Nah. The pilots did report seeing the lights. Since cities are considerably wider than aircraft, Cooper would likely have been able to see them too by simply looking forward out the side windows.
Kamkisky's theory holds water. South is a path. When I suggested something similar a while back, you thought it was ridiculous that even if they had started out over the coast that they would have had to come back inland to get to Reno. How wide is California?
You keep saying that they 'could have' gone out over the ocean. The question then is, if they had would Cooper have spoken up? Well they didn't, so we'll never know.
Recently you were pissed off because you thought I had 'insulted' you. Is there anyone here that you don't insult?