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Yep. It's always been that way. I remember getting FBI documents in criminal cases and they'd look like 10th generation copies, speckled blurs. You'd sometimes see the prosecutor reading crystal clear copies of the same documents. Not a bad idea. If you have to produce data agsinst your will, make it as noisy as possible. Those FBI SAs arent dumb. I have a friend, a lawyer, who is a former FBI SA. He worked in the NW and knew Himmelsbach. The FBI really wanted to solve NORJACK, trust me on that one Jo. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Jo wrote Finding a free lawyer to represent a non celebrity plaintiff in a civil defamation case is almost unheard of. Glad you aren't going to sue anyone Jo. Bruce isnt a litigious guy. He isnt going to sure anyone. You may not like him but he and other reporters perform a very valuable service in their investigations and yes even in their muck raking. Bruce is one of the few people on here who touch anything more than a keyboard in pursuit of DB Cooper. You do Jo, you came to WA and investigated. Most, myself included, dont do much feet on the ground investigating. Bruce digs deep and has contributed a lot to what we know. His chute investigation uncovered new facts and he didn't offend anyone doing it. Trying to interview Tina was intrusive but she is a public figure and it goes with the territory. I don't like it that she felt harassed and distressed, but knocking on her door and seeking an interview isnt a crime or a breach of journalism ethics as far as I know. Blevins is a reporter too and has done some good work. I dont agree with all his theories and conclusions about KC but he knows how to investigate and writes well. Some of the pieces he has written on non Cooper topics are exceptional. He has talent. I love reporters who stir things up. That's how coverups, corruption and other social cancers are revealed and eradicated. Would I like it if they came after me? Hell no. I'd be pissed off just like Tina was. But the big societal picture is more important than the small personal one. We should be grateful for journalists who are sceptical and inquistive. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

One of Jo's wackier accusations which has been leveled against most people on the forum who disagree with her. The FBI would LOVE to solve NORJACK. That's my opinion. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Jo wrote Actually it does Jo. The threshold for actionable defamation is pretty high. Just being distasteful and unproven is not suffcient. Free speech and freedom of the press means that we have to suck it up once a while and just tolerate stuff we may find offensive. If you don't like it just ignore it. Lawsuits usually cause FAR FAR more attention to the alleged defamation than existed before. Most false defamatory statements will die a natural death if just left alone. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

It's really ironic that the only lawyer on the forum never threatens lawsuits. Real libel and slander happens every day and VERY VERY few lawsuits result. The reason? Money. It just isn't worth it and unless you are a celebrity nobody will take a defamation case on a contingent fee basis. Jo never sues and I don't think Blevins will either, not unless he has a fat wallet and doesnt care how fast it loses weight. Besides, suing Bruce is probably a dead end financially. You really think he has the bucks to pay a huge judgment? The best defense to a civil suit is poverty. I don't know Bruce's net worth but he doesn't strike me as wealthy. I'd sure like to see more Cooper investigation dialog and less personal attacks and threats here. It get so toxic so fast. I wish Quade would let Snowmman back, it really has been long enough. He has served his time. Snow found info that nobody else could. How about doing it as a favor to me Quade? Jumper to jumper. He may get ejected again but even a few months would really step up the relevant content level here. Has anyone heard from Farflung? I worry that something happened to him. Miss that guy. Miss Sluggo, Safe and Orange too. Even Jamie Cooper had his good days. Jerry T too. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

We are not talking about just any eyewitnesses. We are talking about two young, intelligent women who spent 5 hours on a plane with him, sitting next to him and talking to him directly, trying to gather as much info about his as possible for the authorities. It wasn't a fleeting glance. That is why you cannot dismiss Coop's description out of hand. It is one of the best clues there is. If the FBI was certain of Cooper's eye color they wouldnt have even bothered interviewing Sheridan Peterson much less perform multiple interviews and finally insist on a DNA sample. I've often wondered why Cooper made little effort to disguise himself. If his eye color on the plane wasnt his real eye color then that might explain it. Can I prove Peterson was Cooper? No, not even close. Just a bunch of very provocative coincidences. Even if Sheridan wont talk about Norjack I'd love to talk to him about early skydiving. I started jumping in 1968 and am fascinated by the sport's early history. Sheridan was one of its more colorful and unique participants. There is so much I'd like to ask him about including sport jumping in Saigion using RVNAF military helos. I'd love to know if he and other jumpers in Nam knew about the SAT 727 airdrops in Thailand. Sheridan is pretty active on the Internet (but not so much lately). he may still be reading this forum. If so PM me Sherdian. Let's bury the hatchet and talk about old school skydiving if nothing else. I assure you I am not FBI or CIA and in fact am far on the other side of that spectrum. I don't think anyone is more anti-authoritarian than Sheridan, but I definitely share the trait. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Eye witnesses have often made mistakes in describing physical features of a accused criminals. I personally saw cases where witnesses got eye color dead wrong. Brown contacts were used by FBI infiltrators into the American Indian Movement in the early 70s. Sheridan Peterson was only ruled out by DNA. If the FBI was certain about Coopers eye color they would have ruled Sheridan out immediately. Same goes for his Nepal alibi. I just can't see Sheridan threatening to kill innocent people just to steal money. He had a bit of scheming and scamming to him as evidenced by his tales of extending the duration of fires when he was a smoke jumper to get extra pay, but he wasn't a violent criminal. In fact, he seems to be a principled person. I wish Sheridan would agree to talk with me. He can set the boundaries and I'll respect them. I'd even represent him 100% free if he were ever charged with the skyjack which is very unlikely. Do I think Cossey knew Sheridan? It's hard to see how he wouldn't have given their mutual presence at the Issaquah DZ. it would be easy to miss a student but riggers and instructors stood out. I don't think you can find a more qualified Cooper candidate. Doesn't prove he was Cooper though. But he had ALL the skills and may have read the Boeing 727 flight test reports that showed it could be jumped. He worked at Boeing in tech documents dept. Sheridan is old and ill. I'll bet he'd love to spend a day at a DZ and I'd be happy to take him. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Hey Vicki. The NSA has already compared your DNA to every sample that's ever been recorded digitally. Snowden has looked at it from Russia. If China likes the sequence they might clone you, which wouldn't be such a bad idea. Hope you are doing well. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Which kinda ties into G's speculation about Cooper being associated with the protest movement. Bennies were easy to get. When you spent so much time protesting you needed to stay up late to study for finals. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Jo wrote Always the tease. Jo slams the FBI for witholding evidence but it's somehow different when she does it. Sure she says she will reveal it, but ya just know there is more that she won't. Sigh... Jo just doesnt see any upside in full disclosure and never will. But somehow, I still like her and am glad she is on the forum. Jo has a bias towards associating Duane with very newsworthy events. JFK, RFK, MLK assassinations and now area 51. What's next? Did Duane particpate in NASA's fake moon landing videos? Sounds like something he and "the boys" might have done. It was all good. Nothing up there worth dieing for and think of all the money we saved. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Back in my youth, jumping surplus rounds on windy days, I rarely had the pleasure of a pea gravel landing. I did make a dead center pea gravel landing on a cutaway though. Nailed it under a 26 foot Navy conical reserve. It was during an accuracy contest but the judges disqualified that jump. It was the only dead center I ever made in over 100 surplus round canopy jumps. I obviously wasnt an accuracy star. I was jumping at Livermore, Antioch and Pope Valley CA. Pope Valley was paradise, Damn I miss that DZ. All I know about pea gravel is that the individual stones were smooth and rounded, no sharp edges. They acted like ball bearings sort of. Very smooth deceleration as you squished down into the peas. I am an EE not a CE so I cant really speak with any authority about pea gravel other to say that it was great for landings and was great for certain other activities at night. It's a very safe bet that some second gen jumpers were conceived on the peas. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

The cost has decreased dramatically. Its no longer a bank breaker. You can get an amazing amount of genetic info about yourself for only $99. https://www.23andme.com/offer/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Search-Branded&utm_term=mid200&utm_content=23c_Search_Paid_Brand&cvosrc=ppc.google.23%20and%20me&matchtype=e&network=g&mobile=&searchntwk=1&content=&creative=29982265225&keyword=23%20and%20me&adposition=1t1&gclid=CKrs0Za-irkCFbCDQgodZykANw I dont know anything about DNA but Georger does so I'll defer to him on what can be tested and how much it costs. I do know that prices have taken a dive. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Talk, meetings, sex and drugs. You left out two important components of the wannabe radical scene. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Georgetown wrote Sheridan won't talk to Sailshaw. Won't talk to me and has accused me of being FBI/CIA. He wrote a very nice post when I supplied a big holiday cheer basket that was delivered to him by friends of Bruce Smith. Then he turned on me. I would sure like to talk with him but it's not likely. I know the area he lives in but can't find his current address and Bruce's friends won't reveal it to him or to me. The FBI seems very certain that they have at least partial Cooper DNA. Seems an unjustified confidence level if they only have tie DNA. Maybe the cig butts were not lost. If they lost the butts it makes a successful prosecution nearly impossible unless they catch him with the loot. The butts arguably have DNA which could exonerate a suspect whose DNA matched the tie partial. Loss or destruction of potentially exculpatory evidence is fatal to a prosecution unless there is other evidence which unequivocally implicates the defendant. The FBI makes mistakes but they have some really smart agents. I've seen some brilliant work done by them during my time doing criminal defense. If they are CERTAIN they have Coopers DNA then there is a reason. They probably have something that hasn't yet been revealed. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

On August 27, 1967 18 skydivers landed miles offshore in Lake Eire. 14 of them drowned. http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=776300#776300 There are posts saying that one of the chutes washed ashore recently but I cant find any nrew articles to confirm this. Maybe I can get Snow to find it. Met Sailshaw and his lovely wife last weekend. I have no doubt that Sheridan Peterson stayed with them in Seattle. Wonder why Sheridan denies it? Obviously the FBI knew that Sheridan had resided there when they came calling to ask questions about him. Sailshaw had details about what kinds of titanium were in use at Boeing at the time Sheridan worked there and is 100% sure that pure (not alloyed) titanium was being used for some research projects (such as flame spraying coatings) at that time. Scraps were in bins on the first floor of the building Sheridan worked in. Doesnt prove that Peterson was Cooper but its certainly interesting. Sailhaw is an engineer (retired from Boeing), a pilot, a very accomplished deep water sailor and a really nice guy. He isn't as dogmatic in person as he is on the forum and is open to differing opinions. He is certain that Peterson is Cooper. I am not, but we got along great and had some very interesting discussions. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Skydive AZ flies a DC 3 once in a while. Usually at Xmas Boogies. Do this soon as DC 3 jumpships are getting very scarce. They were common when I started jumping in 1968. Perris Valley CA has a DC 9-21 jet jumpship but it hasnt flown in a while. It isnt a difficult jump but it will sure impress your Whuffo friends. B 25? Good luck. You'll have to schmooze a warbird owner. B17... Collings Foundation still flies jumpers occasionally in theirs. Cost is about $400. They no longer jump their B 24. I got to jump the 24 at WFFC. It was worth every penny. Lots of Stearmans around, but no DZs employ them as jumpships. My rarest is an ATL 98 Carvair, thanks to WFFC. It is a double deck DC 4 mod. I'd get a Twin Beech (Beech 18, C-45) jump as soon as you can. It is a real classic and is fast disappearing. Be sure your pilot has a lot of time in type and if it's a 100 degree day and they are overloading it don't go. Single engine performance isn't stellar to say the least. My next goal is a C 97 jump. http://www.spiritoffreedom.org/c97.html Its a longshot but what a rush it would be. Some guy jumped a TU 95 Bear bomber in the USSR. I cant find the post but it was on Dropzone years ago. It sounded credible. It was back in the days where you could get a lot of stuff done for US dollars in the Soviet Union. The chances of a future Connie jump are very low. I keep hoping... 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Jo wrote MrShutter wrote It actually would be possible if someone had shared control of her computer, but I don't believe for a moment that it is happening. Jo has been advised MANY times how to prevent things from going "poof" (compose your post text in Word and set it up for autosave, then copy the text from the Word doc. and paste it on the Cooper forum form)... but Jo keeps on doing things the same old way. Sigh. Jo, if things go "poof" when you are not connected to the Interet then there is no way some third party could be doing it as you type. Since you have dialup it is very easy to disconnect without any doubt. Just pull the phone line plug out of your computer. You are not persecuted here Jo, you are challenged. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof. You cannot reasonably expect intense emotion and personal certainty to substiitute for objective evidence. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

I agree that its worth a try to analyse the envelope DNA and compare it to Sheridans. I'm just trying to explain why the FBI disagrees. As far as they are concerned Sheridan has been ruled out. I doubt if they can be moved from that position. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Sailshaw wrote The phrase in the letter "system that beats the system" was not a word by word cut and paste. The entire phrase appeared in an ad for KLH stereo gear. Doesn't prove anything one way or the other. Al Di's detective work on those Playboy magazines is amazing to me. Wonder who he really is. That bit of fabric pulled out of Normans rig is ripstop and is the right color for a USN 26ft conical, a VERY good canopy. My first emergency cutaway was from a malfunctioning surplus C9 main. I popped my $25 USN 26 ft conical reserve. Boy was I grateful to see that dirt cheap reserve open perfectly. It's obsolete now but I still have it. I showed it to my kids and told them that if it had failed they never would have been born. They were duly impressed. The WA museum exhibit looks like it will be very good. Snow corrected one of their display cards which erroneously identified a chest reserve container as an NB 6 "bag". I wish Q would let Snow return. It's been years. Enough time served. I still wonder why the FBI insisted on a subsequent DNA sample from Sheridan if he had a solid Nepal alibi. Maybe they had their doubts about the Alibi. Sailshaw, even if envelope DNA shows Sheridan was lying about being in Nepal during the skyjack, the FBI has ruled him out by comparing his DNA to what they believe is Coopers DNA. They seem very sure they have Coopers DNA. Not a perfect complete sample but enough to rule out suspects. The way I see it is that the FBI doesn't care if Sheridans alibi is real or fake. His DNA doesn't match Cooper's which for them conclusively rules out Sheridan. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

There is a rubber O ring that goes on the adjustment knob shaft on Altimaster II analog altimeters. They crack and stretch and I've seen quite a few with the O ring missing. It serves as a dirt-dust shield to minimize intrusion into the inner workings. I replace mine every couple of years. It's a ten second job. I have a 42 year old Altimaster II that works perfectly. No sticking. Accurate. Even sticky ones will likely work fine in freefall. Early jets had electromechanical instrument vibrators attached to keep them from sticking. Piston planes had enough prop and engine vibration to accomplish the task. Freefall is full of vibration. Banging analog altimeters is a bad idea. If you saw the innards you'd see why. Very fine watchmaker type mechanism inside. If it sticks send it in for service. Alti-2 can service everything except the awful Altimaster V which is a dangerous altimeter. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Buy an Altimaster, the big original one. Used they go for about $50-65. The ones made by SSE are ancient but still work fine. Bullet proof. Alti-2 makes a later version which is also a fine instrument. No batteries. No micro controllers. No code. Just an aneroid element that gear drives a pointer. Dirt simple, rugged, accurate enough. Used military MA2-30s are good buys too. Usually around $100. You can strip off the batt pack if you'll never use the night lights. It is a superb altimeter and good to 30,000 ft. The civilan Altimasters are only good to 18,000 ft. The one disadvantage of an MA2-30 is a fragile pointer shaft. It can break if you drop it. Once you have a basic mech altimeter then look at fancier electronic ones. L&B makes great stuff. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Your size Amazon? View item: http://bit.ly/184rN4Z 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

I don't know the answer. Speculation is that the FBI feared that anyone who found a body and money together would take the money and conceal the body thus thwarting their investigation. Perhaps they didn't want to give too much info that would help civilians pinpoint the landing area. Just a crude guess. Nothing more. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Odd indeed. Anyone care to guess why the redactions were made? 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Never heard of such WW 2 boots. Amazon? Airtwardo? Guru? These Whuffos really get gear configuration all twisted up. Imagine Cooper outfitted by them. Spring loaded jump boots, chest reserve clipped on over the NB 8 container on the jumpers back, the only thing we are missing is the Bell Jet Pack. http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jet_pack Sending my Cooper twenty to the museum tomorrow. They have a very fine exhibit set up. I love public museums. Glad to help with this. Snow offered to loan some original 71 NWA schedules one which shows Coopers flight. They already had one. I offered my vintage Seafirst bank bag but they had one of these too. Offered my NB 8 rig. Ditto. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.