by Bruce A. Smith
The DB Cooper Conference scheduled for November 15-17, 2024 is engulfed in controversy as host and organizer, Eric Ulis, struggles to pay the 2023 venue – Seattle’s Museum of Flight – for rent and supplies from last year’s CooperCon 23.
Last week, Mr. Ulis confirmed that he still owes the Museum of Flight (MoF) $4,700, as he posted the MoF invoice on his DB Cooper Mystery Group Facebook page, which has subsequently been removed. In addition, Ulis offered a 23-miniute Live Broadcast defense of his actions on that page, during which he announced that he was making payments to the Museum and anticipated being paid-in-full by mid-September.
However, in a conversation with the Mountain News-WA, Ulis was unable to confirm where this year’s conference would be held. When asked if it would be held at the Museum of Flight as is widely touted in Cooper circles, Mr. Ulis would only say that the dates for the conference, Nov. 15-17 are confirmed, and CooperCon 24 will be held somewhere “in Seattle.”
When the Mountain News-WA contacted the Museum of Flight to confirm Ulis’ statements, Ted Heutter, the Public Relations Manager for the MoF would only say that CooperCon 24 “is not presently on the schedule.” He declined to offer any comment on whether any payments are being made by Ulis for CooperCon 23. Similarly, Nancy Terry, MoF comptroller, refused to comment on the Ulis debt, only saying that “it’s a private matter and I can’t comment.” Subsequently, Ms. Terry referred the Mountain News-WA to the MoF bookkeeper, Erica Callahan, who has not responded to our voice message.
Ms. Terry was cited recently in a posting by DB Cooper author, Robert Blevins, on his website: The Great Northwest’s Information Source on America’s Only Unsolved Hijacking, where she was touted by Blevins as providing details on the debt and lack of payments. Apparently, Blevins misrepresented himself to Terry and the MoF, claiming to be an associate of Mr. Ulis and looking to settle the account. In turn, Ulis has said that the MoF has apologized to him for the apparent breach of his privacy.
Despite the financial woes of Mr. Ulis and CooperCon, he is widely respected in Cooper World and appreciated for organizing these conferences. They have given Cooper aficionados a place to meet with each other, share ideas and theories, and learn more about the case from experts. As a result of the widespread concern for the viability of the CooperCons, some researchers have offered financial assistance to Mr. Ulis. One such individual, long-time Cooper researcher, Mark Meltzer, told the Mountain News that he gave Ulis hundreds of dollars for the first few conferences, writing to me in an email: “I chipped in $400 to each of several CCs I attended. Eric never asked for a cent. I could see that he was losing money BIG time on these events and just wanted to help out.”
Other Cooperites have suggested that Ulis launch a Go Fund Me site to pay his outstanding debt, and ensure that Cooper Cons can continue into the future and at venues as noteworthy as the Museum of Flight.
The Mountain News - WA 
Pingback: Bruce Smith From Mountain News Covers the Eric Ulis/Cooper Con Controversy – (Almost) Accurately – The DB Cooper Hijacking
I encourage readers here to click on the “pingback” and view the post. The pingback goes to Robert Blevins’ website, “The Great Northwest…etc.,” where Mr. Blevins offers a plausible scenario on how he obtained the information on Eric Ulis’ debt from the Museum of Flight. I was unable to confirm Eric’s statements since the MoF refused to speak with me. So, in a sense, Blevins is correct – I did fill in the blanks with speculation, but it was based upon what Ulis said, what others in Cooper World were posing, and my own reasonable assumption of how this information was obtained. Is Blevins truthful here? Perhaps. If so, I apologize to him for casting him in a harsh light.
Give it up…I tried to tell you all where John Smith/aka D. B. Cooper went..
Remind me, please. Where did DB Cooper go?
Well like any promotion you win some you loose sum. You promote and hire a venue that is the venture, if there is a loss then it is the promoters liability. Look I spent over 40 years as a musician and promoter that is how it works simple as. I hoping to make the trip this year from the UK to solve the case ha ha but November doesn’t seem that attractive depending on how cold it gets. Hopefully Mr Ulis sorts it out I guess a convention is a place to find what’s left of the main protagonists .
Bruce,
Thanks for the email and the update. We won’t mention names, but when con operators start conning other con operators, you know several things are going on:
Not much new research and material is being presented; no money is being made on the case; and the vultures are circling to see if there is any meat left on the bones.
Author/investigator Richard Tosaw told me that the only real money that would ever be made on the DBC case would be into the pocket of the person who solved the case. So far, no one has. Tosaw had Cooper $20s that were given to him from his settlement with Brian Ingram. Ingram also made a few bucks on $20s. That’s about it. The tie and clip would be worth big bucks, but it will never leave the FBI material evidence file. As you and I both know, the film documentaries didn’t produce any wealth for the subjects involved. Most DBC authors highly inflated their earnings. Some probably lost their tails and resorted to advertising for campout companions.
Thanks for your article and thanks for staying in touch, Bruce.
Galen
I would be most interested in attending the upcoming CooperCon 2024. (This would be my first time attending the ‘fun/fan’ mystery man conference)
I have an entertaining 5 minute spot that I would like to showcase to the other serious DB fans attending in Nov.‘24.
Eric Ulis is the man who has dedicated so much of his time to this baffling DBC research, and is the person I would like to initially share this short presentation with.
I look forward to hearing back.
A Canadian DBC fan.
Hi Birdie – Eric Ulis is still in the Cooper game but he is no longer running the show for Cooper Con. The new guy to talk to is Ryan Burns or Chris Cunningham. They settled the financial issues with the Museum of Flight so the Conference can continue Nov 15-18. If you want to get in touch with Eric or Ryan, send me an email for them and I will forward it to them. Brucesmith@rainierconnect.com is me.