A small metal fragment discovered on the tie linked to infamous plane hijacker DB Cooper could hold crucial clues to revealing his true identity. Private investigator and researcher Eric Ulis starts the new year by sharing intriguing new findings and reports fox13seattle.com.
“It wouldn’t surprise me at all if 2024 was the year we find out who this man was,” Ulis said.
This tiny particle, a mixture of stainless steel and titanium, has led Ulis to speculate that its origins can be traced back to a sophisticated metal fabrication workshop.
After his legendary disappearance 52 years ago, DB Cooper left behind an important clue: a clip-on tie. After both the money and the man mysteriously disappeared, this asset was found on Cooper’s seat in the back row of the plane, specifically in 18-E. Ulis claims the tie was purchased at a JC Penney store around Christmas 1964 for $1.49.
Although the evidence is currently in federal custody, scientists who examined it managed to extract more than 100,000 particles, potentially shedding light on the research.
“He’s applied these sticky stubs, they’re like little carbon circles that he can apply to parts of the tie and then when you peel them off, you’re pulling some of the particles off the tie,” Ulis explains. “You apply modern state-of-the-art technology to it, things they didn’t have in 1971 when this happened, it tells a story.”
Eighteen months ago, Ulis used US patents to trace three of these fragments from the same belt to a specific plant in Pennsylvania, Crucible Steel.
“Its headquarters are in the suburbs of Pittsburgh and it was a major subcontractor throughout the 1960s,” says Ulis. “It supplied the lion’s share of titanium and stainless steel for Boeing’s aircraft.”
Ulis claims that evidence indicates Cooper has intimate knowledge of the 727 he hijacked and the Seattle area. Employees at Crucible Steel were known to travel to visit their contractor, Boeing.
“This is also the time, 1971, when Boeing was going through a significant recession, the Great Depression, with ‘The last person leaving Seattle, please turn off the lights’ [billboard sign]”, said Ulis. “It is reasonable to infer that DB Cooper may have been part of that downturn.”
Ulis admits that his findings are not yet concrete. He does not remove any suspects from the list. However, he believes that, based on what he has seen, all roads lead to titanium research engineer Vince Peterson of Pittsburgh. In addition to an artistic representation of Cooper, Peterson passed away in 2002.
“I can put him in Seattle, I can put him in Boeing,” Ulis said. “He is a fascinating person of interest. He is certainly someone I will continue to look into.”
