Single bullet theory
Encyclopedia
Warren Commission
The President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy, known unofficially as the Warren Commission, was established on November 27, 1963, by Lyndon B. Johnson to investigate the assassination of United States President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963...
in its investigation of the assassination
John F. Kennedy assassination
John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the thirty-fifth President of the United States, was assassinated at 12:30 p.m. Central Standard Time on Friday, November 22, 1963, in Dealey Plaza, Dallas, Texas...
of President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
to explain what happened to the bullet which struck Kennedy in the back and exited through his throat. Given the lack of damage to the presidential limousine consistent with it having been struck by a high-velocity bullet and the fact that Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
Governor John Connally
John Connally
John Bowden Connally, Jr. , was an influential American politician, serving as the 39th governor of Texas, Secretary of the Navy under President John F. Kennedy, and as Secretary of the Treasury under President Richard M. Nixon. While he was Governor in 1963, Connally was a passenger in the car in...
was wounded and was seated directly in front of the president, the Commission concluded they were likely struck by the same bullet.
The theory, generally credited to Warren Commission staffer Arlen Specter
Arlen Specter
Arlen Specter is a former United States Senator from Pennsylvania. Specter is a Democrat, but was a Republican from 1965 until switching to the Democratic Party in 2009...
(later a United States Senator
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
from Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
), posits that a single bullet, known as "Warren Commission Exhibit 399" (also known as "CE 399"), caused all the wounds to the governor and the non-fatal wounds to the president.
According to the single-bullet theory, a three-centimeter-long copper-jacketed lead-core 6.5-millimeter rifle bullet fired from the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository
Texas School Book Depository
The Texas School Book Depository is the former name of a seven-floor building facing Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Texas . Located on the northwest corner of Elm and North Houston Streets, at the western end of downtown Dallas, its address is 411 Elm Street. The building is notable for its connection to...
passed through President Kennedy’s neck and Governor Connally’s chest and wrist and embedded itself in the Governor’s thigh. If so, this bullet traversed 15 layers of clothing, 7 layers of skin, and approximately 15 inches of tissue, struck a necktie knot, removed 4 inches of rib, and shattered a radius bone. The bullet was found on a gurney
Gurney
A gurney, known as a trolley in British medical context, is the U.S. term for a type of stretcher used in modern hospitals and ambulances in developed areas. A hospital gurney is a kind of narrow bed on a wheeled frame which may be adjustable in height. For ambulances, a collapsible gurney is a...
in the corridor at the Parkland Memorial Hospital
Parkland Memorial Hospital
Parkland Memorial Hospital is a hospital located at 5201 Harry Hines Boulevard, just west of Oak Lawn in Dallas, Texas . It is the main hospital of the Dallas County Hospital District and serves as Dallas County's public hospital.- History :The original hospital opened in 1894 in a wooden...
, in Dallas, after the assassination. The Warren Commission found that this gurney was the one that had borne Governor Connally. This bullet became a key Commission exhibit, identified as CE 399. Its copper jacket was completely intact. While the bullet's nose appeared normal, the tail was compressed laterally on one side.
In its conclusion, the Warren Commission found "persuasive evidence from the experts" that a single bullet caused the President's neck wound and all the wounds in Governor Connally. It acknowledged that there was a "difference of opinion" among members of the Commission "as to this probability", but stated that the theory was not essential to its conclusions and that all members had no doubt that all shots were fired from the sixth floor window of the Depository building.
Most pro- and anti-conspiracy theorists believe that the Single Bullet Theory is essential to the Warren Commission's conclusion that Oswald acted alone. The reason for this is timing: if, as the Warren Commission found, President Kennedy was wounded some time between frame 210 and 225 of the Zapruder film
Zapruder film
The Zapruder film is a silent, color motion picture sequence shot by private citizen Abraham Zapruder with a home-movie camera, asU.S. President John F...
and Governor Connally was wounded in the back/chest no later than frame 240, there would not have been enough time between the wounding of the two men for Oswald to have fired two shots from his bolt action rifle. FBI marksmen, who test-fired the rifle for the Warren Commission, concluded that the "minimum time for getting off two successive well-aimed shots on the rifle is approximately 2 and a quarter seconds" or 41 to 42 Zapruder frames.
The 1978 House of Representatives
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
Select Committee on Assassinations
United States House Select Committee on Assassinations
The United States House of Representatives Select Committee on Assassinations ' was established in 1976 to investigate the assassinations of John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr. and the shooting of Governor George Wallace. The Committee investigated until 1978, and in 1979 issued its final...
agreed with the Single-Bullet Theory but differed on the time frame. The Single-Bullet Theory has been staunchly defended by those who believe the Warren Commission's finding was correct; it has been roundly criticized by those who disagree.
Genesis of the single bullet theory
The first preliminary report on the assassination, issued by the FBI on December 9, 1963, said: “Three shots rang out. Two bullets struck President Kennedy, and one wounded Governor Connally.” After the report was written, the FBI received the official autopsy report which indicated that the bullet that struck the president in the back had exited through his throat. The FBI had written their report partly based on an initial autopsy report written by their agents which reflected the early presumption that that bullet had only penetrated several inches into the president’s back and had likely fallen out. The FBI concluded, therefore, that the governor had been struck by a separate bullet.The Warren Commission commenced study of the Zapruder film
Zapruder film
The Zapruder film is a silent, color motion picture sequence shot by private citizen Abraham Zapruder with a home-movie camera, asU.S. President John F...
, the only known film to capture the entire assassination sequence, on January 27, 1964. By then, the FBI had determined that the running speed of Abraham Zapruder’s camera was 18.3 frames per second, and that the Mannlicher-Carcano rifle
John F. Kennedy assassination rifle
In March 1963, Lee Harvey Oswald, using the alias "A. Hidell", purchased a 6.5 mm Carcano Model 91/38 rifle by mail order. He also purchased a revolver from a different company, by the same method...
found at the Texas School Book Depository, the presumed murder weapon, could not be fired twice in less than 2.3 seconds, or 42 frames of the Zapruder film.
When the Commission requested and received after February 25 higher-resolution images of the Zapruder film from Life
Life (magazine)
Life generally refers to three American magazines:*A humor and general interest magazine published from 1883 to 1936. Time founder Henry Luce bought the magazine in 1936 solely so that he could acquire the rights to its name....
magazine (who had purchased the film from Zapruder), it was immediately apparent that there was a timing problem with the FBI’s conclusion that three bullets had found their mark. Kennedy was observed by the Commission to be waving to the crowd to frame 205 of the Zapruder film as he disappears behind the Stemmons Freeway sign, and seems to be reacting to a shot as he emerges from behind the sign at frames 225-226, a little more than a second later. In their initial viewing of the film, Connally seemed to be reacting to being struck between frames 235 and 240.
Given the earliest possible frame at which Kennedy could have been struck, (frame 205), and the minimum 42 frames (2.3 seconds) required between shots, there seemed to be insufficient time for separate bullets to be fired from the rifle. Several assistant counsels, upon viewing the film for the first time, concluded there had to be two assassins.
On April 14 and 21, two conferences were held at the Commission to determine when, exactly, the president and governor were struck. Assistant counsel Melvin Eisenberg wrote in a memorandum dated April 22 on the first conference that the consensus of those attending was, among other issues, that Kennedy was struck by frames 225–6 and that “the velocity of the first bullet [which struck Kennedy] would have been little diminished by its passage through the President. Therefore, if Governor Connally was in the path of the bullet it would have struck him and caused the wounds he sustained in his chest cavity... Strong indications for that this occurred are provided by the facts that... if the first bullet did not strike Governor Connally, it should have ripped up the car but it apparently did not.” However, the memorandum stated, given the relatively undamaged condition of the bullet presumed to have done this, CE 399, the consensus was a separate bullet probably struck his wrist and thigh. While not specifying a precise frame for when it was thought Connally was struck by the same bullet which struck Kennedy, the consensus was “by Z235” as afterwards his body position would not have allowed his back to be struck the way it was.
By the end of April, 1964, the Commission had its working theory, the Single Bullet Theory, to account for the apparent timing discrepancies found in the Zapruder film and the lack of any damage to the limousine from a high-velocity bullet exiting the president’s throat. (Impact damage was observed in the limousine, but was indicative of lower-velocity bullets or bullet fragments. For example, a nick on the limousine’s chrome was not from a high-velocity bullet as such a bullet would have pierced the chrome, not merely dented it.)
On May 24, the FBI and Secret Service reenacted the shooting in Dallas and the Commission tested its theory. Agents acting as the president and the governor sat in a car of approximately the same dimensions of the presidential limousine, which was unavailable for the recreation. Adjustments to measurements were made to account for the differences in the vehicles. Positions were recreated by matching them to particular frames of the Zapruder film, calibrated with other films and photographs taken that day. With the agents in position, photographs were taken from the sniper’s nest of the Texas School Book Depository. It was from this recreation, and the testimony of the agent in the sniper’s nest, that the Commission verified the theory to its satisfaction, as the governor was in a direct line to be struck by any bullet fired between frames 207 and 235 to 240 which exited the president’s throat, though the agent in fact testified that from frame 226 onward the governor was “too much towards the front” and his wounds were therefore misaligned from that point. An oak tree partially obscured the line of sight until frame 210, so the Commission concluded that “the President was not hit until at least frame 210 and that he was probably hit by frame 225.”
Further evidence gathered suggested to the Commission that the initial April consensus that a separate bullet caused the governor’s wrist and thigh injuries was incorrect, as the Army Wound Ballistics experts concluded that those wounds were “not caused by a pristine bullet,” and therefore bullet CE 399 “could have caused all his wounds.” Other evidence, such as the nature of Connally’s back wound (see below) was also cited by the Commission as corroborating the theory.
The Commission, however, did not conclude the Single Bullet Theory had been proven, as three members of the body, Representative Hale Boggs
Hale Boggs
Thomas Hale Boggs Sr. , was an American Democratic politician and a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New Orleans, Louisiana...
, Senators Richard Russell
Richard Russell, Jr.
Richard Brevard Russell, Jr. was a Democratic Party politician from the southeastern state of Georgia. He served as state governor from 1931 to 1933 and United States senator from 1933 to 1971....
and John Cooper thought the theory improbable. Russell requested that his opposition to the theory be stated in a footnote in the report. In the end, the Commission changed the word “compelling” to “persuasive” and stated: “Although it is not necessary to any essential findings of the Commission to determine just which shot hit Governor Connally, there is very persuasive evidence to indicate that the same bullet which pierced the President’s throat also caused Governor Connally’s wounds.”
Nevertheless, all seven members of the Commission signed off on the statement: “There was no question in the mind of any member of the Commission that all the shots which caused the President’s and Governor Connally’s wounds were fired from the sixth floor window of the Texas School Book Depository.”
Number and sequence of the shots
Within minutes after the shots rang out in Dealey PlazaDealey Plaza
Dealey Plaza , in the historic West End district of downtown Dallas, Texas , is the location of the assassination of John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963...
in downtown Dallas, Texas, at 12:30 p.m. on November 22, 1963, independent sources began reporting that three shots had been fired at the President’s motorcade. At 12:34 p.m., approximately four minutes after the shots were fired, the first wire story flashed around the world:
“DALLAS NOV. 22 (UPI) -- THREE SHOTS WERE FIRED AT PRESIDENT KENNEDY’S MOTORCADE TODAY IN DOWNTOWN
DALLAS. JT1234PCS”
This report had been transmitted by United Press International reporter Merriman Smith from a radio telephone located in the front seat of the press car in the Presidential motorcade, six cars behind the President’s limousine. Smith’s communication with the Dallas UPI office was made less than a minute after the shots were heard, as his car entered the Stemmons freeway enroute to Dallas’ Parkland Hospital.
Merriman Smith’s dispatch was the first of many reports. There were dozens of journalists riding in the motorcade in three open press cars and a press bus, none of whom reported hearing a number of shots other than three. Photographers Robert Jackson and Tom Dillard riding in a car in the motorcade heard three shots. Dallas Morning News reporter Mary Woodward described hearing three shots as she stood in front of the Texas School Book Depository.
There has been some controversy over the number of shots fired during the assassination. The Warren Commission concluded that three shots were fired. The vast majority of witnesses claim to have heard three, but there are some witnesses who could recall only 1 or 2 shots. A few witnesses thought there were four or more shots. Of 178 witnesses whose evidence was compiled by the House Select Committee on Assassinations (HSCA), 132 reported hearing exactly three shots, 17 recalled hearing two, 7 said they heard two or three shots (total: 88%). A total of 6 people said they thought they heard four shots, and 9 said they were not sure how many shots they heard. Another 7 people said they thought they heard 1, 5, 6, or 8 shots. Obviously evidence based on shots heard presumes no silencers were employed nor would it discount the possibility of simultaneous
shots from multiple sources.
Governor Connally, riding in the middle jump seat
Jump seat
A jump seat , in aviation refers to an auxiliary seat for individuals — other than normal passengers — who are not operating the aircraft. In general, the term 'jump seat' can also refer to a seat — in any type of vehicle — which can fold up out of the way; vehicles include carriages, automobiles,...
of the President's limousine in front of the President, recalled hearing the first shot which he immediately recognized as a rifle shot. He said he immediately feared an assassination attempt and turned to his right to look back to see the President. He looked over his right shoulder but did not catch the President out of the corner of his eye so he said he began to turn back to look to his left when he felt a forceful impact to his back. He stated to the Warren Commission: "I immediately, when I was hit, I said, “Oh, no, no, no.” And then I said, “My God, they are going to kill us all.” He looked down and saw that his chest was covered with blood and thought he had been fatally shot. Then he heard the third and final shot, which sprayed blood and brain tissue over them.
Nellie Connally said she heard the first shot and saw President Kennedy with his hands at his neck reacting to what she later realized was his neck wound. After the first shot, she heard her husband yell, "Oh, no, no, no" and turn to his right (away from her). Then she heard a second shot, which hit her husband. She saw him recoil away from her and saw that he was hit. She immediately reached over and pulled him toward her into her arms and lay backward. Then she heard the third and final shot. Mrs. Connally said she never looked into the back seat of the car after her husband was shot.
According to the Single Bullet Theory, one shot passed through President Kennedy's neck and caused all of Governor Connally's wounds (he was wounded in the chest, right wrist, and left thigh), and one of the shots must have missed the limousine entirely. The Connallys never accepted the theory. While they agreed with the Warren Commission's conclusion that Oswald acted alone, they insisted that all three shots struck occupants of the limousine.
Location of back wound
President Kennedy's death certificate places the bullet wound to Kennedy's back at the third thoracic vertebraThoracic vertebrae
In human anatomy, twelve thoracic vertebrae compose the middle segment of the vertebral column, between the cervical vertebrae and the lumbar vertebrae. They are intermediate in size between those of the cervical and lumbar regions; they increase in size as one proceeds down the spine, the upper...
. The death certificate was signed by Dr. George Burkley, the President's personal physician. As interpreted by the House Select Committee on Assassinations Forensic Pathology Panel, the autopsy photos and autopsy X-rays show a bullet hole at the first thoracic vertebra. The bullet hole in the shirt worn by Kennedy and the bullet hole in the suit jacket worn by Kennedy both show bullet holes between 5 and 6 in (12.7 and 15.2 cm) below the top of Kennedy's collar. These do not necessarily correspond with bullet wounds, since Kennedy was struck with his arm raised, and multiple photos taken of the President during the motorcade show that his jacket was bunched in the rear below his collar. In addition, on February 19, 2007, the film shot by George Jefferies was released. This 8 mm film
8 mm film
8 mm film is a motion picture film format in which the filmstrip is eight millimeters wide. It exists in two main versions: the original standard 8mm film, also known as regular 8 mm or Double 8 mm, and Super 8...
, taken approximately 90 seconds before the shooting, also clearly shows that President Kennedy's suit coat was bunched up around the neckline around the time of the assassination.
The theory of a "single bullet" places a bullet wound as shown in the autopsy photos and X-rays, at the first thoracic vertebra of the vertebral column
Vertebral column
In human anatomy, the vertebral column is a column usually consisting of 24 articulating vertebrae, and 9 fused vertebrae in the sacrum and the coccyx. It is situated in the dorsal aspect of the torso, separated by intervertebral discs...
. The official autopsy report on the President, Warren Exhibit CE 386 described the back wound as being oval, 6 x 4 mm, and located "above the upper border of the scapula" [shoulder blade] at a location 14 cm (5.5 in) from the tip of the right acromion process
Acromion process
The acromion process, or simply the acromion , is an anatomical feature on the shoulder blade , together with the coracoid process extending laterally over the shoulder joint.-In humans:...
, and 14 cm (5.5 in) below the right mastoid process
Mastoid process
The mastoid process is a conical prominence projecting from the undersurface of the mastoid portion of the temporal bone. It is located just behind the external acoustic meatus, and lateral to the styloid process...
(the boney prominence behind the ear). The report also reported contusion (bruise) of the apex (top tip) of the right lung
Lung
The lung is the essential respiration organ in many air-breathing animals, including most tetrapods, a few fish and a few snails. In mammals and the more complex life forms, the two lungs are located near the backbone on either side of the heart...
in the region where it rises above the clavicle
Clavicle
In human anatomy, the clavicle or collar bone is a long bone of short length that serves as a strut between the scapula and the sternum. It is the only long bone in body that lies horizontally...
, and noted that although the apex of the right lung and the parietal pleura
Parietal pleura
The portion of the pleura external to the pulmonary pleura lines the inner surface of the chest wall, covers the diaphragm, and is reflected over the structures occupying the middle of the thorax; this portion is termed the parietal pleura....
l membrane over it had been bruised, they were not penetrated. The report also noted that the thoracic cavity was not penetrated.
The concluding page of the Bethesda autopsy report states: "The other missile [referring to the body-penetrating bullet] entered the right superior posterior thorax above the scapula, and traversed the soft tissues of the supra-scapular and the supra-clavicular portions of the base of the right side of the neck. This missile produced contusions of the right apical parietal pleura and of the apical portion of the right upper lobe of the lung. The missile contused the strap muscles of the right side of the neck, damaged the trachea, and made its exit through the anterior surface of the neck."
Many years after the Warren Commission report, Representative Gerald Ford
Gerald Ford
Gerald Rudolph "Jerry" Ford, Jr. was the 38th President of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977, and the 40th Vice President of the United States serving from 1973 to 1974...
stated he changed a draft of the Warren Report to indicate the bullet entered the "base of the back of [Kennedy's] neck", rather than "his back at a point slightly above the shoulder" but said he did not do it as part of a conspiracy. The original Bethesda autopsy report, included in the Warren Commission report, did conclude from the data it had, that this bullet passed above the top of the lung outside the thoracic pleura, and therefore through the president's neck. Ford's description also matched a drawing prepared for the Commission under the direction of Dr. James J. Humes, supervisor of Kennedy's autopsy, who in his testimony to the Commission said three times that the entrance wound was in the "low neck." (The Commission was not shown the autopsy photographs.)
The conclusion of bullet entry specifically at the first thoracic vertebra was made in a 1979 report on the Kennedy assassination by the HSCA Forensic Pathology Panel, which created Figure [24 for their report to demonstrate this entrance location. This position is consistent with the back wound location in Figure 4 of their report, a drawing made from one of the still-unreleased autopsy photos. It is also consistent with the unofficial versions of this photo available on the internet. The HSCA examined these photographs and X-rays before rendering its opinions as to bullet entry and exit locations, and obtained testimony from autopsy physicians that these were the correct photographs and X-rays taken during the autopsy.
Importance of bullet entry level to theory
The importance of how low or high the bullet struck the President in the back is a matter of possible geometry. The Sibert/O'Neill FBI autopsy report original made by two FBI agents (Special Agents James W. Sibert and Francis X. O'Neill) present at the autopsy preserves genuine confusion amongst medical doctors present during the autopsy, caused by apparent lack of an exit wound, which was cleared up later in the official report after new and more complete information became available (the exit had been hidden by a tracheotomy incision). This report does note that the doctor (Commander Humes) at the time said that he was unable to locate an "outlet" for the wound in Kennedy's shoulder (not his back).At the time of the autopsy, toward the end of the procedure, initial probing of the shoulder wound suggested the bullet entered the base of Kennedy's neck at a 45 to 60 degree angle. However, this angle is precluded by geometry since the shooter, to obtain such a steep angle, would have to be standing on the back of the limousine or from a higher position at the Texas School Book Depository
Texas School Book Depository
The Texas School Book Depository is the former name of a seven-floor building facing Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Texas . Located on the northwest corner of Elm and North Houston Streets, at the western end of downtown Dallas, its address is 411 Elm Street. The building is notable for its connection to...
(indeed, much higher than the roof of this seven-story structure). The bullet is believed to have been fired from the sixth floor [~60 feet up] of the Texas Book Depository and traveled horizontally ~200 feet at ~16 degree angle [arctan(60/200)]. The street sloped at 3° 9' away from the Depository, making a total angle of about 19 degrees. However, a bullet entering the President's back at the location shown in the preceding autopsy photograph about 1.5 inches below the collar line, passing over the top of the right lung, and exiting at the throat tracheostomy incision wound in the President, as theorized in the "single bullet theory" of the Warren Report, could have caused all of the damage to Kennedy and John Connally.
The weight of bullet CE399 was reported in the Warren Commission Report as 158.6 grains (10.28 grams). It was found that the weight of a single, unfired bullet ranged from 159.8 to 161.5 grains with an average weight of 160.844 grains. The lead fragments retrieved from Connally's wounds in the wrist (there were no fragments in the chest) weighed about 2 grains (130 milligrams).
The oval entrance wound observed on Connally's back and chest is consistent either with the bullet yawing or tumbling on exiting Kennedy's throat (bullets often lose stability when striking a solid object) and entering Connally at an oblique angle or with Connally being turned at an angle to the bullet's direction when hit. The bullet entered just at the edge of the scapula and followed the fifth rib, shattering the last 10 cm of the rib before exiting on the right side of his chest just below the right nipple. According to the theory, the bullet then went through the Governor's jacket cuff about .5 cm from the end, the shirt's French cuff about 1.5 cm from the end, struck and shattered his radius leaving many dark fibres and small fragments of metal in the wound, and exited on the palm side of his wrist above the cuff. (There was a hole about .5 cm from the end of the jacket sleeve and a hole through the back of the doubled French cuff but no exit hole on the palm side.
According to the theory, the bullet emerged from the palm side of the wrist and entered the left thigh. This bullet is thought to be CE 399 which was recovered from Governor Connally's stretcher later at Parkland Hospital. CE 399 was ballistically matched to the rifle found in the Texas Schoolbook Depository, to the exclusion of all other rifles.
Theorized path of the bullet CE399
Full metal jacket bullet
A full metal jacket is a bullet consisting of a soft core encased in a shell of harder metal, such as gilding metal, cupronickel or less commonly a steel alloy. This shell can extend around all of the bullet, or often just the front and sides with the rear left as exposed lead...
, which was manufactured by the Western Cartridge Company and later stored nearly whole in the U.S. National Archives, was first theorized by the Warren Commission to have:
- ballistically arced very slightly while traveling 189 ft (57.6 m) in a downward net angle of 19 degrees (allowing for the 3 degrees downward slope of Elm Street), after an initial supersonic rifle exitBullet bow shockwaveA bullet bow shockwave is a physical and audible wave created in the air when a bullet travels at supersonic speeds; meaning faster than the speed of sound....
muzzle velocity of 1,850 to 2,000 feet per second (560 to 610 m/s), then entered President Kennedy's rear suit coat at about 1,700 feet per second (518 m/s),
- impacted, then entered President Kennedy 2 inches (50.8 mm)] to the right of his spine, creating a wound documented size of 4 millimeters by 7 millimeters in the rear of his upper back with a red-brown to black area of skin surrounding the wound, forming what is called an abrasion collar. This abrasion collar was caused by the bullet's scraping the margins of the skin on penetration and is characteristic of a gunshot wound of entrance. This abrasion collar was photographically documented to be larger at the lower margin half of the wound, which is strong evidence that the bullet's long-axis orientation at the instant of penetration was slightly upward in relation to the plane of the skin immediately surrounding the wound; however, the skin of Kennedy's upper back slopes inward, and the Croft photo (taken at Zapruder frame 162, shortly before Kennedy was hit) shows the President slumped forward. This would suggest that a shooting position above and to the rear of Kennedy was possible
- damaged the President's first thoracic vertebra. (There is debate whether the bullet itself struck the vertebra and caused this damage, or whether a pressure cavity wave created by the bullet's passage was responsible),
- passed through his neck. Warren Exhibit CE 386 reported contusion (bruise) of the apex of the right lungLungThe lung is the essential respiration organ in many air-breathing animals, including most tetrapods, a few fish and a few snails. In mammals and the more complex life forms, the two lungs are located near the backbone on either side of the heart...
in the region where it rises above the clavicleClavicleIn human anatomy, the clavicle or collar bone is a long bone of short length that serves as a strut between the scapula and the sternum. It is the only long bone in body that lies horizontally...
, and noted that, although the apex of the right lung and the parietal pleuraParietal pleuraThe portion of the pleura external to the pulmonary pleura lines the inner surface of the chest wall, covers the diaphragm, and is reflected over the structures occupying the middle of the thorax; this portion is termed the parietal pleura....
l membrane over it had been bruised, they were not penetrated. This is consistent with a bullet passing through the neck, immediately over the top tip of the right lung (the pressure wave causing bruising to both pleural membrane and apex of lung), but without penetrating the thoracic cavity, or the lung beneath.
- After passing through the neck, the bullet exited President Kennedy's throat, at the centerline below the President's Adam's appleAdam's appleThe laryngeal prominence—commonly known as the Adam's Apple—is a feature of the human neck. This lump, or protrusion, is formed by the angle of the thyroid cartilage surrounding the larynx...
. Within three hours of the assassination, this neck frontal wound was described in an afternoon press conference by the Parkland trauma room #1 emergency physician, Doctor Malcolm PerryMalcolm Perry (physician)Malcolm Oliver Perry was an American physician and surgeon. Perry was the first doctor to attend to President of the United States John F. Kennedy at Parkland Memorial Hospital on November 22, 1963....
, after he attended to the frontal throat wound, as being an "entrance wound". Doctor Perry stated the neck frontal wound "appeared to be" an entrance wound three times during his press conference. However, medical researchers have found that ER doctors frequently make mistakes with regard to entrance and exit wounds, and both Perry and Dr. Carrico, the other attending ER doctor, later testified at the Warren hearing that with a full jacketed bullet the wound in the front of the throat could have been either an entrance or exit wound. Within nineteen hours of his press conference statement (but after the autopsy had already been completed), Doctor Perry also described via telephone to Doctor Humes, one of the three U.S. Navy Bethesda Hospital military autopsists, that the neck front wound was originally only "3 to 5 millimeters" in circular width before doctor Perry attended to the front throat wound (Humes documented Perry's "3 to 5 millimeters" wound size by writing it down during the phone conversation),
- passed through both sides of his shirt collar-front in alignment with the collar button buttoned, about 7/8 inch below the center top collar button and collar button hole, in line with the throat wound, and with the threads in both bullet-slits forced outward, showing this to be an exit wound,
- nicked President Kennedy's tie-knot on its upper left side. Upon clearing the tie-knot the bullet had slowed to about 1,500 feet per second (457 m/s) and had started to tumble,
- traveled the 25.5 inches (647.7 mm) between President Kennedy and Governor Connally,
- impacted and entered Connally's back just below and behind his right armpit creating an 8 millimeter by 15 millimeter elliptical wound, indicating that bullet was fired from an acute angle to the entrance wound point, or that the bullet was tumbling, having hit something (presumably Kennedy); according to Connally, the impact of the bullet was very forceful. In terms of the physics of this impact, this means that the bullet imparted part of its momentum to Connally's body and therefore the bullet's momentum changed (in speed or direction or both) upon entering his body;
- completely destroyed 127 millimeters (5 in) of Connally's fifth right rib bone as it smashed through his chest interior at a documented 10-degree anatomically downward angle, (post-operative x-rays document that some of the metal fragments remained in Connally's wrist for life and were buried with him many years later. There were no fragments seen in any chest x-rays)
- exited slightly below his right nipple, creating a 50 millimeter, sucking-air, blowout chest wound,
- passed through Connally's shirt and suit coat front, seen in commission photos five inches (127 mm) to the right of the suit coat right lapel, and even with the lowest point of the right lapel,
- slowed to 900 feet per second (274 m/s) (subsonicSpeed of soundThe speed of sound is the distance travelled during a unit of time by a sound wave propagating through an elastic medium. In dry air at , the speed of sound is . This is , or about one kilometer in three seconds or approximately one mile in five seconds....
), and entered through Connally's right upper (outside) wrist, but missed his suit coat sleeve. It penetrated the doubled French cuff shirt sleeve at the wrist area but did not penetrate the cuff on exit (in 2003 Nellie Connally described in her book “From Love Field” that Connally's right hand solid-gold “Mexican peso” cufflink was struck with a bullet, and the cufflink was completely shot off during the attack. This is not evident from the physical appearance of the shirt which bears no mark, tear or hole at the cufflink area. Connally’s cufflink was apparently never found — thus never entered — into the assassination evidence),
- broke his right radius wrist bone at its widest point, depositing metal fragments, (post-operative x-rays document that some of the metal fragments are still buried with him),
- exited the palm (inner) side of Connally's wrist,
- slowed to 400 feet per second (122 m/s) and entered the front side of his left thigh, creating a documented 10-millimeter nearly round wound,
- buried itself shallowly into Connally's left thigh muscles,
- then fell out at Parkland Hospital, perhaps when Connally was undressed,
- landed on a Connally's gurney,
- was discovered by hospital engineer Darrell C. Tomlinson on one of two gurneys on the ground floor of the hospital. Although Tomlinson testified to the Warren Commission in 1964 that he was not sure on whose gurney he found the bullet, he has gone on record independent of the Warren Report, stating that he found the bullet on the gurney next to the one that transported Connally to an operating room table on the second floor of the hospital.
Regarding the bullet that he remembered impacting his back, Connally stated, "...the most curious discovery of all took place when they rolled me off the stretcher and onto the examining table. A metal object fell to the floor, with a click no louder than a wedding band. The nurse picked it up and slipped it into her pocket. It was the bullet from my body, the one that passed through my back, chest, and wrist, and worked itself loose from my thigh." Connally does not say how he determined this object to have been a bullet, rather than his missing gold cufflink.
The Warren Commission's "single bullet," according to all documentation:
- had no thread striations (fine lines etched onto a copper encased bullet tip and/or bullet side casing by clothing threads when the bullet first penetrates clothing threads),
- was marked with no blood,
- was marked with no human tissue,
- had no pieces of clothing attached,
- had lost only 1.5% of its original average weight,
- had a composition that was consistent with the composition of the metal fragments recovered from Connally (see section on neutron activation analysis).
This "single bullet," which was full metal jacketed and specifically designed to pass through the human body, was deformed and not in a pristine state as some detractors claim. Though a side view seems to show no visible damage, a view from the end of the bullet shows a significant flattening which occurred when, according to the theory, the bullet struck Connally's wrist, butt end first. The metallurgical composition of the bullet fragments in the wrist was compared to the composition of the samples taken from the base of CE 399.
Several of the same type 6.5 millimeter test bullets were test-fired by the Warren Commission investigators. The test bullet that most matched the slight side flattening and nearly pristine, still rounded impact tip of CE 399 was a bullet that had only been fired into a long tube containing a thick layer of cotton. Later tests show that such bullets survive intact when fired into solid wood and multiple layers of skin and ballistic gel, as well.
CE 399 is stored out of the public's view in the National Archives and Records Administration
National Archives and Records Administration
The National Archives and Records Administration is an independent agency of the United States government charged with preserving and documenting government and historical records and with increasing public access to those documents, which comprise the National Archives...
, though numerous pictures of the bullet are available on the NARA website.
Ballistics experts have performed test shots through animal flesh and bones with cloth covering. Under the assumption of an adjusted relative position of President Kennedy and Governor Connally within the car, some, but not all, of the Warren Commission ballistics experts considered it possible that the same bullet that passed through the President's neck may have caused all of the governor's wounds. The Warren Commission as a whole wrote that it was persuaded that the President's neck wound and all of the governor's wounds were caused by a single bullet, although three of the seven members, Sen. Richard Russell, Rep. Hale Boggs
Hale Boggs
Thomas Hale Boggs Sr. , was an American Democratic politician and a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New Orleans, Louisiana...
, and Sen. John Cooper, have stated that they did not support the theory because it did not fit the evidence.
Discovery Channel's reenactment of bullet CE 399's path
A Discovery ChannelDiscovery Channel
Discovery Channel is an American satellite and cable specialty channel , founded by John Hendricks and distributed by Discovery Communications. It is a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav...
special "Unsolved History: JFK — Beyond the Magic Bullet", attempted to replicate, as well as possible, the conditions of that day. The participants set up blocks of ballistics gel with a substance similar to human bone inside. These studies showed that largely undeformed bullets were possible to produce, if they were slowed by a passage through a tissue-like substance before striking bone. Next, two mannequin figures made of ballistic anatomical substances (animal skin, gelatin, and interior bone-like cast) were set up in the exact relative position of JFK and Connally. A marksman, from a distance equal to that of the sixth floor of the Book Depository building, fired the same rifle model found in the Book Depository, using a round from the same batch of Western Cartridge Company 6.5x52 mm ammunition purchased with the surplus Carcano
Carcano
Carcano is the frequently used name for a series of Italian bolt-action military rifles and carbines. Introduced in 1891, this rifle was chambered for the rimless 6.5x52mm Mannlicher-Carcano Cartuccia Modello 1895 cartridge. It was developed by the chief technician Salvatore Carcano at the Turin...
weapon in early 1963. The path of their single bullet (followed by high speed photography) duplicated, almost exactly, the wounds suffered by the victims that day, the only difference being that the bullet did not quite have enough energy to penetrate the "thigh" substance in front of the Connally figure, because it struck an extra bone in the "rib" model (i.e., it fractured 2 ribs in the model vs. one rib in Connally). It was also slightly more deformed than CE 399, possibly for the same reason. However, this bullet came close to duplicating all wounds in both men with a single shot, with a bullet having little deformation.
ABC's The Kennedy Assassination: Beyond Conspiracy
In 1993 a computer animator named Dale MyersDale K. Myers
Dale K. Myers is a computer animator, author, and John F. Kennedy assassination researcher. He was honored in 2004 with an Emmy Award from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences for his computer animated recreation of the Kennedy assassination featured in ABC News' 40th anniversary...
embarked on a 10-year project to completely render the events of November 22 in 3D computer animation
Computer animation
Computer animation is the process used for generating animated images by using computer graphics. The more general term computer generated imagery encompasses both static scenes and dynamic images, while computer animation only refers to moving images....
. His results were shown as part of ABC's documentary The Kennedy Assassination: Beyond Conspiracy in 2003, and won an Emmy award.
To render his animation, Myers took photographs, home footage, blueprints and plans, and attempted to use them to create an accurate computer reenactment of the assassination. His work was assessed by Z-Axis who have been involved in producing computer generated animations of events, processes and concepts for major litigations in the United States and Europe.
Their assessment concluded that Myers' animation allowed the assassination sequence to be viewed "from any point of view with absolute geometric integrity" and that they "believe that the thoroughness and detail incorporated into his work is well beyond that required to present a fair and accurate depiction."
Myers' animation found that the bullet wounds were consistent with JFK's and Governor Connally's positions at the time of shooting, and that by following the bullet's trajectory backwards could be found to have originated from a narrow cone including only a few windows of the sixth floor of the School Book Depository, one of which was the sniper's nest of boxes from which the rifle barrel had been seen protruding by witnesses.
In the same ABC documentary, Myers uses a close-up examination of the Zapruder film
Zapruder film
The Zapruder film is a silent, color motion picture sequence shot by private citizen Abraham Zapruder with a home-movie camera, asU.S. President John F...
to justify the "single bullet theory." He focused on a little-known anomaly on the Zapruder film. When Kennedy's limousine appears from behind the street sign in Dealey Plaza, there is a moment — seen between frames 223 and 224 on the Zapruder film — where the right side lapel of Governor Connally's jacket appears to "pop out," as if being pushed from within by an unseen force. Myers theorizes that this is the moment of impact, when both Kennedy and Connally were struck by the same bullet from Oswald's rifle. Myers also points out that — in frames 225-230 of the Zapruder film, as Kennedy appears from behind the street sign — both Kennedy and Connally are simultaneously reacting in pain to the impact of the bullet.
Neutron activation analysis of bullet fragments
Warren Commission documents released after the publication of its report revealed that the FBI had arranged for bullet CE 399 and the various fragments found in the car and in Governor Connally’s wounds to be examined using a method known as neutron activation analysisNeutron activation analysis
In chemistry, neutron activation analysis is a nuclear process used for determining the concentrations of elements in a vast amount of materials. NAA allows discrete sampling of elements as it disregards the chemical form of a sample, and focuses solely on its nucleus. The method is based on...
(NAA). NAA is a very accurate, non-destructive method of determining the relative concentrations of trace elements in a sample of matter. The data from the tests performed for the FBI were inconclusive as to the origins of the fragments.
In 1978 the HSCA asked physicist Dr. Vincent P. Guinn to review the NAA data and conduct new tests. Dr. Guinn did so and presented his results and analysis to the Committee. Dr. Guinn stated that initially he agreed with the earlier conclusion. However, after examining the old and new NAA data further, he concluded that all the fragments probably came from two bullets, one of which was the whole bullet, CE 399.
WC Exhibit Silver (ppm) Antimony (ppm) 399 Whole bullet (labeled Q1) 7.9 ± 1.4 833 ± 9 567 Limousine fragment (labeled Q2) 8.1 ± 0.6 602 ± 4 843 Fragments from head wound (labeled Q4 and Q5) 7.9 ± 0.3 621 ± 4 842 Wrist fragment (labeled Q9) 9.8 ± 0.5 797 ± 7 840 Limousine fragment (labeled Q14) 8.6 ± 0.3 638 ± 4 - second (labeled Q14) 7.9 ± 0.5 647 ± 4 573 fragment from bullet fired at Gen. Walker 's residence 20.6 ± 0.6 17 ± 2 141 unfired bullet recovered from Oswald's rifle - 15 ± 1 - second 22.4 ±1.0 -
The NAA data obtained from the various bullet samples (1 HSCA 538 and 1 HSCA 550)
Dr. Guinn compared antimony concentrations of Exhibits CE 840, 843 and 567 with that of Exhibits CE 399 and 842. He reasoned:
Accordingly, neutron activation analysis of the evidence specimens tested indicates the presence of only two bullets in Group I. It is highly probable that the specimen tested from Ql (the stretcher bullet) and the specimen tested from Q9 (the fragments from Governor Connally's wrist) are from the same bullet. It is highly probable that Q2 (large fragment found in the limousine), Q4 and 5 (fragments from President Kennedy's brain) and Q14 (smaller fragments found in limousine) are all from a second bullet. There is no evidence of a third bullet from any of the evidence specimens tested.
Dr. Guinn had some difficulty in stating the precision that he could give to this probability:
Dr. GUINN. I wish that I could put a number on it, as we often can do, that is, calculate a probability, but we really don’t have the background information to make a numerical calculation in this case. One can only show what information we do have, and that is that you simply do not find a wide variation in composition within individual WCC Mannlicher-Carcano bullets, but you do find wide composition differences from bullet to bullet for this kind of bullet lead. Thus, when you find two specimens that agree this closely, you can say it looks indeed like they are pieces from the same bullet.
Mr. WOLF. Would you state that your conclusion is more probable than not, highly probable, or what is the degree of certainty of your conclusion?
Dr. GUINN. I would say highly probable, yes. I would not want to say how high, whether it was 99 percent or 90 percent or 99.9 percent. I can’t make a calculation like that.
The underlying assumption in Dr. Guinn’s analysis was that silver and antimony concentrations in the bullet lead varied significantly between bullets but not within individual bullets. Significant differences in concentrations between samples, therefore, would mean that the samples originated with different bullets. Dr. Guinn’s assumption was based on sample data that he had obtained by analysing concentrations of antimony, silver and other trace elements in Mannlicher-Carcano ammunition from Western Cartridge Co., which was the ammunition found with Oswald’s rifle. He observed that while there was some variation of concentrations within individual bullets, he found that the variation between bullets is wider.
There seems to be relatively greater heterogeneity between bullets from Dr. Guinn’s data, although it may be noted that the concentrations of antimony, for example, varied substantially within a sample bullet. This lack of perfect homogeneity within individual bullets was acknowledged by Dr. Guinn:
The results are shown in Table II-C. As can be seen, of the three bullets sampled, one (6001 C) is fairly homogeneous in all three elements; one (6002 A) is fairly homogeneous in AgSilverSilver is a metallic chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...
and CuCopperCopper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is soft and malleable; an exposed surface has a reddish-orange tarnish...
, but not so homogeneous in SbAntimonyAntimony is a toxic chemical element with the symbol Sb and an atomic number of 51. A lustrous grey metalloid, it is found in nature mainly as the sulfide mineral stibnite...
; and one (6003 A) is fairly homogeneous in Cu, but not homogeneous in Sb or Ag. However, comparison of Table II-C with Table II-A indicates that, in general, the heterogeneity within an individual Mannlicher-Carcano bullet is much less than the heterogeneity from one bullet to another. One of the primary conclusions, therefore, of the results of the UCI background study of MC bullet lead indicates a wide range of Sb values, from bullet to bullet, but reasonable homogeneity within an individual bullet.
Guinn, however, acknowledged that the assumption of heterogeneity between bullets was not necessarily true for all bullets:
However, the earlier data and these more recent data do show some Mannlicher-Carcano bullets that cannot be distinguished from one another via only their antimony and silver concentrations. From these data, it appears that if 2 cartridges are removed at random from a box of Mannlicher-Carcano cartridges, although it is highly probable that they would differ significantly in their antimony and silver concentrations, it is at least possible that they might not. (1 HSCA 534 - footnote)
Dr. Guinn's observation appears to be borne out by the profiles of CE 141 and CE 573 which have very similar silver and antimony concentrations but are from two different bullets.
Dr. Guinn’s data and analysis was thought to provide important support for the Single Bullet Theory. If there had been greater differences in concentrations of trace elements between fragments, the theory could not stand.
Efficacy
Whether the NAA data can be used to actually exclude the possibility that there were fragments from more than two bullets in the wounds and the car has been the subject of controversy.Professor Ken Rahn of the University of Rhode Island, a chemist and meteorologist who has a long standing interest in the Kennedy Assassination, maintains that the NAA data excludes a “three bullet hit” and proves the SBT actually occurred. Professor Rahn’s analysis can be found on his “Academic JFK Assassination Site”. The analysis was published in 2004 (Rahn K.A., Sturdivan L.M., "Neutron Activation and the JFK Assassination. Part I. Data and Interpretation." Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry. 262(1):205-213 and Part II. Extended Benefits 262(1): 215-222 co-authored with Larry Sturdivan, a Warren Commission and HSCA ballistics expert. Essentially Rahn/Sturdivan say that the possibility that the wrist fragment CE 842 (with an antimony concentration of 797 ± 7 ppm) did not come from the base of the whole bullet CE 399 (the sample from which had an antimony concentration of 833 ± 9 ppm) is so statistically improbable as to be excluded as a reasonable possibility.
However, in an article published in July 2006 in the Journal of Forensic Science by Dr. Erik Randich and Dr. Patrick M Grant ("Proper Assessment of the JFK Assassination Bullet Lead Evidence from Metallurgical and Statistical Perspectives", J. Forensic Sci. Vol. 51, p. 722), the authors took a much different view of the NAA data and the metallurgical profile of the Mannlicher-Carcano ammunition. Dr. Randich is a metallurgist with the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory , just outside Livermore, California, is a Federally Funded Research and Development Center founded by the University of California in 1952...
. Dr. Grant, a chemist, is the director of the Lawrence Livermore Forensic Science Center and is a former colleague of Dr. Guinn's at the University of California, Irvine. The authors conclude:
Thus, elevated concentrations of antimony and copper at crystallographic grain boundaries, the widely varying sizes of grains in MC bullet lead, and the 5-60 mg bullet samples analyzed for assassination intelligence effectively resulted in operational sampling error for the analyses. This deficiency was not considered in the original data interpretation and resulted in an invalid conclusion in favor of the single-bullet theory of the assassination. Alternate statistical calculations, based on the historic analytical data, incorporating weighted averaging and propagation of experimental uncertainties also considerably weaken support for the single-bullet theory. In effect, this assessment of the material composition of the lead specimens from the assassination concludes that the extant evidence is consistent with any number between two and five rounds fired in Dealey Plaza during the shooting.
...
The end-result of these metallurgical considerations is that, from the antimony concentrations measured by VPG [Dr. Vincent P. Guinn] in the specimens from the JFK assassination, there is no justification for concluding that two, and only two, bullets were represented by the evidence. Nor is there justification for concluding that three, four or five bullets were more or less likely than two bullets.
Sturdivan wrote a response to the Randich/Grant paper dated 14 August 2006:
This is similar to watching a videotape of a bank robber and discovering that the two bank robbers were identical twins. Randich and Grant would solemnly declare that since you could not tell the bank robbers apart, it could have been any two people that robbed the bank. Obviously, it isn't how close the two groups of recovered bullet evidence are to each other that matters, it's the chance that the lead from a third source could match as well as the other members of the group do. For this comparison, one must characterize the range of antimony content in the population of bullets available to a potential shooter in the early 1960s, a point that Randich and Grant choose to ignore.
...
Obtaining exact concentration of trace metals in soft lead cores was beyond the abilities of even the FBI in 1963, so the best a conspirator could do to match CE 399 or CE 567 was to use another bullet from the same lot. [Most other bullets available in 1963 would have had either trace antimony or "antimony content... orders of magnitude larger than that in the recovered bullet evidence"] Vincent Guinn measured the antimony content in that lot of WCC/MC bullets and found that it ranged from near zero to a few thousand ppm. This prompted him to state that the recovered samples were all in the high range of antimony concentration, not only from that lot, but for any of the four lots of these bullets. Ken Rahn and I properly characterized the distribution of antimony in that lot and found that it did not differ significantly from the other three lots, and used that distribution to show that a randomly selected WCC/MC bullet would have only a low probability of matching either group so closely as other members of that group did. This is true even if that hypothetical "other gunman" selected other bullets from the same box from which CE 399 and CE 567 were drawn. Furthermore, using measurement errors not artificially inflated by the irrelevant factors used by Randich and Grant shows that the obvious grouping is (not surprisingly) the correct one. Earlier NAA tests conducted by the FBI, though not disclosed to the Warren Commission, showed results virtually identical to Guinn's. These tests were run with different samples cut from CE 399 and CE 567, independently verifying that the two groups could be distinguished from each other. Note that this result is not necessary for calculation of the probability that a random bullet would match the antimony content of the fragments recovered from either of the two men as well as the recovered bullet or major bullet fragment (within the same group) does.
However, Grant has called the scientific foundation of the entire Rahn-Sturdivan analysis of the assassination bullet evidence into serious question in a posting to the Mary Ferrell Internet site (www.maryferrell.org/mffweb/archive/viewer/showDoc.do?docId=61487).
The conclusion of Randich and Grant had been advanced earlier by Dr. Arthur Snyder of the Stanford Linear Accelerator Laboratory, whose 2001 paper is also found on Prof. Rahn's site. Dr. Snyder found that Guinn's sample data was insufficient to base any conclusion about the probability that the fragments were made by only two bullets. He offered a suggestion for clearing the controversy (at p. 16):
"The situation could be cleaned up with more measurements to establish the properties of WCC bullets. More and more accurate measurements of repeated samples from the same bullet would allow one to characterize the single bullet PDF’s (probability density function) more accurately. Detailed repeated measurement of CE 399 would be especially useful in this regard. More measurements of a larger number of bullets would allow one to get a more accurate estimate of the antimony distribution giving us a better estimate of the two bullet likelihood."
Forensic use of compositional bullet lead analysis
The technique used by Guinn to analyse the bullet lead from the JFK assassination was a form of what has become known as Compositional Bullet Lead Analysis (CBLA). Instead of using only one element (antimony) to identify a bullet, as Guinn used, the FBI developed a CBLA procedure in which the concentrations of six different elements were measured. The theory was that each lot of bullet lead has a unique profile of these six elements. However, in a 2002 paper ("A Metallurgical Review of the Interpretation of Compositional Bullet Lead Analysis", (2002) 127 Forensic Science International, 174-191) co-authored by Randich and by former FBI Chief Metallurgist, William Tobin, the authors analysed several years of data kept by two lead smelters that supply the raw material for ammunition. According to the authors, manufacturers measure and record the levels of at least 15 trace metals, including antimony, from samples taken when smelters start and finish pouring a batch of lead into casts. Randich, Tobin et al. examined records for 1998 to 2000 held by the Sanders Lead Company in Alabama and Gopher Resources Corporation in Minnesota. They found many instances where it was impossible, using the FBI's chemical profile standards, to distinguish between batches poured months apart.The 2002 Tobin/Randich paper prompted the National Academy of Sciences (Board on Chemical Science and Technology) to review the science of bullet lead analysis. In a report in 2004 the NAS found the scientific basis for matching bullet sources from the analysis of bullet lead composition as practiced by the FBI was flawed. As a result of that report, the courts appear to have stopped accepting this evidence and the FBI has stopped using bullet lead analysis for forensic purposes.
The NAS report on CBLA, and its relevance to the Dr. Guinn's analysis of bullet lead in the JFK assassination, is the subject of comment by Randich and Grant in their 2006 paper at page 719.
Criticisms of the Single Bullet Theory
Critics claim that a bullet that passed through several layers of clothing and flesh, destroyed a five inch (127 mm) section of a rib, broke a wrist radius bone, and shed metal fragments (some of which are buried with Connally) could not be in such nearly pristine shape, especially given that the, supposedly, same type "headshot" bullet, according to the Warren Commission, completely broke apart after passing through only two layers of less-dense skull bone.Analyses based on Zapruder film and physical evidence
Critics of the single bullet thesis question not only the bullet's trajectory and relative lack of damage, but also the question of timing of hits to both the president and Connally. A single bullet would have passed through both men in less than 1/100th of a second, which means that a strike of both men by a single bullet would have happened too quickly to be caught on more than a single Zapruder frame (these were exposed at 1/18th second intervals). From the Zapruder filmZapruder film
The Zapruder film is a silent, color motion picture sequence shot by private citizen Abraham Zapruder with a home-movie camera, asU.S. President John F...
one can see Kennedy with his hands in front of his chest near his throat as he emerges from behind the sign at Zapruder frame 225.
According to one popular version of the single bullet theory (promoted by Gerald Posner
Gerald Posner
Gerald Posner is an investigative journalist and author of several books, including Case Closed: Lee Harvey Oswald and the Assassination of JFK which explores the John F...
in his book, Case Closed), the interval between frame 223 and 224 is the time the same projectile passes through both JFK and Connally's body. It is not obvious at this point (frame 224), whether Connally has, or has not, been hit; however Connally, but not other limosine occupants, is newly-blurred in frame 224 but not in frame 223. Connally himself, in analyzing the frame-by-frame Zapruder film, identified his own hit later, at about Zapruder frame 230, whereas JFK is certainly hit about Zapruder frame 224, a third of a second earlier. Beginning immediately after frame 224, Connally rapidly raises and then lowers both arms, then turns to his right toward the Zapruder camera, but it is not clear that he is turning to see what has happened to Kennedy.
He must have been hit before this point, if hit by the same bullet, since the President is already reacting. Connally's cheeks then puff out, and his mouth opens. Many suggest that he is beginning to show the shock of the bullet. Others suggest that Connally is doing exactly what he said he did in reaction to hearing the first bullet: he said he realized an assassination was unfolding so he turned to see the President. It is at this point that some critics of the single bullet theory believe Connally is actually hit by a second and separate bullet, and this is also what Connally himself believed, but only on the supposition that the first shot he heard, was one that struck the president (if the first shot missed the president, then Connally's memory of being hit later corresponds with the single bullet theory). Proponents of the single bullet thesis argue that Connally is simply exhibiting a delayed pain reaction to having been hit by the same bullet that hit Kennedy, a third of a second earlier.
Some critics believe the puffing out of Connally's cheeks is simply physics at work, as the bullet collapses one of his lungs, forcing air into his mouth. Other critics believe that the puffing of Connally's cheeks result from him shouting, "Oh, no, no, no", which his wife, Nellie, said he shouted after the first shot but before the second shot. The premise that a collapsed lung would cause Connally's cheeks to puff out is dismissed by Dr. Michael Baden, chief forensic pathologist for the HSCA. "When the lung is punctured, as Connally's was, the air in the lung goes out into the chest cavity, not out of the mouth, so Connally's cheeks puffing out would have not been caused by air trying to escape."
When an enhanced copy of the Zapruder film was released in 1998, many felt the delayed reaction theory was debunked. Others, particularly Posner, noted that Connally's right lapel flips up at frame 224 (it hides the right part of his white collar in frame 224, which is far more clearly seen in both frames 223 and 225). In this same frame, as noted above, Connally suddenly becomes blurred with regard to the rest of the automobile (Connally is clear in frame 223). Frame 224 is precisely the best-posited frame of the impact of the bullet to Kennedy, who is still behind the sign at this point. Zapruder himself does not appear to jump until frame 227, blurring all contents of the automobile.
Connally's immediate reaction after frame 224, including a flinch in which he flexes both elbows and brings his hat up, is seen by some as an unconscious reaction to the strike (single frames of this reaction appear to show Connally unharmed, with hat held up in front of his chest, while Kennedy behind him has already clearly been hit). Others see this as the Governor's reaction to the sound of the first shot. Immediately after the arm spasm, Connally begins a motion which drops his right shoulder and holds his right arm pinned to his right side, including a slow rolling motion toward this side. He also is seen to look over his right shoulder at Kennedy and shows an expression of pain only after turning his head back toward Zapruder's position around frame 275. Some believe that Connally was hit in the chest just before frame 275.
In the Oliver Stone movie JFK
JFK (film)
JFK is a 1991 American film directed by Oliver Stone. It examines the events leading to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy and alleged subsequent cover-up, through the eyes of former New Orleans district attorney Jim Garrison .Garrison filed charges against New Orleans businessman Clay...
, Stone goes to great lengths to debunk the single bullet theory, although some discrepancies exist between the narrative and the historical record. One example is when he shows both Kennedy and Connally seated directly in front of each other at the same height. In fact, Connally was seated in a jump seat the edge of which was 3 inches inboard and possibly 4 inches lower than Kennedy.
The House Select Committee concluded that the Governor could have been as much as 6 inches (15.2 cm) to the left of the President. Moreover, Stone has Connally looking straight ahead. However, when Connally emerges from behind the freeway sign at Zapruder frames 222-223, he is clearly rotated significantly to his right. These points are of critical importance in assessing whether the bullet that passed through Kennedy could have caused Connally's injuries. Computer recreations showing accurate body positioning of the two men show that their injuries, if caused at Zapruder frame 224, fall on a line which emanates from a circle enclosing several windows on the sixth floor of the Texas Book Depository, and includes the window of the sniper's nest.
Connally continued to hold his hat after the single bullet struck and broke his right wrist. Critics contend this is not physically possible. However, in the Zapruder film Connally continues to clutch the hat even after Kennedy's head wound, this being a point after which everyone (including critics) agree Connally must have already been hit. In fact, Connally's wife, Nellie Connally, stated that he held on to his hat until he was put on a stretcher at Parkland Hospital. Thus, it is reasonably clear that Connally continued to hold the hat after being hit. Wrist fracture would not preclude ability to hold a light object such as a hat, and Connally's nerve damage was limited to a superficial branch of the radial nerve which served a sensory function only, and would not have interfered with his grip strength (nor was Connally's hand function in any way permanently harmed).
SBT requires missed shot
Another criticism that has been made of the single bullet theory is that it requires a missed shot. The Warren Commission Report contained a subchapter entitled "The Shot that Missed".The Warren Commission concluded, based on the "preponderance of evidence," that one shot probably missed the Presidential limousine and its occupants. "The Shot that Missed" addresses each of the three shots and provides the arguments for and against such a shot missing. However, the Commission stated that "the evidence is inconclusive as to whether it was the first, second, or third shot which missed." The HSCA, in contrast, concluded that the shot that missed was the first shot, and that shot was fired at approximately frame 160 of the Zapruder film.
Right to left trajectory from 6th floor window
A further criticism of the single bullet theory has to do with the apparent trajectory of the "single bullet". Perhaps the most outspoken critic of the Single Bullet Theory has been pathologist Dr. Cyril Wecht who, as a member of the House Select Committee on Assassinations, wrote a dissenting opinion in which he explained why, in his view, the left to right trajectory from the sixth floor window of the Texas School Book Depository through the President's neck could not possibly intersect with Governor Connally's right armpit. Wecht notes that in the photographs it appears that Governor Connally is seated in the middle of the jump seat and the President is to the right side of his seat with his right arm resting on the top of the limousine side.According to the analysis done by the HSCA, the horizontal angle from the 6th floor window of the Texas School Book Depository to the limousine at frame 190 or so was about 13 degrees, right to left. The vertical angle was about 21 degrees downward from the horizontal plane and 18 degrees relative the car which was going down at 3 degree slope.
If Governor Connally was seated in the middle of his seat, the bullet should have struck the Governor to the left of his spine. The HSCA concluded that the thigh wound was made by a bullet travelling at a much slower speed than one would expect the bullet to have after exiting the President's neck (though the single bullet theory holds that the bullet which struck Connally's thigh had also passed through his wrist, slowing it down in the process). Governor Connally said that he never felt this thigh wound at any time until the next day. On the other hand, Dr. Shires, who operated on Governor Connally's thigh wound, thought that the wound to the thigh (which he said extended to the region of the femur) could have been made by a bullet travelling at high speed striking the thigh on an angle.
The HSCA concluded, however, that Governor Connally was not seated in the middle of his seat but was about 7-8 inches to the left of that position. NASA Engineer Thomas Canning provided an analysis of the photograph taken by Hugh Betzner from the rear of the limousine a moment prior to the first shot (according to Betzner, he took the picture and began winding his camera to take another when the first shot sounded). It has been determined that Betzner's photograph was simultaneous with Zapruder frame 186. Mr. Canning could not see the Governor's shoulder in Betzner's photograph and concluded that this meant that the shoulder was obscured by the person standing in front of Betzner. This, he said, put the shoulder well to the left of the president's midline putting his right armpit in line with a right-to-left path through the President's neck. The analysis and conclusion of Canning depends on the correctness of the assumption that Governor Connally's shoulder would have been visible if the man in front of Betzner was not there. The photo taken by James Altgens taken from a similar angle earlier on Houston Street would seem to indicate that Governor Connally's shoulder was below the line of sight.
Shot pattern
The Single Bullet Theory as proposed by the House Select Committee on Assassinations and later by author Gerald Posner in his book Case Closed (which is that the first shot missed and the second shot passed through both the President and the Governor) has also been criticised on the grounds that it does not fit the shot pattern recalled by most of the witnesses (which was: first shot, a longish pause and then two shots in rapid succession, the second shot being after the midpoint between the first and last shots). The Warren Commission remarked on the "substantial majority" of witnesses who recalled that the shots were not evenly spaced but did not attribute much significance to the shot pattern. If the first shot occurred after frame 150 of the Zapruder film, the second shot could not have occurred before frame 240 in order to have a shot pattern in which the last two shots were noticeably closer together (the head shot obviously occurred between frames 312 and 313).If the last two shots were closer together, Governor Connally was either wounded in the back on the first shot or he was not wounded until many frames after frame 240. This "late hit" view was abandoned in April 1964 because the FBI expert Robert Frazier expressed the opinion (as did Governor and Mrs. Connally) that the Governor must have been hit in the chest by frame 240.
Chain of evidence
Some critics have questioned the circumstances surrounding the bullet's discovery at Parkland Hospital. In a 1966 interview with author Josiah Thompson, one of the men who found the bullet — Parkland personnel director O.P. Wright, cast doubt on whether the bullet subsequently entered into evidence as CE 399 was the same bullet he held in his hand that day. Wright told Thompson that the bullet they found was point nosed, whereas CE 399 is round nosed.FBI documents declassified by the ARRB in the 1990s also cast doubt on the identification of CE 399 as the bullet found at Parkland. Neither Darrell Tomlinson nor O.P. Wright, the two men who originally found the bullet, or the two Secret Service agents who handled the bullet on the afternoon of the 22nd of November, could identify it as CE 399.
An FBI memo to the Warren Commission in 1963 stated that Agent Bardwell Odum later showed Tomlinson and Wright CE 399, both of who told him it looked like the bullet they found at Parkland.
However in an interview to author Gary Aguilar in 2002 Bardwell Odum denied this ever took place, and denied ever possessing the bullet or showing it to anyone.
Popular culture
- At the start of the 1995 Beavis and Butthead episode "US History," Daria MorgendorfferDaria MorgendorfferDaria Morgendorffer is a fictional animated character from MTV's animated series Beavis and Butt-head and its spin-off Daria. In 2002, Daria placed at number 41 on the list of the Top 50 Greatest Cartoon Characters of all Time by TV Guide for her role in the two shows...
does an oral report on the subject. In her own subsequent TV seriesDariaDaria is an American animated television series produced by Paramount Television, and created by Glenn Eichler and Susie Lewis Lynn for MTV. The series focuses on Daria Morgendorffer, a smart, acerbic, and somewhat misanthropic teenage girl who observes the world around her...
, Daria also mentioned the JFK assassination in the episode "Gifted." - In a sketch of Chappelle's ShowChappelle's ShowChappelle's Show is an American sketch comedy television series created by comedian Dave Chappelle and Neal Brennan, with Chappelle hosting the show as well as starring in various skits. Chappelle, Brennan and Michele Armour were the show's executive producers. The series premiered on January 22,...
in which Dave ChappelleDave ChappelleDavid Khari Webber "Dave" Chappelle is an American comedian, screenwriter, television/film producer, actor, and artist. Chappelle began his film career in the film Robin Hood: Men in Tights in 1993 and continued to star in minor roles in the films The Nutty Professor, Con Air, and Blue Streak. His...
plays a hypothetical black president, he reveals that Lee Harvey Oswald killed JFK "alone and by himself with a magic bullet..." - In the Justice League UnlimitedJustice League UnlimitedJustice League Unlimited is an American animated television series that was produced by Warner Bros. Animation and aired on Cartoon Network. Featuring a wide array of superheroes from the DC Comics universe, and specifically based on the Justice League superhero team, it is a direct sequel to the...
episode "Question Authority", the QuestionQuestion (comics)The Question is a fictional character, a superhero in comic books published by DC Comics. The original was created by writer-artist Steve Ditko, and first appeared in Blue Beetle #1...
, a conspiracy obsessed vigilante, is being tortured for information when he claims that there was indeed a 'magic bullet'; it was forged by IlluminatiIlluminatiThe Illuminati is a name given to several groups, both real and fictitious. Historically the name refers to the Bavarian Illuminati, an Enlightenment-era secret society founded on May 1, 1776...
mystics to hide "the truth." - An episode of the British comedy, Red DwarfRed DwarfRed Dwarf is a British comedy franchise which primarily comprises eight series of a television science fiction sitcom that aired on BBC Two between 1988 and 1999 and Dave from 2009–present. It gained cult following. It was created by Rob Grant and Doug Naylor, who also wrote the first six series...
that aired in 1997, titled "Tikka to Ride", caused Lee Harvey Oswald to miss JFK. Later in the episode, an impeached President Kennedy is then taken from a criminal transport unit and time travels to the day of his assassination and becomes the second shooter on the grassy knoll. - In the Weekend UpdateWeekend UpdateWeekend Update is a Saturday Night Live sketch that comments on and parodies current events. It is the show's longest running recurring sketch, having been on since the show's first broadcast, and is typically presented in the middle of the show immediately after the first musical performance...
segment of a 1992 episode of Saturday Night LiveSaturday Night LiveSaturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
, Kevin NealonKevin NealonKevin Nealon is an American actor and comedian, best known as a cast member on Saturday Night Live from 1986 to 1995, acting in several of the Happy Madison films, for playing Doug Wilson on the Showtime series Weeds, and providing the voice of the title character, Glenn Martin on Glenn Martin,...
reports that there is new evidence regarding the single bullet theory. Nealon says the evidence showed after hitting Kennedy and Connally, the bullet got on a nearby freight train headed towards a nearby airport, boarded a plane to Italy, re-appeared almost 18 years later by hitting Pope John Paul II, then re-appearing in Albertville, France, in order to compete in downhill slalom for the then-ongoing 1992 Winter Olympics1992 Winter OlympicsThe 1992 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVI Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event celebrated from 8 to 23 February 1992 in Albertville, France. They were the last Winter Olympics to be held the same year as the Summer Olympics, and the first where the Winter Paralympics...
. Nealon reported that it was still not known whether the bullet would compete for Cuba, the Mafia, or the CIAJohn F. Kennedy assassination conspiracy theoriesThere has long been suspicion of a government cover-up of information about the assassination of John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963. There are also numerous conspiracy theories regarding the assassination that arose soon after his death and continue to be promoted today...
. - The single bullet theory was parodied in a 1992 episode ("The Boyfriend") of the sitcom SeinfeldSeinfeldSeinfeld is an American television sitcom that originally aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, lasting nine seasons, and is now in syndication. It was created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld, the latter starring as a fictionalized version of himself...
, in which baseballBaseballBaseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
player (and guest star) Keith HernandezKeith HernandezKeith Barlow Hernandez is a former Major League Baseball first baseman. He is currently a baseball analyst working for the New York Mets, for whom he played from –, on SportsNet New York and WPIX television broadcasts...
allegedly spat a "magic loogieMucusIn vertebrates, mucus is a slippery secretion produced by, and covering, mucous membranes. Mucous fluid is typically produced from mucous cells found in mucous glands. Mucous cells secrete products that are rich in glycoproteins and water. Mucous fluid may also originate from mixed glands, which...
" at KramerCosmo KramerCosmo Kramer, usually referred to as simply "Kramer", is a fictional character on the American television sitcom Seinfeld , played by Michael Richards...
and NewmanNewman (Seinfeld)Newman is a recurring character on the television show Seinfeld, played by Wayne Knight from 1991 until the show's finale in 1998.-Background:...
. This scene from Seinfeld was actually a parody of a near identical, but more serious, scene from the 1991 movie JFKJFK (film)JFK is a 1991 American film directed by Oliver Stone. It examines the events leading to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy and alleged subsequent cover-up, through the eyes of former New Orleans district attorney Jim Garrison .Garrison filed charges against New Orleans businessman Clay...
. The actor Wayne KnightWayne KnightWayne Eliot Knight is an American actor, comedian, and voice actor perhaps best known for his role as Newman in the TV sitcom Seinfeld...
, who portrayed the Newman character in Seinfeld, occupied the same position in both the "magic bullet" scene of the JFK movie and the subsequent Seinfeld parody. - The main purpose of the controversial video game JFK Reloaded (2004) was to have the player attempt to re-enact the shooting according to the single bullet theory, in order to duplicate the Warren Commission's conclusions.
- The humor magazine, The OnionThe OnionThe Onion is an American news satire organization. It is an entertainment newspaper and a website featuring satirical articles reporting on international, national, and local news, in addition to a non-satirical entertainment section known as The A.V. Club...
, published an August 8, 2006 article titled "New Oliver Stone 9/11 Film Introduces 'Single Plane' Theory. - At least two American rock bands used the name "Single Bullet Theory:; one, formed in Richmond, VirginiaRichmond, VirginiaRichmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...
in 1976, produced one Hot 100 single, "Keep It Tight", in 1983. The other, a heavy metal outfit from Philadelphia, formed in 2000 and is still active. - Pearl JamPearl JamPearl Jam is an American rock band that formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1990. Since its inception, the band's line-up has included Eddie Vedder , Jeff Ament , Stone Gossard , and Mike McCready...
's music video compilation for the YieldYield (album)Yield is the fifth studio album by the American alternative rock band Pearl Jam, released on February 3, 1998. Following a short tour for its previous album, No Code , Pearl Jam went into the studio in 1997 to record its follow-up...
album sessions was titled "Single Video Theory", a reference to the "Single Bullet Theory". - American band Texas is the ReasonTexas Is the ReasonTexas Is the Reason was an American post-hardcore band founded by former Shelter guitarist Norm Arenas and 108 drummer Chris Daly in 1994. They disbanded in 1997...
have a song titled "The Magic Bullet Theory" from the album Do You Know Who You Are?Do You Know Who You Are?Do You Know Who You Are? was Texas Is the Reason's only full length album.-Track listing:All tracks by Texas Is the Reason# "Johnny on the Spot" – 4:15# "The Magic Bullet Theory" – 2:48# "Nickel Wound" – 4:36...
See also
- Conspiracy theoryConspiracy theoryA conspiracy theory explains an event as being the result of an alleged plot by a covert group or organization or, more broadly, the idea that important political, social or economic events are the products of secret plots that are largely unknown to the general public.-Usage:The term "conspiracy...
- John F. Kennedy assassinationJohn F. Kennedy assassinationJohn Fitzgerald Kennedy, the thirty-fifth President of the United States, was assassinated at 12:30 p.m. Central Standard Time on Friday, November 22, 1963, in Dealey Plaza, Dallas, Texas...
- John F. Kennedy autopsyJohn F. Kennedy autopsyThe autopsy of President John F. Kennedy was performed, beginning at about 8 p.m. and ending at about midnight EST, on November 22, 1963, the day of his assassination, at the then Bethesda Naval Hospital in Bethesda, Maryland. The choice of autopsy hospital in the Washington, D.C. area was made at...
- List of alleged conspiracy theories
- Zapruder filmZapruder filmThe Zapruder film is a silent, color motion picture sequence shot by private citizen Abraham Zapruder with a home-movie camera, asU.S. President John F...
External links
- Zapruder film footage, including individual frames referenced in this article – This is the "Costalla combined edit", hosted at a site which argues that the film itself is a forgery
- Kennedy Assassination Home Page: The Single Bullet Theory
- photos, pictures and diagrams critical of the single bullet theory
- Computer reconstruction supporting the single bullet theory
- New Documented Information on CE399 and its Provenance (April, 2005)
- Sibert/O'Neill FBI autopsy report original. And cache This primary document preserves the notes of two FBI agents (Special Agents James W. Sibert and Francis X. O'Neill) who were present at the autopsy and took notes. The early report preserves genuine medical doctor confusion present during the autopsy, caused by apparent lack of an exit wound for the CE399 entry, which was cleared up later in the official report after new information became available. However, as a primary piece of observation by medical laymen, the report is useful.
- Bullet Evidence Challenges Findings In JFK Assassination, May 17, 2007 - sciencedaily.com
- IED Fragment Embolization MedPix Teaching File