This is Hidden Brain. I'm Shankar Vedant. In November 1971, a man showed up at a flight counter

for Northwest Orient Airlines in Portland. He asked to buy a one-way ticket to Seattle. The man

provided his name when he bought the ticket, Dan Cooper. He was carrying a black briefcase.

Once on board the aircraft and en route to Seattle,

the man showed a flight attendant the contents of his briefcase.

It looked like a bomb.

In return for releasing passengers unharmed, he demanded $200,000 when the plane landed. He also added an odd request.

He wanted four parachutes.

After the plane landed in Seattle, the ransom and parachutes were delivered. Dan Cooper allowed

the passengers to disembark, but kept the crew on board. He demanded the plane be refueled and

fly to Mexico City. The plane took off a second time. The hijacker ordered the crew to stay in the cockpit.

He also demanded the curtains between the coach cabin and first class be closed.

With no one watching him, he opened the rear exit on the plane

and leaped with his parachute and his money into a moonless night.

Dan Cooper was never caught. His identity remains a mystery.

Clearly, the man who showed up at the airline counter that day was not who he said he was.

The story of his hijacking, while real, is the staff of movies and novels.

Today on the show, we look at how many of us go to great lengths to disguise who we are.

Most of the time, it isn't because we are planning anything nefarious.

It's because we want to fit in or be taken seriously.

But such disguises don't just fool others.

They have powerful effects on us.

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