Thomas M. Atkins

[Charles Collins]

Charles,
Thank you for your comments too.
I also checked Myers's synchronization work a few days after I last posted to this thread and saw that he did acknowledge the Hughes 6 frame stop-start event. Trask did not mention it in his detailed summary of the Hughes film (Pictures of the Pain appendix pages 617-618).
 
I looked at the Skaggs05 frame but can't determine if I see a watch, or just part of the camera. I've little doubt Atkins wore a watch.

Here are some additional random and brief observations to those you mentioned above:

John Martin was filming during this period and seems to have held rock steady.

Mark Bell stopped filming about 1 second before the Hughes pause, with the single last frame blurred.

Tina Towner also held rock steady during this interval, but with with the 7 frames missing about 4 seconds earlier who knows what might have happened then.

Phil Willis slide #4 was also taken about this time. I think though the blurriness of the limo occupants was more due to poor focus than motion blur.

Thanks for both links, I don't recall reading either one before.

I found a study online that was printed in the Journal of Neurophysiology.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2637008/

This study included the determination of reaction times taken of an extended index finger – pressed onto a switch. The reaction time 76.2 ± 15.7 ms was determined from the time of the audio stimulus to when the finger raised from the switch.  FWIW.

Mark Bell stopped filming about 1 second before the Hughes pause, with the single last frame blurred.

Yes, and I believe that the blurred frame is likely due to his haste to jump down from the pedestal and move to his second position to continue filming. Bell has stated that all three of the shots occurred during that time frame that he was moving. And when he resumed filming the limo was going under the triple underpass.