the infamous d.b. cooper hijacking.bi investigation is over, but a team of amateurs not so quick to throw in the towel. abc's neal karlinsky reports on their potentially groundbreaking new evidence. >> reporter: tonight, the d.b. cooper cold case is growing warmer. a team of scientists say this jcpenney tie left behind by the hijacker is providing new clues thanks to a powerful electron microscope. >> this is the only piece of evidence that is from d.b. cooper himself. he was careful to take all the notes and everything else he touched with him. >> reporter: the legend of cooper was born 45 years ago when a still unknown man hijacked a boeing-27 and got away with ransom money, never to be seen again. they say the infamous tie includes tiny particles of rare earth elements used in a boeing high-tech supersonic jet program back then. the hijacking took place near the backyard of seattle leaving volunteer detectives to wonder if d.b. cooper was a boeing employee. >> we feel this evidence narrows the world that he live find

and now three amateur scientists may have new evidence that could help identify d.b. cooper. ery man who hijacked a flight in 1971, demanded $200,000, and then escaped via parachute. scientists from citizen sleuth analyzed particles from a clip-on tie left behind cooper. they say they found a combination of rare earth elements that point to someone who may have worked at a boeing plant. well, now they're asking for help from anyone with knowledge about the aerospace industry in the northwest. the fbi closed the case last year. >>> all right, some internet videos to share with you. really the internet is going wild about both of them. watch this one, sharks, giant sharks, leaping out of the water. a group of young fishermen captured what they are calling jumping jaws after tossing the sharks some bait. that shark went wild for it. they say the ten to 12-foot beast stuck around for about half an hour. i'm glad they didn't get closer to that boat. would have been scary. >> that was a hungry shark. >> i like the fact you can hear all those guys cursing, as well. check out this one

and now three amateur scientists may have new evidence that could help identify d.b. cooper. is the mystery man who hijacked a flight back in 1971, demand $200,000, and then eescaped via parachute. scientists from citizen sleuth analyzed particles from a clip-on tie left behind by cooper. they say they found a combination of rare earth elements that point to someone who may have worked at a boeing plant. well, now they're asking for help from anyone with knowledge about the aerospace industry in the northwest. the fbi closed the case last year. >> what an absolute mystery. it's incredible. >>> all right. well, the internet is going wild for two incredible animal sighingings. watch this. sharks giant leap out of the water. that's incredible that was off the coast of florida. a young fisherman there see him capture the video. they're calling jumping jaws after tossing him om bait. they say the 10 to 12-foot beast stuck around, jumping near their boat for about half an hour. lucky enough that he didn't actually jump into the boat accidentally in one of those. >> well, you hear a

the group finding particles on a tie, a necktie that could place the man known as d.b. cooper as an employee of the seattle-based boeing company. little is known about the unidentified man who famously or infamously hijacked a boeing plane in 1971. he parachuted out of that plane with $200,000 in cash in ransom money never to be seen again. >>> and finally, the uconn women's basketball team with a win for the record books. the lady huskies overwhelming smu, southern methodist, saturday for their 91st consecutive win. a streak that dates back to november 2014 when, ironically, they beat smu. the final score on saturday, 88-48. a 40-point win. imagine they covered the spread. maybe not, as they notched their 16th win of the year. >> they're impressive. >> they're pretty good. >> what geno auriemma has done with that program, i mean, unprecedented. >> they just graduated a bunch of seniors, too, right? they were worried they wouldn't be as good this year. i guess they answered that. >> yeah. they're pretty darn good. almost said the other word. >> being described as peripatetic,

the most audacious airplane hijacker of all-time. >> reporter: the tie belongs to the man dubbed d.b. coopery-jacker who parachuted out of a passenger plane in 1971, with a bag full of cash. >> we've taken cooper down from being one of millions of people in the united states, down to just a handful that maybe 1,000 people. >> reporter: a group of scientists calling themselves amateur sleuths, were given rare access to evidence by the fbi. and have identified more than 100,000 particles of rare earth elements coating d.b. cooper's tie. >> reporter: the periodical table of clues, say scientists, suggest that cooper had access to a manufacturing company that made airplanes, like the one he jumped from. perhaps a company with a connection to boeing. >> we're not exactly sure if he worked at boeing. but we think potentially a supplier was dealing with boeing. >> reporter: the 1971 unsolved mystery begins with a neatly dressed man, who identified himself as dan cooper. and hijacked a northwest airlines jet, releasing passengers in seattle in exchange for parachutes and $200,000 in ransom. airborne