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Jo wrote I guess you are targeting Galen Cook with your "bomb" Jo. Hell hath no fury like Jo Weber's. Just ask Ckret. So what did you do Jo that will bring Galen to his knees aplogizing profusely and begging for mercy? Fill us in. Where can we witness his surrender? Tokyo Bay? Reims? 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Blevins wrote There is a credible alternative explanation: Marla wasn't a cynical manipulative money grubbing liar. She truly believed her own story about LD, even though it wasnt accurate. As for cashing in, how much might she have made had you not popped her star balloon Robert? Maybe $50,000 for a book? The big story is DB Cooper not Marla Cooper. Even if her story was believed and widely covered I dont see how it turns into a huge payday for her. Beyond a book and some talk show appearances what other paydays do you envision? Nobody gets rich in the Cooper Vortex. It sucks money out of your pocket and rational thought out of your brain as you swirl downward into the murky abyss. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

24+ inches of rain in the FL Panhandle in 26 hours. 36 deaths so far. Jo, we are all glad you were not injured or worse. We are so spoiled in the SF CA Bay Area. I was 12 years old before I saw my first lightning bolt and there was only one that entire evening. We've had very few major weather events and nothing that compares with what the Gulf can dish out. No ice, no snow, no tornados, no hurricanes. Just eternal youth, sunny beaches and drop zones galore with cheap lift tickets. I keep waiting for someone to pinch me and wake me up from this paradise dream. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Blevins wrote Imagine how Marla could have benefitted from your talent Robert had you not decided to pop her story. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Jo wrote No Jo, you won't. Not a chance in hell. You can take that prediction to the bank. Concentrate on investigation, not demanding apologies and retractions. Jo wrote Ummm Jo, Duane's strategy in courting and marrying a much younger (and quite attractive) woman is much simpler than that. It had little to do with legacy preservation. Its more linked to testosterone. Jo wrote I beg to differ Jo. I know a dive when I see one... and this joint is a dive. That said, there is nothing mutually exclusive about dives and seeking the truth. There are probably more lies told in places where drinks cost $20 than in ones where they are $3.55. It's pretty hard to credibly pose as a real big shot if you are drinking in a dive bar. You don't have to be on the A list to get in here. There is no bouncer. Jo wrote Give it a rest Jo. Just ignore it. You are too easily drawn into a fray. Galen is no danger to you and if you don't like what he posts just ignore it. He posts the stuff on a forum that is incredibly obscure. When you republish his posts you just expand the audience from maybe 8 people to thousands. Expecting the FBI to spend one minute following up on your complaints about what Galen Cook posted on a site that not even Google can find is unrealistic at best. The FBI has real emergencies to deal with. Your matter isn't a real emergency. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Jo wrote Say what? Are you now connecting Georger and Duane? That's even more amazing than Duane's JFK, RFK and MLK connections. Care to disclose any supporting evidence Jo? 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Nahh. Every town worth a damn has its bad neighborhoods. Bulldozing them isn't the solution. Dropzone is a town. This is a dive bar. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

How does it remind you of Fargo. Did someone end up in the wood chipper? Reminds me of "Superman vs The Mole Men" . It's a farce. The Mole Men chose their gear wisely Georger. Just finished repairing my half century old Electrolux torpedo canister vacuum. It's a BEAST. Huge motor. Just needed new brushes and a commutator burnishing. Runs like new. Sounds like a 1950s turbojet. Whines and roars. They don't make em like this any more. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Sheridan is the oldest person to have ever made a skydive in China, seriously. Chairman Mao probably has fake pictures of closing last on a 500 way formation skydive, but Sheridan is the real deal. Brave guy Pete is. The picture of the Chinese rig shows that it lacked Capewells (canopy releases). I wouldnt jump it, but Pete did. My fear isnt just based on the lack of canopy releases. I could handle that if I had to. I simply wouldn't want to bet my life on anything sewn in China. He is one gutsy jumper, innovative too. Jumped with homemade bat wings. Got him kicked out of the USPA. Many died trying that stunt as documented in the book Birdmen. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%C3%A9o_Valentin I'd sure like to talk with Pete but he has labeled me CIA FBI and will not communicate. Maybe someone else will have better luck. He has a soft spot for pretty women. All it took was a visit from a hot FBI agent and he was volunteering DNA and whatever else she might desire. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Your lack of bias is so refreshing Vicki. Wish we were all as virtuous about our favorite suspects. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

I keep reading Mitchell's descrption of Cooper, especially: Of all the suspects, Vicki's dad has the best match for this feature described by Mitchell. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Jo wrote Hardly. At least there was evidence of KC's parachuting experience. All Jo's talk about obscure WA rural airfields, the "guys", Omni (VOR) stations, camps, packing rooms, prisoner smoke jumpers, aircraft mechanics, etc fails to put Duane in a chute. Cooper may have been a Whuffo but I have never run into a Whuffo who could easily put on and fasten up an NB 6 or NB 8 rig. I had a hard time on my first try and I had hundreds of jumps at that time. Jo are you 100 percent sure it was Sheridan Peterson you spoke with back then? His biographical info says he was in China when you thought you were talking to him in CA. What did he say to you that identified him as Sheridan Peterson? Did he talk about his left wing politics, Viet Nam, smoke jumping or his horrendous abused childhood? 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Jo wrote What year was this Jo? When did you have your first call with Sheridan? I don't need exact date. Year will suffice. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Here is wild speculation clearly labeled as such, which is rare here. I have zero evidence that links Sheridan to Norjack. Speculative fiction: Sheridan puts on brown contacts before ticketing and boarding and makes sure his eye color is noticed by Tina. He later goes to the restroom to remove them for the jump, drops one and can't find it. Remember those episodes before the days of disposable contacts with people on their knees looking for a lost lens? Sheridan knows if the FBI finds the lens they will figure out the brown eye color was a disguise. He looks and looks, taking a long time but can't find it. Finally he figures it went down the drain and gives up the search. Or he does find it. Either way it takes a long time. He wears dark glasses to conceal his now blue eyes. Everyone who saw him up close will say correctly that his eyes were brown. So no need for an elaboarate disguise. The eye color is all he needs. Even if he is fingered as a suspect his eyes are the wrong color. Someone in the FBI thinks Sheridan is just too good a suspect and ignores the eye color issue. He doesn't believe the Nepal Mud Hut alibi either. He assigns some field agents to get a DNA sample as he has been told that the FBI has a good sample from Cooper that can rule out suspects. They succeed but the sample doesnt match. Sheridan is exonerated and of no further interest to the FBI or DOJ. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Snow graciously pointed out that he answered the contact lens question ages ago (2009) on this forum: So Sailshaw, yes, it was possible to change eye color with contacts in 1971. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

In researching contact lens history I found out that one of the largest mfrs of contact lenses is CooperVision. Their corp motto? "LIVE BRIGHTLY" Still cant find solid evidence of brown contact lenses being available in 1971. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Sailshaw wrote Many sources say the first commercially available colored contact lenses debuted in the 1980s. Soft contacts were introduced in 1971 but colored ones didnt show up in the market until the 1980s. I've tried to find proof that colored hard contact lenses were available in 1971 but havent found anything definitive. Douglas Durham, an AIM infiltrator and FBI informant, was rumored to have used brown contact lenses in the 1970s to conceal his blue eyes and look like a Native American, but I cant find convincing proof or exact dates: http://www.dickshovel.com/dur.html Can anyone prove that brown colored contact lenses were available in 1971? I hope Snowman and other sleuths will take the challenge. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Jo wrote Jo, Did Himmelsbach give you Sheridan's contact info? What is the connection between a rental car abandoned at the airport immediately after Norjack and a skydiving contest in the 1960s? Was the company that had employees in the 1960s contest the same one that rented the car in 1971? If that is true, only the FBI would know it intially. How would anyone make the connection to a 1960s skydiving contest? Did Sheridan tell you that he turned over Issaquah skydiving records to the FBI or did Himmelsbach tell you that? Did Sheridan know anything about Duane? 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Blevins asked NB6 goes back to early 1950s at least. Don't know what preceded it. http://www.butlerparachutes.com/pia99.htm Note (from above link): So it's possible that a non military person would be familiar with an NB6 rig, such as a civilian acrobatic pilot. Norman provides an example 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Jo wrote Big difference between being a packer and being a jumper Jo. My Mom packed chutes during WW2. She didn't have the slightest idea how to use one. What evidence do you have that Duane ever jumped? Dim memories of recalled conversations about camps and packing rooms don't suffice. Proof is what is needed. Poof is what you deliver. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Jo wrote Jo, The FBI was interested in Sherdian as a suspect long before he was ever mentioned here. The FBI asked him for DNA. He didn't initiate the DNA dialog. Are you 100% sure you spoke with Sheridan Peterson of Windsor CA? In the past you seemed to confuse him with another Peterson. I agree with you that Sheridan Peterson is an interesting person. I'd really enjoy talking with him but he has erroneously concluded that I am FBI/CIA. That's pretty paranoid. Or a clever way of avoiding contact. Act paranoid. He is super well qualified to have been Cooper skills wise, but I think he is a sincere pacificist/peacenik and just can't see him terrorizing innocent crew members just for money. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

G asked Yes or no? From a lawyer? On the one hand maybe, on the other hand it depends... OK, I'll put on my engineer hat. YES. I believe Cooper jumped with an NB rig. Ripcord handle location is subject to dispute but it's still a basic NB 6 or NB 8 rig with a high speed military canopy either a 28 foot C 9 or a Navy 26 foot conical. Definitely the right rig for the jump in my opinion. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

I often wonder if Ckret knew more than he revealed about why Cooper may have been a cargo kicker? Thats a pretty specific guess. Loadmasters and kickers know chutes and they know about slowing down for drops. They also know way more about canopy "squidding" than freefall jumpers do. I was very surprised to see the Thailand 727 jumpers' canopies "squid" and provide a slow deployment. I expected brutal fast high G openings. How many people outside of aviation even know that flap deflection is measured in degrees? Cooper knew and he knew the right configuration to assure a decent exit speed: gear down and flaps 15 degrees. So Cooper knew how to put on an NB 6 or NB 8 with ease. He knew how to specify a proper 727 gear and flap configuration at assure a reasonably slow jump run. Doesnt sound like a whuffo to me. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

The Navy NB 6 and the very similar NB 8 rigs have an unusual chest strap arrangement that is puzzling to a newbie. Instead of a lateral strap there are two harness webbing V shaped pieces that fasten together at their apexes mid chest. The first time I saw an NB 6 I had a hard time figuring out how to put it on and get the chest strap fastened. It's not intuitive. I took a stock packed NB 8 to the Portland Symposium. I challenged a non jumper from the audience to don the rig. He couldnt do it, too hard to figure out the chest strap arrangement. I asked him to find the packing card. Despite a careful inspection of the rig he could not find it. It is VERY well concealed. We can argue about the packing card rumor but it seems undisputed that Cooper was able to put on the Navy NB rig without instructions or problems. To me that says he knew something about parachute rigs. My experiment was not well designed and there was no control, but still, it made the anecdotal point that NB 6 and NB 8 rigs are not easy to put on and fasten without some prior experience or training. But do we know it was properly fastened? What if Cooper exited, pulled and fell out of the rig? A lone body and an unopened sage green rig might be very hard to find if they went into deep thick brush. Mistakes can happen when dealing with harnesses and rigs, look at this one: http://fireaviation.com/2014/01/26/cause-of-hoist-fatality-similar-to-earlier-rappel-death/ 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Good post Georger. Thank you. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.