Seven reasons why
Oswald’s first shot was not fired at or near Zapruder frame Z160.
Reason
One: The Zapruder Film Itself.
Do
you remember your reaction the first time you heard a live rifle round being
fired? You flinched. Some of you jumped right out of your skins. You were startled at how unexpectedly loud it
was, even if you were prepared for it.
There are at least 63 people in Z160, not including anyone in the
motorcade or escort. They were not
expecting any such “painfully loud” explosion.
Nearly all would have flinched in unison. Many would have instinctively turned toward
the source of the rifle fire, the sixth floor of the TSBD. Everyone lining Elm Street, most evidently
the women in the foreground, would have reacted. If Gov. Connally and Rosemary Willis
responded to a rifle blast, why did no one else in these frames as much as bat
an eye? The faster Connally turned to
his right, the more certain others would have also shown startle movements. Yet there were none. The Governor turned to his right to look at
the crowd for the hundredth time during the motorcade, and 10-year-old Rosemary
Willis turned in response to being called by her father Phil.
Reason
Two: Career-Trained Witnesses.
You
could not ask for a more perceptive group of witnesses to be assembled in one
place: the nation’s senior journalists, top-of-the-line Secret Service agents
and Dallas City and County law enforcement officers. All are career-trained to accurately observe
and report events. That’s their
job. Most testified that the first shot
occurred as the limousine was turning from Houston onto Elm or in the process
of completing its turn, about six seconds earlier than Z160: Secret Service
agents Paul Landis and Clint Hill, Chief Criminal Deputy Allan Sweatt and
journalists Robert H. Jackson and Tom C. Dillard among many others. One 13-year-old girl, Tina Towner, disagreed,
claiming that the shot came after she had stopped filming. Ten-year-old Rosemary Willis also
contradicted these professionals. Which
witnesses do you choose to believe? All
witnesses are not equal. Our beliefs
must be tempered by a development of discriminating standards.
Z160
shows the Presidential limousine and the Secret Service follow-up car having
completed the turn and proceeding down Elm Street. There’s a large gap, and then the Vice
President’s car making the turn, just about where the President’s limo was when
the first shot was fired, according to these career-trained witnesses. Can they be ignored?
Reason
Three: The Timing of Oswald’s Three Shots.
A
tough-to-ignore majority of witnesses testified to a significantly greater
time interval between the first two shots and the last two: Victoria Adams,
Barbara Rowland, Arnold Louis Rowland, Chief Criminal Deputy Allan Sweatt, and
journalist Robert H. Jackson, among many others. Do we discount them all?
We
know from the Zapruder film that 4.9 seconds elapsed between the second shot at
Z224 and the third at Z313. Yet only 3.5
seconds elapsed between Z160 and Z224.
That would mean Oswald completely missed everything at or near Z160, but
then within the next 3.5 seconds managed to operate the bolt— up, back, forward
and down— acquire the target in the scope’s crosshairs and fire a near-perfect
strike just as the President was coming into view from behind the oak
tree. For those with marksmanship
experience, there are more plausible explanations.
Reason
Four: The Necessity of Sighting-In the Rifle.
The
primary rule in firing for accuracy is that you must first sight-in, or zero,
your weapon. Even the greenest marksman
knows you don’t just pick up a rifle and start shooting. Oswald knew from experience that his Carcano would never hold its zero (remain
sighted-in) after being disassembled and reassembled. He had learned that lesson by his
failure to hit Gen. Walker. A minimum of
eight or nine seconds is required to re-zero with the first shot, placing it
much earlier than Z160.
Reason
Five: Why the First Shot Missed.
Is
there any better explanation for the first shot completely missing the
limousine than that it wasn’t aimed at the car to begin with? Oswald used the first shot for the
indispensable task of sighting-in his carbine and it ‘missed’ because it was
aimed at another specific target in Dealey Plaza. He chose a target that would kick up some
dust and could easily be seen by him but few others. Would you rather believe it silently hit a
tree branch or a traffic light support pole and bounced so far away it was
never located? Or would you rather
believe the ex-Marine accidentally squeezed the trigger and let loose an
unintended high-powered rifle shot God knows where? Oswald hit his target both times he
tried. He wasn’t aiming at the President
with the first shot.
Reason
Six: Splices in Three Films.
Seven
critical frames were deliberately removed from the Tina Towner film, just at
the point where the limousine was making the turn onto Elm Street (after frame
T084). And four telltale frames from two
different copies of the Zapruder film were spliced out, just before the
President disappeared behind the Stemmons Freeway sign (Z208‒Z211). The Towner film and one of the Zapruder
copies were spliced while in possession of the FBI. In the latter case, the cover-up excuse was a
“lab accident.” In the former, the
Towner splice is precisely where credible career-trained witnesses said they
heard the first shot (see Reason Two) and the FBI couldn’t tolerate an early
first shot.
Reason
Seven: Incorrect Assumptions.
There
is no logical reason to assume that Abe Zapruder’s film captured all three
shots. There are practical real-world
reasons why it didn’t. Once we learn
what Oswald already knew, the need to sight-in his re-assembled Carcano to
achieve the required accuracy, it becomes clear why the first shot was fired
and therefore when it was fired. The
time it took to re-zero mandated an early first shot, well before Zapruder
began his famous sequence at Z133.
(As a
surprising oddity, another filmer did capture all three shots. But it wasn’t Abraham Zapruder.)
For
the complete detailed analysis and supporting evidence, see The Final Truth: Solving the Mystery of the
JFK Assassination.
Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CPSBM7U
Website: http://www.thefinaltruth.net
