# Could D.B. Cooper be Howard Hughes, the aviator? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 13, 2016, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-d-b-cooper-be-howard-hughes-the-aviator/759820 "2016-07-13T16:47:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2016, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-d-b-cooper-be-howard-hughes-the-aviator/759820/21 "2016-07-17T20:09:54Z")
> [@Irishman](#): > > **Amateur Barbarian** , the wikipedia page on [D.B.Cooper](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D._B._Cooper) discusses him along with several other suspects that were dismissed. Ah, was only looking at his individual page. That quote is the gist of what I recalled - he was seen in places too far from the Northwest in the time frame of the hijacking. ---
**Author:** ![Michael\_Varn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/michael_varn/32/14411_2.png) [@Michael\_Varn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael_Varn)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2022, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-d-b-cooper-be-howard-hughes-the-aviator/759820/22 "2022-09-13T16:44:00Z")
I still cannot believe after all this time that not one trace of D.B. Cooper’s body has been found. If he ended up in a lake or a river, traces of his hody would have most assuredly washed up on shore by now. To be honest with you, I think the FBI solved this case a long time ago, but for whatever reason, probably with many other cases as well, they simply choose to withhold the findings from the public. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2022, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-d-b-cooper-be-howard-hughes-the-aviator/759820/23 "2022-09-13T16:49:07Z")
_“That’s one body that’ll never be found”_ - Vicki Lawrence ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2022, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-d-b-cooper-be-howard-hughes-the-aviator/759820/24 "2022-09-13T16:59:43Z")
> [@Michael\_Varn](#): > > If he ended up in a lake or a river, traces of his hody would have most assuredly washed up on shore by now. “Most assuredly” is wildly inaccurate. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2022, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-d-b-cooper-be-howard-hughes-the-aviator/759820/25 "2022-09-13T17:00:28Z")
> [@Michael\_Varn](#): > > To be honest with you, I think the FBI solved this case a long time ago, but for whatever reason, probably with many other cases as well, they simply choose to withhold the findings from the public. What evidence do you have to support this statement? “For whatever reason”-can you think of any? ---
**Author:** ![JoseB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/joseb/32/1530_2.png) [@JoseB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoseB)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2022, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-d-b-cooper-be-howard-hughes-the-aviator/759820/26 "2022-09-13T19:35:09Z")
Do not forget that the area where DB Cooper would have landed after his jump was very seriously affected by the Mount St. Helen’s eruption in 1980. If there was a body somewhere in the wilderness and/or any evidence, after the eruption it was most likely destroyed. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2022, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-d-b-cooper-be-howard-hughes-the-aviator/759820/27 "2022-09-13T19:58:41Z")
Now that she’s passed away, I think it’s safe now to reveal her awful secret: **Queen Elizabeth was D.B. Cooper.** ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2022, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-d-b-cooper-be-howard-hughes-the-aviator/759820/28 "2022-09-13T20:23:55Z")
Nah. Cooper survived and fled to Brazil, where he encountered and was killed by the Anglin Brothers. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2022, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-d-b-cooper-be-howard-hughes-the-aviator/759820/29 "2022-09-13T20:33:09Z")
Which of Cecil’s Columns/Staff Reports are you referring to? ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2022, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-d-b-cooper-be-howard-hughes-the-aviator/759820/30 "2022-09-13T20:35:24Z")
Just to be “that guy” - there never was a “D.B. Cooper”- the name given was _Dan Cooper._ And we know he never spent any great amount of that money. ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2022, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-d-b-cooper-be-howard-hughes-the-aviator/759820/31 "2022-09-13T20:35:30Z")
I think it’s been fairly well-established that _Loki_ was D.B. Cooper. ---
**Author:** ![K364](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k364/32/5_2.png) [@K364](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/K364)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2022, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-d-b-cooper-be-howard-hughes-the-aviator/759820/32 "2022-09-13T22:24:38Z")
I am leaning toward [Richard McCoy Jr.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D._B._Cooper#Richard_McCoy_Jr.) who performed a copy-cat hijacking 6 months after the original Northwest hijacking. He was killed by the FBI in a shootout 2 years later. Pros - sure looks like the sketch. Had the background and competency (as demonstrated by the successful copy-cat) Cons - if he survived the first hijacking, why was none of the ransom money ever spent? And why was some of that ransom money found in original packets washed downstream into the Columbia River? I think the FBI bungled when they dismissed McCoy from the first investigation and covered up when it became obvious that McCoy was D.B. Cooper. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2022, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-d-b-cooper-be-howard-hughes-the-aviator/759820/33 "2022-09-13T22:42:19Z")
> [@K364](#): > > Cons - if he survived the first hijacking, why was none of the ransom money ever spent? And why was some of that ransom money found in original packets washed downstream into the Columbia River? What if he dropped the money during the jump and it fell where he couldn’t recover it? That would account for both things. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2022, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-d-b-cooper-be-howard-hughes-the-aviator/759820/34 "2022-09-14T02:18:30Z")
> [@D\_Anconia](#): > > Which of Cecil’s Columns/Staff Reports are you referring to? I assume it’s this one: > **[Can you open an airliner emergency door while the plane is in mid-air?](https://www.straightdope.com/21341754/can-you-open-an-airliner-emergency-door-while-the-plane-is-in-mid-air)** ---
**Author:** ![K364](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k364/32/5_2.png) [@K364](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/K364)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2022, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-d-b-cooper-be-howard-hughes-the-aviator/759820/35 "2022-09-14T03:52:45Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > What if he dropped the money during the jump and it fell where he couldn’t recover it? That would account for both things Good point. The parachute drop must have been a chaotic event. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2022, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-d-b-cooper-be-howard-hughes-the-aviator/759820/36 "2022-09-14T04:37:50Z")
It’s a reach, since it only mentions Cooper once and speaks not one word about his identity. But if that’s close enough to save a mod the nuisance of relocating a thread, sure, why not. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2022, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-d-b-cooper-be-howard-hughes-the-aviator/759820/37 "2022-09-14T04:58:20Z")
DB Cooper was Charles Augustus Lindbergh Jr… After faking his death in 1932 he lived off the ransom money for a while. He drifted for a period of time but then joined the Army under the assumed name Kilroy Somethingorother. In '71, using his skills he learned as a paratrooper he hijacked a plane using the alias Dan Cooper, who was actually a guy he met in the service who he intensely disliked. ---
**Author:** ![Michael\_Varn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/michael_varn/32/14411_2.png) [@Michael\_Varn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael_Varn)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2022, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-d-b-cooper-be-howard-hughes-the-aviator/759820/38 "2022-09-14T13:52:39Z")
In terms of evidence, Iam sure we can both agree that the U.S. government has a very long and documented track record of coverups and the withholding of information from the general public concerning a wide range of issues. And when pressed on these issues, representatives from the government will reply that in the interest of national security, this will remain classified. So based on these facts, it is reasonable to suggest that the truth about the D B. Cooper case has been classified by the FBI, and is not accessible through the freedom of information act. I also believe that the Jon Benet Ramsey case has also been solved, but that the findings remain classified to this day. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2022, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-d-b-cooper-be-howard-hughes-the-aviator/759820/39 "2022-09-14T13:56:18Z")
You seem to believe a lot of things, based on little to no evidence and the absurd premise that if you cannot find any actual evidence the only “logical” reason is that there is a conspiracy to hide it. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2022, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-d-b-cooper-be-howard-hughes-the-aviator/759820/40 "2022-09-14T14:04:00Z")
> [@Michael\_Varn](#): > > In terms of evidence, Iam sure we can both agree that the U.S. government has a very long and documented track record of coverups and the withholding of information from the general public concerning a wide range of issues. Fortunately, not everyone falls for conspiracy theories. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-d-b-cooper-be-howard-hughes-the-aviator/759820.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-d-b-cooper-be-howard-hughes-the-aviator/759820.md?page=3)