j.b. cooper by dr. s.n. suresh

8/9/2019 J.B. Cooper by Dr. S.N. Suresh

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D. B. Cooper

Mystery Man

Dr. S.N. Suresh


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D. B. Cooper

A 1972 FBI composite drawing of D. B. Cooper Other names Dan Cooper Occupation

Unknown Known for Hijacking a Boeing 727 on November 24, 1971, and parachuting

out of the plane in flight

D. B. Cooper is the name attributed to a man who hijacked a Boeing 727aircraft in the

United States on November 24, 1971, received US$200,000[1] in ransom, and parachuted

from the plane. The name he used to board the plane was Dan Cooper, but through a

later press miscommunication, he became known as "D. B. Cooper". Despite hundreds of

leads through the years, no conclusive evidence has ever surfaced regarding Cooper's true

identity or whereabouts, and the bulk of the money has never been recovered. Several

theories offer competing explanations of what happened after his famed jump, but the

FBI believes he did not survive.[2]

The nature of Cooper's escape and the uncertainty of his fate continue to intrigue people.

The Cooper case (code-named "Norjak" by the FBI)[3] is the only unsolved U.S. aircraft

hijacking,[4] and one of the few such cases anywhere in the world, along with Malaysia

Airlines Flight 653.

The Cooper case has baffled government and private investigators for decades, with

countless leads turning into dead ends. As late as March 2008, the FBI thought it might

have had a breakthrough when children unearthed a parachute within the bounds of

Cooper's probable jump site near the town of Amboy, Washington.[5] Experts later

determined that it did not belong to the hijacker.

Despite the case's enduring lack of evidence, a few significant clues have arisen. In late1978 a placard containing instructions on how to lower the aft stairs of a 727, later

confirmed to be from the rear stairway of the plane from which Cooper jumped, was

found just a few flying minutes north of Cooper's projected drop zone. In February 1980

on the banks of the Columbia River, eight-year-old Brian Ingram found $5,880 in

decaying $20 bills, which proved to be part of the original ransom.[6]


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In October 2007, the FBI claimed that it had obtained a partial DNA profile of Cooper

from the tie he left on the hijacked plane. [7] On December 31, 2007, the FBI revived the

unclosed case by publishing never-before-seen composite sketches and fact sheets online

in an attempt to trigger memories that could possibly identify Cooper. In a press release,

the FBI reiterated that it does not believe Cooper survived the jump, but expressed an

interest in ascertaining his identity.[7][8]

Hijacking

On Wednesday, November 24, 1971, the day before Thanksgiving in the United States, a

man traveling under the name Dan Cooper boarded a Boeing 727-100, Northwest Orient

(subsequently Northwest Airlines, now part of Delta Air Lines) Flight 305 (FAA Reg.

N467US), flying from Portland International Airport (PDX) in Portland, Oregon to

Seattle, Washington.[9] Cooper was described as being in his mid-forties, and between

5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) and 6 feet (1.83 m) tall. He wore a black raincoat, loafers, a dark suit,

a neatly pressed white collared shirt, a black necktie, black sunglasses and a mother of

pearl tie pin.[10] Cooper sat in the back of the plane in seat 18C. After the jet had taken off

from Portland, he handed a note to a young flight attendant named Florence Schaffner, [11]

who was seated in a jumpseat attached to the aft stair door, situated directly behind and to

the left of Cooper's seat. She thought he was giving her his phone number, so she slipped

it, unopened, into her pocket.[12] Cooper leaned closer and said, "Miss, you'd better look


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at that note. I have a bomb."[13] In the envelope was a note that read: "I have a bomb in

my briefcase. I will use it if necessary. I want you to sit next to me. You are being

hijacked."[14]

The note also provided demands for $200,000, in unmarked bills, and two sets of

parachutestwo main back chutes and two emergency chest chutes. [15] The note carried

instructions ordering the items to be delivered to the plane when it landed at Seattle-

Tacoma International Airport; if the demands were not met, he would blow up the

plane.[16] When the flight attendant informed the cockpit about Cooper and the note, the

pilot, William Scott, contacted Seattle-Tacoma air traffic control, who contacted Seattle

police and the FBI. The FBI contacted Northwest Airlines president Donald Nyrop, who

instructed Scott to cooperate with the hijacker.[15] Scott instructed Schaffner to go back

and sit next to Cooper, and ascertain if the bomb was in fact real. Sensing this, Cooper

opened his briefcase momentarily, long enough for Schaffner to see red cylinders, a large

battery, and wires, convincing her the bomb was real.[17] He instructed her to tell the pilot

not to land until the money and parachutes Cooper had requested were ready at Seattle-

Tacoma. She went back to the cockpit to relay Cooper's instructions.[15]

Releasing passengers in exchange for demands


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FBI wanted poster of D. B. Cooper

Following Cooper's demands, the jet was put into a holding pattern over Puget Sound,

while Cooper's demands for $200,000 and four parachutes were met. In assembling the

cash demands, FBI agents followed Cooper's instruction for unmarked bills, but they

decided to give bills printed mostly in 1969 (although some were older or newer), that

mostly had serial numbers beginning with the letter L, issued by the Federal Reserve

Bank of San Francisco.[18] The agents also ran all of the 10,000 $20 bills quickly through

a Recordak device to create a microfilm photograph of each bill and thus record all the

serial numbers.[16][19] Authorities initially intended to obtain military-issue parachutes

from McChord Air Force Base, but Cooper said he wanted civilian parachutes, which had

manually operated ripcords. Seattle police were able to find Cooper's preferred

parachutes at a local skydiving school.[18] Meanwhile, Cooper sat in the airplane, drinking

a cocktail of bourbon whiskey and lemon-lime soda, which he would offer to pay for.

Tina Mucklow, a flight attendant who spent the most time with the hijacker, remarked

Cooper "seemed rather nice," and thoughtful enough to request the crew be brought

meals after the jet landed in Seattle.[18] However, FBI investigators for the Cooper case

claim the hijacker was "obscene," and used "filthy language."[18] At 17:24, airport traffic

control radioed Scott and told him that Cooper's demands had been met. Cooper then

gave Captain Scott permission to land at the flight's intended destination, Seattle-Tacoma

International Airport (SEA) near Seattle, Washington. The plane landed at the airport at

17:39.[20] Cooper then instructed Scott to taxi the plane to a remote section of the tarmac

and also dim the lights in the cabin to deter police snipers. He instructed air traffic control

to send one person to deliver the $200,000 and four parachutes, unaccompanied. [20] The

person chosen, a Northwest Orient employee, drove to the plane and delivered the cash

and parachutes to flight attendant Mucklow, via the aft stairs. The civilians left the plane

before it was taxied, however, because Cooper's actions were kept secret from the

passengers as to not stir panic. Among the released passengers was flight attendant

Schaffner. Pilot Scott, flight attendant Mucklow, First Officer Bob Rataczak and flight

engineer H.E. Anderson were not permitted to leave the aircraft.[20]

The FBI was puzzled regarding Cooper's plans, and his request of four parachutes. The

agents wondered if Cooper had an accomplice on board, or if the parachutes were

intended for the four crew members who were still on the plane.[18] Up to this point in


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history, nobody had ever attempted to jump with a parachute from a hijacked commercial

aircraft. While the plane was being refueled, an FAA official, who wanted to explain to

the hijacker the legal consequences of air piracy, walked to the door of the plane and

asked Cooper's permission to come aboard the plane. Cooper promptly denied the

official's request.[21] A vapor lock in the fuel tanker truck's engines slowed down the

refueling process. Cooper became suspicious when the refueling had still not been

completed after 15 minutes. He made threats to blow up the plane, upon which the fuel

crew promptly tried to speed up the job until completion.[20]

Back in the skies

After refueling, careful examination of the ransom and parachutes, and negotiations

regarding the flight pattern and the position of the aft stairs upon take-off, Cooper

ordered the flight crew to take the hijacked jet back into the air at around 19:40 (7:40

pm). The crew was ordered to fly to Mexico City, at a relatively low speed of 170 knots

(310 km/h; 200 mph), an altitude at or under 10,000 feet (3,000 m) (normal cruising

altitude is between 25,000 and 37,000 feet (7,600 and 11,000 m)), with the landing gear

down and 15 degrees of flap.[22] However, First Officer Rataczak told him that the jet

could only fly 1,000 miles (1,600 km) under the altitude and airspeed conditions Cooper

ordered. Cooper and the crew discussed other possible locations, before deciding on

flying to Reno, Nevada, where they would again refuel.

[20]

They also agreed to fly onVictor 23 as depicted on the Jeppesen air navigational charts, a low-altitude Federal

airway that passed west of the Cascade Range. Cooper then ordered Scott to leave the

cabin unpressurized. An unpressurized cabin at 10,000 feet would curtail the risk of a

sudden rush of air exiting the plane (and ease the opening of the pressure door) if he were

to attempt to exit the aircraft for a subsequent parachute landing.[20]

Immediately upon takeoff, Cooper asked Mucklow, who had previously been sitting with

him, to go back to the cockpit and stay there.[23] Before she went behind the curtain that

separates the coach and first-class seats, she watched him tie something to his waist with

what she thought was rope. Moments later in the cockpit, the crew noticed a light flash

indicating that Cooper attempted to operate the door. Over the intercom, Scott asked

Cooper if there was anything they could do for him, but the hijacker replied curtly,

"No!"[23]


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Boeing 727 with the airstair open

The crew started to notice a change of air pressure in the cabin (an "ear popping

experience"). Cooper had lowered the aft stairs and jumped out of the plane never to be

seen again.[24] That was the last time he was known to be alive. The FBI believed his

descent was at 20:13 (8:13 pm) over the southwestern portion of the state of Washington,

because the aft stairway "bumped" at this time, most likely because of the weight of

Cooper being released from the aft stairs. At the time Cooper jumped, the plane was

flying through a heavy rainstorm, with no light source coming from the ground becauseof cloud coverage.[7] Because of the poor visibility, his descent went unnoticed by the

United States Air Force F-106 jet fighters tracking the airliner.[25] He initially was

believed to have landed southeast of the unincorporated area of Ariel, Washington, near

Lake Merwin, 30 miles (48 km) north of Portland, Oregon ( 4557N 12239W /

45.95N 122.65WCoordinates: 4557N 12239W / 45.95N 122.65W).[26] Later

theories based on a variety of sourcesincluding testimony on weather conditions from

Continental Airlines pilot Tom Bohan, who had been flying 4,000 feet (1,200 m) above

and 4 minutes behind Flight 305placed Cooper's landing zone as much as 20 miles

(32 km) farther east, but its precise location remains unknown.[27]

Nearly 2 hours after take-off from Seattle-Tacoma, at approximately 22:15,[23] with the

aft stairs dragging on the runway, the Boeing 727 landed safely in Reno. The airport and

runway were surrounded by FBI agents and local police. After communicating with

Captain Scott, it was determined Cooper was gone, and FBI agents boarded the plane to

search for any evidence left behind. They recovered a number of fingerprints (which may

or may not have belonged to Cooper), a tie and a mother of pearl tie clip, and two of the

four parachutes.[28] Cooper was nowhere to be found, nor was his briefcase, the money,

the moneybag, or the two remaining parachutes. The individuals with whom Cooper had

interacted on board the plane and while he was on the ground were interrogated to

compile a composite sketch; those interviewed all gave nearly identical descriptions of

him, leading the FBI to create the sketch that has been used on wanted posters ever since,


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where Dan Cooper is described as being of Latin appearance. [29] As of 2009, the FBI

maintains that the sketch is an accurate likeness of Cooper because so many individuals,

interviewed simultaneously in separate locations, gave nearly identical descriptions.[7]

Vanished without a trace

Looping animation of how the 727's rear airstair was used by Cooper to escape. The

airstair had not been designed for deployment in flight and was gravity-operated,

meaning it fell open and remained that way until the aircraft had landed.

Despite aerial and ground searches of the projected 28-square-mile (73 km2) landing zone

in late 1971 and spring 1972, no trace of Cooper or his parachute was found. An exact

landing point was difficult to determine, as the plane's 300 feet (91 m)-per-second speed

in winds varying by location and altitude would make even small differences in timing

move the projected landing point considerably. This led the FBI to determine that Cooper

could not have known exactly where he would land, and therefore must not have had an

accomplice waiting to assist him upon landing. [7] Initial search efforts combined small

groups of FBI agents with local Clark County and Cowlitz County sheriff's deputies, who

probed on foot and by helicopter. Others ran patrol boats along Lake Merwin and Yale

Lake.[30] Because months passed with no significant leads coming from anywhere else,

the arrival of the spring thaw provided incentive for a thorough ground search, conducted

by the FBI and no fewer than 200 U.S. Army troops from nearby Fort Lewis. Teams of

agents and soldiers searched the area virtually yard by yard for eighteen straight days in

March and for another eighteen straight days in April 1972. After a combined six weeks


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of searching the projected drop zone, one of the most intense manhunts in the history of

the northwestern U.S. revealed no evidence related to the hijacking. [31] As a result, it

remains widely disputed whether Cooper actually landed outside the initial estimated

drop zone, as well as whether he survived the jump and subsequently escaped on foot.

Shortly after the hijacking, the FBI questioned and then released a Portland man by the

name of D. B. Cooper, who was never considered a significant suspect. Because of a

miscommunication with the media, however, the initials "D. B." became firmly

associated with the hijacker and this is how he is now known.[24]

Meanwhile, the FBI also stepped up efforts to track the 10,000 ransomed $20 bills by

notifying banks, savings and loan companies, and other businesses of the notes serial

numbers. Law enforcement agencies around the globe, including Scotland Yard, also

received information on Cooper and the serial numbers. In the months following the

hijacking, Northwest Airlines offered a reward of 15 percent of the recovered money up

to a maximum of $25,000, but the airline eventually canceled the offer as no new

substantial evidence seemed to arise.[32] In November 1973, The Oregon Journal, based

in Portland, began publishing the first public listings of the serial numbers with

permission from the FBI and offered $1,000 to the first person who could claim to have

found a single one of the $20 bills.[32] Later, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer offered a

$5,000 reward for one of the bills.[33] Despite reported interest from around the country

and several alleged near-matches, the newspapers never received a claim of an exact

serial number match. In the decade before the Cooper hijacking, local law enforcement

and the FBI had solved at least two major crimesa bank robbery and an extortionin

the Pacific Northwest by tracing money serial numbers. But both cases, which took only

weeks for authorities to solve, involved instances of a perpetrator spending the traceable

money only days after the crime and in the same general region of the crime,[34]

circumstances that in all likelihood did not apply in the Cooper case.

In late 1978, a hunter walking just a few flying minutes north of Cooper's projected drop

zone found a placard with instructions on how to lower the aft stairs of a 727. The placard

was from the rear stairway of the plane from which Cooper jumped.[35]

On February 10, 1980, Brian Ingram, then eight years old, was with his family on a

picnic when he found $5,880 in decaying bills (a total of 294 $20 bills), still bundled in

rubber bands, approximately 40 feet (12 m) from the waterline and just 2 inches (5 cm)


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below the surface, on the banks of the Columbia River 5 miles (8 km) northwest of

Vancouver, Washington.[36] After comparing the serial numbers with those from the

ransom given to Cooper almost nine years earlier, it was proven that the money found by

Ingram was part of the ransom given to Cooper. [35] Upon the discovery, then-FBI lead

investigator Ralph Himmelsbach declared that the money "must have been deposited

within a couple of years after the hijacking" because "rubber bands deteriorate rapidly

and could not have held the bundles together for very long." [37] However, several area

scientists recruited by the FBI for assistance with the case noted their belief that the

money arrived at the beach as a result of a 1974 Army Corps of Engineers dredging

operation. Furthermore, some scientists estimated that the moneys arrival must have

occurred even later. Geologist Leonard Palmer of Portland State University, for example,

reportedly concluded that the 1974 dredging operation did not place the money on the

Columbia's riverbank because Ingram had found the bills above clay deposits put on

shore by the dredge.[38] The FBI generally agree now that the money had to have arrived

at the location on the riverbank no earlier than 1974. Some investigators and hydrologists

have theorized that the bundled bills washed freely into the Columbia River from one of

its many connecting tributaries, such as the Washougal River, which originate or run near

Cooper's suspected landing zone.

Ingram's discovery of the $5,880 reinforced the FBI's belief that Cooper probably did not

survive the jump, in large part because of the unlikelihood that such a criminal would be

willing to leave behind any of the loot for which he had risked his life. Authorities

eventually allowed Ingram to keep a split of about $2,860 of the recovered money, with

the amount being a rough estimate because of the badly deteriorated condition of the

bills. On June 13, 2008, in accordance with Ingram's wishes, the Heritage Auction

Galleries'Americana Memorabilia Grand Format Auction in Dallas, Texas sold fifteen of

the bills to various buyers for a total of more than $37,000.[39] As of 2010, the rest of the

money remains unrecovered. The serial numbers of all 9,998 $20 bills that the hijacker

was given were databased and placed in a search engine for public search.[40]

Suspects


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FBI sketch of Cooper, with age progression

The FBI has investigated over a thousand "serious suspects" and ruled out most of

them.[4]

The FBI believed that Cooper was familiar with the Seattle area, as he was able to

recognize Tacoma from the air while the jet was circling over the Puget Sound. He also

remarked to flight attendant Mucklow that McChord Air Force Base was approximately

20 minutes from the Seattle-Tacoma Airport. Although the FBI initially believed that

Cooper might have been an active or retired member of the United States Air Force,

based on his apparent knowledge of jet aerodynamics and skydiving,[18] it later changed

this assessment, deciding that no experienced parachutist would have attempted such a

risky jump and the fact that Cooper chose an older parachute from the two which were

packed in the craft. The other was a professional sport parachute, the ideal choice.[7]

John List

Main article: John List

In 1971, mass-murderer John List was considered a suspect in the Cooper hijacking,

which occurred only fifteen days after he had killed his family in Westfield, New Jersey.

List's age, facial features, and build were similar to those described for the mysterious

skyjacker.[41] FBI agent Ralph Himmelsbach stated that List was a "viable suspect" in the

case.[35] Cooper parachuted from the hijacked airliner with $200,000, the same amount

List had used up from his mother's bank account in the days before the killing. [42] After

his capture and imprisonment in 1989, List strenuously denied being Cooper, and the FBI

no longer considered him a suspect.[35] List died in prison custody on March 21, 2008.[43]

Richard McCoy, Jr.

Main article: Richard McCoy, Jr.


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On April 7, 1972, four months after Cooper's hijacking, Richard McCoy, Jr., under the

alias "James Johnson," boarded United Airlines Flight 855 during a stopover in Denver,

Colorado, and gave the flight steward an envelope labeled "Hijack Instructions," in which

he demanded four parachutes and $500,000.[35] He also instructed the pilot to land at San

Francisco International Airport and order a refueling truck for the plane. [44] The airplane

was a Boeing 727 with aft stairs, which McCoy used in his escape. He was carrying a

paper weight grenade and an empty pistol. He left his handwritten message on the plane,

along with his fingerprints on a magazine he had been reading, which the FBI later used

to establish positive identification.

Police began investigating McCoy following a tip from Utah Highway Patrolman Robert

Van Ieperen, who was a friend of McCoy's. [45] Apparently, after the Cooper hijacking,

McCoy had made a reference that Cooper should have asked for $500,000, instead of

$200,000. He had a record as a Vietnam veteran and was a former helicopter pilot.[46]

On April 9, following the fingerprint and handwriting match, McCoy was arrested for the

United 855 hijacking.[44][46] McCoy claimed innocence, but was convicted and received a

45-year sentence. Once incarcerated, using his access to the prison's dental office, McCoy

fashioned a fake handgun out of dental paste. He and a crew of convicts escaped in

August 1974 by stealing a garbage truck and crashing it through the prison's main gate. It

took three months before the FBI located McCoy in Virginia. McCoy shot at the FBI

agents, and agent Nicholas O'Hara fired back with a shotgun, killing him.[44]

In 1991, Bernie Rhodes and former FBI agent Russell Calame coauthored D.B. Cooper:

The Real McCoy, in which they claimed that Cooper and McCoy were really the same

person, citing similar methods of hijacking and a tie and mother-of-pearl tie clip, left on

the plane by Cooper. The authors said that McCoy "never admitted nor denied he was

Cooper."[47] And when McCoy was directly asked whether he was Cooper he replied, "I

don't want to talk to you about it."[44] The agent who killed McCoy is quoted as

supposedly saying, "When I shot Richard McCoy, I shot D. B. Cooper at the same

time."[44] The widow of Richard McCoy, Karen Burns McCoy, reached a $120,000 legal

settlement with the book's co-authors and its publisher, [44] after claiming they

misrepresented her involvement in the hijacking and later events from interviews done

with her attorney in the 1970s.[48]


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However, the FBI ruled out Christiansen because his complexion, height, weight and eye

color did not match the descriptions given by the passengers or the crew of Flight 305. [51]

However, a new book released in April 2010 by [2]Adventure Books of Seattle, titled

'Into The Blast - The True Story of D.B. Cooper' offers new witness testimony and

photographic evidence that claims Christiansen was the hijacker.

William Gossett

On August 4, 2008, Canadian Press reported that a Spokane, Washington, lawyer

believes that the ransom money is stored in a Vancouver, British Columbia, safe deposit

box under the name of William Gossett, a college instructor from Ogden, Utah, who died

in 2003. Lawyer Galen Cook says that Gossett matches the sketches circulated by the

FBI. Also, Gossett is alleged to have bragged to his sons about the hijacking and shown

them a key to the safe deposit box.[52] Gossett is also said to have confessed to two

people, including a judge and a lawyer, and his own son also believed his father to be the

hijacker.[53] By fleeing from the country, Cooper would be out of law enforcement

boundaries. (The value of this is unclear given Canada's extradition treaty with the United

States, though the current treaty came into effect five years after the hijacking.)

Aftermath

Effect on the airline industry

The hijacking caused major changes in commercial flight safety, mainly in the form of

metal detectors added to the airports by the airline companies, several related flight safety

rules set in place by the FAA, and modifications made to the Boeing 727 aircraft.

Following three similar but less successful hijackings in 1972, the Federal Aviation

Administration required that all Boeing 727 aircraft be fitted with a device known as the

"Cooper vane", a mechanical aerodynamic wedge that prevents the airstair or rear

stairway of an aircraft from being lowered in flight.[17]

Renewed FBI interest and new evidence

On November 1, 2007, the FBI released detailed information concerning some of the

evidence in their possession, which they had not revealed to the public before.[54] The FBI

displayed Cooper's 1971 plane ticket from Portland to Seattle, which cost $18.52. It also

revealed that he requested four parachutestwo main back chutes and two reserve chest

chutes. Authorities inadvertently supplied Cooper with a "dummy" reserve chutean


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unusable parachute that is sewn shut for classroom demonstration. The dummy chute was

not left behind on the plane, and some theorize Cooper did not realize it was not

functional.[54] This piece of information had been revealed in a 1979 episode of TV

documentary series In Search of.... The other reserve parachute, which was a functional

parachute, was popped open and the shrouds were cut and supposedly used to secure the

money bag.

On December 31, 2007, the FBI issued a press release online containing never before

seen photos and fact sheets in an attempt to trigger memories or useful information

regarding Cooper's identity. In the fact sheets, the FBI withdrew its previous theory that

Cooper was either an experienced skydiver or paratrooper.[55] While it was initially

believed that Cooper must have had training to have performed such a feat, later analysis

of the chain of events led the FBI to reevaluate this claim. Investigators said that no

experienced paratrooper or skydiver would attempt a jump during a rainstorm with no

light source.[55] Investigators also believe that, even if Cooper was in a hurry to escape, an

experienced jumper or paratrooper would have stopped to inspect his chutes.[7]

On March 24, 2008, the FBI announced that it was in possession of a parachute recovered

from a field in northern Clark County, Washington, near the town of Amboy. A property

owner was in the process of making a private road with a bulldozer when the blade

caught some cloth, and his children pulled the cloth until the canopy lines appeared. Earl

Cossey, the man who provided the four parachutes that were given to Cooper by the FBI,

examined the newly found chute and on April 1, 2008 said that "absolutely, for sure" it

could not have been one of the four that he supplied in 1971. The Cooper parachutes

were made of nylon, unlike the new chute that was recovered which is made of silk and

most likely made around 1945.[56] The FBI later made a press release confirming

Cossey's findings. Investigators reached their official conclusion after consulting Cossey

and other parachute experts. "From the best we could learn from the people we spoke to,

it just didn't look like it was the right kind of parachute in any way," said FBI

spokeswoman Robbie Burroughs.[57] Further digging at the site in southwestern

Washington turned up no indication that it could have been Cooper's.[57]

FBI Special Agent Larry Carr has theorized that Cooper took his alias from Dan Cooper,

a French-Canadian comic book hero who is a member of the Royal Canadian Air Force

and is depicted parachuting on the cover of one issue. This is referenced in the new book


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on the Cooper case by Adventure Books of Seattle, who note that Kenny Christiansen

worked for three and a half years on Shemya Island, Alaska and saw copies of the comic

in the Day Room. This is supported by an interview in the book conducted with a

communications officer who worked on Shemya at the same time as Christiansen. [58]

Cultural phenomenon

Main article: D. B. Cooper in popular culture

Cooper's daring and unprecedented acts inspired a cult following, expressed through

song, film and literature. Cities in the Pacific Northwest sold tourist souvenirs and held

celebrations in his memory. He is remembered in Ariel with an annual "Cooper Day"

event on November 24, and elsewhere with Cooper-themed promotions held by

restaurants and bowling alleys.[59]

j.b. cooper by dr. s.n. suresh

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