Oswald took 10.2 seconds to fire all three shots.

[Royell Storing]

    Hickey riding in the (L) rear back seat of the Queen Mary means he probably could Not see this minor JFK hair flip. I think that Hickey is describing what he saw JFK's hair do when the Kill Shot struck. What IS evident from this Z Film snippet is how COMPLETELY FAR AROUND Gov Connally could turn in order to physically face JFK. For Gov Connally to turn this far around and actually face JFK, means there had to be the necessary space between the Limo side door and his jump seat in order to spin his knees around. That Connally jump seat was positioned well inboard the JFK Limo.

[Andrew Mason]

Tague vacillated over the years about being hit at shot two or shot three. I think near the end he did settle in that it was probably shot three.

I don't know what you are referring to but his WC testimony is pretty clear that there was a shot after the one that hit him and he was not hit on the first shot.

I’d like to touch base on the debate over shot spacing. I think the shot spacing issue from testimony is interesting and could use more study to explain why there was a lot of testimony suggesting a compressed time for the last two shots.
The timing studies/estimates I have done indicate the shots were triggered at about z124, z219, z310. They were roughly equally spaced about 5 seconds apart. These times were based mostly on the forensics of film evaluation, considering both voluntary and involuntary human reactions, but not based on testimony. I am confident in the shot timing as estimated based on human reactions and prefer not to use witness testimony.

Separate from the conflicting analysis I get when not using witness testimony, there are a couple other reasons I have not been sold on the claim of an actual compressed time between shot 2 and 3 vs 1 and 2.

1)   There is a lot of testimony contrary to the shot 2 to 3 time compression vs 1 to 2.
-   I haven’t done a survey on this topic, but the general feeling I got when listening to witnesses in person on video recently when doing some general witness reviews is that there are nearly as many that think the spacing was about equal vs compressed.

I have compiled them all here.  I have added one more: NBC reporter Robert MacNeil so there are 63 witnesses, 48 of whom specifically recalled the 1.......2...3 pattern.

Net, I am not sure what the true ratio is for witnesses of equal spacing vs compressed spacing for the last two shots.

2)   Nearly everybody changed their testimony which might give a clue as to how time perception may have changed during the last two shots. This dynamic should probably get more attention as recent studies indicate anxiety can make people underestimate how much time actually passes. I wonder if this may have played a role in the perceived time estimation between shots 2 and 3.

-   Nearly everyone that afternoon reported they heard an initial loud bang, some had a concern at that point but many were just annoyed and wanted to know what the hell it was.  Many thought it was a firecracker, but most soon realized it was followed by two shots. So technically their testimony initially was (firecracker, shot, shot). I don’t know of anyone who later on still maintained that initial perception of (firecracker, shot, shot) so everyone based on what they were told, or individually figured out, changed their testimony to (shot, shot, shot) i.e. three shots.

All the changing of testimony doesn’t make one feel warm and fuzzy, but in this case is probably justified and might shed light on how they perceived the spacing between the last two noises (two shots) vs the spacing between first two noises (a firecracker and a shot).

On the Zapruder film it seems that most of the ducking to the ground happened after the third shot, and that is when fear really set in. Between shot two and three was a transition to anxiety as the realization set in of gunshots going off around them, not firecrackers. Uncertainty and anxiety are believed to play a role in the perception of time passage.

A study at the Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience at University College London was designed to understand the effect anxiety and fear have on how we perceive time.
The researchers found that when people feel anxious, they underestimate how much time passes. In other words, anxiety makes time pass quicker. On the other hand, some people tend to slightly overestimate it when they feel afraid.

Could this mean 5 actual seconds between shots 2 and 3 was perceived by some to be like 2 or 3 seconds?

I don't know of anyone other than Emmett Hudson who changed his recollection of the spacing of the shots.  It would be helpful if you could actually give us references to their statements.  It is not really persuasive to suggest that witnesses were vague and not sure by giving us your vague and unsure impressions about what they may have said.

The distribution looks like this:


Listen to reporters Robert Jackson and Robert MacNeil speaking 50 years later. They still comment on the spacing:
Jackson at 1:30 and MacNeil at 00:22

[John Iacoletti]

Tague was probably nicked by a bullet fragment from the Z-313 fatal head shot and spaced out on the timing, later.

Why is this "probable"?  Tague said that he heard another shot after he was hit.

[John Iacoletti]

Roselle's and Scearce's 2020 study (have you read it?) did not involve analyzing "earwitness accounts" in the traditional meaning of the term, but analyzing the caught-on-film timing of the conscious (i.e., not "startle") head movements made by seven witnesses (including JFK, Jackie, JBC and Nellie) in reaction to the unexpected sounds and vibrations of the first, missing-everything, shot.

I can think of few things more utterly subjective than interpreting "reactions" in a blurry, silent film.

[John Iacoletti]

If you want to view this pristine Darnell Film, go to You Tube and search out,    "NBC 5 Archive Collection | Assassination Aftermath In Dealey Plaza | Darnell Film"    By - SixthFloorMuseum

I think it's still a copy that the 6FM has.

[Royell Storing]

I think it's still a copy that the 6FM has.

   John - What do you think about the Camera Car #2 Driver (0:00) just standing there outside of the car? All those cars are at a Dead Stop. Seeing Wiegman running down the Knoll on the Couch Film is a timeline as to how long these Camera Cars have been STOPPED at the corner of Elm/Houston.

[Andrew Mason]

    Hickey riding in the (L) rear back seat of the Queen Mary means he probably could Not see this minor JFK hair flip. I think that Hickey is describing what he saw JFK's hair do when the Kill Shot struck. What IS evident from this Z Film snippet is how COMPLETELY FAR AROUND Gov Connally could turn in order to physically face JFK. For Gov Connally to turn this far around and actually face JFK, means there had to be the necessary space between the Limo side door and his jump seat in order to spin his knees around. That Connally jump seat was positioned well inboard the JFK Limo.

Remember, Hickey was standing in the back of the Secret Service car. And JFK was turned to his left so Hickey could see the left side of JFK's head from about 4 feet above from his standing position. That would enable him to see the top of the right side of his head. So I don't see why he did not see what he said he saw and that was (18H762 CE1024):

• "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.  The last shot seemed to hit his head and cause a noise at the point of impact which made him fall forward and to his left again."

I find it odd that he imagined but did not see something that is seen in the zfilm at or very close to the time the second shot may well have occurred (according to the shot pattern recalled by the vast majority of witnesses and as further supported by the turn to the rear that Greer made just after the second shot).