Recca didn't. It does make me wonder... His extensive collection of foreign passports also makes me wonder. Most of the passports were not genuine (thanks Snow for showing me evidence of counterfeiting) but why did he have them? Was he a Walter Mitty 007 pretender or was he up to something serious? I do admire the candor of his Cooper proponents. Putting forth the whole story including Cle Elum has my respect. They didn't spin or cherry-pick facts. It's so tempting to ignore facts that cast doubt on favorite suspects. 377

OK. What should we look for? Be explicit, not mystic cryptic. 377

Executing a successful cutaway on jump 19 is great. Congratulations. I have been jumping for 50 years and have had 2 cutaways, one in 1972 using 100% military surplus gear and one in 2005 using modern gear. I am thankful I wasn't tested at jump 19. Not sure I would have done as well as you did. 377

Jumper 34 wrote: "Also had a Herc break apart there from the 304th where I was stationed. One survivor out of PDX." I'm familiar with that tragic accident. https://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19961122-1 I always thought Lockheed should have been held liable. Amazingly that model Herc could not be restarted in the air if all four engines flamed out (e.g. from fuel starvation). What a monumentally stupid design error. The crew accidentally ran the interior Fulton Tank dry leading to loss of all four engines. There was plenty of fuel in other tanks but there was not enough electrical power from the battery buss to do an engine relight, so down they went. The only possible way to have saved the day was if the FE had cut safety wire on the terminal box that had squat switch terminals that inhibited starting the GPU after wheels up and disconnected (or jumpered?) the wires that prevented a GPU inflight start. That's asking way too much in a critical or chaotic emergency situation. It's truly amazing that a survivor was found at night offshore. I find conspiracy theories and inside job allegations fascinating but I normally discount them because I do not believe that they could stay secret for so long. Many people would be involved and when lots of people are involved leaks are inevitable. I have a Cooper 20. I wonder if it might have any traces or residue that would link it to the unique chemistry and ecology of La Camas Lake? I do not believe Norjack was an inside job, but your landing zone theories are worth exploring. Wouldnt dragging the lake for the canopy using a grapnel hook be more effective and far less dangerous than diving for it? As far as I have been able to discover in my research, the SAT 727 test airdrops over Korat Thailand were the only 727 airdrops made during the war. No 727 airdrops were made in Vietnam. Dr. Joe Leeker, the premier historian of covert air ops in SE Asia, agrees. The MAC SOG guys I've talked to said they never jumped from or heard about any jumps from 727s in Vietnam. Far more suitable aircraft were available such as Hercs, C 123s, C 119s and Caribous. There was no need to masquerade as a civil airliner. If you have info to the contrary post it here. I'll keep an open mind. Cossey's murder was very odd. If it was connected with his gambling it seems that leads would have developed. Grudges and player to player animosity at casinos gets noticed. What relevant evidence has been found by the authorities? Zero. Nada. Nothing of value appears to have been taken. A junkie burglar would definitely have taken stuff. The murder weapon was a club, not a gun. No loud noise to attract police. A thief could have taken his time to look for and steal valuables. BTW, what does the 34 in your screen name mean? 377