Tommy Wiseau is responsible for committing the crime of creating The Room, a film often referred to as “the Citizen Kane of bad movies.” Could he also be responsible for hijacking Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 305?
In 1971, the man known as D.B. Cooper infamously boarded a Portland flight headed to Seattle, ordered a bourbon and soda, and told the flight attendant assisting him that he had a bomb. He requested her cooperation as well as $200,000 and four parachutes once the plane had reached its destination. The flight crew complied, and landed in Seattle to refuel and to let the other passengers exit the aircraft. Cooper then told the crew to fly to Mexico City but he didn’t stay in the plane long enough to make it there, instead parachuting out of the aircraft’s back door roughly 30 minutes after departing Seattle. He was never seen again.
Or so Mr. Wiseau wants us to believe, if this popular internet theory is true. Like many things on the internet, the theory that Tommy Wiseau is D.B. Cooper began as a meme. It’s now popular enough to have made its way onto Cooper’s Wikipedia page, as well as onto our website and onto your screen. Is there any weight to this theory?
Why do people think Tommy Wiseau is D.B. Cooper?
An xkcd comic strip presenting the theory was uploaded on July 28, 2014. In it, xkcd author Randall Munroe jokingly makes the case that Tommy Wiseau could be D.B. Cooper based on a few cherry-picked details known about the two men’s lives. He points out that Wiseau bears a resemblance to Cooper — provided they’re both wearing sunglasses and Wiseau’s face is photographed at precisely the right angle — and that Wiseau made The Room with a large amount of money acquired through mysterious methods. Add the fact that Wiseau’s The Room costar Greg Sestaro asserts in his memoir The Disaster Artist that Wiseau is older than he claims to be, and you have an airtight case that the two men are one and the same, right?
No. Though clearly not intended to be taken seriously, this theory has more holes in it than The Room’s screenplay does (Peter’s unexplained disappearance in the film still haunts me). Cooper was believed to be in his early 40s at the time of the hijacking and Wiseau, whose birth year is likely in the 1950s, would have been in his teens or early 20s in 1971. Witnesses said Cooper had no discernible accent and Wiseau — well, Wiseau’s accent is hard to pin to any one region, but that’s not what the witnesses meant. Wiseau, after looking up the case just to make sure, has denied that he’s Cooper. Would he really lie?
So who is D.B. Cooper?
The fact that we don’t know what happened to Cooper is why we’re still obsessed with this case over 50 years later. The most popular theory explaining his identity — besides this one, of course — is that Cooper was actually Richard Floyd McCoy, a man convicted of similar hijackings. In 2022, YouTuber Dan Gryder posted a two part series to his YouTube channel where he documented his efforts to solve the case. His investigation led him to McCoy’s children, Chanté and Richard “Rick” III, who also believe their father was Cooper. In his documentary, Gryder finds a modified skydiving rig he believes could be the missing link in the FBI’s case.
The FBI’s investigation also led it to McCoy. He was later taken off its lists of suspects because he didn’t match witnesses’ descriptions of Cooper’s physical appearance, as well as for unspecified “other reasons.” In 2016, the FBI released a statement that it would be reallocating resources toward other investigations, pending new information or evidence.
It seems Gryder has provided that evidence. On Nov. 18, he posted a follow-up video where he announced he had been contacted by the FBI. Speaking with Cowboy State Daily, Gryder and his friend, author Laura Savino, shared they traveled to Virginia to speak with agents about what they’d learned. “Considering they had requested the meeting, it was clear they were taking it seriously,” Savino said. The FBI collected Gryder’s evidence to search for a possible DNA match, but has neither confirmed nor denied whether it’s re-investigating the Cooper Case.
Gryder is hopeful the modified rig will help the FBI with its investigation. After accepting his evidence, the FBI reached out a month later to search the McCoy family’s property where Gryder had found the rig. The agency sent out over a dozen agents and seven vehicles to scour the area for over four hours. “It’s a good sign they’re taking this seriously,” Gryder said. “This will definitely prove it was McCoy.” If Gryder is right, Wiseau’s innocence will finally be proven once and for all.
Published: Nov 25, 2024 06:50 pm