By Bruce A. Smith
The legendary DB Cooper- the personage responsible for the only unsolved skyjacking in the history of the United States – will be celebrated and his exploits assessed at the CooperCon 21 to be held November 20-21 in Vancouver, Washington.
The event will be held at the Kiggins Theater in downtown Vancouver, and evening socials will be held in neighboring pubs, most notably the Victor-23 Tavern, which is named after the flight path DB Cooper’s plane followed on his getaway flight from Sea-Tac airport.
On the night of November 24, 1971, DB Cooper hijacked a Northwest Orient 727 enroute from Portland to Seattle, and at Sea-Tac Cooper exchange the passengers for $200,000 in twenty dollar bills and four parachutes. Moments later he jumped from his plane somewhere over southwestern Washington and has never been seen since. In fact, nothing has ever been found from the skyjacking – no body, no bomb, no parachutes, no briefcase – except for three bundles of ransom money discovered in 1980 partially buried on a Columbia River beach at a site known as Tina Bar. Adding to the intrigue, no one knows how the money got to the burial site or when.
Exploring all these dimension is the mission of the conference, and below is the lineup of speakers, the schedule for the festivities, and locations for the social.
Saturday, November 20th
10:00a-10:10a | Intro with Darren Schaefer
10:10a-11:00a | Overview of the Skyjacking (Bruce Smith, Eric Ulis)
11:10a-12:00p | Diatom Presentation with Tom Kaye
12:10p-1:00p | Did DB Cooper Survive? (Martin Andrade, Mark Meltzer, Mary Jean Fryar)
Lunch
12:30-1:00pm [Interview with Bill Mitchell
1:10p-2:00p | Tie Particles Discussion (Tom Kaye, Nicholas Broughton)
2:10p-3:10p | Suspects Panel (Vern Jones, Nicholas Broughton, Ron Forman, Martin Andrade, Mark Meltzer, and Marla Wynn Cooper)
3:20p-4:00p | Catherine Scott Conversation (Eric Ulis)
Sunday, November 21st
10:00a-10:10a | Day 2 Opening with Darren Schaefer
10:10a-11:00a | Other PNW Legends: Bigfoot, Flying Saucers, and Cow Mutilations: (Brett Eichenberger, Bruce Smith)
11:10a-12:00p | Conspiracy Theories Panel (Bruce Smith, Nicholas Broughton, Marla Wynn Cooper, Mary Jean Fryar)
12:10p-1:00p | Flight Path Panel (Eric Ulis, Martin Andrade, Cliff Ammerman)
1:10p-2:00p | Brian Ingram Conversation (Tom Kaye)
2:10p-3:00p | Tena Bar & The Money Find (Eric Ulis, Tom Kaye, Mark Meltzer)
3:10p-4:00p | DB Cooper on TV (Eric Ulis, Bruce Smith, Marla Wynn Cooper, Tom Kaye)
Current Confirmed List of CooperCon 2021 Speakers
Darren Schaefer (Moderator) >>> The Cooper Vortex Podcast
Eric Ulis >>> From The Final Hunt for DB Cooper on the History Channel
Bill Mitchell >>> Passenger on Flight 305 who sat directly across aisle from DB Cooper
Brian Ingram >>> Found $5,800 of DB Cooper ransom on Tena Bar in 1980
Catherine Scott >>> Daughter of NWA305 Capt. Scott
Cliff Ammerman >>> Air Traffic Controller handling 305 and chase jets at the time DB Cooper jumped
Mary Jean Fryar >>> Retired FBI Special Agent
Tom Kaye >>> Scientist who has analyzed the FBI evidence
Marla Wynn Cooper >>> Niece of suspect LD Cooper
Anonymous >>> DB Cooper researcher and Army Data Analyst studying William J Smith
Dan Gryder >>> YouTube influencer and aviation expert
Bruce Smith >>> DB Cooper author
Mark Meltzer >>> Skydiver and parachute expert
Vern Jones >>> DB Cooper book publisher
Marty Andrade >>> DB Cooper author
Brett Eichenberger >>> Film and documentary producer
Nicholas Broughton >>> DB Cooper researcher
Ron and Pat Forman >>> DB Cooper authors
In addition to the above schedule, there will be socials starting at 6pm on: Friday, November 19th at Von Ebert’s Brew Pub in NE Portland; Saturday, November 20th at Victor23 Craft Brewery in Vancouver; Sunday, November 21st at Von Ebert’s Brew Pub in NE Portland.
The Mountain News - WA 
https://www.chronline.com/stories/db-cooper-at-50-push-to-solve-case-gains-steam-but-much-about-famous-skyjacking-remains-a,277789
On Wed, Nov 10, 2021 at 6:00 PM The Mountain News – WA wrote:
> brucesmith49 posted: “By Bruce A. Smith The legendary DB Cooper- the > personage responsible for the only unsolved skyjacking in the history of > the United States – will be celebrated and his exploits assessed at the > CooperCon 21 to be held November 20-21 in Vancouver, Washington” >
Thank you, Billy. Great article from Doug Perry at the Oregonian.
CC21 will be the greatest Cooper convention ever.
Reblogged this on Marty Andrade.
My name is Max Roy. I was an air crew member for Air Cavalry Troop of the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment out of Ft. Lewis Washington from Sept. ’71 until June ’72.
The FBI hired my unit to search the terrain where they suspected Cooper had jumped for a 1500 sq. mi. triangle with our headquarters being at Lake Merwin State Park.
I am coming to your convention this weekend to perhaps reconnect with old unit members and to finally set straight that my old unit conducted the search operations and not the Washington Air National guard.
I would very much like a seat on a panel to do that and be a part of the documentary being shot.
Yours, Max Roy
Spec. 4 (Ret.)
U.S. Army
Hi, my eldest brother has been intrigued with the DB Cooper mystery for years. My husband and I have a cabin not far from the Ariel bar that used to host DB Cooper Days. Appears we had a missed opportunity last November for 50th anniversary. Though not November, wondered if you have contact info for owner of the Ariel Bar? Thinking about hosting a family camp out at our property and maybe bar owner willing to open the place up for the evening for our get together