This Is The Number One Unsolved Mystery In Portland And It Will Leave You Baffled

On November 24, 1971, there was a flight from Portland, Oregon to Seattle, Washington, which is a very routine flight in the Pacific Northwest that takes about an hour. A man under the alias of Dan Cooper boarded the flight and once at his seat, ordered a bourbon and soda. A woman sat next to him and described him as calm and extremely polite. Once the plane was in the air, he wrote a note to the flight attendant in all capital letters: "I have a bomb in my briefcase. I will use it if necessary. I want you to sit next to me. You are being hijacked."

After flashing the bomb to her, he demanded $200,000 in cash by 5pm, an equivalent to over $2 million now. He required four parachutes (two primary and two reserve) and a fuel truck standing by in the Seattle airport to refuel once they landed. As FBI agents assembled the money from different Washington banks, the Boeing 727 aircraft was beginning to make its descent.

Once in Seattle, Cooper allowed all of the passengers to exit the plane but asked that the crew stay on for their next flight. He then outlined his plan to make their way to New Mexico and instructed (in rather knowledgeable aviation dialect) to the pilots how to operate the plane for him to make his safe escape. Once in the air and in motion, Cooper asked that the crew shut themselves in the cockpit. When they came out, he was nowhere to be found.

Some say he made his escape and lived the rest of his life, and some say he drowned in the Washougal River. No body or parachute was ever found. To this day, Dan Cooper (a.k.a. D.B. Cooper) has not been found, making this the only unsolved air piracy in American aviation history.

Have you heard of this unsolved mystery in Portland? Any theories of your own? Please share your thoughts in the comments.