Below are some additional problems with the autopsy photos and skull x-rays. I didn't list them in the OP because I didn't want the OP to turn into a book. I feared the OP was already getting a bit long.
-- The lateral skull x-rays show a physically impossible white patch in the lower half of the right-rear part of the skull. The patch's optical-density (OD) measurements are almost the same as those of the petrous bone, which is a physical impossibility. According to the OD measurements of the white patch, the skull bone in this location extends nearly to the other side of the skull, which is a physical impossibility.
-- Dr. Michael Chesser examined and took OD measurements of a pre-mortem JFK skull x-ray at the Kennedy Library in Boston in order to provide a control for the OD readings of the white patch. He saw nothing resembling the white patch on the pre-mortem skull x-ray, and his OD measurements of the pre-mortem x-ray showed far less density than the OD measurements of the white patch on the lateral autopsy skull x-rays.
-- Another fact that proves the autopsy skull x-rays have been altered is the fact that the white patch on the lateral skull x-rays is nowhere to be seen on the AP skull x-ray. If the white patch had been on the original lateral x-rays, it would be on the AP x-ray as well--indeed, it would very obvious and easy to see on the AP x-ray. But, there is no trace of it on the extant AP x-ray. This is a physical impossibility, as Dr. David Mantik has explained:
It should also be emphasized that, although this white patch is obvious on both lateral skull X-rays, it is nowhere to be seen on the AP (frontal) skull X-ray. In the physical universe that we know, this is impossible. (JFK Assassination Paradoxes, 2022, p. 9)-- Additional clear physical proof that the autopsy skull x-rays are not the originals is the fact that on the lateral x-ray of the neck area there is a T-shaped symbol etched onto the x-ray, but there is no emulsion missing from the x-ray at this spot on either side of the film, proving this x-ray is a copy and not an original.
Custer, the autopsy x-ray technician, said he made various marks on the x-rays for identification purposes. When you etch a symbol or letter into x-ray film, naturally there will be emulsion missing from the film at that location on that side of the film. However, there is no emulsion missing from either side of the film of this lateral x-ray, which is hard physical proof that the x-ray is a copy and not an original.
Dr. Mantik made this historic discovery during his final viewing of the autopsy materials at the National Archives. Dr. Michael Chesser confirmed the fact that no emulsion is missing from either side of the x-ray film when he examined the autopsy materials at the National Archives. Dr. Mantik:
The T-shaped inscription must have been etched into the emulsion on the original (never-released) lateral X-ray film. Such etching is easy to do, e.g., by using a fingernail, metal file, or nail. The missing emulsion would have been easy to detect, especially while viewing the surface at an angle to a light source. Inspection of the other side would clearly have shown no missing emulsion (because the etching was only done on one side of the double emulsion film). Realizing this, during my final visit to the Archives (April 12, 2001), I scrutinized these emulsions very carefully.
I first asked Steve Tilley, the JFK archivist, to remove the X-ray film from its transparent plastic sheath so that I could view the surfaces directly. He did so. And then, after viewing at multiple angles, I recognized that no emulsion was missing from either side of the film! The implication was inescapable: this could only be a copy film—not an original. That is because the copy film would preserve the image of the T-shaped inscription, but it would also retain its own emulsion (on both sides) -- since no one had scraped emulsion off either side of this copy film. . . .
Once I recognized that this lateral X-ray film was a forgery, I had a shocking insight. None of the three extant JFK skull X-ray films is an original—all three must be copies. In this case, it means that all three are altered images. Most likely, all of the original skull X-ray films (of five to six total) had to be destroyed because they contained forensic proof that Oswald was not the sole assassin.
In Chesser’s review (at the 2015 JFK Lancer Conference), he confirmed my observations of the T-shaped inscription:
"Dr. Mantik described emulsion over the T-shaped wax mark, which was attributed to Ed Reed marking the film. I agree with him that the surface of the film appeared smooth, when viewed at eye level."
Like me, Dr. Chesser saw that emulsion was fully present on both sides of this lateral X-ray film, thus leaving no doubt that the film is a duplicate. (The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy: The Final Analysis,, 2024, pp. 201-203)-- In September 1977, shortly before the HSCA publicly displayed the JFK autopsy x-rays for the first time, Dr. Russell Morgan, the radiologist on the Clark Panel, said he was no longer so certain that the bullet that hit JFK’s head was an FMJ bullet, and suggested that the high fragment trail might be more consistent with a frangible bullet than with an FMJ bullet because the fragmentation of the bullet was so severe. (
The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy: The Final Analysis,, p. 206)
Remember that it was Dr. Morgan who told Howard Donahue that the Clark Panel believed the 6.5 mm object in the rear outer table of the skull was a ricochet fragment.
-- Dr. Chesser and Dr. Mantik, among others, have noted that the high fragment trail expands from front to back, not back to front, which indicates the bullet struck the front of the head, since fragment trails naturally tend to expand in skulls after penetration.
Dr. Chesser and Dr. Mantik have also noted that the larger fragments of the high fragment trail are at the end of the trail's expansion, and that the science of ballistics tells us that in a group of bullet fragments the larger fragments will travel farther from the entry point. Dr. Chesser explains this in conjunction with his identification of a right-front entry wound on the skull x-rays:
The most important finding here is the proximity of these tiny metallic fragments to this bone defect. This location, on the intracranial side of the bony defect, is highly suggestive of an entry wound. One of the principles of skull ballistics is that the largest fragments travel the furthest from the entry site, with the smallest fragments traveling the least distance, and that is exactly what is seen on this right lateral skull x-ray. (“The Application of Forensic Principles for the Analysis of the Autopsy Skull X-Rays of President Kennedy and a Review of Brain Photographs,” November 27, 2017, https://www.kennedysandking.com/john-f-kennedy-articles/the-application-of-forensic-principles-for-the-analysis-of-the-autopsy-skull-x-rays-of-president-kennedy-and-a-review-of-the-brain-photographs) Dr. Mantik adds,
When you look at the x-rays that are stored at the archives now, on the lateral x-ray there is a fragment trail. It actually expands from front to back. . . .
Now why is that important? Well, what we know is that the larger bullet fragments travel farther, whereas the smaller ones tend to stay near the entry site. That’s what we see on these X-rays. In other words, we can reasonably interpret these as being consistent with a frontal bullet, but being radically inconsistent with a posterior bullet. (The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy: The Final Analysis,, p. 193)
