DP Acoustic Analysis: Can anyone recommend the "best" book?

[Tom Neal]

Tom /Ron:

I honestly believe that the Haber/Berkeley project never got the required funding for purely financial/cost-justification reasons. At the time (2008-2009), I seem to recall that there were major cutbacks at NARA in terms of both staff and funds. I should add that there are good "preservation copies" of the belts available from NARA (Larry Sabato certainly had copies of these in 2013, when writing his book "The Kennedy Half Century"), but they are tape copies - this project was intended to create a digital copy of the crucial belt, in particular, which would outlast the tapes.

Chris.

Thanks for the info, Chris!

This is better news than hearing it was summarily dropped because the belt has been "proven useless."

As well as making an exact copy that wouldn't degenerate, didn't the project expect to get more data from the belt than was transferred to the tape versions? I believe that the process used to extract the data would actually extract data that couldn't be played by the dictabelt. New and more accurate data would be something to be feared, and therefor avoided.

Tom

[Chris Scally]

Tom:

I can't recall the exact details without digging through boxes of old files, but Carl Haber and his team felt they could get the best possible results in terms of clarity and completeness that could be extracted from the belts after 45 years, given that the belts were not stored correctly for much of that time (as I recall, NARA only got them in 1990 from the DOJ, who had been in possession of them since the HSCA had them back in 1978, and for most of that 112-year period they were apparently kept in an envelope in a filing-cabinet drawer!). As far as I know, the belts are today almost (if not completely) unplayable by conventional means, as they have become badly cracked and brittle with age, even if original Dictaphone playback equipment from that era could be found.

Chris.

[Tom Neal]

Tom:

I can't recall the exact details without digging through boxes of old files, but Carl Haber and his team felt they could get the best possible results in terms of clarity and completeness that could be extracted from the belts after 45 years, given that the belts were not stored correctly for much of that time (as I recall, NARA only got them in 1990 from the DOJ, who had been in possession of them since the HSCA had them back in 1978, and for most of that 112-year period they were apparently kept in an envelope in a filing-cabinet drawer!). As far as I know, the belts are today almost (if not completely) unplayable by conventional means, as they have become badly cracked and brittle with age, even if original Dictaphone playback equipment from that era could be found.

Chris.

Thanks, Chris that is the way I remember it, too. What a surprise that contrary evidence was treated so poorly...

Tom

[Tom Neal]

While reviewing the available info on the original Acoustical Analysis, I have found little information explaining precisely HOW the locus of this moving transmitter was determined, so I'm going to have to do a thorough read of the original report to the HSCA.

Thus far, it appears that a keyed microphone moving on Elm Street behind the Motorcade is required to prove the sounds on the tape are the actual gunfire. There is no hard photographic evidence of Hollis B. McClain's exact position at the required time. McClain is certain he was not in the required position, and for quite some time he has stated opinions contrary to the WC conclusions. He has no known reason to lie, but of course there's a chance that he could simply be mistaken. Officer Courson has been named as another possible "stuck mike" source. I've just started researching this possibility.

The acoustical science used in this analysis has been proven accurate by the long-term use of "Boomerang" technology by the US military to precisely locate enemy snipers. I've encountered no information from dissenting papers, etc. accusing the acoustical process itself to be faulty, nor has anyone proposed the original analysis contains mathematical errors.

There is enough hard evidence in this analysis to keep my hopes up. For example, each shot not only corresponds to the correct acoustical signature, but the chronological order of the sounds on the tape indicate a continuous movement along the motorcade route. i.e. The first sound occurring on the tape corresponds to one microphone, the second sound corresponds to a mike farther down the parade route, and so on. Additionally, the interval between the sounds on the tape match the interval of the gun shots. What are the odds of random static doing this at all, let alone at the correct time? IMO, due to the nature of the radio equipment; the timing, the bells, the crosstalk, etc. can neither prove nor disprove the validity of the analysis.

The question I'm left with is; why does demonstrated workable technology indicate a "stuck mike" where there is no motorcycle officer? This is the crux of those who dismiss the acoustical analysis.

I'm not aware of any DPD vehicles in the motorcade, other than the motorcycles and Curry's Lead Car, and they were not in the correct position. Anyway, what are the odds of an accidental "open mike" on the DPD frequency occurring when it did, and for as long as it did? Who else would have a police radio transmitter, and WHY would they have it? If someone in or near the motorcade other than DPD had a police radio TRANSMITTER, then the chances that it was accidentally "continuously keyed" are exactly zero.

If this continuous transmission at the worst possible time was actually "jamming" intended to facilitate the shooting itself and the escape of a number of conspirators, then a motorcycle in the right place at the right time is no longer a requirement. We do have "Umbrella Man's" sidekick who many including myself suspect was operating a radio - but he is in the wrong location. Could there have been a radio operator stationed at the corner across from the TSBD standing by to jamb the police frequency? How difficult would it have been to plant a transmitter inside a vehicle riding in the motorcade? Especially with DPD and/or SS cooperation. This would match all the requirements to "prove" the acoustic analysis was correct. But were there any vehicles in the correct position?

I have as yet done no research along these lines. Does anyone think this is a possible alternative to the "missing motorcycle?"

Tom

Edited February 23, 2015 by Tom Neal

[Chris Scally]

Tom:

As BBN's matching process was a manual one, it seemed reasonable to assume that current technology might allow quicker and more accurate comparison of the impulse patterns on the original recordings with those on the 1978 HSCA reconstruction recordings, with a view to reproduce BBN's pattern-matching work. To that end, a group of interested individuals came together in late 2010 in an effort to see if we could unravel some of the apparent inconsistencies in the acoustics evidence.

To make a very long story short, efforts were made to obtain all the original recordings and work-papers used by BBN in their work, which involved contacting the new owners of BBN and asking them to release any relevant material in their files (Dr Barger had by then retired). The CEO of BBN's new owners told me in October 2011 that all material they got from BBN relating to the BBN/HSCA work had either been destroyed or returned to the client (in this case the HSCA, or ultimately the U.S. government). My subsequent correspondence with the office of the Clerk of the House and also with NARA failed to find any of the material, with the result that the recordings and notes generated and used by BBN in their study of the acoustics evidence were most probably destroyed when Dr. Barger retired in early 2011. Without the BBN raw data It was therefore impossible for any further progress to be made in replicating BBN's work.

However, Michael O'Dell subsequently tried to carry out the same replication exercise on the Weiss and Aschkenasy part of the process in 2012/2013, and he made the results of his work available on-line (I cannot post a link to it here for some reason, so just do a Google search for 'replicating weiss and aschkenasy' and you'll find it). I think Michael's work is the most recent work that has been carried out on this fascinating subject, and I believe you will find his article to be of interest/help to you.

Chris.

Edited February 23, 2015 by Chris Scally

[Tom Neal]

Tom:

As BBN's matching process was a manual one, it seemed reasonable to assume that current technology might allow quicker and more accurate comparison of the impulse patterns on the original recordings with those on the 1978 HSCA reconstruction recordings, with a view to reproduce BBN's pattern-matching work. To that end, a group of interested individuals came together in late 2010 in an effort to see if we could unravel some of the apparent inconsistencies in the acoustics evidence.

To make a very long story short, efforts were made to obtain all the original recordings and work-papers used by BBN in their work, which involved contacting the new owners of BBN and asking them to release any relevant material in their files (Dr Barger had by then retired). The CEO of BBN's new owners told me in October 2011 that all material they got from BBN relating to the BBN/HSCA work had either been destroyed or returned to the client (in this case the HSCA, or ultimately the U.S. government). My subsequent correspondence with the office of the Clerk of the House and also with NARA failed to find any of the material, with the result that the recordings and notes generated and used by BBN in their study of the acoustics evidence were most probably destroyed when Dr. Barger retired in early 2011. Without the BBN raw data It was therefore impossible for any further progress to be made in replicating BBN's work.

It's certainly no surprise that all the work was destroyed rather than send it the National Archives or a University where it would be available. It's impossible to prove the work was done properly when it is permanently unavailable. A shame that you were unable to work with the original material. I and no doubt many others appreciate the time you devoted to this task. Thanks for sharing this - I had no idea this data was destroyed.

However, Michael O'Dell subsequently tried to carry out the same replication exercise on the Weiss and Aschkenasy part of the process in 2012/2013, and he made the results of his work available on-line (I cannot post a link to it here for some reason, so just do a Google search for 'replicating weiss and aschkenasy' and you'll find it). I think Michael's work is the most recent work that has been carried out on this fascinating subject, and I believe you will find his article to be of interest/help to you.

For anyone else who is interested, I believe this it:

http://jfk-records.com/odell/WAReplication.html

Chris, thank you for the info and for pointing me to Michael O'Dell's work.

Tom

[Greg Burnham]

Greg:

In post #9 above, you wrote: "The HSCA ... would also have concluded there was only one gunman ... until they gained access to the acoustic evidence due to the effort of Gary Mack."

If the HSCA had not been told about the acoustics evidence (which was brought to the their attention at the Critics Conference on September 17, 1977 by Mary Ferrell, if I remember correctly), what would have been said about Mary Ferrell and/or Gary Mack? They knowingly buried evidence of conspiracy?

You also said: "So by offering an alternate source of proof (the acoustics evidence) to the HSCA, Mack appeared to tip the scale in favor of conspiracy. However, if that evidence was known to be unreliable, due to planned flaws in methodology, one can create a false dichotomy."

Is this a suggestion that he knew the acoustics evidence was "unreliable" when he first wrote about it in Penn Jones' newsletter on August 22, 1977?

Chris.

Hi Chris,

I don't believe in coincidences...especially when they result in the further marginalization of conspiracy research. Such monumental blunders by otherwise intelligent people seems a bit convenient. However, I won't comment further. I will leave it to the reader to make their own evaluation of the evidence and judge if this is yet one more innocuous coincidence.

[Excerpt from an article by Steve Barber]

The Acoustic Evidence: A Personal Memoir

In August 1979, I was leaving Ohio for a week's vacation in Dallas, Texas. I was going to meet assassination eyewitness Charles Brehm. The day I was leaving Ohio, the Gallery magazine featuring the infamous "paper record" hit the news stands. I rushed out and bought a copy. J. W. Burke -- then publisher of The Grassy Knoll Gazette -- briefly mentioned in the May 1979 edition that this particular issue of Gallery was going to feature a recording of the Dallas police radio frequency, with the "stuck-open microphone sequence." I was thrilled to hear this!

Not long after I returned from Dallas, I began listening to the recording. Contrary to popular opinion, I was not convinced there were gunshots recorded on it, because I could not hear any. But I accepted the word of the computers and the experts who ran them.

I was convinced that Dallas Police motorcyclist H.B. McLain, who was riding in the Presidential motorcade that day, had had the open microphone. I had no problem with it. That is, until I bought a copy of R. B. Cutler's book, Mr. Chairman: Evidence of Conspiracy. In it was a published article from the Dallas Morning News by Earl Golz. In the article, Richard E. Sprague (photo consultant) mentioned that the House Select Committee on Assassinations (HSCA) asked him to locate a motorcycle in the films and photos taken before, during and after the assassination. He reported to them that not only could he not find one, but he said that there were none to be found within 120-150 feet behind the limousine. The HSCA didn't like this news, so they asked HSCA photographic consultant Robert Groden to search for someone. He erroneously located McLain. When I listened to the Gallery record forthe first time, I was totally confused. I'd had a portion of a Dallas radio program that researcher Gary Mack appeared on in Dallas. (Mack was credited by the HSCA for bringing the tape to their attention and, who worked for a local Dallas radio station.) The portion of the tape he was describing to the listeners of the radio program was about two minutes prior to the location at which the Gallery record stated the shots were located, but Mack was describing both of what we were hearing; the radio program and the Gallery record. I was totally confused as to why he is in two completely different sections on the same tape, saying there are 7 shots in one location, and 4 in another.

[emphasis added]

[Chris Scally]

Hi, Greg:

I, too, firmly stand over what I said, so we'll have to agree to disagree on this one, and - as you said - let the reader decide how to interpret the totality of the evidence.

Chris

[Greg Burnham]

Fair enough, Chris.

Just as a minor observation...

You earlier wrote:

If the HSCA had not been told about the acoustics evidence (which was brought to the their attention at the Critics Conference on September 17, 1977 by Mary Ferrell, if I remember correctly), what would have been said about Mary Ferrell and/or Gary Mack? They knowingly buried evidence of conspiracy?

I don't think that is a fair question. It might be poignant if Gary Mack was "caught burying evidence" today, as he has become rather "suspect" in certain circles. But in 1977 he was considered to be the genuine article.

I take further exception on two counts. Pairing Mary Ferrell with Gary Mack is inappropriate.

First of all--like Gary Mack--Mary Ferrell was never a proponent of the lone gunman scenario. But, unlike Gary Mack, Mary Ferrell was never perceived as having switched sides or as having become a part of the problem or eventually having become more critical of conspiracy researchers than she was of the conspirators themselves! Today Gary Mack takes more cheap shots at the critics than he does at the Warren Commissioners. But in 1977 that was NOT the case. In 1977 if evidence of conspiracy was offered by him it was considered relatively reliable--or at least worth a good look.

Secondly, back in 1977 Gary Mack was firmly established as a member of the Warren Report Critical Community. He would never have been accused of knowingly burying evidence of conspiracy. At worst, it would have been assumed that he failed to appreciate its significance rather than an attempt to withhold information.

[Tom Neal]

I've been reading "Hear No Evil" by Donald B. Thomas, published in 2010. Probably everyone but me knew this, but I just discovered that the "stuck mike" was on Channel 1, the regular police frequency - NOT on Channel 2, the motorcade frequency. Obviously, this means that the stuck mike was NOT on the motorcade channel.

WHY would HB McLain, or any other motorcycle officer, be tuned to the regular police channel while riding in the motorcade? Perhaps momentarily, but not for five minutes. HBM was well aware that there was a stuck mike on Channel 1, so he would have immediately changed back to Channel 2, the Motorcade frequency, and now there would be a stuck mike on Channel 2, which NEVER happened. I've never heard this mentioned as a reason to think the stuck mike belonged to someone else.

Does anyone know if the bikes at the Trade Mart were using Channel 1 or Channel 2?

Tom

[Greg Burnham]

Tom,

The dicta belt recording of the "stuck open" microphone appears to have been mounted on a 3-wheel "trike" motorcycle as opposed to a 2-wheeler. There is a distinct difference between the sound of a two-wheeler's engine and that of a 3-wheeler. Secondly, not all of the 3-wheel "trikes" were equipped with two channel radios. Some of them were only equipped with a single channel, in this case, Channel One. The motorcycle officer, whose radio was most probably the one that was "stuck" open, was riding a "spare" trike that day, which did NOT have a second channel. It was only equipped with Channel One. FWIW.

[Chris Davidson]

I've been reading "Hear No Evil" by Donald B. Thomas, published in 2010. Probably everyone but me knew this, but I just discovered that the "stuck mike" was on Channel 1, the regular police frequency - NOT on Channel 2, the motorcade frequency. Obviously, this means that the stuck mike was NOT on the motorcade channel.

WHY would HB McLain, or any other motorcycle officer, be tuned to the regular police channel while riding in the motorcade? Perhaps momentarily, but not for five minutes. HBM was well aware that there was a stuck mike on Channel 1, so he would have immediately changed back to Channel 2, the Motorcade frequency, and now there would be a stuck mike on Channel 2, which NEVER happened. I've never heard this mentioned as a reason to think the stuck mike belonged to someone else.

Does anyone know if the bikes at the Trade Mart were using Channel 1 or Channel 2?

Tom

Tom,

In connection with the latest Don Thomas video:

http://www9.zippyshare.com/v/Zr6utq03/file.html

Here's what I came up with.

Thomas has the recording motorcycle at approx Z161(Station#3+21.7)while the extant Z313(Station# 4+65.3) headshot occurs.

That 321.7ft starts where the "Houston St crosswalk aligns onto the street" at Main and Houston.

In other words, take the last Hughes frame of McClain in it, and that's your starting timing point also.

In Hughes, from the time "JFK in limo" is aligned with the TSBD corner until McClain hits the starting timing point (Houston St crosswalk) is approx 6 seconds.

This means, McClain is the distance traveled by the limo in those 6 seconds + the distance from starting point(Houston St crosswalk) to the TSBD corner, behind the limo.

In the background at extant Z233,the front end of the first blue impala convertible aligns with the last wall hole, from Zapruders LOS.

At that point, it has traveled 99ft from the starting point (Houston St crosswalk).

McClain in Hughes is actually trailing the 2nd blue impala convertible. The one directly behind the first.

The cars are 17.5ft in length.

At Z233, most likely, the farthest McClain can be up Houston is 64ft. 99ft-35ft(17.5 x 2) = 64ft

Originally, he needed to travel approx 319.7ft from starting point to Z161 location.

At Z233, 80 frames until Z313, he needs to travel 319.7ft-64ft = 255.7ft to get to Z161 location.

80/18.3 = 4.37seconds.

255.7ft/4.37seconds = 39.8mph average.

I have stabilized versions of the background from Z133-Z255 approx where the background drops out. McClain does not appear farther up Houston in that span. Baker does, just briefly trailing the 1st blue convertible.

Remember, there is the Elm St turn to traverse when arriving at Station# 3+21.7 = Z161 physical location.

I have no opinion on the validity of the audio. I just don't believe with what is available (film wise) that it was McClain who recorded it with the open mic on.

chris

Edited February 26, 2015 by Chris Davidson

[Chris Scally]

Tom:

You asked in post #25: "Does anyone know if the bikes at the Trade Mart were using Channel 1 or Channel 2?"

That is a very difficult question to answer, for a variety of reasons:

(a) There was a mixture of 2 and 3-wheel motorcycles assigned to the Trade Mart area from early morning;

( Other motorcycle officers were assigned to the 'motor pool' at the Trade Mart as second assignments, like for example, G.L. Purnell, who was assigned to the Harwood and Ross intersection, and then to the Motor Pool;

© Because of these 'double assignments', it is difficult to establish exactly who was at the Trade Mart at a specific time;

(d) Motorcycle officers can be heard on both channels at various times - eg. Sgt. W. C. Campbell (on a 3-wheel bike) was on Channel 1 at 11:45, but at 11:48 he was on Channel 2. We cannot tell whether his bike was equipped with a radio that could operate on both Channel 1 and 2, or if he was using someone else's radio on one of these two occasions. Another good example is J.H. Taylor, who was on a 2-wheel bike at the Trade Mart. He used Channel 1 at 11:55, but 10 minutes later he used Channel 2. Again, his own radio, or someone else's?

The current 'favorite' candidate for being the source of the open-mic is Willie Price. However, while Price is never heard transmitting on Channel 1, he did transmit on Channel 2 between 12:40 and 12:41, when he told the dispatcher that he was at Parkland. If, as has been claimed, Price's bike on that day was only equipped with a Channel 1 radio, he must presumably have been using someone else's radio, so claims that his was the 'open mic' are speculative, at best. Can anyone be certain, at this stage?

Price has also claimed that he was at the Trade Mart before leaving to go to Parkland, and that he spoke with Officer Roy Higgins at the Trade Mart before they both went to Parkland. Higgins, however, was initially assigned to the Cedar Springs and Maple intersection, after which he was to go to the Trade Mart. Higgins has said that he was on his way to the Trade Mart when he heard the order to go to Parkland, and indicated that he went there immediately, arriving there just before the motorcade, which strongly suggests that he never actually went to the Trade Mart. If so, how could Price have been talking to him at the Trade Mart?

Not sure this actually answers your question, Tom, but it might explain why it is so hard to give you a straight answer!

Chris.

Edited February 27, 2015 by Chris Scally

[Greg Burnham]

I think Chris' answer (#28) is a better, more complete, answer than mine.

[Thomas Graves]

I think Chris' answer (#28) is a better, more complete, answer than mine.

Greg,

--Tommy