Planet Geek

JFK Non-conspiracy analysis by Discovery Channel

Politics. , Stuff n bother

Being fairly active in the web-news-blog-chat-whatever community, it always amuses me to watch the general public spin itself into ever more complex and improbable situations, even in the face of evidence to the contrary. I guess people just have a hard time accepting that sometimes things are just what they seem to be.

Case in point. On November 22nd, 1963, John F Kennedy was assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald in Dallas, Texas. This one event has been the target for ceaseless analysis, arguments, theories and other bruhaha. The question that always comes up is "Did Lee Harvey Oswald act alone?"

Lyndon Johnson created the Warren Commission to review all the evidence on this event. After 10 months, it determined that Yes, Lee Harvey Oswald had in fact acted alone.

From my side, there were several things I had heard bandied about regarding conspiracy theories. I've watched numerous documentaries that set up some pretty wild concepts, but there were a few things that did concern me, that I hadn't heard reasonable explanations for.

For instance. The "single bullet theory" that describes a single shot that hit both JFK and Governor John Connelly has been called into question many many times, and referred to as "a magic bullet", because, so say the conspirists, the bullet would have had to make a 'right angle turn in mid air' to take the the path people say it has.

Another element is that the bullet was found on a gurney at the hospital, apparently totally undamaged. How could a single bullet have gone through 2 men (including breaking John Connelly's wrist) and not be deformed at all? "It can't have" so says the theorists.

Lastly, there are "inconsistencies" in the coroners report, such as an initial report that the president was struck in the middle of his back, right side, which was later changed to show an entry wound much higher. The theorists say "The evidence was changed to match what they wanted us to believe!"

Last night I watched a fantastic show on Discovery Channel regarding many of these questions. Lately some of the cable channels have really gone off the deep end, dedicating entire shows to 'ghost hunters' and other drivel, all under the guise of scientific investigation. Last nights show was outstanding in that the goal not to bring up interesting theories and speculate on "ooo, what's the REAL story here!!! Lets get some dirt!", but to seriously examine what happened, and posit "Could this have happened just as the Warren Commission and other more reasonable voices have said?"

The answer they came up with was 'Absolutely.'. Looking at the few things raised above:

The single bullet theory: Arguments have been made that the path the bullet took from Oswalds gun could not have lined up as theory states. In fact, the Discover Channel team did line up things perfectly, taking into account several small details that the theorists tend to ignore. First, Kennedy's right arm was up on the side of the car, raising up his clothing and changing the placement of his back. Second, Governor Connelly was not sitting directly in front of hte president. He was sitting on a 'jumpseat' in the limousine, which is about 5" lower than the presidents seat. Third, Governor Connelly was not facing forward when the bullet struck. He was turned about 20 degrees to the right. Given these 3 positions, and assuming a slight deflection when the bullet broke one of Connelly's ribs, the line up is near perfect.

The non-deformed bullet: The bullet fired from Oswald's gun was a 6.5mm 'Full Metal Jacket' bullet. Using the exact same ammo and gun, the Discovery Channel team used ballistic gel and human bones to line up the same shot. Striking ribs and gel on the 2 targets, including muscle sinew and cartlidge, the bullet was more deformed than the one found on the gurney, but only slightly. This was determined to be caused by the bullet striking 2 entire ribs in the target dummy, instead of just the one in the actual shooting. Also, the 'pristine' bullet found on the gurney was not pristine at all, but was in fact quite bent and flattened, with part of the lead internals deformed out of the casing. So much for pristine.

Given these details and the meticulous work done by the Discovery team, I am fully convinced that the 'single bullet theory' is valid, and the 'magic bullet' theorist yammering is total BS.

Posted by dbs at November 15, 2004 10:00 AM