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Colbert said his team came across a quartet of letters — allegedly from Rackshaw (Cooper) — tucked away in the files of the FBI.

One of them was sent to the Vancouver Province postmarked 11/30/1971.

The author said experts — including Rackshaw’s former commander in Vietnam — identified the writing as their man’s.

Written in black ink it was addressed to “Chief Editor, The Province.”

The letter read: “The composite drawing on Page 3 as suspected by the FBI does not represent the truth.

“I enjoyed the Grey Cup game. Am leaving Vancouver. Thanks for your hospitality.”

Colbert’s experts found there were similarities between the Vancouver letter and several others allegedly sent by the hijacker. In addition, besides the writing, there were a number of phrases exactly the same.

Similar writing appears in the letters and on the airline ticket Cooper used to board the plane.

The Cooper mystery has vexed amateur and professional detectives alike for nearly 50 years.

But Colbert told The Sun that the FBI has known Cooper’s true identity for decades.

His theory is that because Rackstraw was involved in black ops in Vietnam, CIA overlords told the G-Men to bury the matter.

“This has been a cover-up, they’re stonewalling,” Colbert told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

According to Colbert, former Vancouver Police Chief Jamie Graham — a now retired RCMP Chief Superintendent — is also on the team.

When Graham inquired about the Canadian connection letter, he was told it was purged with other records during the 1970s. It’s believed the original is now locked away at CIA headquarters in Langley, VA.

The letters in the newspaper files were rediscovered by an Alaskan lawyer named Glen Cook.

Rackstraw was eventually eliminated as a suspect in the Cooper affair in 1979 but not everyone was happy. In 2016, the FBI closed the case.