Half a century exactly: it's been a long time since Dan Cooper (it was never clear if his name was real or fictional) hijacked a B-727 of the air carrier Northwest Orient Airlines, demanding a substantial ransom and parachuting himself from the same aircraft. The figure of this "gentleman" inspired television series and literary stories, before the FBI definitively closed the case five years ago without ascertaining any concrete truth.

Now there is a historian with a passion for crime who wants to solve the puzzle at all costs. Cooper demanded $ 200,000 in ransom while the plane was flying from Portland to Seattle and nothing was ever known about that text and especially about the man. The historian responds to the name of Eric Ulis who has decided to reopen the investigation, pointing out how the feds have always looked for the fugitive in the wrong place. Ulis also opened a Facebook page to update users on the progress of the private investigation. It first focused on an area of five square kilometers, starting with the area where several banknotes were discovered in 1980.

The testimonies of passengers and crew are still essential. It was November 24, 1971, and everyone talked about DB Cooper as a very elegant 40-year-old, six feet tall who also lit a cigarette during the flight and ordered bourbon to drink. The hijacking began when this distinguished gentleman showed a stewardess a note in which he had written that there was a bomb in his briefcase and that he was demanding a ransom. The B-727 landed on an isolated runway at Seattle airport to allow the money to be delivered, before the other passengers disembarked, leaving the pilots and the hijacker on board for Mexico City. Cooper parachuted while the aircraft was near Washington State: the same pilots discovered that the tailgate was open and the man had disappeared. Not a few mythos have made it known later that he is this obscure character, but no lead has led to anything concrete, except that the social idea of Ulis is of some use.