Gov. John Connally Grips His White Stetson Hat at Z-272

[David Von Pein]

DVP has argued that at Z225 JFK and JBC both show other signs of being struck and he might be right about that. He bases that on JFK's facial expression at Z225. Given the low resolution of the Z-film and we can't compare JFK's facial expression to Z224, I don't think that is conclusive. There is no question that JBC's right shoulder dips dramatically at Z225 but I simply can't say whether that is a reflexive response or it is being moved by the force of the bullet. Either seems possible to me.

It's not just Connally's right shoulder that is moving around between Z224 and 225, it's both shoulders that are (IMO) unquestionably flinching. And this flinching is occurring in the exact same frame (Z225) in which Connally's facial expression changes and his mouth opens. Also take note of Connally's necktie curling up, which was being caused no doubt by the sudden flinching of the shoulders, forcing the tie to move.

What we're seeing here are the immediate involuntary reflex reactions being exhibited by Governor Connally after being struck by a bullet:



And then, just one frame later, the Hat Flip:

[Andrew Mason]

It's not just Connally's right shoulder that is moving around between Z224 and 225, it's both shoulders that are (IMO) unquestionably flinching. And this flinching is occurring in the exact same frame (Z225) in which Connally's facial expression changes and his mouth opens. Also take note of Connally's necktie curling up, which was being caused no doubt by the sudden flinching of the shoulders, forcing the tie to move. What we're seeing here are the immediate involuntary reflex actions being exhibited by Governor Connally after being struck by a bullet:

The movement couldn’t possibly be preparing to turn around because:
1. JBC had just heard a rifle shot
2. He feared an assassination of the President was underway
3. He wanted to turn around to look behind him to see JFK.

That would require evidence. 

Oh, but there is a lot of evidence that the first shot struck JFK but did not strike JBC in the back.

And there is a lot of evidence that the first shot was after z186.

And there is really a lot evidence that the last two were closer together, which would mean that the second shot has not occurred at z225.

But that’s just evidence.  Your ability to interpret equivocal parts of the zfilm is better than the observations of many witnesses who were there.

[David Von Pein]

The movement couldn’t possibly be preparing to turn around because:
1. JBC had just heard a rifle shot.
2. He feared an assassination of the President was underway.
3. He wanted to turn around to look behind him to see JFK.

You, therefore, think that Connally is exhibiting classic signs of sudden distress (flinching, suddenly opening his mouth, and jerking an arm up then down) merely because he was "preparing to turn around". Oh brother!

Looks like Andrew is in just about as much SBT Denial as Mr. James R. Gordon of The Education Forum. Mr. Gordon, btw, totally denied the Connally "hat flip" altogether. He thought it never occurred:

"Nor does John Connally’s hat begin to flip at Z 226 forwards. .... These “jerky” and “startled” reactions that you talk about only occur between Z 226 and Z 228. And these are blurred frames. These reactions have nothing to do with John Connally, they are a consequence of Zapruder moving his camera." -- James Gordon; May 15, 2015

How's that for a severe case of Denial?

More:

http://jfk-archives.blogspot.com/A Bitter SBT Debate

[John Corbett]

You, therefore, think that Connally is exhibiting classic signs of sudden distress (flinching, suddenly opening his mouth, and jerking an arm up then down) merely because he was "preparing to turn around". Oh brother!

Looks like Andrew is in just about as much SBT Denial as Mr. James R. Gordon of The Education Forum. Mr. Gordon, btw, totally denied the Connally "hat flip" altogether. He thought it never occurred:

"These “jerky” and “startled” reactions that you talk about only occur between Z 226 and Z 228. And these are blurred frames. These reactions have nothing to do with John Connally, they are a consequence of Zapruder moving his camera." -- James Gordon; 2015

How's that for a severe case of Denial?

David, for what it's worth, I could never get Tony Marsh to acknowledge the hat flip beginning at Z226 either. He simply didn't want to address the fact that JFK's and JBC's arms started moving up in perfect unison, so he simply denied it.

I will admit that my main focus has always been on the simultaneous upward movement of the two men's arms beginning at Z226 and had not focused much on the reactions you see at Z225. You might very well be correct about that. I wish we could see JFK's face at Z224 so we would have something to compare it to. Was there a significant change at Z225? No way to say for sure, but you make a strong case for that. There's no question that JBC's shoulders made a sudden dip at Z225.

I have calculated that the bullet that caused JFK's head to explode at Z313 with an estimated average velocity of 2000 fps would have required about 2 frames to cover the 88 yards from the muzzle to JFK's head. I want to emphasize the word estimate because I don't have an reliable figure for the bullet's velocity, but I think I'm in the ballpark. That means Oswald would have pulled the trigger at or about Z311. Frame Z318 is badly blurred indicating Zapruder likely jiggled his camera in reaction to hearing the muzzle blast. Since the distance from the muzzle to Zapruder's ears was a constant for all three shots, we should expect a similar lag time between the firing of the shot and the jiggle of Zapruder's camera, which for the head shot was 7 frames. That is an estimate because the actual lag time is unlikely to be an integer. Whether that figure is a little more or a little less than 7 frames I have no way of knowing. Trying to nail this down precisely is impossible due to the timepiece we are using which is Zapruder's camera. However, if we apply that estimated 7 frame lag time to the second shot, there is a blurring of frame Z227 which would indicate the second shot was fired at Z220. It's a slightly shorter distance for the bullet to cover but it's still almost 2 Z-frames which would mean the single bullet struck at or about Z222. That seems to me to be reasonable given the jacket bulge at Z224 and the arm flips at Z226.

[John Corbett]

I am posting this for the benefit of Andrew Mason.  In another thread, Robin Unger posted this picture which is an enhanced version of frame 193.



I believe that is the frame you theorize JFK was struck in the back at and that the bullet that exited JFK's throat continued to the left of JBC's torso and struck him in the left thigh. To show how that could have happened, you posted this drawing earlier in this thread along with the caption "Not with JBC turned sharply right:"



Since both the photo and the drawing purport to be of frame Z193, I ask you if you think JBC is turned as far in the photo as you depict in your drawing?

[Zeon Mason]

CE399 was the first bullet that struck JFK when he was between the lamp post and Thornton sign.  I put it at or just before z193, after which JFK is seen to turn forward. This bullet passed through JFK’s neck without encountering anything capable of changing its direction.  Where it went after that is a matter of placing both men in positions seen in the zfilm at z190-193 and seeing where a straight line points. It could not have passed to the far right side of Connnally at that point. So the only possibility would seem to be that it caused a wound to JBC on his left side.
It was on a downward slope at z190:


It doesn’t look like it would have struck the dashboard.

At z285 Connally is already falling back and Greer is turned around, which he said he did at the time of the second shot. I suggest the shot was at z271-272.  His forward motion/recoil begins at z271-272.  The hair on JFK’s right side flies up at z273-276 (Hickey observed this on the second shot).
The thigh wound did not occur on the second shot. JBC never felt the thigh wound.

Ok so you  propose a Z190-193(approx ) shot hit JFK in the back and exited his throat and then bypassed JCs back entirely and the bullet came to rest in JCs left thigh yes?

A. How do you account for the thigh wound being shallow if the momentum of the CE 399 bullet passing thru JFKs back and throat was not reduced by very much, thus probably still traveling at 1500 ft/ sec when it would have entered the thigh of JC?

The test that shot a 6.5 mm Mc bullet thru 2 replica human torso models showed that the 2000ft/sec velocity bullet went completely thru BOTH bodies and kept on going and was traveling still at approx 900ft/ sec.

B. How can you reconcile that test with your proposed Z190 shot having bypassed  the mass of JCs upper body , yet somehow the bullet is brought  to rest by less mass in the thigh?

C. How do you account for the missing % of metal from the nose of CE 399, if it struck no bones in JFK or JCs left leg?

Your drawing to demonstrate how you think JCs body position was at Z190-193 looks like an extremely difficult twisted torso position that one has wonder if an older man like JC would even have been able to twist his upper body around that much while still leaving his left leg hanging to the left of his lower buttocks.

D.Can you prove from Z frames Z190-Z193  that JCs shoulder line is rotated to his right at greater than a 45% angle as your drawing appears to be showing?

E. Can you demonstrate  how JFK and  JCs  bodys were positioned in Z frames Z270-75 so that the 2nd bullet passed by JFKs body completely yet hit JC as he leaned over and the bullet  struck JCs wrist bone entering backwards and where that bullet went after exiting his wrist?

[John Mytton]

I looked at the shot jiggles at various point in the Zapruder Film and found that up to and including the headshot, Zapruder had 3 vertical jumps. And working backwards from the obvious headshot which confirmed the vertical jiggle a few frames later, next we have the SBF jiggle happening a few frames after Kennedy and Connally simultaneously react and then we come to the first jiggle which can be confirmed by Rosemary Willis hearing a gunshot and slowing down, and we also have the testimony from Connally that states he heard a gunshot and turned to look over his right shoulder. We can also see Kennedy's quick head snap to the right.

Zapruder also has some horizontal panning corrections which result in what appear to be horizontal jiggles but by studying the frames after the headshot and the SBF, we know how Zapruder reacted to the sounds of gunshots.







JohnM