By Bruce A. Smith
An excerpt from DB Cooper and the FBI – A Case Study of America’s Only Unsolved Skyjacking – 3rd Edition.
The FBI is arguably the world’s best investigatory organization, but they couldn’t solve the DB Cooper case. Why not?
I asked former SA Gary Tallis that question and his reply surprised me: “Because they haven’t found a body. If we had a body, all the answers would follow.”
But what happens to an investigation when there isn’t a body? Further, how should the FBI have proceeded when they had so little tangible evidence? It wasn’t an easy job, I admit. Losing evidence didn’t help, either. But large bureaucracies lose stuff and have less-than-adequate staff sprinkled throughout their organizations, even at managerial levels. So, after 45 years of investigating DB Cooper, how did they do?
By William S. Rollins III, Guest Contributor
In his book, DB Cooper and the FBI, author Bruce Smith talks about a controversial method of discovering past events, a practice called “Remote Viewing.” Bruce discusses his experiences with Remote Viewing, and some of the people that he made contact with.
Although I did not employ the Remote Viewing methodology, I have found the man that we all know as D. B. Cooper as a result of two major factors; Spiritual Guidance and logic. I define Spiritual Guidance as knowledge that is conveyed via some unknown or unrecognized communication channel. I would describe it as being akin to mental telepathy. As I state in my book, “there are forces at work in this universe that are far beyond what we understand.”
By Bruce A. Smith
Difficulties continue in determining what back chute was recovered by the FBI in Reno on the night of the DB Cooper skyjacking, and if it is a different parachute from the one returned to Norman Hayden, the owner of the main chutes.
The serial numbers do not comport between the “returned” chute displayed by Norman in 2013 at the Washington State Historical Museum’s “COOPER” exhibit, with recently released FBI documents that reveal different serial numbers recorded by National Guard inspectors in Reno.
Both chutes in question appear to contain a Pioneer harness with a Steinthal canopy inside.
The chute I saw at Norman Hayden’s machine shop in Renton, WA allegedly possessed the serial number “226,” while the FBI reports the National Guard recorded the serial number 60-9707. Are these different parachutes? If so, what kind of mistake has been made? Answers are yet to be forthcoming. Can we even confirm that these numbers are present anywhere on the chutes?
By Bruce A. Smith
The first mass inoculation program conducted in Eatonville rolled out Saturday, January 30, without any major gaffes or interruptions. One-thousand individuals received their first dose of the Moderna vaccine at the event, held at the Eatonville High School from 8 am until 4 pm.
A joint project sponsored by Kirk’s Pharmacy, the Eatonville School Board, and the MultiCare Family Clinic in Eatonville, the vaxing was well-organized and greatly appreciated by those receiving their inoculation.
The event was managed by an army of volunteers that delivered the shots and guided the public through the maze of parking, registration, inoculation, and the mandatory fifteen to thirty minute recovery period where staff monitored possible side-effects.
By Bruce A. Smith
The Covid-19 vaccine has come to Eatonville. Kirk’s Pharmacy on Mashel Ave has confirmed this week that it is currently giving the vaccine to individuals in the group known as “1-A.” These folks are emergency and frontline health care workers, and seniors in long-term care and the caregivers who tend to them. 1-A has two “tiers,” and the 1st Tier are the individuals listed above. The 2nd Tier expands the list to include all health care workers once the first tier is complete.
Kirk’s says that people desiring their vaccine shot need to call and make an appointment. The number is 360. 832. 3121. The dose will be administered at the Kirk’s Pharmacy store in Eatonville, only.
A much greater roll-out appears to be coming next week. Kirk’s today announced that they expect to receive people from the “1-B” group, possibly as soon as January 19. Details are not confirmed as of this date, but should be available by the end of this week, January 15.
According to Kirk’s website, 1-B is currently designated by the Washington State Department of Health (WSDoH) to include individuals over 75 years of age. However, the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department (TPCHD), states clearly on its website that the current age-limit for 1-B has been reduced to 70, and also includes all individuals over 50-years of age who live in a multi-generational household.
https://www.tpchd.org/healthy-people/diseases/covid-19/covid-19-vaccine-information .
Either way, these groups are huge, totaling over 60 million people, nationwide. Again, Kirk’s is saying that individuals in 1-B must call first and make an appointment. However, details from Kirk’s is sketchy, and the best that staff can say as of today, January 11 is, “Call us back towards the end of the week and we should know more and be able to give you an appointment.”
The Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department (TPCHD) says that they are using an “honor system” at this time in terms of determining who will get a vaccine shot and when – hoping to speed up the vaccination process. Officials at the TPCHD indicate that the vaccine is free, and everyone who gets their first shot will receive a card announcing the time for their second vaccine shot.
Nevertheless, Kirk’s is asking that everyone coming for the vaccine bring their medical insurance cards with them.
Of note, the Multi-Care Clinic in Eatonville announced today that it is not administering Covid-19 vaccines, and is referring all who seek the vaccine to Kirk’s.
Kirk’s posted on its website that the vaccines are from the Moderna stock, and are procured through the Washington State Department of Health. This vaccine will require two doses, administered 28 days apart. Health officials are also suggesting that everyone who receives a vaccination continue to wear a mask and socially distance themselves in public settings.
In addition, Kirk’s is requiring that all individuals seeking the vaccine must fill out a pre-vaccination checklist, which determines if people are safe to receive the vaccine. Questions include: do you have allergies, are you currently experiencing a fever, etc. These forms are available at the Kirk’s website: https://www.kirkspharmacy.com/covid19 .
Further, Kirk’s is also requiring that individuals receiving the vaccine also print out the seven-page take-home packet that lists warnings on side-effects and other important details.
Kirk’s is also administering free “EverlyWell” Covid-19 test kits to anyone 16-years and older and experiencing COVID-19 symptoms or has had a known COVID-19 exposure. Folks desiring these kits can receive them in-person at three Kirk’s locations: Eatonville, Sunrise, and Puyallup between 8:30 am and 6 pm. Call first, please. Pick-up will be at curbside.
Covid-19 symptoms include:
Details on the free test kits are:
1. Pick-up your kit at Kirk’s Pharmacy
2. Register your kit with EverlyWell, which is the manufacturer.
3. Follow instructions to collect your sample
4.) Ship your kit the SAME DAY you collect your sample with FREE overnight shipping via UPS.
For more information, go to the Kirk’s Pharmacy website.
https://www.kirkspharmacy.com/covid19 , or call: 360. 832. 3121.
By Bruce A. Smith
I’m heavy into spy thrillers, cerebral dramas, and comedies with redeeming social values. Some of these shows have been on my movie lists in the past, but they have updated seasons, or compelling dramatic reasons to watch again because of global climate change, Black Lives Matter, or other current issues.
In No Particular Order:
By Bruce A. Smith
The fingerprints are perhaps the most convoluted issue in Norjak. To date there is no definitive statement from the FBI that declares how many fingerprints they have, what kinds of fingerprints in terms of palm prints, thumb print, etc., or where they were collected. The confusion over the fingerprints is so complete that we are only learning snippets now, as we read the 302s in 2020. It is akin to reading tea leaves.
In fact, the dearth of information on the fingerprints is so complete that I’ve never written about it before, and this chapter was not included in previous editions of this book. Along those lines, the early works on Cooper barely mention the fingerprints at all, such as Richard Tosaw’s Dead or Alive – DB Cooper, and they fail to declare any specificity as to number, types, and clarity. More troubling information comes from Geoffrey Gray, who, even with his unlimited access to FBI files, was unable to deliver any definitive statement on the fingerprints in his SKYJACK, and in an email to me in 2020 stated: “However many sets there were… we know the quality and origin are… no good or incomplete.”
But the FBI seems to have some fingerprints that it does trust, which it uses to disqualify suspects. So, what does the FBI have on file? Here are the tidbits I have gathered.
Calame and Rhodes, in DB Cooper – The Real McCoy, offered the first – and for decades the only inkling – of what kind of fingerprints the FBI had collected in Reno. They state that 11 sets of fingerprints were retrieved, but were soon found to be too smudged to be of any value. This finding of 11 unusable prints is corroborated by the FBI document 164A-81-8868, (dated 12. 9. 86.) However, this doc also states that these prints were lifted off the ashtray, which suggests that more prints were recovered in other places.
That larger number hovers in the 66-80 range. Larry Carr told me in 2008 that the FBI had 66 sets of prints, which is corroborated by 164-2111, (dated 10. 9. 75), and backed by Himmelsbach in his book, NORJAK.
Similarly, 69 prints are declared by 164-81-7153, (dated 10. 26. 76), and 70 sets are claimed in document SE 164A-81-8767, (dated 8. 14. 84). In addition, a highly redacted 302 announces 77 sets of fingerprints, 164A-81-8816, (dated 8. 13. 85), while the undated SE 164-81-P says “approximately” 80.
In terms of where the additional fingerprints were retrieved, we know only of general areas. Document 164-81-1029, (dated 12. 13. 71), says that the two seats Cooper sat in received heavy attention, along with the airphone on which Cooper called the cockpit to ‘slow the plane down.” Further, the rear door and the surrounding area near the aftstairs were dusted for prints, along with four plastic drinking glasses found in the trash near the back door. It is also believed that the rear lavatory was dusted, as per Summary Report, LV 164-60, page 291, (dated 11. 26. 71.)
Palm prints were also obtained, as per SE 164-81-9260, (dated 3. 8. 79), and it is widely believed these prints were found on the arm rests of seat 18-E, which was removed and examined in Quantico.
As for these fingerprints and palm prints, we now know that they included the “tips, sides, and lower joint areas of fingers,” as per a report from the FBI’s Latent Fingerprint Division, (dated 8. 20. 1976), and again cited in an undated memo, 164-2111. Note: These prints are characterized as “latent” because they do not match any prints on file in FBI data banks.
In addition, fellow researchers at the DB Cooper Forum report that the FBI had been requiring full sets of fingerprint and palm prints of all suspects being investigated in Norjak as early as 1973. As a result, many citizen sleuths feel the Bureau has its greatest confidence in its palm print.
That is disputed by Galen Cook, however, who told me that Larry Carr had informed him in 2008 that the best Cooper print the FBI had was a fingerprint lifted off an in-flight magazine, and was using it as its primary means of dismissing suspects.
Ironically, the issue of magazines is another conundrum, as Calame and Rhodes claim the Reno team did not collect the magazines and were severely chided by the Bureau as a result. Nevertheless, there is another FBI document that suggests a second survey of magazines was conducted after the initial one in Reno – most likely the following day at Sea-Tac – from which clear and clean fingerprints were retrieved. [SE 164-81, page 2, “DB Cooper 8571.” However, this doc states that the magazines were dusted 11. 25. 72, but that is generally thought to be a typo since notes from George Harrison, the NWO official at Sea-Tac working closely with the FBI, describe a thorough search of the aircraft by the FBI when it returned from Reno the day after the skyjacking, Thanksgiving Day.
Along those lines, Larry Carr posted on the DropZone chat room that the FBI had gotten good prints off the magazines. Specifically, Carr stated: “No fingerprints from the airstairs, in fact no fingerprints recovered from the airplane during the first evidence sweep… On a second sweep some magazines were located in the area where Cooper had been. These were processed and a few latents were recovered that are of value.”
However, lifting prints off the magazines is incongruous. When did DB Cooper have time to read any magazines? He had his hand on the bomb trigger for much of the flight – to the degree that Tina had to light his cigarettes. Plus, Richard Tosaw states in DB Cooper – Dead or Alive that Tina told him she never saw Cooper touch a magazine during the skyjacking.
Nevertheless, Tosaw’s statements are also suspect because he told others, such as Bill Rataczak and Galen Cook, that Tina’s memory was exceptionally faulty when he interviewed her in the convent in the mid-1980s. As a result, whatever Tosaw has claimed from Tina must be viewed as less-than-reliable information.
Clearly, the fingerprint issue is controversial. In the view of many researchers, the truth probably lays close to the following scenario: The FBI has a lot of prints, including palm prints, but they don’t know conclusively if any are DB Cooper’s. But they might have DB Cooper’s prints somewhere in their pile. Hence, when a suspect is presented, they check his fingerprints against the whole bunch, and if nothing matches, they rule out the individual.
By Bruce A. Smith
Here on the day before the official “Election Day” of November 3, I’d like to post my predictions for the 2020 Election:
Biden will win the national count by 12 million, and take the presidency with an Electoral College victory of 310-228 or so. I believe the Democrats will also take Senate 53-47, and maintain their majority in the House of Representatives. These numbers will probably not be confirmed until Friday, November 6.
Further, state legislatures nationally go Democratic in a major tidal wave of Blue as the GOP is crushed. In response, the GOP will become the “Resistance,” and obstruct the Biden administration at every step. Trump and FOX News will be the loudest voices, but over time the GOP will become less “Trumpy,” less white supremacist, less racist, and more working-class – certainly by 2024.
The Democrats will have absolute dominance for 4-5 years, politically. But they will struggle to blend their globalization and corporate instincts with effective policies that help working people in the USA, especially the manufacturing sector in the heartland. Ultimately, their efforts fail politically even though many Americans benefit financially. The GOP will regain a lot of strength as the dynamics of the Cultural War are just too strong for the Democrats to overcome, especially the issues of abortion and white fears of the “Browning of America” – the growth of Hispanic populations and the growing political clout of African-Americans.
In the near-term, though, the Mask War intensifies. Mask-wearing becomes more political, and Republicans/Trumpers don’t wear them while Democrats and Liberals do. Locally, it is charged and bitter, but veiled. Certain stores get identified as
“Trumpers Only” and no one wears a mask or socially distances. Other stores become “Liberal Only” and require Covid protocols to be followed. But enforcement of these safe practices by departments of health are meager and ineffective.
As a result, Covid continues to cripple the economy and society. It lingers through 2021 and into 2022 with waves and troughs. Vaccines arrive but are only marginally effective – approximately 70%. More troubling, 35% of the country refuses to take any vaccine. Death total by end of 2020 is 350,000. Another 300,000 die in 2021 despite Biden’s best efforts. Total Covid deaths in USA by end of 2022 will exceed 800,000.
Even though Trump is defeated in the election, the polarization of America continues to intensify. especially as many Liberals view the Trumpers as “trying to kill us with Covid.” The legal effort to adjudicate Trump for negligent homicide – stemming from the hundreds of thousands of preventable deaths generated by his ineffective policies – fails, as Biden gambles on trying to unify the national psychologically. He is partially successful.
A new stat emerges: unaccounted-for deaths. Already we are seeing 100,000 deaths in 2020 that are not Covid-specific but are above the expected projections from prior years. Who are these extra deaths? How do they die? From what? Covid-like complications?
QAnon is still with us. Lots of folks still drink the Kool-Aid. Conspiracy theories abound. But no one examines closely the Jeffrey Epstein case, such as who called Alexander Acosta when he was the Florida Attorney General and convinced him to squash the first Epstein sex trafficking case in Palm Beach. Nor why Acosta was then elevated to the Secretary of Commerce by President Trump. Nor why the alleged suicide of Epstein in federal detention was allowed and the follow-up investigation so flawed.
The economy fractures and struggles, but many Americans thrive and prosper – perhaps 2/3 of the population – as they can work from home, have Internet connection, or the skills to earn them a good income in the new, distanced, informational economy.
But many don’t have those resources and flounder. One-third of the population remains unemployed or under-employed for years. The entertainment and travel industries are non-existent. Airlines go belly-up and Boeing files for bankruptcy. The European Airbus agency, with its governmental support, exists only as a shadow of its former self.
Restaurants struggle and few are successful. Bars and taverns remain mostly closed or at greatly reduced capacity. As a result, illegal parties and drinking clubs flourish, which also helps to spread Covid in an endless cycle.
Schools remain mostly closed. Hybrid programs of partial-attendance-in-class coupled with home-schooling predominate, but many families are reluctant to send their kids to school. Most teachers are afraid to enter their classrooms, but do so with strict testing and disinfectant practices. In effect, classrooms become like the iconic NBA bubble. Some kids thrive in this environment; many don’t.
The financial hardships drive many individuals and families into homelessness. Addictions and health problems abound. The Biden Administration launches Depression-Era-esque federal programs to address the chronic job loss and homelessness. These efforts are mostly successful and Biden is hailed as a hero who has saved America. His nickname becomes “Grampa Joe.”
China emerges as the dominant world power as it controls Covid better than anyone else, and as a result is able to maintain its economy. Europe, like the United States, continues to struggle with Covid and a limp economy.
Global Climate Change dominates world attention within the decade, and countries shift their politics to address the situation, but there is much resistance regionally and within the political factions of the right. In the United States, de facto confederations emerge to address local climate issues, such as forest fires, and the western states form the Cascadian Confederation to pool resources and advance useful policies. These latter issues include a vast increase in fire-fighting resources, the mandating of electric cars, amplification of alternative energy sources, and decreasing the use of oil and gas. Within ten years all new homes will be required to have solar power arrays installed on their rooftops, along with other energy saving devices such as infra-red hot water heaters.
Biden does not run for re-election in 2024 due to this age, and is replaced by Kamala Harris at the top of the ticket. The GOP gropes for an answer to the Trump debacle, but opts for the arch-conservative Tom Cotton, who loses disastrously to Harris.
The nearly one-million Covid deaths by 2024 casts a pall over the political passions of 2020, and most folks are just looking to survive. Culturally and psychologically, many turn inward and find a deeper level of spiritual mindfulness. Many are “woke” and active. This becomes a major force in the country and counters the social isolation brought about by the Covid restrictions and social disruptions of poverty.
New cultural norms are developed for celebrating holidays, especially Thanksgiving, Christmas and birthdays. New jobs are created, and public art flourishes. The talismans that were once used to produce tribal identities shift and reform. Ten years from now, Americans will see themselves and their neighbors in a new way, and many will say that this period of time was the best thing that ever happened to them.
Addendum
Within minutes of posting the above essay, Mountain News readers began sending me messages of concern for violence, especially Tuesday night and the days following the vote counting.
Will Trumpers go violent if The Donald loses? I don’t think so, at least not with any organized, substantive violence. I think the Trumpers will stay home and watch the news to see how big their Red Wave actually is tomorrow night, and once they realize it’s not big enough they will sit down, ponder, and regroup – waiting for some leader, like DT, to tell them what to do.
I am surrounded by Trumpers here in rural WA, and I am not afraid of any violence.
Addendum II
Reader response has been phenomenal. Besides the above concerns, some readers are questioning whether Donald Trump will leave office peacefully. I believe he will leave, but not quietly – and in veiled pathological ways. I don’t think DT will ever concede to Joe Biden, nor will he congratulate him. I think DT will leave the White House long before the Bidens show up at the customary noon-time arrival on January 20th.
On Tuesday night as the reality of his loss becomes apparent, I think Trump will enter a sullen, depressed state – much like he did when he realized he won in 2016. Back then he was reportedly overwhelmed by the enormity of his victory. Melania wept then, too, supposedly and she might tomorrow night as well, but for very different reasons. She and her husband might be going to jail in 2021. For more on that aspect, I recommend reading Jane Mayer’s article in the New Yorker, as submitted by a MN reader this evening. Titled; “Why Trump Can’t Afford to Lose,” Mayer addresses all the lawsuits and illegalities of The Donald and those close to him. It’s stunning.
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/11/09/why-trump-cant-afford-to-lose
Addendum III
A MN readers posted his own prediction that Trump will win and “…the Marxist wing (Antifa/DSA/BLM) of the Democrat party riots in major cities and tries to take Washington. They are planning it already. BTW, I am not American and don’t vote. “
In turn, I replied with the following:
The Antifa guys I’ve spoken with were not Marxist in the least, and didn’t have a clue about communism or any of that stuff. I interviewed a couple of Antifa people back in the “Occupy Movement” days, and I was stunned at how cruel and violent they were. But they are also very disorganized and not particularly sophisticated – intellectually or organizationally.
The Antifa folks who have presented themselves at rallies, do so to “protect” other protestors. That seems to be their MO: a reactive force to other people’s violence. The antifa people I have met have a hard time ordering lunch, let alone paying the rent or raising a kid – or launching a revolution.
As for the BLM – Black Lives Matter – I see them as focused more on social justice and real reform, not the looting and tearing down the walls of civilization. One of the real issues of the summer and our nationwide social protesting is that no real leaders emerged, nor did any recognized leaders step forward and try to organize the demonstrations. The whole thing was very organic and localized. That allowed Trump and the right-wing commentators to control the narrative of who was doing what and why – in my view.
This issue remains. We still don’t know what to do with our cops – or what it will take to stop the murdering of black men by white police officers. Clearly “Defunding the Police” is a non-starter, and certain reforms, such as posting mental health counselors in squad cars to de-escalate crazy, violent incidents, is still not widespread. Mentally ill guys are still getting killed, such as occurred in Philly two weeks ago.
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