We have found new evidence in the 45-year-old case….

They’re asking for the public’s help because of potential leads that could link the hijacker known as D.B. Cooper to the Puget Sound aerospace industry in the early 1970s.

“These are what they call rare earth elements. They’re used in very narrow fields, for very specific things,” said Tom Kaye, lead researcher for the group that calls itself Citizen Sleuths.

Kaye said the elements were rarely used in 1971, during the time of Cooper’s daring leap with a parachute from the passenger jet.

One place they were being used was for Boeing’s high-tech supersonic transport plane, which was being developed with government funding in the 1960s and 1970s.

Kaye wonders if Cooper could have been a Boeing employee or a contractor who wore the tie to work.

“The tie went with him into these manufacturing environments, for sure, so he was not one of the people running these (manufacturing machines). He was either an engineer or a manager in one of the plants,” Kaye said.

Kaye says Boeing was developing cutting edge monitors, like radar screens, that used some of the elements found on the tie.

Kaye says the public’s help is needed, particularly from old-timers with experience in the aerospace industry in the Pacific Northwest.

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The scientists would like to hear theories from the public on what those materials could have been used for. They hope the information can help build a profile of Cooper.

“Someone may be able to look at those particles and say ‘Oh my gosh. I know what that means having those particles on the tie,’ Kaye said.

Tipsters can reach the group through the “contact” tab on the Citizen Sleuth website.

A Russian SU-72 fighter jet intercepted a US Navy aircraft Monday over the Black Sea.

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A Russian Su-27 fighter jet has intercepted a US Navy EP-3E Aries plane over the Black Sea near Russian airspace and escorted it away in a safe manner, the Russian Defence Ministry said.

Meanwhile, the US Navy announced that a US reconnaissance aircraft was intercepted earlier on Monday by a Russian fighter jet while flying in international airspace over the Black Sea, Xinhua news agency reported.

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The US reconnaissance aircraft was spotted approaching Russia’s airspace and was immediately identified by the Su-27 fighter jet “at a safe distance,” Russian news agencies reported, citing a defence ministry statement.

After reporting back to the communications intelligence unit, the fighter jet escorted it away from the Russian airspace “in compliance with all security and safety requirements,” it said.

According to the Russian Defence Ministry, the fighter jet returned to its home base after the US plane altered its flight course away from Russian airspace.

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The US Navy, in a statement, called the interaction as “determined to be unsafe”, saying the Russian SU-27 conducted “a high speed pass directly in front of the mission aircraft, putting at risk the pilots and crew”.

Also on Monday, a Pentagon spokesperson said that the Russian jet came “very, very close” to the US EP-3 aircraft, adding that it made an additional pass after activating its afterburners to create more turbulence.

There was no communication between the two planes and the encounter lasted about 25 minutes, Spokesperson Eric Pahon told reporters at the Pentagon.

The Pentagon said that the EP-3 was conducting routine operations while the encounter happened, not provoking the Russian activity.