Friday, November 21, 2003

Who what where when why? The original JFK assassination footage was filmed by Abraham Zapruder at the precise moment Kennedy's motorcade passed the so-called 'grassy knoll' on Dealey Plaza in downtown Dallas at 12.30pm.

Zapruder used a Bell and Howell Model 414PD Zoomatic Director Series camera with a Varamat 9-27mm f1.8 zoom lens, set for full close-up.

The 8mm Kodachrome II colour film captured the events at an average speed of 18.3 frames per second.

In the initial seconds of the footage, President Kennedy reacts to what appears to be a gunshot wound which strikes him on the upper body, in the centre of his chest or possibly near the throat. (It isn't clear if this shot comes from behind or in front of Kennedy).

His wife, Jacqueline Kennedy, then appears to lean in towards him and she appears to take hold of his left arm, as he raises his shoulders in a reflex action and clutches his hands across the centre of his upper chest.

In the final chilling moments of the short reel, we see the fatal head shot.

Based on this footage, I am in absolutely no doubt (as I'm sure you will agree when you watch it) that the fatal head shot originated from the front right of the President.

I simply cannot accept the explanation that the bullet somehow ricocheted off the vehicle and bounced up to strike Kennedy on the head, or that it was fired from behind him.

It's too powerful and direct.

In fact, there is no valid explanation in the wide world of science that can quantify the direction or force of the fatal head shot - other than its point of origin being from the front right of the President.

I'd be interested to hear any counter-arguments that can provide a reasonable, scientific explanation to the contrary.

When this striking footage is added to the overwhelming evidence relating to the case, it seems almost impossible that Lee Harvey Oswald was the so-called 'lone gunman' who fired a series of shots across Dealey Plaza from behind the President's motorcade, using a bolt-action Mannlicher-Carcano rifle - aiming at a moving target - hitting Kennedy twice (once in the head) and wounding Governor John Connally in four places.

In order to accept the possibility that Oswald acted alone, you must subscribe to the 'single bullet theory' put forward by the Warren Commission - where:

- Oswald's initial shot missed the limousine entirely
- his second shot (the so-called 'magic-bullet') hit both Kennedy and Connally simultaneously, thanks to some imaginative physics
- his third shot struck Kennedy on the front right of his head, causing the President to reel backwards and to the left.

All of which Oswald would have been required to achieve from behind the President, situated in a poor vantage point. (This photograph indicates Oswald's view of the motorcade from the fifth floor of the Texas Schoolbook Depository as the vehicle passed through Dealey Plaza - the 'x' marks the spot where the open-topped car would have been situated when Kennedy was fatally wounded).

If you can make yourself believe all this, and that a bullet can pass through Kennedy's body, zig to the right, zag to the left, enter Connally's body - and then fall from Connally's wound onto a hospital trolley, where it is later found in pristine condition - then swallowing the rest of the nonsense should be fairly easy for you.