The Rock Castle - Perris , California

                                     By  
                                      Kenneth  Lafler


  Ken  would  like  to gratefully thank  the  Perris Fire Department  for  their  assistance  in  the filming  of  this  project.  This production would not have been possible without their help and unfailing cooperation.  


                 


   

Looking  more  like  a Medieval  Fortress  the Rock  Castle  is  located in  Perris, California  off  of  Hwy  74 which would be central street in Lake Elsinore .  It is  situated  across the  street  from  the  Chamber of  Commerce. To view the Castle take the 15 freeway to Central and turn  right going towards Perris.  It is about a 20 minute drive from there.

      


Built just before the Stock Market Collapse in 1929 and the great depression of the 1930's the house was constructed  by  the  Ragsdale  Family. The  Castle  has  six  foot  walls  of  solid  rock,  which  were hand  quarried  from  the  White  Water  area near  Palm Springs and  transported to  the  site. 

  

It  took  Three  Hundred  Tons  of  rock  to  construct  the  castle.  Some of the boulders  are  situated  on the entire  property.  .


  Built  by  Ada  and John Lewis  Ragsdale  the  house  cost  Seventy Five  Thousand  dollars  to  build  in 1928-29 . The  house  actually sold for  Sixty  Five  Thousand  during the  Great  Depression of the  1930's.

            
  

 Originally  called  Maitral  Hill  the house is  Four  Thousand  Square  Feet and  has  a  huge  Wine  Cellar, probably  underground.  There  are  rumors  that  there was  gold  activity  at  the  site  and  supposedly an old  mine on the property.

     
There  are  rumors  also  that Vincent  Price  lived here  at one time.  Paranormal  Activity  at  the  site  has  been  observed  although  there is  very little  to  research on this  subject.

 









  

 








 










     

    
   











Photography  and Video
                                          by  
   
                                            Ken  Lafler and Martin Tramill
               
                        
  

  Research , Photography and Video  by  

                Kenneth  Lafler  and  Martin Tramil. 

                  Also  Ken  would like to  thank the  Perris  Chamber of  Commerce  for their  assistance  on this  research for this  project.  

  Special  Thanks  to  Martin  for his  Technical and Photographic Assistance  on the  filming  and  production of this   project .

The Nazca Plain

The Nazca Plain  is located in South America
in the country of Peru. It is situated on a coastal  plain, and is    about  400km south  of  Lima .

t

The  Nazca  Plain  contains  what are  called 
Geo-glyphs . These  are  lines  on  the ground  representing birds ,  plants  and  human  figures  , fish  ,monkeys and llamas

  














   The  lines  were  created  by the Nazca culture  between 400 and  650  A. D. There  are  literally  hundreds  of  figures  at the  site . 


  

   


The  area  where the  Nazca  Plain is  situated  has  a  very  dry  and  windless  climate  .  Because of  this  the  lines  have  been almost perfectly  persevered .

  The  myth  that the lines  were  first  spoted by the  air  is false.  They  were  first sited in 1927  by  the  Peruvian  archaeologist  Toribio  Xesspe  while  walking  in the  near by  foothills .



  The  first to  study  the  lines at  Nazca  was  Paul   Kosok  in 1940- 41.



  The person  really  credited  with  studying  the  site  was  Maria  Riche  a  German  Mathematician.   Riche  felt  that the  lines  were  drawn  to  mark  the  solstice and  the Equinox  . This  was for the  harvest  season . 

  The interesting thing  about the  Nazca lines  are  that  there have  been  other  sites  discovered that  are  almost  identical  to  Nazca .  

 Another point of interest  about Nazca  is the  fact that  the  Geo-glyphs  had  to  be  laided out  by some  type of  air  support .  It would  only be  logical to  assume  that the  Nazca culture  had  some  understanding  of  flight , probably  hot air  balloons . 

 Along with  Easter Island   , Machu Pichu  and  other  sites  , the  Nazca  lines are   another  unexplained  phenomena 

  By  
              Kenneth  Lafler 

D. B. Cooper, By Kenneth Lafler

   

    




    



        In 1971 one of  the most  infamous  skyjackings in commercial aviation  occurred in Seattle. This crime was committed  by
a man using the indentity of D. B. Cooper.

 

       D. B.  Cooper originally used  Dan  Cooper as his false identity . D. B. Cooper was the name that accidentally went out on the news  
and the name stayed  with the case. 


 
       



'
     On Thanksgiving  Eve  1971,  a Boeing  727  was  on the runway  
 preparing to  make  a  routine run  from  Portland to  Seattle. This was usually a thirty five minute flight, but instead would last two hours  with  Cooper holding the  plane  and  passengers  hostage.


   

    After take off , Cooper  quietly  
slipped  a  note  to a stewardess saying  
he  had  a  bomb  on board  and would detonate it  unless he was given  4 parachutes  and  200,000  dollars in unmarked bills. 

 
    Cooper  seemed  to  display  an advanced  knowledge of the 727. Ralph  Himellsback was the FBI  agent assigned to the  case.  Himellsback felt  Copper  appeared to  have  a military  back ground and a  high degree of pilot training.

 

   On  arriving  at  Sea-Tac International  Airport  the  passengers  were allowed  to disembark  and  the  money was 
delivered. The serial  numbers  had  already  been  recorded by the FBI.


 
    The  plane  took off again  at  7:36 P M.
 
Shortly after  take  off  Cooper  ordered  the  crew  to remain in the front compartment of the  plane.
 

 

   About  five minutes  after this the crew  felt  a  sudden  loss  of  cabin pressure, meaning Cooper had  open  the  rear  hatch  to the  stairs.

    No  one actually  saw  Cooper  parachute out of the plane, but  he  picked the  perfect  place  to  hide when  he  landed.

    He  selected  the  Merwin  dam  area located in Oregon to  parachute  into. This area  is comprised  of extremely  rough  terrain and large boggy areas . It would be very difficult to conduct a ground search in this dam and lake area.

   Also Cooper parachuted out of the plane at night. Merwin Dam, which had lights across the  entire dam and were constantly lit, provided Cooper the perfect landmark. By seeing the lit dam, Cooper would have known exactly were he was.

   Cooper also display an advanced understanding of parachutes and how to use them, having chosen military chutes and also a more compact, lighter  type of equipment.

  


   Most experts on parachutes felt that if  Cooper was able to pull the  rip cord  and cleared the plane, he probably survived  the jump and landing.

     

   Survival  Experts  also  felt Cooper  could  have survived  indefinitely in the  wooded  area with plenty of water and vegetation .

   Cooper  seemed  to  know  a  great  deal  about operating a  727.  When  the  plane  took off again  he ordered the wing flaps set at  15  degrees  and the landing  gear lowered  creating more drag on the  plane slowing it down .This created a more suitable parachuting situation. Had the plane been going faster he probably would have been ripped apart.

    The  727  was  used  extensively  in Viet Nam for airlifts, and medi-vac of the wounded to hospitals, leading investigators  to believe  he  was possibly  a  pilot  during the Viet Nam war years.

     In  1980  a  boy digging  in the sand  by the Columbia  river  found  5000  dollars  in the mud.
This  was traced to the marked bills Cooper was carrying. 

  

  This  was the only money  ever to  surface of  the  200,000  dollars .

     
           Little known facts  about the case. 

  The  authorities  felt  for  quite  a while  that  D. B. Copper  and the  Zodiac Killer  were one and  the same person due to  similarities in the cases. Several people were actually investigated on these grounds. 

  D. B. Cooper completely disappeared after he parachuted from the aircraft, and only the  5000 dollars found near the Columbia river  was ever  recovered. No other marked bills  ever surfaced.

  Coopers remains were never found  and neither was a parachute in the area where he supposedly landed.

   If Cooper wasn't killed by the jump and landing,  and the marked bills never were recovered , nor his parachute,  then what did happen to D. B. Cooper?

                 By
                          Kenneth Lafler.

  

This year's Dahlia's