Special guests
Robert Edwards
Dr. Robert H. Edwards is a British mathematician, economist, private pilot, and author of D.B. Cooper and Flight 305: Reexamining the Hijacking and Disappearance, published by Schiffer in 2021. Edwards brings an unusually analytical approach to the Cooper mystery, applying mathematics, statistics, aeronautics, meteorology, and flight-performance analysis to the events of November 24, 1971. His work has established him as one of the Cooper community’s leading researchers on the technical and aviation aspects of the case.
Neil Hansen
Captain Neil Hansen is a legendary aviator and former senior pilot for Air America, the CIA-operated airline that conducted covert missions throughout Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War. In 1964, he joined Air America and spent nearly a decade flying some of the most demanding and dangerous missions of the war, operating in Vietnam and Laos, often into remote airstrips and hostile territory. A firsthand witness to one of the most fascinating periods in American aviation history, Captain Hansen brings a rare pilot’s perspective to the 2026 D.B. Cooper Conference.
Tom Kaye
With a papers published in Nature as well as appearances on the History Channel, Discovery, Netflix, and HBO, Tom Kaye is the most well known scientist on the Cooper case, and we are excited to announce that he will be presenting at the 2024 DB Cooper Conference!
Tom will be speaking about some new information concerning the tie particles that is even making the folks at McCrone Labs do a double take.
Who knows what other fascinating information Tom might have up his sleeve for us?
Bill Mitchell
Bill Mitchell is one of the few eyewitness of DB Cooper. In fact, Mitchell sat no less than five feet from the infamous skyjacker on board Flight 305.
Bill will be on stage at DBCooperCon this year re-telling his remarkable experience.
You don’t want to miss out on this incredible opportunity!
Ron Rovansek
With a Ph.D. in Civil Engineering, Ron Rovansek works daily with river systems and river bank processes. He may have just the guy Cooperites need to help us figure out how Cooper’s loot made its way to Tena Bar. Ron will be giving a lecture on his own theories about how the money arrived there.
Bruce Smith
Affectionately known as as “Uncle Bruce” and the “Mayor of Cooperville”, Bruce Smith is a respected and beloved researcher in the Vortex.
Bruce is the the author of “DB Cooper and the FBI: A Case Study of America’s Only Unsolved Skyjacking”. He is also an investigative journalist who has tirelessly pursued leads in the Cooper case for nearly two decades.
Bruce will be bringing his experience and knowledge to DB CooperCon 2024 by participating in panel discussions and talking about his book.
Eric Ulis
Eric Ulis is a leading expert on notable mysteries including the DB Cooper skyjacking, Gardner Museum Heist, and the missed shot that Lee Harvey Oswald fired at JFK's motorcade. Additionally, he has been a world-class blackjack card-counter for 39 years.
Eric has been featured on NETFLIX, the History Channel, the Discovery Channel and has appeared on CNN, FoxNews, CNBC, and NewsNation