D. B. Cooper in popular culture explained

D. B. Cooper is a media epithet used to describe an unidentified man who hijacked a Boeing 727 on November 24, 1971, extorted a US$200,000 ransom (equivalent to $ today), and parachuted to an unknown fate.^[1] He was never seen again, and only $5,880 of the ransom money has been found. The incident continues to influence popular culture, and has inspired references in books, film, and music.^[2]

Literature

Non-fiction books

General investigation

• D.B. Cooper:  Dead or Alive? by Richard T. Tosaw (1984).
• Skyjack: The Hunt for D.B. Cooper by Geoffrey Gray (2011).
• DB Cooper and the FBI: A Case Study of America’s Only Unsolved Skyjacking by Bruce Smith (2015 1st Edition; 2016 2nd Edition; 2021 3rd Edition).
• D.B. Cooper and Flight 305: Reexamining the Hijacking and Disappearance by Robert H. Edwards (2021).

Suspect/conspiracy theories

• D.B. Cooper: What Really Happened by Max Gunther (1985).
• Into the Blast by Skipp Porteous and Robert Blevins (2011).
• D.B. Cooper:  Examined, Identified, and Exposed by Nat Loufoque (2019).
• The Last Master Outlaw: The Award-Winning Conclusion of the D.B. Cooper Mystery by Thomas J. Colbert (2021).

Novels

• James M. Cain's 1975 novel Rainbow's End^[3] is a fictional account of what might have happened to Cooper after he parachuted from the plane.^[4]
• J.D. Reed's 1980 novel Free Fall^[5] was used as a basis for the 1981 film The Pursuit of D. B. Cooper.^[6]
• Elwood Reid's 2004 novel D. B.: a novel^[7] is a fictionalized account of what supposedly happened to the real Cooper in the years following the hijacking, as a pair of FBI agents attempt to pick up his trail and arrest him. In one edition, the book jacket cover featured artwork derived from the FBI composite sketch of the real Cooper.^[8]
• The 1998 novel Sasquatch by Roland Smith features a character named Buckley Johnson, who eventually admits that he is D. B. Cooper to the novel's protagonist, a boy named Dylan Hickock. In this story, Johnson says he committed the hijacking to pay for cancer treatments for his son.^[9]
• Greg Cox's 2008 novel The 4400: The Vesuvius Prophecy^[10] features Cooper (see also the television series The 4400).^[11]
• The hijacking is a central plot point of the 2021 novel Bloodless by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child.^[12]
• D.L. Hynes' 2020 novel The Man in 18-E, the first of a trilogy of fantasy novels involving historical mysteries, features two accidental time-travelers who find themselves in 1971 and, unable to return, decide to travel to Portland to solve the D.B. Cooper case as it happens.^{[13] [14] [15]}

Short stories

• In the SCP Foundation collaborative writing project, D.B. Cooper is featured in SCP-101 - Hungry Bag. In the short story, the body of Cooper was found in 1979 in the Cascade Mountains alongside SCP-101, having died from blood loss due to the bag biting his arm off and consuming it. Cooper's fate was classified by the SCP Foundation as part of their recovery of SCP-101.^[16] Another version of D.B. Cooper is featured in SCP-5017 - Hard Landing, in which Cooper is depicted as an immortal Druid by the name of Cathbhadh who has been fighting against the Foundation for 2000 years.^[17]

Comics

• The Dilbert strip for January 17, 1991, featured Dogbert exhibiting Cooper's remains, with the punchline, "He learned that you should never get your parachutes from the same people you're robbing".^[18]
• The webcomic xkcd has a strip titled "D. B. Cooper",^[19] in which it was theorized that actor-filmmaker Tommy Wiseau was D. B. Cooper, and had financed his infamous cult film The Room with the funds from the robbery.^[20] A later xkcd strip posited that Cooper had been stranded alive in a tree since his jump.^[21]
• A 1989 strip from Gary Larson's The Far Side shows "Ben & Vera's Rottweiler Farm" and a bunch of dogs looking up at a man with a parachute with the caption "The Untold Ending of D.B. Cooper".^[22]
• Cooper appears as a major protagonist in the 2017 Image Comics series Elsewhere.^[23]

Film and television

Film

• A 1981 adventure movie titled The Pursuit of D. B. Cooper, directed by Roger Spottiswoode and starring Treat Williams as Cooper and Robert Duvall as an insurance investigator pursuing him; based on J. D. Reed's 1980 novel Free Fall.^[24]
• In the movie Without a Paddle (2004), a group of three old friends (Matthew Lillard, Seth Green and Dax Shepard), go on a camping trip to search for the treasure of D. B. Cooper to honor their recently deceased friend.^[25]
• The Mystery of D.B. Cooper is a documentary about the case by John Dower.^[26]
• COOPER: A Star Trek Fan Production was a 2024 short film in which Cooper was actually a time-traveling Federation agent.^[27]

Series and television

• In the fourth season (1979–1980) of the series In Search of... dedicated an episode to the D.B. Cooper hijacking.^[28]
• A 1979 episode of Quincy, M.E. features an episode about the body of a famous parachuting hijacker being found five years after the hijacking, hanging dead from a tree in a National Park.^[29]
• The main character of the television series Twin Peaks (1990) is named Dale Bartholomew Cooper, after D. B. Cooper.^[30]
• On NewsRadio a three-part story arc in season 5 had FBI agents arresting Jimmy James, believing that he was D.B. Cooper. The story ended with the reveal that D.B. Cooper was actually Adam West, who appeared as himself at Jimmy's trial, and confessed to exonerate Jimmy.
• In Journeyman's "The Legend of Dylan McCleen," Jeffrey Pierce plays Dylan McCleen/John Richie, an Army Ranger who highjacked an airplane, and parachuted out with the ransom money, whose identity was still unknown decades later.^[31]
• Muse Watson portrays Charles Westmoreland, who is later revealed to be D.B. Cooper in the television series Prison Break who was caught and convicted in another case serving sentence in the same prison as the protagonists.^[32]
• The first episode of the Disney+ series Loki, set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and titled "Glorious Purpose", Cooper is revealed to be Loki, who hijacked the plane after having lost a bet to Thor and disappeared into the Bifrost after jumping from the rear stairs.^[33] Unlike the real Cooper, however, Loki's jump is seen to take place during daylight and in calm weather.
• On July 13, 2022 Netflix released a four-part documentary mini-series entitled exploring the hijacking incident and exploring the identity of D.B. Cooper.^[34]
• in a season 6 episode of 30 Rock, Kenneth makes a reference to D.B. Cooper as a joke that his dad may have been the hijacker
• The eighth episode of the second season of AMC's crime drama Breaking Bad, "Better Call Saul", includes a scene in which lawyer Saul Goodman jokingly refers to series protagonist Walter White as Cooper due to his sunglasses and unusual attire.^[35]
• On August 26, 2012 Season 5 of Leverage aired "The D.B. Cooper Job". Agent McSweeten, who still thinks that Parker and Hardison are undercover FBI, asks the team to look into the case that obsesses his dying father: the 1971 plane hijacking by D. B. Cooper.^[36]

Music

• The Mountain Goats' song "Rain in Soho" (from the album Goths) references Cooper with the lyric "No one broke D. B. Cooper's fall".^[37]
• Kid Rock's song, Bawitdaba, mentions him in the lyric "..and to D.B. Cooper and the money he took."
• MF DOOM’s song, Hoe Cakes, mentions him in the lyric “MF DOOM, he’s like D.B. Cooper”
• Glass Beach's song, "Rare Animal", mentions him by name in the pre-chorus, and describes the hijacking in the post-chorus.
• Frank Turner's song, "International Hide And Seek Champions", is a love song with the case of D.B. Cooper as its premise.^[38]

Podcasts

• The Cooper Vortex - A multi-episode podcast dedicated to the D.B. Cooper skyjacking and the people in the "Vortex" (the community of amateur sleuths dedicated to solving the mystery). The podcast is hosted by Darren Schaefer, and is produced by Russell Colbert and Darren Schaefer.^[39]
• "The Disappearance of D.B. Cooper," episode 14 of the podcast "History's Great Mysteries."^[40]
• "D.B. Cooper Pt.1" and "D.B. Cooper Pt. 2" episodes of the podcast "Unexplained Mysteries."^[41]

Other

• The community of Ariel, Washington, one of the possible landing areas for Cooper, commemorates the incident with a celebration, held annually on the Saturday following Thanksgiving Day, called "D. B. Cooper Days."^[42]
• D. B. Tuber is the name given to Anthony Curcio, who was responsible for one of the most elaborately planned armored car heists in history.^{[43] [44]}
• Fan speculation surrounding the show Mad Men was that there were subtle clues that it would end with Don Draper exposing himself as D.B. Cooper. Producers frequently denied such a plot, and the skyjacking was never depicted in the series.^[45]

Notes and References

1. News: Search for D. B. Cooper 'reignited' . . LaBoe . Barbara . January 1, 2008 . January 3, 2008 .
2. Neil Hickey, Plane robbing still unsolved, The Courier-Mail (Brisbane, Australia), January 4, 2008
3. Book: Cain . James M. . James M. Cain . Rainbow's End . 1975 . Mason/Charter . New York . 9780884050926 . registration .
4. Book: Giddins . Gary . Faces in the Crowd: Musicians, Writers, Actors & Filmmakers . August 1, 1996 . Da Capo Press . 9780306807053 . 197. March 23, 2016.
5. Book: Reed . J.D. . Free Fall: a Novel . 1980 . Delacorte Press . New York . 9780440027249.
6. Book: Lusted . Marcia Amidon . D. B. Cooper Hijacking . 2012 . ABDO Publishing Company . 9781614786276 . 68 .
7. Book: Reid, Elwood . D. B.: a novel . Doubleday . New York . 2004 . 9780385497381. 52410839.
8. Book: Lusted . Marcia Amidon . D. B. Cooper Hijacking . 2012 . ABDO Publishing Company . 9781614786276 . 73 .
9. Web site: Sasquatch by Roland Smith – Reviews, Discussion, Bookclubs, Lists . July 29, 2015 .
10. Book: Cox . Greg . Greg Cox (writer) . The 4400: The Vesuvius Prophecy . 2008 . Simon and Schuster . 9781416580140.
11. Web site: Crwaford. Sarah. The 4400: The Vesuvius Prophecy (The 4400 #1). Goodreads. March 23, 2016. January 24, 2016.
12. News: Bloodless . November 24, 2021 . Kirkus Reviews . Grand Central Publishing . July 1, 2021 . en.
13. Book: Hynes, D.L. . 2020 . The Man In 18-E Paperback – 25 Aug. 2020 . .
14. Book: Hynes, D.L. . July 17, 2022 . Jones . Hache L. . The Man in 18-E . July 17, 2022 . . Dream's Edge Publishing . 978-1913844028.
15. Web site: Hynes . D.L. . July 17, 2022 . The Man In 18-E . Goodreads.
16. Web site: SCP-101 - Hungry Bag. SCP Foundation. July 26, 2008. January 25, 2022.
17. Web site: SCP-5017 "Hard Landing" . https://web.archive.org/web/20220408175727/https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-5017 . April 8, 2022.
18. Web site: Dilbert Comic Strip on 1991-01-17 Dilbert by Scott Adams. Dilbert. March 8, 2016.
19. Web site: Munroe . Randall . D.B. Cooper . xkcd . July 11, 2019.
20. News: Cheadle . Harry . Caffier . Justin . D.B. Cooper Is Tommy Wiseau, and Other Nontoxic Conspiracy Theories . July 11, 2019 . Vice . January 16, 2019.
21. Web site: Munroe . Randall . Forest Walk . xkcd . August 5, 2021.
22. Web site: 5388 E Rottweiler Farm, the Untold Ending of D B Cooper. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20200320205522/https://me.me/i/5-3-88-e-rottweiler-farm-the-untold-ending-of-d-b-2892862 . March 20, 2020 . September 27, 2020. Me.Me. en.
23. Web site: Elsewhere . Image Comics . May 12, 2024.
24. News: Turner . Adrian . The Pursuit of DB Cooper . July 11, 2019 . Radio Times . en.
25. News: Turnquist . Kristi . Portland Film Location News . July 11, 2019 . the Oregonian . March 20, 2008.
26. News: Tallerico . Brian . The Mystery of D.B. Cooper . November 28, 2020 . Roger Ebert . November 25, 2020.
27. Web site: COOPER: A Star Trek Fan Production . YouTube.
28. Web site: In Search of.....: D.B. Cooper. September 27, 2020. TV.com.
29. Web site: The Money Plague . .
30. Book: Davis, Jeff. Weird Washington. Al Eufrasio. Mark Moran. Sterling Publishing Company, Inc.. 2008. 978-1-4027-4545-4. 65. 179788749.
31. Web site: Carabott. Chris. May 14, 2012. Journeyman: "The Legend of Dylan McCleen" Review.
32. Web site: Mitchell. Molli. March 4, 2020. Prison Break season 1–4 recap: What happened to Michael Scofield ahead of series 5 release. September 27, 2020. Express.co.uk. en.
33. Web site: December 11, 2020. Marvel Makes Loki The Real DB Cooper In The MCU. December 12, 2020. ScreenRant. en-US.
34. News: Saha . Joy . The 6 most surprising "D.B. Cooper: Where Are You?!" revelations from Netflix's docuseries . July 25, 2022 . . July 18, 2022.
35. Web site: Etemesi . Philip . 2021-03-27 . Breaking Bad: 10 Best Pop Culture References, Ranked . 2024-06-29 . ScreenRant . en.
36. Web site: Turnquist . Kristi . Oregonian/OregonLive . 2012-08-25 . ‘Leverage’ and D.B. Cooper -- fiction meets a real-life Northwest mystery . 2024-06-29 . . en.
37. Listen to The Mountain Goats' Brooding New Single "Rain In Soho " . Paste Magazine . April 25, 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190411124135/https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2017/04/listen-to-the-mountain-goats-brooding-new-single-r.html . 2019-04-11 . January 18, 2018.
38. Web site: Frank Turner - International Hide And Seek Champions . YouTube.
39. Web site: The Cooper Vortex . 2024-05-10 . PodBean . en.
40. Web site: History's Great Mysteries . 2024-01-22 . Spotify . en.
41. Web site: Unexplained Mysteries . 2024-01-22 . Spotify . en.
42. Web site: Skulduggery by Parachute . Jim Bates . Aero.com . https://web.archive.org/web/20150319120331/http://aero.com/publications/parachutes/9602/pc0296.htm . March 19, 2015 .
43. Web site: Doughery. Phil. D. B. Tuber. History Link.
44. Web site: Esteban. Michelle. D. B. Tuber dedicates life to warn others of dangers of drugs. KOMO news. 2014-11-30. 2014-12-03. https://web.archive.org/web/20141203083514/http://www.komonews.com/news/local/DB-Tuber-out-of-prison-Warns-students-278808571.html. dead.
45. Web site: Todd Leopold. 'Mad Men' creator: No, Don isn't D.B. Cooper. September 27, 2020. CNN. 15 May 2015 .