Understanding the Importance of the Z186-190 Shot

[Royell Storing]

 Willis 5 Uncropped is a very valuable photo. It shows: (1) ONLY 2 Men standing at the bottom of The Steps, (2) The 2 Women standing beside the light pole, (3) The Black Dog Man, and (4) The E-W Picket Fence being BEHIND (N) of the Black Dog Man. Uncropped, on the (R), it also includes a good chunk of the RL Thornton sign. Willis 5 is far, far more valuable than most people realize.  ....................STAY TUNED ................................

[Tom Graves]

STAY TUNED

Sorry Storing,

My radio, unlike yours, doesn't receive transmissions from the Kremlin.

[Michael T. Griffith]

Her attention was drawn to JBC, who, having recognized the sounds of a high-powered rifle shot at hypothetical "Z-124" and realizing the implications thereof, had just yelled out, "Oh, no! No!-no!-no!

You cannot be serious. Jackie never looks at Connally. Beginning in Z202, she snaps her head to the right and begins staring intently at JFK. She is still staring at him in Z221 when she reemerges from behind the freeway sign. So, unless one is blinded by the SBT, the film shows Jackie undeniably noticing something is wrong with JFK before any mythical SBT bullet could have hit him.

One dead giveaway that the SBT is fiction is that in Z224 JFK is already moving his left hand upward toward his throat. We know from science that this means the bullet could not have him later than Z220, because it takes a human a bare minimum of 218 milliseconds (4 Zapruder frames) to move a limb in response to external stimulus (in this case a bullet).

Connally eventually came to realize that JFK and he may have been struck by the same bullet (CE-399).

To be exact, Connally said he was aware there was "a great deal of speculation" that he and JFK were hit by the same bullet, and then he said this "may' have been the case, but he always insisted that he was not hit before Z229. He said the bullet that hit him struck him in Z234, which explains the sudden slamming down of his right shoulder starting in Z238 and the downward jolting of his torso, and which fits perfectly with his description of the bullet's impact:

"I was knocked over, just doubled over by the force of the bullet. . . . The force of the bullet drove my body over almost double" (1 HSCA 42).

You seem to have a pathological need to spread nation-rending conspiracy theories regarding the JFK assassination.

Troubling truth is always better than comforting lies. The Watergate conspiracy was "nation rending." The Iran-Contra conspiracy was "nation rending." We need the truth, even if it is troubling. Most people would rather have hard truth than soothing falsehood.

[Tom Graves]

You cannot be serious. Jackie never looks at Connally.

She didn't have to look at JBC after responding to his "Oh no!, No, no, no!"

One dead giveaway that the SBT is fiction is that in Z224 JFK is already moving his left hand upward toward his throat. We know from science that this means the bullet could not have him later than Z220, because it takes a human a bare minimum of 218 milliseconds (4 Zapruder frames) to move a limb in response to external stimulus (in this case a bullet).

In Z-224, JFK's hand was probably still coming down from his final wave.

FWIW, JFKA expert Patrick Collins at the "JFK Truth Be Told" Facebook page says JFK and JBC were likely hit at Z-221.5.

To be exact, Connally said he was aware there was "a great deal of speculation" that he and JFK were hit by the same bullet, and then he said this "may' have been the case, but he always insisted that he was not hit before Z229. He said the bullet that hit him struck him in Z234, which explains the sudden slamming down of his right shoulder starting in Z238 and the downward jolting of his torso, and which fits perfectly with his description of the bullet's impact:

"I was knocked over, just doubled over by the force of the bullet. . . . The force of the bullet drove my body over almost double" (1 HSCA 42).

Faulty memory as to the timing, unfortunately.

Completely understandable give the trauma he suffered.

Troubling truth is always better than comforting lies. The Watergate conspiracy was "nation rending." The Iran-Contra conspiracy was "nation rending." We need the truth, even if it is troubling. Most people would rather have hard truth than soothing falsehood.

Nixon formed The Plumbers group in response to what a Kremlin-loyal triple agent at the FBI's NYC field office, KGB Major Aleksei Kulak (J. Edgar Hoover's shielded-from-CIA FEDORA), had told him about the Pentagon Papers, i.e., that the Kremlin had a complete copy (it didn't).

Regardless, when are you going to get around to answering the 25 questions I posted for you and your tinfoil-hat JFKA CT ilk?

[Dan O'meara]

Your dismissal of contrary evidence is remarkable. You simply ignored most of the facts and repeated the standard SBT scenario. Some points in reply:

-- The HSCA photographic experts were not "demonstrably wrong" in pointing out that at around Z200 JFK starts to turn his head "rapidly from right to his left in the direction of his wife." What are you talking about? What Zapruder film are you looking at? In Z190 he is looking to his right and waving at the crowd. This clearly changes by Z202. When he reemerges into view in Z225, he is facing straight ahead and reaching for his throat. I'm baffled that you would deny the right-to-left movement of JFK's head from Z199-207.

-- Jackie's reaction is key and indisputable. Starting at around Z202, she begins to rapidly whip her head from left to right and starts staring at JFK. She is still looking intently at him in Z224. Why do you suppose Jackie snaps her head to the right before Z207? What drew her attention so suddenly to JFK? The answer is obvious to anyone no blinded by the SBT.

-- The fact that JFK is clearly reacting to a shot in Z225 means he could not have been hit later than Z221, as even Dr. Piziali conceded during the ABA mock Oswald trial. Dr. McCarthy confirmed this during the trial. This fact alone refutes your Z222-223 SBT, not to mention Connally's lack of reaction before Z234. (A tensing stiffness and look of concern are hardly a wound reaction. Connally had just heard a rifle shot and was trying to see if JFK was okay, so naturally he stiffened a bit from tension.)

-- The second-strongest blur episode in the Zapruder film occurs at Z190-200.

-- Even the WC's experts recognized that JFK shows reactions signs as early as Z199 and Z204-205, as did Olson and Turner.

-- Of course you reject Willis's matter-of-fact statement that he snapped slide 5 in response to hearing a shot, never mind that this correlates perfectly with the blur episode.

-- Connally himself, the man who actually experienced the wounding, insisted he was not hit before Z229. He did so after spending hours examining the shooting sequence under high magnification.

Clearly, you are in denial Michael.
Let's focus on one aspect of your argument at a time.
This is z207 taken from the Zapruder film:



The top of JFK's head is circled in red. This is the last frame we can see him before he passes behind the Stemmons sign.
Here's what might appear to be an obvious question:

Do you believe this is actually frame 207 taken from the Zapruder film?

If you have another copy of the Z-film with a different z207 please post it.
Below is a close-up of JFK taken from the still above:



There can be no doubt that this image reveals that JFK is still looking to his right as he passes behind the Stemmons sign.
This is photographic proof that you are wrong in your assertion that he is looking towards Jackie.

Do you agree that this image proves JFK was still looking to his right as he passes behind the Stemmons sign in the Z-film?

If you don't agree could you provide actual evidence to support your view rather than simply insisting the photographic evidence I've presented is wrong.
There is not a single Z-frame from z199 to z207 that shows JFK looking in the direction of Jackie. If you disagree with this please post the frame to demonstrate this statement is incorrect.
You argue that "In Z190 he is looking to his right and waving at the crowd. This clearly changes by Z202", but you neglect to provide evidence to support this claim.
Ironically, Willis#5 is thought to be taken at the same time as z202 and, as I've already posted (and which you have ignored) it shows JFK has not turned to his left as we would see his profile:



If anything, it shows he is still looking to his right just as he is in z202:



The same photographic evidence you use to make your point actually demonstrates you are completely wrong in believing JFK makes a rapid head turn to his left just before he passes behind the Stemmons sign.
That you can bring yourself to deny this evidence when it is before your eyes is baffling.
Please provide actual evidence to support your claims other than 'the HSCA said so'.

[Tim Nickerson]

One of the key contributions that the HSCA made to our understanding of the JFK shooting is the acknowledgment that the first hit on JFK came at or shortly before Z190. Just admitting that a shot was fired at this time was crucial, because the sixth-floor gunman would not have had a view of JFK from Z166-207 due to the intervening oak tree. One item of evidence for the Z190 shot is the strong blur episode from Z190-200. It is the second-strongest blur episode of the seven blur episodes that the HSCA photographic experts found clearly exceeded the threshold of 2 percent of the field of view (“% of field-of-view”) and the threshold for “frame-to-frame departure from smooth panning.” Another item of evidence for the Z190 shot is Willis slide 5.

Dr. William Hartmann, a member of the HSCA's Photographic Evidence Panel, explained some of the evidence for the Z190 shot, and noted the Zapruder film indicates JFK was hit by this shot:

Mr. CORNWELL. And would it be accurate to state that the second largest area of
blur or jiggle, apart from the one which occurred shortly after the head shot,
would be in the earlier portion of the film?

Dr. HARTMANN. That is correct.

Mr. CORNWELL. What frame is that associated with?

Dr. HARTMANN. About frames 190 to 200 there is a strong blur reaction
initiated. So having concluded that this is in fact, that the blur sequence around
313 to 319 is in fact a response to the gunshots, I would think that the logical
inference would be that the blur sequence, the blur episode, running typically
from 190 to 200 is also a response to a possible gunshot. And we know that the
President emerged from behind the sign somewhat later, some frames later,
showing in fact a reaction to such a wound.

Mr. CORNWELL. And what, if any, corroboration is provided by this analysis to
the Warren Commission's conclusion that the President and the Governor may
have been shot in the vicinity of frame 210.

Dr. HARTMANN. Yes, they picked 210. I would say that to pick 210 in the face of
this current evidence, to pick 210 as the time for that first shot, which is the
Warren Commission's conclusion, would not be warranted from this evidence,
because the blur before frame 210, from 190 to 200, is clearly much larger than
any blur after frame 210. In fact, there is really very little evidence for a blur in the
appropriate amount of time after frame 210.

Furthermore, there is some photo evidence that tends to support the thought of a
shot in the time frame shortly before 190. For example, there is the Phillip Willis
photograph which shows Mr. Zapruder in the background and the motorcade
passing in between. Because the motorcade is in between, it is quite possible
quite easy, to determine exactly which Zapruder frame that corresponds to,
because you can tell which part of the motorcade is passing between Zapruder
and Willis. And Willis said that he took that photograph as a reaction. He pressed
the shutter as a reaction to what he perceived as the first shot, at least a shot.

Well, it turns out that, that frame is 202. So that means that Mr. Willis is telling us
that he pressed the shutter as part of his reaction to a shot, and he was reacting
at frame 202, while here we see that Mr. Zapruder is in the middle of his reaction
at frame 202. So that is very nice consistent evidence that something happened,
say, at 190 or shortly before 190. (2 HSCA 15)

Years before the HSCA photographic experts recognized that JFK was hit at around Z190, Don Olson and Ralph Turner identified most of the same indications of a wound reaction soon after this shot that the HSCA experts saw. In a paper titled “Photographic Evidence and the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy,” published in the Journal of Forensic Sciences in October 1971, Olson and Turner concluded that JFK begins to react to a shot in Z194 and that this reaction continues until he disappears behind the freeway sign. Olson was a professor of physics at the University of California, while Turner was a professor of criminal justice at Michigan State University. I quote from their analysis:

First, a general trend in the frames 194 to 206 may be noted. Beginning as early as
frame 194, the President's body seems to undergo a motion forward and to the left.
This motion, which can be visually approximated to be on the order of six or seven inches,
seems to begin in frame 194 and continues through about frame 200. The President
seems to move away from the seat back and tilt to the left, away from the window ledge. . . .

On the interval 194-200 the President's body is seen to narrow somewhat to the view,
indicating that he not only leans to the left front, but also is rotated to the left. The rotation
of the shoulders begins as early as frame 195. His head comes around at 200-202. By
frame 204 the President is facing almost directly forward.

As the President moves and rotates to the left, his right arm is pulled back into the car.
While his elbow has been resting outside the car, it comes up noticeably at frame 195. The
President’s elbow can be seen to cross the chrome strip on the side of the car at frames 198-199.
As President Kennedy disappears from view behind the sign, his right arm seems to be in a
particularly unusual position—the clearly visible gray of his suit coat indicating that his
right arm and elbow have been raised at least to the level of his chin. (pp. 410-411)

There was no shot at Z186-190 Shot. There was a shot at Z153 or earlier, a shot at about Z222,

[Tim Nickerson]

One of the key contributions that the HSCA made to our understanding of the JFK shooting is the acknowledgment that the first hit on JFK came at or shortly before Z190. Just admitting that a shot was fired at this time was crucial, because the sixth-floor gunman would not have had a view of JFK from Z166-207 due to the intervening oak tree. One item of evidence for the Z190 shot is the strong blur episode from Z190-200. It is the second-strongest blur episode of the seven blur episodes that the HSCA photographic experts found clearly exceeded the threshold of 2 percent of the field of view (“% of field-of-view”) and the threshold for “frame-to-frame departure from smooth panning.” Another item of evidence for the Z190 shot is Willis slide 5.

Dr. William Hartmann, a member of the HSCA's Photographic Evidence Panel, explained some of the evidence for the Z190 shot, and noted the Zapruder film indicates JFK was hit by this shot:

Mr. CORNWELL. And would it be accurate to state that the second largest area of
blur or jiggle, apart from the one which occurred shortly after the head shot,
would be in the earlier portion of the film?

Dr. HARTMANN. That is correct.

Mr. CORNWELL. What frame is that associated with?

Dr. HARTMANN. About frames 190 to 200 there is a strong blur reaction
initiated. So having concluded that this is in fact, that the blur sequence around
313 to 319 is in fact a response to the gunshots, I would think that the logical
inference would be that the blur sequence, the blur episode, running typically
from 190 to 200 is also a response to a possible gunshot. And we know that the
President emerged from behind the sign somewhat later, some frames later,
showing in fact a reaction to such a wound.

Mr. CORNWELL. And what, if any, corroboration is provided by this analysis to
the Warren Commission's conclusion that the President and the Governor may
have been shot in the vicinity of frame 210.

Dr. HARTMANN. Yes, they picked 210. I would say that to pick 210 in the face of
this current evidence, to pick 210 as the time for that first shot, which is the
Warren Commission's conclusion, would not be warranted from this evidence,
because the blur before frame 210, from 190 to 200, is clearly much larger than
any blur after frame 210. In fact, there is really very little evidence for a blur in the
appropriate amount of time after frame 210.

Furthermore, there is some photo evidence that tends to support the thought of a
shot in the time frame shortly before 190. For example, there is the Phillip Willis
photograph which shows Mr. Zapruder in the background and the motorcade
passing in between. Because the motorcade is in between, it is quite possible
quite easy, to determine exactly which Zapruder frame that corresponds to,
because you can tell which part of the motorcade is passing between Zapruder
and Willis. And Willis said that he took that photograph as a reaction. He pressed
the shutter as a reaction to what he perceived as the first shot, at least a shot.

Well, it turns out that, that frame is 202. So that means that Mr. Willis is telling us
that he pressed the shutter as part of his reaction to a shot, and he was reacting
at frame 202, while here we see that Mr. Zapruder is in the middle of his reaction
at frame 202. So that is very nice consistent evidence that something happened,
say, at 190 or shortly before 190. (2 HSCA 15)

Years before the HSCA photographic experts recognized that JFK was hit at around Z190, Don Olson and Ralph Turner identified most of the same indications of a wound reaction soon after this shot that the HSCA experts saw. In a paper titled “Photographic Evidence and the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy,” published in the Journal of Forensic Sciences in October 1971, Olson and Turner concluded that JFK begins to react to a shot in Z194 and that this reaction continues until he disappears behind the freeway sign. Olson was a professor of physics at the University of California, while Turner was a professor of criminal justice at Michigan State University. I quote from their analysis:

First, a general trend in the frames 194 to 206 may be noted. Beginning as early as
frame 194, the President's body seems to undergo a motion forward and to the left.
This motion, which can be visually approximated to be on the order of six or seven inches,
seems to begin in frame 194 and continues through about frame 200. The President
seems to move away from the seat back and tilt to the left, away from the window ledge. . . .

On the interval 194-200 the President's body is seen to narrow somewhat to the view,
indicating that he not only leans to the left front, but also is rotated to the left. The rotation
of the shoulders begins as early as frame 195. His head comes around at 200-202. By
frame 204 the President is facing almost directly forward.

As the President moves and rotates to the left, his right arm is pulled back into the car.
While his elbow has been resting outside the car, it comes up noticeably at frame 195. The
President’s elbow can be seen to cross the chrome strip on the side of the car at frames 198-199.
As President Kennedy disappears from view behind the sign, his right arm seems to be in a
particularly unusual position—the clearly visible gray of his suit coat indicating that his
right arm and elbow have been raised at least to the level of his chin. (pp. 410-411)

There was no Z186-190 Shot. There was a shot at Z153 or earlier, a shot at about Z223, and a shot at Z312.