Did LHO fire a shot that missed everything? If so, when did he fire it?

[Andrew Mason]

While viewing the Secret Service reenactment film, Brian Roselle spotted a mark in the pavement that would have been very close to JFK at "Z-124," i.e., half-a-second before Zapruder resumed filming (after a 17-second pause) at Z-133.

So why can no one else see it in the same film?

[John Corbett]

Who said anything about trying to shoot the limo? What I was saying is that it is hard to see how a shot that missed the target (presumably JFK) would also miss the limo.

There is speculation that the shallow back wound was a result of an underpowered bullet that was either defective or deliberately underpowered to leave intact ballistic evidence to frame Oswald. I don’t believe either. The shallow back wound was due to either incompetence of the autopsy doctors or a bullet thst made a sudden change in direction inside the body.

The observation that Oswald missed the entire limo is a red herring because it implies that the limo was his target making missing the entire limo seem highly improbable. The truth is Oswald's target was on he extreme right side of the limo meaning  a miss to the right of his intended target would miss the limo entirely. It's still a significant miss but given the difficulties of that shot, it is certainly understandable.

[John Corbett]

Earlier, Kevin Balch made he following statement:

"I don’t see how it is possible to have missed the limo. Even if it was a severely undercharged bullet, it still should have hit within 2 feet of the target."

The observation that Oswald missed the entire limo is a red herring because it implies that the limo was his target making missing the entire limo seem highly improbable. The truth is Oswald's target was on the extreme right side of the limo meaning  a miss to the right of his intended target would miss the limo entirely. It's still a significant miss but given the difficulties of that shot, it is certainly understandable.

[Andrew Mason]

The observation that Oswald missed the entire limo is a red herring because it implies that the limo was his target making missing the entire limo seem highly improbable. The truth is Oswald's target was on he extreme right side of the limo meaning  a miss to the right of his intended target would miss the limo entirely. It's still a significant miss but given the difficulties of that shot, it is certainly understandable.

You are ignoring the angle.  If he just missed JFK he would have hit the side of the car.  Here is what it looked like in the Secret Service reenactment as the car passed under the traffic light from the perspective of the SN:


So a miss of the car is actually a significant miss of about half a car width.

[Andrew Mason]

What was the angular velocity of JFK's head at "Z-124" (i.e., half-a-second before Zapruder resumed filming at Z-133) from Oswald's point of view in the 6th floor window?

Assuming a 12.5 mph speed (18.3 fps) that would be 1 foot per frame (55 ms).  At that point the car was about 50 feet from a point on the street directly below the SN, which was 60 feet above the street.   That puts the SN 78 feet from JFK.  If JFK was moving at right angles to the sightline from the SN that would result in the maximum angular speed.  The car was moving at an angle greater than 90 relative to the SN (angle between green lines is about 112 degrees):


That would be an angle of arcsin(1/78) or .73 degrees in 55 ms or 13.35 degrees per second.  Since it was moving away on an angle it would have been a bit less than that.

[John Corbett]

You are ignoring the angle.  If he just missed JFK he would have hit the side of the car.  Here is what it looked like in the Secret Service reenactment as the car passed under the traffic light from the perspective of the SN:


So a miss of the car is actually a significant miss of about half a car width.

The reenactment film made the same mistake you did with your sketch. It has JFK too far to the left. JFK had his elbow resting on he side of the car. The reenactor has his arm entirely inside the car. There is no question Oswald missed JFK by a significant amount but given he inherent difficulty of he shot, it certainly is not an unreasonable miss.

[Kevin Balch]

So where is the ricochet damage to the limousine?

If the shot was fired from the Dal-Tex building, it could have continued on parallel to the limo. But the Dal-Tex building was thoroughly searched and anyone inside was thoroughly questioned.