Why Altgens 6 Refutes the Lone-Gunman Theory

[Michael T. Griffith]

AP photographer James Altgens took a photograph that destroys the lone-gunman theory: Altgens 6. Everyone agrees that Altgens 6 was taken at right around Z255.

Here's the unsolvable problem that Altgens 6 poses for the lone-gunman theory: It shows damage to the windshield of JFK's limousine. Nobody disputes this fact. The Warren Commission (WC) admitted that the alleged magic bullet of the single-bullet theory (SBT) could not have caused the windshield damage. The WC assumed the damage was caused by a fragment from the head shot. However, the head shot did not occur until Z313.

As an important side note, I should mention that there is strong, mutually corroborating evidence that there was a hole in the windshield. At least eight witnesses in three different locations independently reported that they saw a hole in the windshield. One of the witnesses, a Dallas police officer, actually put a pencil through the hole to confirm it was a hole. Several of the witnesses said the hole appeared to have been made by a bullet that hit from the front. For more information on this evidence, see Doug Weldon's chapter in Murder in Dealey Plaza:

"The Kennedy Limousine: Dallas 1963"

See also Dr. David Mantik's chapter titled "The Frontal Shot Through the Limousine Windshield" in his 2024 book The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy: The Final Analysis (chapter 5).

I am not here to argue over the evidence of a windshield hole. My main point is that regardless of whether the windshield damage was just cracks or was a hole and some cracks, the lone-gunman theory has no plausible explanation for the damage.

WC apologists and mortal-error theorists who acknowledge that a bullet hit the pavement behind the limousine early in the shooting may suggest that a fragment from this bullet hit the windshield. However, this is problematic for a number of reasons.

The windshield damage was 4-6 inches to the left of the rearview mirror (viewing from the back of the limo to the front). In order to hit the windshield at this location, a fragment from the pavement bullet would have had to first miss the riding handles on the back of the limo, then miss JFK and Jackie Kennedy, then miss John and Nellie Connally, and then miss the driver, William Greer.

Furthermore, in the MPI large-format transparencies of the Zapruder film, the windshield damage first appears in Z193 and is plainly visible again from Z215 to Z232 (David Mantik, The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy: The Final Analysis, 2024, pp. 289-291). But the pavement strike occurred well before Z193 -- in fact, it occurred before Z166 (even according to Gerald Posner).

If a fragment had hit the windshield hard enough to crack it so early in the shooting, surely the driver would have noticed it and would have visibly reacted, since no other shots had been fired yet.

But, if the windshield was hit at around Z190, after at least one shot had already been fired, the driver, now nervous and distracted by having heard a rifle shot, may not have noticed the windshield hit, especially if a high-velocity bullet penetrated the windshield from the front.

Clearly, a windshield hit at Z190 could not have been done by a bullet fired from the sixth-floor window, even if we assume the windshield was hit from behind. Clearly, no fragment from the head shot could have caused the windshield damage, since the head shot occurred at Z313. And clearly, no fragment from the Z133-166 pavement bullet could have caused the windshield damage (indeed, WC apologists already have that bullet magically sending a large fragment streaking toward the curb near James Tague over 400 feet away).
 

[John Corbett]

AP photographer James Altgens took a photograph that destroys the lone-gunman theory: Altgens 6. Everyone agrees that Altgens 6 was taken at right around Z255.

Here's the unsolvable problem that Altgens 6 poses for the lone-gunman theory: It shows damage to the windshield of JFK's limousine. Nobody disputes this fact. The Warren Commission (WC) admitted that the alleged magic bullet of the single-bullet theory (SBT) could not have caused the windshield damage. The WC assumed the damage was caused by a fragment from the head shot. However, the head shot did not occur until Z313.

As an important side note, I should mention that there is strong, mutually corroborating evidence that there was a hole in the windshield. At least eight witnesses in three different locations independently reported that they saw a hole in the windshield. One of the witnesses, a Dallas police officer, actually put a pencil through the hole to confirm it was a hole. Several of the witnesses said the hole appeared to have been made by a bullet that hit from the front. For more information on this evidence, see Doug Weldon's chapter in Murder in Dealey Plaza:

"The Kennedy Limousine: Dallas 1963"

See also Dr. David Mantik's chapter titled "The Frontal Shot Through the Limousine Windshield" in his 2024 book The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy: The Final Analysis (chapter 5).

I am not here to argue over the evidence of a windshield hole. My main point is that regardless of whether the windshield damage was just cracks or was a hole and some cracks, the lone-gunman theory has no plausible explanation for the damage.

WC apologists and mortal-error theorists who acknowledge that a bullet hit the pavement behind the limousine early in the shooting may suggest that a fragment from this bullet hit the windshield. However, this is problematic for a number of reasons.

The windshield damage was 4-6 inches to the left of the rearview mirror (viewing from the back of the limo to the front). In order to hit the windshield at this location, a fragment from the pavement bullet would have had to first miss the riding handles on the back of the limo, then miss JFK and Jackie Kennedy, then miss John and Nellie Connally, and then miss the driver, William Greer.

Furthermore, in the MPI large-format transparencies of the Zapruder film, the windshield damage first appears in Z193 and is plainly visible again from Z215 to Z232 (David Mantik, The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy: The Final Analysis, 2024, pp. 289-291). But the pavement strike occurred well before Z193 -- in fact, it occurred before Z166 (even according to Gerald Posner).

If a fragment had hit the windshield hard enough to crack it so early in the shooting, surely the driver would have noticed it and would have visibly reacted, since no other shots had been fired yet.

But, if the windshield was hit at around Z190, after at least one shot had already been fired, the driver, now nervous and distracted by having heard a rifle shot, may not have noticed the windshield hit, especially if a high-velocity bullet penetrated the windshield from the front.

Clearly, a windshield hit at Z190 could not have been done by a bullet fired from the sixth-floor window, even if we assume the windshield was hit from behind. Clearly, no fragment from the head shot could have caused the windshield damage, since the head shot occurred at Z313. And clearly, no fragment from the Z133-166 pavement bullet could have caused the windshield damage (indeed, WC apologists already have that bullet magically sending a large fragment streaking toward the curb near James Tague over 400 feet away).
 

In the thread about the dented shell, I made the point that CTs have no interest in determining who killed JFK. Their whole game is finding excuses to deny it was Oswald. MTG's latest post is perfect example of this. This one he pulled out of thin air or more likely, a much darker place. I've looked at 4 different online copies of the Altgens 6  and I see nothing that resembles a cracked windshield in any of them. If the crack that was later discovered and photographed had been present in Altgens 6, that most certainly would be a game changer. CE399 did not cause that crack. There is no evidence the first shot struck anywhere inside the limo. Only a fragment from the head shot could have caused that crack. That is exactly what happened. But that hasn't stopped MTG from making this story up because he apparently doesn't have enough lame excuses to dismiss the overwhelming evidence of Oswald's guilt.

When MTG makes up excuses this bad, it makes me wonder if he is just here to troll and has no real interest in the JFKA.

[Tom Graves]

A Dallas police officer actually put a pencil through the hole to confirm it was a hole.

Who was that?

[Mark Ulrik]

AP photographer James Altgens took a photograph that destroys the lone-gunman theory: Altgens 6. Everyone agrees that Altgens 6 was taken at right around Z255.

Here's the unsolvable problem that Altgens 6 poses for the lone-gunman theory: It shows damage to the windshield of JFK's limousine. Nobody disputes this fact. The Warren Commission (WC) admitted that the alleged magic bullet of the single-bullet theory (SBT) could not have caused the windshield damage. The WC assumed the damage was caused by a fragment from the head shot. However, the head shot did not occur until Z313.
...

Show us the damage that is "undisputedly" visible in Altgens 6.

[Tom Graves]

Show us the damage that is "undisputedly" visible in Altgens 6.

It's my understanding that it was a two-ply laminated windshield, and that there was no through-and-through hole but the inner layer was cracked and the outer layer had lost a piece from the outward force of one of the bullet fragments from the Z-313 head shot that was found inside the limo.


ME: Was the windshield of JFK's limousine two-ply or three-ply?

Google AI: The windshield of JFK's 1961 Lincoln Continental limousine was two-ply (a standard laminated safety glass) at the time of the assassination. It was not bullet-resistant and contained only two layers of glass with a plastic interlayer, which was standard for luxury vehicles of that era.

[Brian Doyle]

Glanges was pretty sure it was a through and through bullet hole...

Covered up at the Rouge Plant 3 days later...

[Michael T. Griffith]

AP photographer James Altgens took a photograph that destroys the lone-gunman theory: Altgens 6. Everyone agrees that Altgens 6 was taken at right around Z255.

Here's the unsolvable problem that Altgens 6 poses for the lone-gunman theory: It shows damage to the windshield of JFK's limousine. Nobody disputes this fact. The Warren Commission (WC) admitted that the alleged magic bullet of the single-bullet theory (SBT) could not have caused the windshield damage. The WC assumed the damage was caused by a fragment from the head shot. However, the head shot did not occur until Z313.

As an important side note, I should mention that there is strong, mutually corroborating evidence that there was a hole in the windshield. At least eight witnesses in three different locations independently reported that they saw a hole in the windshield. One of the witnesses, a Dallas police officer, actually put a pencil through the hole to confirm it was a hole. Several of the witnesses said the hole appeared to have been made by a bullet that hit from the front. For more information on this evidence, see Doug Weldon's chapter in Murder in Dealey Plaza:

"The Kennedy Limousine: Dallas 1963"

See also Dr. David Mantik's chapter titled "The Frontal Shot Through the Limousine Windshield" in his 2024 book The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy: The Final Analysis (chapter 5).

I am not here to argue over the evidence of a windshield hole. My main point is that regardless of whether the windshield damage was just cracks or was a hole and some cracks, the lone-gunman theory has no plausible explanation for the damage.

WC apologists and mortal-error theorists who acknowledge that a bullet hit the pavement behind the limousine early in the shooting may suggest that a fragment from this bullet hit the windshield. However, this is problematic for a number of reasons.

The windshield damage was 4-6 inches to the left of the rearview mirror (viewing from the back of the limo to the front). In order to hit the windshield at this location, a fragment from the pavement bullet would have had to first miss the riding handles on the back of the limo, then miss JFK and Jackie Kennedy, then miss John and Nellie Connally, and then miss the driver, William Greer.

Furthermore, in the MPI large-format transparencies of the Zapruder film, the windshield damage first appears in Z193 and is plainly visible again from Z215 to Z232 (David Mantik, The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy: The Final Analysis, 2024, pp. 289-291). But the pavement strike occurred well before Z193 -- in fact, it occurred before Z166 (even according to Gerald Posner).

If a fragment had hit the windshield hard enough to crack it so early in the shooting, surely the driver would have noticed it and would have visibly reacted, since no other shots had been fired yet.

But, if the windshield was hit at around Z190, after at least one shot had already been fired, the driver, now nervous and distracted by having heard a rifle shot, may not have noticed the windshield hit, especially if a high-velocity bullet penetrated the windshield from the front.

Clearly, a windshield hit at Z190 could not have been done by a bullet fired from the sixth-floor window, even if we assume the windshield was hit from behind. Clearly, no fragment from the head shot could have caused the windshield damage, since the head shot occurred at Z313. And clearly, no fragment from the Z133-166 pavement bullet could have caused the windshield damage (indeed, WC apologists already have that bullet magically sending a large fragment streaking toward the curb near James Tague over 400 feet away).

The link for Weldon's chapter on the hole in the windshield has been fixed. Sorry about that.