FunnyStuff

I would disagree he landed near enough TB to think it'd be a reasonable place for him to have walked to post landing. I think the absolute closest he could have been was like 15 miles and I can think of any reason he'd walk so far to bury it. Also we know it has the spring/summer diatoms on it so burial that night seems like an impossibility

The problem with that theory is it requires Tina to have had multiple face to face interviews ( the second of which I believe was initiated by herself) all the while holding onto $6,000 in ransom. Furthermore it requires her to have told the FBI the story of Cooper offering the money to her but chaning the bit about returning the money. If she had kept it wouldn't she just omit the entire story of him offering the money? The structure theory is nice for the buyoancy and diatom timing issues but it creates a new issue since now one packet has to somehow make it's way out of and away from the structure by itself whith no other piece of the structure or money to be found which doesn't seem likely. Probably will just always have to assume TB money origins as undeterminable unless somehow Cooper's identified and he left written details post hijacking or told someone.

Absolutely true but anything that Duane Ingram has to say is probably worth your time.

Yes it's from 1975 but its not beyond the realm of possibility they were doing similar operations less transparently before this date. Also, if I'm not mistaken someone was running a sand and gravel operation there before hand that they absorbed. As for the "500 feet" bit, I think it's well within the universe of possibilities that they (or their predecessors) acquired sand in their normal course of business and used it personally at TB rather than reselling it. I can agree 100% it's low probability but virtualy all scenarios meeting all teh check boxes necessary for TB to make sense will be so, including the scenarios you and other well research sleuthers have laid out over the years. With respect to dredging, I have heard it claimed the pipes auger sizes typically used in dreding are not condusive to the money remaining in the quality it is. Is that misguided?

Having trouble finding this interview. What was the name of the documentary?

You may have knowledge of the Fazio's operation I have not heard before, I'm curious if there is an interview or document which explains the details of their operation. The description of their business in their WA articles of incorporation(attached here I think, still new here so not sure the file attachment works) seem to suggest harvesting sand/gravel from pits and/or brokering sand/gravel from others is on the table. Don't you feel one packet fully exposed to the elements and not shielded by the bag and surronding money would deteriorate much more advanced than we see in the bundle? Also, the probability of catching a ride on a log or mound of drift would drops with the single packet. As with most things in this case, speculation is unfortunately the only route here but certainly some scenarios have much higher probabilities than others. Fazio Sand and Gravel Articles of Incorporation WA.pdf

I read this as the agent documenting possible outcomes to investigate and not necessarily actual known events. I can't imagine that a serial number hit and it wasn't documented anywhere else.

Interesting takes. I personally feel the low buoyancy of one packet (3 bundles) makes it nearly impossible to have traveled further than 10 feet down the Columbia. I do love the fact thatt this theory explains away the issue of the remaining money, parachute, and body from TB are all missing but it seems extremely unlikely that one packet could have made it's way there naturally. Between the facts it doesn't float, TK claiming there was no silt present on the bills, and the spring time diatoms it seems very likely the bag acted as a vehicle to snag on a branch or log and as a shield from some of the elements until a flood. IMO the current leader in the clubhouse on TB money is Cooper lost some or all of it on descent/landing (most likely only some), the fazio's sand and gravel business purchased sand sourced from the area he landed, and the sand was dumped onto TB with the packet buried among the dirt. As you mentioned though, these can only be considered "theories" and shouldn't ever be considered facts or absolutes.

I'm curious your thoughts on how TB money could've been the money offered to Tina. I can agree that it is likely Cooper offered up one "packet" or 3 bundles for $6,000 (which couldve later become $5,800 on TB due to deterioration) but I can't think of a way the packet gets to TB. Are you suggesting Cooper didn't properly fasten that packet back to himself and it fell from the plane later? Or are you suggesting it's a Tina based plant and he used one packet because he had offered her that? Both seem unlikely.

I feel strongly that whoever owned the tie left behind on the plane was a metallurgist and had some prior parachuting activity. I'm casting a wide net but here's some base level info on a group of men that pass (mostly) intial requirements; metallurgist, army airborne, appropriate age, appropriate height, appropriate complexion. I'm mostly just passing this along for anyone bored with their regular Cooper programing and wants to vet these further. https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1X4rGQ10M_Dbo22u1zkQairDOk-YvMiyu?usp=sharing

I believe TK has mentioned the possibility of powdered metallurgy as a source before although I'm not sure he's ever mentioned if that would hint in anyway to DB's industry/role/identity. I will reach out if I can find his email. Two notable things related to both shape and size. A large portion of the titanium based particle images are spherical (including the famous 3 TiSb particles) so that fits the resources you've shared here. However size is not super homogeneous across the data. Looking at particles that are primarily titanium and contain no oxygen we see particles sized from 0.08 millimicrons all the way to 7,175. I wonder if we should see a smaller range of sizes if powdered metallurgy really was to blame for the dirty tie?

Would love to hear anyone's thoughts on powdered metallurgy. Is it a potential source for the metallic element based tie particles? I think it possibly so for the following reasons: 1 - Many of the observable images of the particles containing high contents of rare metals and low to zero oxygen levels appear to be spherical which seems to be a good fit for powdered metals 2 - The primary transfer of these particles is by touch. It's reasonable to conclude this points towards powdered metallurgy since it would likely point to a work environment were metals weren't machined or smelted into shape. Also, in my limited understanding of these powders they look like you're much more likely to pick them up on your skin and not notice them before touching your tie knot. Remember the control tie tested by TK was super clean. Are powdered metals "dirtier"? 3 - Many of the potential alloyed metals particles have a seemingly unecessary amount of metals included in them and others seem to have non-sensical combinations of metals ala the famous three TiSb particles. Is it possible these obscure and unecessary metal combinations are actually just random combinations of powders spilling together or being left on the work bench in microscopic size and swept up together? To me the "metalic dustball" theory for the weird combinations is more explainable with powdered metallurgy but I'm a layman. For those reasons I think it's reasonable to view powdered metallurgy as a source of the oddities on the tie but what I'm not sure of is if this further restricts his work environment or matters at all. Was there a niche industry for powdered metal alloying? Perhaps a geographical hotspot? How many powder metals producers were there? Does the possiblity of powdered metals increase ease of transfer of these metals and increase the pool of potential candidates to salesemen/managers/custodians/etc? I'd like to hear the A-team's thoughts on this especially if someone has already been down this rabbit hole.