Challenge to lone gunman theory
More than four decades after his death, John F. Kennedy’s assassination remains the hottest cold case in U.S. history, and the clues continue to trickle in. Now Lawrence Livermore Laboratory scientists say a key piece of evidence supporting the lone gunman theory should be thrown out.
[Warren Commission analyist] Guinn said the variation between bullets of this type was so great that he could use it to tell individual bullets apart, even from the same batch of lead.
Randich and Grant say that assumption is dead wrong.
They analyzed the same type of bullets and showed that within a single bullet, there is a significant variation in impurities on a microscopic scale. The range of concentrations of impurities in each bullet is large enough to make small fragments from different parts of the same bullet have very different chemical fingerprints.
Some of the fragments in the JFK case are so small that the differences in antimony could be explained entirely by this microscopic variation, instead of by differences between bullets, they said.
“In recent years, the (bullet) fragment evidence has become one of the key struts supporting the single-bullet theory,” Aguilar said. “Randich and Grant have knocked this slat out from under the theory.”
If it went in his neck, why was his head blown apart?
ahh.. i think he’s dead.. spread the ashes and move on.. freaks
ChrisMac,
Wow, you’re an angry sort of fella, ain’t you? Asshat.
I figure the Gov’t will release what they really know sometime after 2013 . . . I heard somewhere they tend to wait 50 years to tell us the truth…
woktiny,
No, that’s for Kissinger…
You mean it wasn’t a single shooter? How shocking!
But But… I thought bullets didn’t have to behave according to the rules of physics.
If anyone didn’t see this coming they had some serious problems. Besides how many political decisions have been made because of the “public” view on this. Think about it.
Some analysts have even said that part of the reason the energy sector is where it is, is from the stuff Enron was doing in Cali.
I was present when 4 of the best competition combat shooters in the country tried to duplicate the shot that killed JFK. It was quite a set up with a tower to shoot from, a towed convertable with target dumbies, and an identical gun.
Only one of the 4 got the required shots and even he said he could probably only do it one out of four times he tried.
I don’t know if there were more than one gunman or not but I did see a show on Discovery where they reproduced the shot on balistic gel dummies and with one bullet recreated every injury the “magic bullet” is believed to have caused. They did use the same type of rifle and even managed to find and use 40 year old bullets from the original batch that Oswalds bullets came from.
This was of course on a stationary target and the shooter wasn’t shooting through foliage. Is it possible Oswald did it? Sure, anythings possible. It’s just not very probable.
“It seems to me that one bullet having more than one chemical signature could only help SUPPORT the lone gunman theory. At that point any variation in signature now does not require multiple bullets.”
My thoughts as well, either I’m missing something obvious (likely), or these people are whacked.
And then these people finally wake to realize that nobody else cares because none of it really matters.
First off, the article says the bullet should be thrown out as evidence and doesn’t really support one side or the other in the “lone shooter” debate. Secondly, the fact the government tells lies and half truths in the “modern” era should surprise no one. And finally, as has been mentioned before, it doesn’t matter anymore.
This is so tired and tiresome. The autopsy photos show an entry wound on the right side of the base of the back of Kennedy’s neck. The bullet exited the front of his neck. If the same bullet didn’t continue on to enter Connolly, then where did it go?
The single bullet theory, however improbable it seems, is the best explanation that fits he facts.
With about 90% of all the evidence, GONE, LOST, destroyed, and the Bady was tampered with….
What do we have?? Besides 1 dead president.
And the 50 year rule, is so that ALL those responsible are DEAD…
Not that it matters on a cosmic scale, but there appears some confusion here. This is the round that passed through JFK’s neck and into the Governor. Another round caused the fatal head trauma to the President.
The headline on this article is very deceptive. There is nothing whatsoever in the article which challenges the path that the bullet took. Nor is there proof that the bullet was not linked to Oswald’s gun, only a suggestion that one link between the bullet and Oswald’s gun (and bullets) was not as conclusive as previously thought.
And the claim by the Contra Costa Times that it is a “cold” case is wishful thinking.
The illustration attached to the Contra Costa Times article is pure unadulturated BS. Like most JFK conspiracy illustrations of the car, the seating positions of JFK and Gov. Connolly do not reflect reality. (Note in particular the bizarre zigzag that the bullet does in mid-air between JFK and Connolly in the CC Times drawing.) In most of these drawings, JFK is shown with his right arm at his side, or at best, sitting quite a bit lower on the rim of the door/rear deck than was the case, and his jacket was raised such that the collar was at the top of his neck, and the area that would normally be over his upper back was at the level of his neck.
And Gov. Connolly was sitting in a jump seat rather than a regular seat, and therefore was quite a bit inboard of JFK and slightly lower than him.
When the two are shown in their actual position, the path of the “magic”/”pristine” bullet is a much straighter one than shown in the conspiracy drawings.
I put “pristine” in quotes because, contrary to the conspiracy theorists’ claims, it was anything but pristine, sustaining the sort of abuse that could be expected from the path that it followed.
Frank IBC,
Why do we always meet like this… what happened to his head? When I watch the Zapruder film, I see kennedy lean forward after he was shot in the neck, but when his head gets blown off, it looks like a shot from the front… And it was many seconds later… Wha happened?
link [editor: pls use tinyurl]
You are all wrong. Bush did it. It happened in Texas so it must be Bushes fault.
Named –
Yes, we really have to stop meeting like this, you know. 🙂
The direction in which JFK’s head jerks from the shot to the head is not just forward, but down as well. If this were due strictly to the momentum of the bullet, the bullet would have come from high in the air, away from any structure. Unless a plane was involved… 🙂
JFK’s head explodes very shortly after it is hit. This was a controlled implo… (OK, just kidding on the last sentence. 🙂 ) The impact of the bullet and the heat it generated as it passed through the tissues caused the brain to explode, and the explosion burst through the weakest portion of the skull. This caused the head to move in the opposite direction of the explosion out of the skull.
Thus, the bullet caused the head to explode, and the head moved in the opposite direction of the explosion, which was in a different direction from the direction of the rifle shot.
Sorry, didn’t meant to put so many smiles in the last post.
I’m going on vacation in a few days, I guess it shows. 🙂
Frank – his head moves downward, then snaps back up as the side of his head explodes.
That’s consistant with a shot from around the book depository.
So is the shot in his neck.
Of course neither of these mean it was Oswald, and they also don’t rule out the posibility of other shooters. However *someone* was shooting from the depository that day, and they hit him.
Frank,
Hope you have a great vacation!
But, when he slumps forward is when it looks like he got shot through the neck, since he’s holding it. But then his brain explodes through the front of his head. It’s true it does snap back, which looks like a shot from the front. I find it most interesting that it’s clear when he’s holding his neck, he’s already been plugged… it’s the snap back and brains exploding that’s strange. Also, you notice Jackie is holding him as he’s slumped, and then takes off after his head makes meatballs on her dress…
And yes, it was a controlled implosion! From the grassy knoll!
Smiles are always welcome dammit! 😛
The interesting thing is that he’s not actually grabbing his neck from being shot. It really does seem that way when you first look at it – it’s natural to assume that hey, the guy got shot in the neck, he’s saying, “OMG, my neck hurts! GAAAACK GAAACK GAAACK!!!”.
But actually what happened is very different. When he was shot in the neck, the bullet grazed his spinal cord and triggered an involuntary motion which raised his arms up, with elbows bent, with his hands in the vicinity of his face, but not actually grabbing his neck. This type of movement has a specific name but sadly I can’t remember it.
Frank,
Yes, I see that, but I’m interested in his brain blown out, was after what appears to be the neck shot, no?
I wonder if there is enough interest to make a physical mockup of the interior of the car and make a transparent Kennedy and Connally with holes in the appropriate places.
Yes, there were three shots. The first shot missed completely, hit the pavement on Elm Street, ricoched, and grazed the curb of the median, and a concrete chip hit a nearby spectator in the face.
The second shot hit JFK in the back of the neck, grazed his spinal cord, exited through the front of his neck, and then passed through Connally’s chest and then his wrist. This did not touch the head at all.
(It’s possible that the first and second shots happened in the opposite order, I can’t remember for sure.)
The third shot hit the back of JFK’s head, causing it to explode.
A few moments later, Jackie was seen moving on or towards the trunk lid. She may have been desparately attempting to save bits of JFK’s head, or she may have been reaching for secret service agents who had been riding on the back bumper of the car (it had a platform that folded out).
OK, after searching much of the day, I finally found the image that I was looking for: Path of the “Magic” Bullet
Nice pic… I was hoping for something more like this…
Frank, another question… what’s it like working for the government trying to track down conspiracy nuts and driving them crazy?
Next issue, since I’ve never been to Texass, is it possible to let go three fantasic rounds from that repository?
Sorry, here is my link
http://207.44.176.74/~wwtdd/ul/212-gp10.jpg
Named –
Well, considering all the time I’ve spent doing that, it’s a shame I don’t get paid for that. 🙂
I’ve only been in Dallas, once, for a conference. Sadly, I never got to leave the hotel so I never got to make the “pilgrimage” to Dealey Plaza.