FAQs

Q. Was JBC sitting directly in front of JFK, shifted left only by the 2.5" inset of his jump seat? How could CE 399 hit nearly in JBC's armpit?

A. John Connally (JBC) was 6'2". His legs did not fit in the small area up to the partition in the X 100 limousine. He therefore had to sit with his legs angled to his left or right. Being a politician, he faced the crowd so he angled away from his wife and towards the nearer crowd on his right. His angled lower body created the path for the CE 399 bullet to end up there. It also allowed him to flop backwards starting about F 275.

That angling put his hips to the left of the centerline of his seat. It was the major reason why he was sitting 6-8inches inboard from JFK, and turned in general to his right. At F 222, JBC was just turning back from having looked back towards LHO's first shot, so his torso was more rotated to his right than is shown here; it was aligned for the single bullet, CE 399, at F 222-3, after it was slightly defected by hitting JFK's trachea and tie.

Q. How can the single bullet have hit Connally to the right of his scapula, almost in his armpit?

A. Oswald's second bullet traversed above JFK's ribs and hit the right side of his trachea. The impact was enough to tear a hole in the right side of that trachea and to deflect it to JFK's left, enough that the Parkland doctors at first guessed that JFK's lungs had been deflated; those doctors began to put lung drains in but found the trachea damage when they did their entubation.

The tough cartilage of JFK's trachea caused the bullet to deflect slightly to its right. The bullet then pushed out a cone of fascia, skin, and four plies of dress shirt. The tie was pushed slightly left but the bullet still hit it, enough to further deflect the bullet. These two very small deflections caused the bullet to yaw and shifted its course a total of two or three degrees to its right.

Once the slowing bullet entered Connally, it followed the fascia around his fifth rib. Its growing cavitation bubble burst that rib inward, sending shards of rib bone into JBC’s right lung. The bullet burst out underneath JBC’s right nipple, hitting JBC’s wrist bones at ~600 mph. The bone impact deflected the ~200 mph bullet down into JBC’s thigh.

Q. There was a Dictabelt recording from an open motorcycle mic on which experts heard 7 or 8 shots. Does that mean there had to be a conspiracy, just as the HSCA concluded in their report?

A. The Dictabelt claims were overturned when subjected to more study. For example:

(1) the only fit came when the open mic was at a specific location during the shots - but there was no motorcycle or mic there;
(2) the tape has the sounds of a Harley motorcycle - but it was a trike, and its RPM showed it was idling;
(3) the waveforms claimed to be shots and echoes do not fit with the automatic gain control of the recorder.

There is an overview provided by Nick Nalli, Ph D, in:

https://www.onthetrailofdelusion.com/post/ob-the-trail-of-delusion-episode-13-with-nick-nalli

Q. Is there a way to make the figures and graphs bigger in the Kindle version?

A. Yes.

~ Long-Press: Press and hold your finger on the image until a magnifying glass icon appears.

~ Enlarge with Magnifying Glass: Tap the magnifying glass icon to view the image full-screen.

~ Zoom with Pinch: You can use two fingers to pinch and zoom into or out of the image.

~ Exit Image Mode: To return to the book, tap the "X" in the top right corner of the screen.

Q. Can the Zapruder startle results be duplicated scientifically?

A. The startle results are match the second and third shots, as explained in Why Jackie Scowled. It would be great to have the time and money to attempt an accurate duplication, but it is not required: one of the key attributes of science is its ability to predict and explain complex events even when the exact circumstances can’t (yet) be reproduced. The exact size of startle reactions are subject to the experience, posture, excitement, age, condition, anticipation, stance, and interest of the subject. If the subject has trained extensively with firearms then often only their eyes will blink. Startles are greater when the subject is standing up and already excited. In Zappruder's case, he was so intent on capturing an historic event that he kept his camera rolling despite possible dangers - though he did let the aim point wander as he looked around while filming.

Accurate reproduction is likely too expensive, because the subject should be:

surprised by the sound (naive)
in a state of excitement/anticipation
standing up but on an uneven surface
be slightly afraid of heights
be about Zapruder’s age and background
be held by the ankles by a female employee (attractive/known to the subject?)
be holding about the same camera, tracking a target moving past
be filming a very important (to him) event
keep filming despite possible danger
be curious enough to look around the viewfinder after the first shot, so the camera aim point wanders slightly