The Magic Bullet - Fact or Fiction?

[Walt Cakebread]

I wasn't the one suggesting that there was a .45 calibre rifle in 1963.  As far as I can tell, there wasn't such a rifle.  More to the point, there is are good reasons why such a rifle would not be made.  A .45 calibre bullet would be 5 times heavier than a 6.5 mm bullet.  Try to imagine the recoil from that!  Even at subsonic speeds, it would have 2-3 times the kick of the MC firing 6.5 mm ammunition.  Stability is also a problem, as I mentioned earlier.  If you want to inflict damage, it is better to add speed rather than mass.  If you want stability, it is better to keep it long and narrow rather than short and fat.  Just physics.

Mr Mason, you're FOS....  There definitely were several 30 caliber carbines modified and converted and re-barreled to fire the 45 acp cartridge.  I probably still have the gun magazine that had the article about the creation of this weapon.... It was created by the CIA as an assassination weapon....  ( They probably had Fidel Castro in mind at the time)

These carbines were equipped with silencers and they fired the subsonic bullet at 850 fps.... They were short range weapons of about 50 yards.... just as the 45 auto hand cannon was designed for short range.....

But frankly my dear....I don't give a damn if you doubt me......

[Eddie Haymaker]

Governor Connolly ?the thought immediately passed through my mind that there were either two or three people involved or more in this or someone was shooting with an automatic rifle?



Probably the new scoped semi-automatic M16 or AR15 Rifle with suppressor or a similar weapon.(If you look at the diameter of the rear entry wound and the impact on the windshield frame it looks very small for a rifle round, 5.56 mm? perfect.)

fires 5-6 shots hits with
1 on target(JFK),2 Connolly,1 windshield frame,1 tague,1 total miss (1st shot)

[Andrew Mason]

"Appears very different"? In what way? He's just not smiling and seems to be looking at the Umbrella Man protester. In Z193, Kennedy is engaging with well-wishers; he's pass them and getting a load of Umbrella Man while behind the sign.

So we both agree he looks very different. In z193 he is smiling and waving and in z225 he has a look of terror.  You say it is umbrella man, I say it's a bullet.  We'll have to disagree on that.

Connally thought he was struck in the Z230s; Mrs. Connally the Z220s.

    "About the time I turned back where I was
     facing more or less straight ahead, the way
     the car was moving, I was hit."

    "Then there was a second shot, and it hit
     John [Connally], and as he recoiled to the
     right ... he turned away from me."
          -- Mrs. Connally

Quite true.  They were not questioned, however, on the details. For example, JBC was never asked "Where is it that you turn around to look over your right shoulder to see JFK?"  and Nellie was never asked "You said you did not look in the back seat after the second shot, but there you are looking in the back seat after z232 when you say you think the second shot occurred".

You have to allow several frames for the Governor to perceive the pain from a Z223 bullet strike and for Nellie to turn her attention away from the President to witness her husband's back to her.

Why? JBC said he felt it immediately. He takes from z224 to z278 to fall back on his wife?

Pretty hard to determine if Greer didn't turn his head earlier because the windshield hides his face. So can't claim the late-Z270 head turn was his first.

No.  Greer was describing the turn after the second shot as the turn before his last turn which was just before the head shot.  We can see both of those turns.  The first of those last two turns occurs from about z278-280.

But your first shot at Z195 doesn't work in 3-D (that is, good 3-D). The bullet that left Kennedy's throat can't possibly get pass Connally's left side to strike the left femur.

Not according to the actual dimensions of the car, the seats, the jump seat back height, the bullet trajectory from the SN and the positions of the men as seen in the zfilm:

Also Connally would have sensed the bullet strike, but per your theory, he's unaware for over four seconds that he's been struck. He just swats at a fly with his Stetson and, for the first time in the whole motorcade, twists his body so he's largely back-on to his wife.

Bullets do not necessarily hurt.  JBC said he never felt the thigh wound.   He said that he felt the impact but no pain from the back wound.  So why would he feel pain from the thigh wound? There was no loss of function of his leg, unlike from his chest wound. It is not uncommon in battle for soldiers to receive extremity wounds and not be aware of it until they or someone else notices blood.  Here is the experience of someone who was shot in the leg:

"Felt Like My Leg was Heavy And Wet, But Getting Shot Didn?t Hurt secondhand_organs: ?I took a bullet in the *ss cheek that did some kind of parabolic arc and exited out of the back of my thigh. I didn?t feel the impact, but wondered why my leg felt heavy and wet (I was on a bicycle at the time). Getting shot itself didn?t hurt, but getting treated for it did. "

There is a mere 2 1/4 seconds between the head shot and your Z271 shot. But almost five seconds between the head shot and the shot that struck at Z223.

Right. Give or take because we don't know exactly when in relation to the exposures the two shots occurred. So between shots captured in z272 and z313 there could be up to 54.7 ms x 42 + 30 ms = 2.33 seconds between them. That seems to fit "rapid succession" and puts the second perceptibly closer to the third than the first, unlike a second shot at z223.

Your theory has two missed shots. Both Z195 and Z271 shots show absolutely no bullet strikes or reactions in the Zapruder film.

Not exactly "missed" shots - certainly not like missing the car, the road and everything else which is what the SBT requires.  It depends on what he was trying to hit. Both shots were very, very close to the target if JFK's head was the target. In fact, the shot at z271-72 was close enough to JFK's head that his hair flew forward, according to Hickey.

[Bill Chapman]

As Kennedy emerges from behind the sign, the involuntary reaction has yet to show itself. We can see his right hand and arm, that he had been lowering after waving to the crowd, still dropping. He did not begin reacting while behind the Stemmons sign.



The reactions of both Kennedy and Connally begin at the same time.  They are in sync.

Nah, JBC heard the shot and decided to put his bullet-proof Stetson on. The missed shot skipped past Aparicio at second, scoring Mantle from third.

[Mike Orr]

Try selling your Magic Bullet Theory to your friends at your next " Party " ! It's a quick way to end a Party !

[Tim Nickerson]

You are still speculating that the lowering of his hand was not part of the reaction in itself. We don't know that.

How exactly would that work? His hand drops for 1.7 seconds as part of an involuntary reaction and then leaps upwards as part of the same involuntary reaction? I've never heard tell of such a thing before. 

I would point out that the WC thought at z225 JFK was reacting to being shot (WR 98):

"When President Kennedy again came fully into view in the Zapruder film at frame 225, he seemed to be reacting to his neck wound by raising his hands to his throat.  ...  According to Shaneyfelt the reaction was ?clearly apparent in 226 and barely apparent in 225.?

Right. The reaction can be seen beginning at Z225.

The HSCA found that JFK was reacting well before z224 (HSCA Rep. 46):

"By Zapruder frame 207, when President Kennedy is seen going behind a sign that obstructed Zapruder's view, he appears to be reacting to a severe external stimulus. This reaction is first indicated in the vicinity of frame 200 of the Zapruder film. The President's right hand freezes in the midst of a waving motion, followed by a rapid leftward movement of his head. (43) There is, therefore, photographic evidence of a shot striking the President by this time."

In the footnote on page 44 of its report, the HSCA noted:

"In its report, the committee's photographic Connally reacted to his wounds evidence panel suggested that Governor interval might have been approximately one second after President Kennedy. This interval might have been even less, but a sign obstructing Zapruder's field of view made it impossible to study the Governor immediately after the President first appeared to be reacting to having been shot."

The HSCA Photographic Panel was no where near unanimous on that.

Only if you are correct that JFK was not already reacting behind the sign. Many, many witnesses said he brought his hands down toward his neck/chest in response to the first shot. They could see JFK "behind" the sign.

Who cares what many witnesses thought that they saw? We can see for ourselves that JFK's hands are well below his neck at Z224 and still dropping.

In any event, what is the significance of them both beginning to react at the same time? That does not mean that both were reacting to being hit by it.  JBC said he reacted to the first shot, which Nellie and about 20 others saw that JFK also reacted to.

Their reacting at the same time in the way that they did means that they were hit at the same time. You've already admitted that they were hit by the same bullet so why are you still fighting this? You made a big mistake embracing your pet theory so many years ago. It's a theory that does not stand up under scrutiny. You should have abandoned it years ago. Let this be a lesson to others.

[Andrew Mason]

Well, OK. When someone simply stops smiling, they automatically display a "look of terror."

I am not sure what your point is. JFK in z225 does not look like he simply stopped smiling. Something caused him to assume that pained or startled look. Whatever it was, it happened more than 1/10th of a second (2 frames) earlier because that is the minimum reaction time.

I think if Mrs. Connally is choosing the Z220s for the second shot and the Governor is choosing the Z230s for the shot he felt (ie: the second shot), then what does that tell you about where they felt their actions before that occurred?

For the record, they both saw slides of the frames just before they testified to the WC.  They both chose the same frames - z229-z234:

4H145

Mr. SPECTER. I have just one other question, Governor. With respect to the films and the slides which you have viewed this morning, had you ever seen those pictures before this morning?
Governor CONNNALLY. I had seen what purported to be a copy of the film when I was in the hospital in Dallas. I had not seen the slides.
Mr. SPECTER. And when do you think you were hit on those slides, Governor. Or in what range of slides?
Governor CONNALLY. We took-you are talking about the number of the slides?
Mr. SPECTER. Yes.
Governor CONNALLY. As we looked at them this morning, and as you related the numbers to me, it appeared to me that I was hit in the range between 130 or 131, I don?t remember precisely, up to 134, in that bracket.
Mr. SPECTER. May I suggest to you that it was 231?
Governor CONNALLY. Well, 231 and 234, then.
Mr. SPECTER. The series under our numbering system starts with a higher number when the car comes around the turn, so when you come out of the sign, which was-
Governor CONNALLY. It was just after we came out of the sign, for whatever that sequence of numbers was, and if it was 200, I correct my testimony. It was 231 to about 234. It was within that range.
Mr. SPECTER. That is all.


4 H 149
Mr. SPECTER. Did you have an opinion as to which frame it was that Governor Connally was shot?
Mrs. CONNALLY. Yes. I was in agreement with the Governor. I am not sure I remember the numbers so correct me. but I thought at the time that it was that 229--it could hare been then through the next three or four frames.
Mr. SPECTER. Do you have anything-
Mrs. CONNALLY. They were blurred.

Just a comment:  it is interesting that JBC says " It was just after we came out of the sign".  Perhaps he was recalling that he was hit just after he passed the sign. JBC passed the Stemmons sign at about z268 or so.

So what? Nellie said she noticed that immediately after the second shot, she saw that her husband had recoil so he was back-on to her. She said it was later that she pulled him towards her.

He did not describe hanging around for 3 seconds before falling back.  Greer said he fell back immediately.  He said he turned around immediately after the second shot and saw JBC falling back onto his wife.

Couldn't find that.

2 H 118: 
Mr. GREER I knew that after I heard the second one, that is when I looked over my shoulder, and I was conscious that there was something wrong, because that is when I saw Governor Connally. And when I turned around again, to the best of my recollection there was another one, right immediately after.

Mr. GREER. He was-he seemed to be falling a little bit toward Mrs. Connally, to the left. He started to go over a little bit to the left.
Mr. SPECTER. And how far did you catch his movement during the time you were able to observe him?
Mr. GREER. Just a second. He probably hadn?t gotten his shoulder, he hadn?t fell down or anything. He probably was in a Position such as I am now.
Mr. SPECTER. Did he fall to the rear or to the side or how?
Mr. GREER. In my opinion, he fell toward Mrs. Connally which would be to his left or to his side.

These last two turns he described which he described as occurring between the second and third shots.  He is turned around looking rearward at z280-291 and z303-317.   The turn at z303 begins at z301. So the turn at z280 probably began a similar amount of time before, z278 or so.  We can tell he is turned at z280 because we can see his face in z287 turned rearward and if you progress backward, the two light spots on the top of his head remain in the same position until z280 so his head does not turn during those 8 frames.

Which you mostly got wrong.

The point is that the bullet path from the SN at z197 goes to the left side of JBC. He was wounded in only one place on his left side and the wound is consistent with being hit by the butt end of an intact missile (Dr. Gregory).  The bullet wound was debrided down to the femur, according to the doctor who operated on it (Dr. Shires) and it was on an ang, along the direction of the femur.

Dr. Shires described the wound as follows (6 H 106):

"Dr. SHIRES. The wound on the thigh was a peculiar one. There was a 1 cm. punctate missile wound over the junction of the middle and lower third of the leg and the medial aspect of the thigh. The peculiarity came in that the X-rays of the left leg showed only a very small 1 mm. bullet fragment embedded in the femur of the left leg. Upon exploration of this wound, the other peculiarity was that there was very little soft tissue damage, less than one would expect from an entrance wound of a centimeter in diameter, which was seen on the skin. So, it appeared, therefore, that the skin wound was either a tangential wound or that a larger fragment had penetrated or stopped in the skin and had subsequently fallen out of the entrance wound.
Mr. SPECTER What size fragment was there in the Governor?s leg at that time?
Dr. SHIRES. We recovered none. The small one that was seen was on X-ray and it was still in the femur and being that small, with no tissue damage after tha debridement, it was thought inadvisable to remove this small fragment.
Mr. SPECTER. Is that fragment in the bone itself at the present time?
Dr. SHIRES. Yes.
Mr. SPECTER. What would your best estimate be as to the size of that fragment?
Dr. SHIRES. One millimeter in diameter--one to two."

There wasn't a battle going on in Dealey Plaza at the time. And for veteran politicians, there wasn't much about the motorcade to distract them. Jackie recalled that before the shots, she was mostly concerned about her physical comfort, thinking it would be cool under the overpass.

Not sensing pain seems rare even on that page you cited.

You have to look at people who received just a flesh wound - no damage to bones or organs.  Besides, the best evidence is from JBC himself.  He said he never felt the thigh wound or wrist wound and even the chest wound did not hurt. He felt no pain until he got to Parkland, probably due to a collapsed lung.

The SBT now requires the missed shot to not hit the road? You just overplayed your hand, counselor.

Well, it vanished without causing any mark in the road.  There is really no evidence that it struck the road.

"According to Hickey"? You mean he actually said it was a bullet that made Kennedy's hair move on the second shot?

That was the conclusion he drew.  18 H 762:
"The first shot of the second two seemed as if it missed because the hair on the right side of his head flew forward and there didn't seem to be any impact against his head. "

It is apparent that he thought, at least in retrospect, that the shots were directed at JFK's head and he concluded from the hair flying up and no appearance of impact that the bullet missed.