Brad Milch

Hi all: I believe the importance of WCD 298 cannot be understated. To some, WCD 298 is the primary Achilles heel of the WC Report. Something led initial investigators that had studied the z-film, surveyed Elm Street & Dealey Plaza fixed structures & photographed that crime scene in re-enactments to arrive at the placement of the 3 shot locations indicated by the 3 strings on the 3d model that is not evident to others studying that same material years later. The most popular interpretations today consist of the following: 1. Initial investigators saw visual evidence in (at least) the z-film that was later removed (film alteration/falsification). 2. Initial investigators simply were mistaken or lying (confident that the public would never know about WCD 298 or see the z-film in its entirety as a motion picture or complete series of film frames). 3. The depiction of the shots by 3 strings on the 3d model featured in WCD 298 is the closest truth of the JFK assassination the public will ever see. The 3 strings are the remaining evidence of what was removed (that justified the existence of each string) before the public could visually scrutinize the Government's case against Lee Oswald. A key talking point is that the last of the 3 strings indicated as a shot & hit to JFK in WCD 298 is NOT supported by any evidence released to the public by the WC, FBI or SS EVER. The attached string tells the public it was a hit, not a miss. That's why the string was placed where it was. The extant z-films tells us JFK was down in the back seat at this position on Elm Street & not visible to a TSBD sniper's nest shooter; in fact, JFK ceased to be a target to such a shooter in a few frames after z-313 (when he fell across the seat, dead). I'm not a researcher, but if I were, I believe I'd begin any contemplated work with WCD 298 & an analysis of it & the other events that led to the creation of the 3D model featured in it. I'd also point out that WCD 298 basically was swept under the rug by the HSCA in its own ambush analysis that has the 1st shot around Z-190 & the attack ending at z-313. WCD 298 has the attack ending further down Elm Street (near the North pergola sidewalk concrete steps). Focus on WCD 298 was lost after the HSCA report until diligent researchers brought it back to life & in the public consciousness. A salute to Robert, Chris & those keeping the focus on WCD 298 & what it means to solving the riddle. With Robert's model, the challenge will be to determine what it was that initial investigators saw that no longer exists in the film record. That's going to be a toughie, as it forces analysts to resort on what witnesses said they saw & heard & autopsy evidence that many simply don't trust. BM

Hi Chris & Robert It's difficult to imagine the 3D Dealey Plaza model seen in WCD 298 (supposedly accurate down to the cars on Elm Street) & FBI/WC ballistics experts, mathematicians & other scientists viewing it & somehow resisting the temptation to simply move the Queen Mary & JFK's parade car the entire length of the ambush to study the effects of such movement each foot traveled by those cars in the ambush. The 3D Dealey Plaza model allowed for a 360 degree analysis of shot trajectories anywhere within the borders of Dealey Plaza (long before that capability was taken over by computer graphics). This suggests to me that the WC knew of shot blockage situations in Washington (without having to be on site in Dealey Plaza). Just what the WC/FBI investigators saw in the Z-film, Nix & Muchmore films that suggested a headshot in close proximity to the pergola sidewalk steps is intriguing. No such suggestion exists in the 3 films seen by the public. Is the WCD 298 model with the 3 strings indicating shot locations the only truth about the shooting the public will ever get? It should be obvious when examining WCD 298 in conjunction with the 2 SS film & photo re-enactments conducted in late November & early December 1963 that Federal investigators had evidentiary reason to place the shot locations where they did. This is the big tease left in the WC Report; what was that initial evidentiary reason(s) that led to WCD 298, why & how was that evidence changed from its original state? Why was WCD 298 included in the Report in the 1st place when it clearly contradicts the WC's shooting analysis developed later in the WC's lifespan? I'm willing to bet when Robert finishes his wooden model, the 1st thing visitors to it will do is play with the cars & move them around on Elm Street to see how such movement affects trajectory angles. BTW, the Queen Mary is missing on shots 2 & 3 in the 3D Dealey Plaza model. If either string touched the missing Queen Mary or toy models for agents Landis or Ready, it would have been obvious in Washington that their shot analysis was wrong. Update on the Queen Mary specs Robert & Chris are looking for: I've asked Vince Palamara (on his blog) if he knows the ride, windshield & running board heights of the Queen Mary. Vince has a reputation for being 'Mr. Wizard' when it comes to all things Secret Service. If anyone might know those Queen Mary specs, it should be Vince. I'm fairly certain those specs are in the book 'Mortal Error'. Perhaps one of Robert's readers that has that book will share that info with him here in his thread? I didn't find those specs in Pam Brown's original website text, nor in William Manchester's 'Death Of A President'. I did notice some errors Manchester made (he has the Queen Mary as a 1955 Cadillac). The lack of Queen Mary height specifications is a reminder that all these years post-ambush the Queen Mary & occupants were overlooked as presenting a possible/probable line of sight obstruction for a TSBD sniper's nest shooter. It evidently was easier to omit the car & occupants from visuals & write the humans off with trajectory angles on paper for those pushing the Government's case. IOW, a con job. The public has wisened up to this sham in 51 years, particularly when exposed to numerous interviews of some of the Queen Mary's SS agents recanting their experiences on Elm Street with the car (or a replica of it) conspicuously missing from the visual presentations. As ludicrous as that is, that's what has been sold all this time. One gets the agents telling them what happened but not the car that transported them during the attack on JFK & entourage. I've emailed the curator of the auto museum that owns the Queen Mary & asked that person to measure the actual Queen Mary II for us in regards to windshield, ride & running board height. We already have the length & wheelbase specs. I've asked that those specifications be verified. From all of this we should get the data needed to proceed scientifically. For others who wish to send their own inquiries, the email address is: museum@historicautoattractions.com (The recent Northeast blizzard may slow a response). Not having accurate specifications forces one to do what my friends & I did a long time ago on site in Elm Street: 'guestimate' & resort to 'eyeballin' it' science; both loaded with non-precision & invites for errors. On Chris' graphic: from what I remember, Elm Street is steeper than what the graphic shows at the Z-313 location. Agent Ready blocks the lower part of the sniper's nest when placed back from a JFK actor (at the headshot street X) in several distance variations either on or off the running board. Ditto for agent Landis. Raise the back of the Queen Mary & lower the front & that's how I remember the steepness of the street at Z-313. I'd bet that if a ball was placed on the 2nd street X, it would roll on its own down towards the TUP. BM

Dale Myers certainly has the computer graphics talent, but like most of his peers he misused his talent & presented just JFK's limo containing only 2 occupants traversing Elm Street during Meyer's simulated attack. This historical distortion first began with the 1st SS re-enactment conducted the week after the assassination & continued in TV specials supporting the WC (or HSCA) & TV movies. The couple of TV movies that do include the SS Queen Mary have it traveling too far away from JFK's limo plus don't show how the attack looked from a TSBD sniper's nest shooter's perspective will all historical elements correctly in place. In Meyers case, the Peter Jennings 2004 TV special features Dale sitting at a computer screen explaining how he overlaid the Zapruder images frame by frame into his graphics software. On the computer screen behind the limo is the Queen Mary that did not make it into the completed animation. Historical accuracy was tossed out the window with the completed animation aired on TV. The most blatant misuse of leaving the Queen Mary out of the re-enactment process occurred in the TV special, 'The Kennedy Detail'. In that special agents Hill & Landis are looking down from the sniper's nest at the JFK limo replica parked in the street with no Queen Mary behind it. I suppose the public was to believe Hill ran the length of Elm Street from the intersection to JFK's limo while the Queen Mary was parked somewhere on Houston Street. What was shown was, IMHO, about as bad 7 insulting to the global public as it can get. When one looks at WCD 298's images with the 3 strings indicating shot locations & watches DPD Lt. Day placing the headshot cone in the wrong place on Elm Street (near the sidewalk steps near Zapruder & Sitzman) in the initial SS film re-enactments, sees JFK's head explode at Z-313 & his body driven towards his wife & out of sight in the z-film, one can't help but wonder 'what the heck is going on here'? That wasn't grocery baggers out on Elm Street with survey equipment & Oswald's alleged scope & barrel mounted on a tripod, the view filmed by an FBI man in the sniper's nest, was it? How could all those qualified people be so obviously wrong? As best I can tell with the available visuals, the 'tailgating' of the SS Queen Mary ended when Greer accelerated the limo & Clint Hill is trying to mount the rear bumper. This action is visible in the Nix film. Theoretically, line of sight from sniper's nest to JFK's head blockage ended then, but JFK was not visible above his seat at that time frame. A TSBD sniper's nest shooter would have to had put a round into the trunk to hit JFK, head down across the seat (Clint Hill has repeatedly reported JFK was face-up on the back seat; no shot from the sniper's nest could strike JFK in the back of his head in such a posture) and miss both Jackie & Clint Hill as well. Why the WC placed the headshot near the pergola sidewalk steps is a red flag to many following the case & your research that some serious hanky-panky & fudging was going on behind closed doors. For those that have pixel counting software that indicates distance of an object from another, Queen Mary is visible during the 'tailgate' portion of its journey behind JFK's limo in the Nix, Bronson & Muchmore films. Bell & Paschal caught it moving into the underpass & Daniels caught it coming out the other side of the TUP, post 'tailgating'. Samuel Kinney did a fantastic job of staying right on top of JFK's limo & not smacking into it the entire motorcade route. I've yet to see a film or photo depicting Kinney further than what looks like 5-10 feet in any of the pre & post visuals available to the public (when not negotiating sharp turns). I wonder if Kinney wore the Queen Mary's brakes out by 'riding' them? Robert, Chris & all...I am certain the model you are working on will be an immense help in its addition to the history of this homicide. I believe I speak for many that are seeking truthful, accurate answers that are not satisfied with the BS fed to them by Government investigations, reports & MSM TV & print support platforms. BM

Hi Robert, Chris & Jon: It's possible ride & windshield height for the Queen Mary are buried somewhere in the WC volumes. After all, that car was used to represent JFK's limo for the WC's shooting analysis & published supporting photos. Rather than wade though all those volumes I'm taking a different route. I'm checking book sources & Pamela Brown's original JFK limo website from a few years back (I saved it in text form & have it somewhere in my own quagmire of research materials...trying now to figure out where I placed it). I seem to remember reading about the Queen Mary's ride & windshield height in a book or forum discussion along the way (back in the day to now). I don't have Jim Bishop's 'The Day Kennedy Was Shot' or Bonar Menninger's 'Mortal Error' but I do have William Manchester's 'Death Of A President'. Some info may be in those books. I'll share what specs info I find & where I found it when I find it. What you are doing is historic. It hasn't been addressed before. I, for one, have always questioned why in this homicide it's always been assumed that a TSBD sniper's nest shooter had clearance to shoot JFK in the head at Z-313 & kill him when no visual evidence to support that assumption was ever offered the public in the original Federal investigations & MSM TV specials supporting them. To my way of thinking, analyzing if such a shooter had a clear shot at JFK at each of the street locations those investigations determined JFK was hit by gunfire is step #1 in this shooting. That step was ignored when the SS guards & their car were removed from the analysis processes. When you conclude your analysis I believe you & those assisting or following your work will be amazed at just how close to striking one of the SS agents or their transport car the Z-313 shot was (if it was possible at all) if it did originate from the TSBD sniper's nest. The 'guesstimation' my friends & I used when we did our little analysis all those years ago created avenues of error. We realized this. It was all we had to work with at the time. We can handle it should it turn out we were wrong. 'Eyeballin' it' science can never replace the real thing. It obviously would be ineffective when attempting to land a space orbiter on an asteroid. What you & Chris & others assisting you are doing is introducing the science & math that should nail it down for public consumption for those who cannot visit the site or those that do & who don't believe a shot at Z-313 was possible from the sniper's nest.. If it turns out that a shot from the sniper's nest was possible without striking any SS agents or their car, the public will have to accept & live with your team's results. If nothing else, it will demonstrate how close to becoming gunshot victims the Queen Mary occupants may have been during the ambush of JFK; something that has not been addressed by those analyzing this case before you & peers. BM

Hi, Robert: You had asked for specifications about the Queen Mary II. Here's what I've been able to gather so far from the 3 websites I've listed that have a multitude of photos & background info on the 2 1956 Cadillac 'Queen Marys' : 21 feet in length, wheelbase of 158 inches, weight of 7,000 lbs. No ride or running board height yet (I'm still searching). President Kennedy also used the car as a Presidential parade car on occasion. The replica Queen Mary in Oliver Stone's film, JFK, is shorter than the actual Queen Mary II & has a couple of historically inaccurate flaws. The Dallas Queen Mary II resides at Historic Auto Attractions, 13825 Metric Drive, Roscoe, Illinois. http://historicautoattractions.com/s/Kennedy3.html http://www.cadillac1956.eu/presidential.html http://www.classic-cadillac.com/1956-cadillac-fleetwood-white-house-parade-cadillac-limo-jfk-movie-car/26384 Brad

I can't think of any employers that will tolerate a repeat offender that had been 'called on the carpet' as many times as John McAdams was and NOT fire that offender. I believe McAdams abused his own tenure by not following the rules. Back in the day when I was on Uncle Sam's payroll I worked with many civil servants who foolishly believed their tenure would save them from a dismissal for breaking the rules. A multitude of people believing they had a 'guaranteed job' joined unemployment lines while I served. On the other hand, I have noticed on other JFK research forums that some JFK researchers interpret this latest McAdams escapade as an excuse for educational institutions to rid themselves of senior educators before their retirement benefits begin. The Government has been doing this for years by replacing former career job slots with part-time & contractor labor. Whoever & whatever allegedly 'handles' the professor when the dust settles will surely find something else for him. It might even mean a monetary promotion & it might be something shadowy like handing out Fair Play For ISIS pamphlets. It will be something, after the years of dedicated work calling people who believe JFK's death was the result of a conspiracy 'kooks' & wearers of tin foil hats, I doubt he'll be hung out to dry like Lee Oswald appears by many to have suffered post-assassination. John McAdams can always hang out with Brian Williams. Brian also has a lot of free time to deal with. BM

Hi, Robert & Chris: What you both are working on & presenting here is historically significant in this case. It hasn't been addressed, analyzed & published from Government investigation bodies & has been missed by researchers studying the case; namely, did a sniper's nest shooter have an unobstructed line of sight to JFK the ENTIRE length of the ambush. The public was simply told by the WC & its supporting MSM that a solo shooter shot JFK multiple times from the TSBD sniper's nest but failed to visually prove this in their photo re-enactments published in the WC Report & supporting volumes by omitting the SS guards & their transport car entirely. Robert & Chris are addressing what the initial investigators had swept under the rug. If it helps, the last time I visited Dealey Plaza a couple years back, the 'flat spot' I described on Elm Street is still there. A visitor can feel it briefly while driving in the center lane. It's noticeable just past the reflecting pool & monument. My friends & I used a thin tie-down nylon rope held between them to simulate the Queen Mary's windshield at Z-313 & our JFK 'actor' tried to see the bottom of the sniper's nest window above & below the rope. Unscientific? Yes. It was all we had to work with. Also we had no correct height specs to work with, so we 'guestimated'. Our unscientific conclusion: with agents Landis & Ready out of the way (off the running board [simulated] and in the street, a shot to JFK's head from the sniper's nest at Z-313 would have probably struck Emory Roberts in the head or just missed him and cleared the windshield by a fraction or would have struck the windshield. Dave Powers film is invaluable to visualizing the back of JFK's head & his back in relation to the Queen Mary's windshield. Powers had to stand up & film JFK in order to clear the windshield. I concur with Robert that the sniper's nest shooter would have no shot at all around the pergola sidewalks steps. The more my friends & I traveled (on foot) down Elm Street towards the steps, the more the entire 6th floor sniper's nest window becomes blocked from view by a larger 'tailgater'. At Z-313 we didn't see an unobstructed shot possible either. These many years later, acknowledging that our amateur re-enactment was indeed amateur, I'm willing to concede that IF a sniper's nest shot occurred at Z-313 it was unbelievably tight in missing agents Landis, Ready, Roberts & the windshield of the Queen Mary, making such a shot from a mediocre shooter (Oswald) all the more remarkable when viewed in context of the entire ambush. I left out the part we experienced where a DPD officer drove up & threated to take us to jail if we didn't get out of the street & leave. The thought of being arrested in Dallas & facing a possible jail transfer sent chills down our backs & we left before we could re-enact more. We had wanted to explore more. BM

I believe it's a sad state of affairs when an interested global public has to rely on 'cartoons' to explain how a homicide, carried out in public, filmed & witnessed by a multitude of people actually transpired. This is the gift initial investigators & MSM gave the public in their distorted version of events on Elm Street IMHO; this is their sordid legacy IMHO. The public has wised up to this over the decades & some seek relief answers here at EF with diligent educators like Robert Prudhomme. That's why I pop up in his threads from time to time. The assassination of President Kennedy has always been, above all else, a shooting story. One or more humans shot & killed another human & wounded a couple more humans. Some sort of weaponry, ammo & shooting skills accomplished that evil deed 51 years ago. People have a right to study the case, examine the evidence & pursue alternate explanations of what occurred. Doing such does not make them 'kooks'. BM

Good 'ol YouTube...one can find most anything there! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=URryjCKkOyc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9kOfNxCLv1A These are a couple of computer re-enactments of the JFK ambush with the SS guards & Queen Mary included. The poster has a multitude of these type videos depicting line of sight from various suspected shooter & witness locations in Dealey Plaza during the assassination. It can be argued that computer simulations are only as accurate as the programmer but I find these particular videos helpful when attempting to visualize what any given researcher is describing. Hopefully, those following Robert's thread will too. Sincerely, Brad Milch

Great idea, Robert! I'll look around. I find what the WC published as visual support for their ambush evaluation inexcusable; '61-'63 Lincoln convertibles were sitting on used & rental car lots in 1964, as were new Lincoln Continentals. No one can convince me Government investigators couldn't get their hands on one to join the Queen Mary already on site. Just think, Oliver Stone had replicas of both vehicles plus access to the 7th floor of the TSBD & he didn't take advantage of them for his movie, JFK, & show us what an alleged TSBD sniper's nest shooter would have seen the entire length of the attack on JFK with JFK's guards & car tailgating the Presidential Parade car. What a huge wasted opportunity! Stone also failed to show us JFK's' 'view' looking back at the sniper's nest window with his guards & their car practically on top of him the entire length of the attack. Opportunity # 2 wasted. As I remember, there is a flat portion of Elm Street in the vicinity of the bent tree by the North Pergola retaining wall. This is where the WC & Life magazine told us JFK was first shot. The remainder of the street slopes dramatically if one actually walks down it & looks back at the TSBD. If I am not mistaken, the 1st time the SS guards & their follow-up car were focused on in a JFK ambush re-enactment was in 'JFK-The Smoking Gun'. Before that, they failed to appear (even in computer re-enactments). For those who are having trouble visualizing what I described in my earlier posts, try visualizing themselves firing at a firing range target (from an elevation) placed at 3 different distances with a barrel in front of each target. What my friends and I did was look back at the shooter from the longest of the 3 targets & we determined the barrel in front of the range target blocked a line of sight from us to the shooter & from the shooter to us. BM

Jon, from our experience (3 fellows in their early 20's), at the Z-313 location on Elm Street there is no sight to the lower portion of the sniper's nest' window for an actor representing JFK with simulations of the Queen Mary vehicle itself & the two agents on the right side running board positioned as they were during the ambush at that spot in the street (as historically accurate as we could be). We didn't have the luxury of having replicas of the two cars, stand-ins for people that rode in them, professional surveyors & someone in the 'sniper's nest' window aiming at us with a carcano with trashy scope (Robert Prudhomme explains in several of his posts just how trashy the scope was on the alleged murder weapon). Depending on how we positioned our 'agent Landis' or 'agent Ready' (standing in the street or on a box simulating the running board) at times our 'JFK' couldn't see the entire window at all. Whatever we tried, we never could get a line of sight to the lower portion of the window in question. We reasoned that if we couldn't see a 'virtual' sniper there, such a person could not see us either. At one point we did a simple JFK simulation walking down the middle of Elm Street with a 'tailgater' positioned the estimated distance of JFK's car trunk & bumper & the bumper, hood, windshield & right side running board of the Queen Mary also walking behind while the JFK actor (squatting or sitting on a box) looked back at the sniper's nest window. As I remember that portion of our experience, the more a person moves away from the TSBD the more a 'tailgater' positioned as I described blocks a 'JFK' view of the sniper's nest window's lower portion. We focused on the lower portion of the window because the window was only open about 1/2 way & the alleged shooter did not shoot thru & damage the upper portion of the window. We weren't expecting the outcome we experienced. At the time, we all believed what we had been told: namely, a shooter in the 'sniper's nest' shot JFK in the head at the Z-313 location on Elm Street & killed him. What we saw in our unscientific re-enactment told us differently. It was only later in reviewing the WC report & evidence volumes plus TV specials supporting them that we noticed the SS follow-up car is missing from the film, photo & narrative re-enactments. We understood why after our experiment at the site: the fatal shot at Z-313 was blocked by two of JFK's guards & the car they were transported in (as we saw it). If one goes back in time & reviews the JFK ambush re-enactments that were broadcast on TV or presented in movies they will notice in most of them the Queen Mary & agents during the attack have been excluded during the ambush re-enactment or are following JFK's parade car at a longer distance than it did during the actual attack. The best time for visitors to try what we did is early Sunday morning. Traffic is sparse. Be prepared to evacuate such re-enactments on a moment's notice because of oncoming traffic & being chastised by DPD for being in the middle of Elm Street. Perhaps they can talk about their experiences here at EF for the benefit of those globally that cannot visit the assassination site on their own. For those that can't visit the site itself, they can view traffic on Elm Street via the 6th Floor Museum's 24/7 online cam that is mounted in one of the boxes the shooter used as either a rifle rest or a shield from return fire. I'd advise to pay close attention to how a vehicle's rear section being tailgated by a slightly larger vehicle literally 'disappears around the Z-313 location. From our experience, we concluded that what the SS, Hoover's boys & the WC folks that handled the ambush did was to not draw attention to the obstacle at Z-313 (Queen Mary & its agents) by simply removing it (as if it was never there) & presenting JFK as a solo, unobstructed target with no one near him when he came under attack; something horribly wrong & historically inaccurate. How those people sleep at night (if still alive) is beyond my comprehension. Because we were amateurs & our tools were crude (ourselves & a box or two) today I'd state with confidence that if the shot at z-313 was not impossible from the TSBD 'sniper's nest', it was extremely close to hitting either agents Landis, Ready or the windshield of the Queen Mary. I'd weaken my evaluation that far. BM

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The fact that Larry, Robert Prudhomme & others involved in this thread are addressing if a shot to JFK's head originating from the TSBD 'sniper's nest' window was possible or not is encouraging to those new to the case or following it since it began 51 years ago. It signals years of global questions & doubts may eventually be answered. As Robert Prudhomme noted, Elm Street, the TSBD & Dal-Tex are all still there in Dealey Plaza. What was skipped over in initial Federal investigations & MSM TV specials supporting them can still be addressed. Replicas of the JFK touring car & the Queen Mary Cadillac exist. Additional replicas can be built. A historically accurate & honest re-enactment can still be done. I believe the public will evaluate the results fairly & intelligently if those results indicate a shooter had a line of sight to JFK's head from the sniper's nest at Z-313 or not. Was it possible or impossible is what the public wants to know. When the 3 younger 'country boys' tried their own re-enactment at the Z-313 location on Elm Street (not marked with a street X at the time) in the early 1970's we walked away from the experience believing the WC's version of the ambush was a fraud. We believed at the time (and still do) that while JFK could have been shot in the head from the TSBD sniper's nest when his car was closer to that building, it didn't happen at Z-313. Our own stand-ins for agents Landis & Ready went through all kinds of various body positions (from standing on a small box, to squatting, to standing in the street & lunging forward (towards JFK's 'virtual' car). In our experience, wherever they were positioned, they blocked a line of sight from the sniper's nest window to the person standing, squatting or sitting on a box at the Z-313 spot on Elm Street. While standing in the street they were utilized as mimicking the windshield of the larger car 'Queen Mary' practically bumper to bumper with the JFK 'lowrider' immediately in front of it. We didn't see where a clean shot was possible from the sniper's nest to JFK without hitting the Queen Mary's windshield. The simple re-enactment I described was performed by 3 amateurs trying to satisfy a curiosity (we were wondering how close to being a gunshot victim agents Landis & Ready had been during the attack). Any visitor with a couple of friends can easily try what we did (don't get yourself run over or ticketed!). Some of today's researchers know more about this case than initial investigators & analysts could have dreamed of. There is hope an honest, truthful answer will eventually come in the future. The public can handle it. It won't start WWIII. BM

Robert Prudhomme said: 'So, here is the question. At 307 feet, at a downward angle of 15°, with the follow up car right on the bumper of the limo and uphill from the limo at a 3.13° slope, would a sniper on the 6th floor SE corner of the TSBD be able to see JFK through all the SS agents? How would it look at 265 feet?' The SS/FBI/WC avoided showing the public how this looked by omitting the SS follow-up car & stand-ins for the agents in their re-enactments (beginning the week after the assassination & continuing into the publishing of the WC Report & supporting volumes). This distortion of history continued with MSM TV specials selling the WC & HSCA explanations of the crime. This critical omission tells the public something is wrong with the government's version of events. It's like a used car salesman focusing a customer's attention on a car's interior & not on the puddle of leaking transmission fluid underneath the vehicle. Or focusing on the Challenger & not the fuel tank with the two external lift rockets. Or demonstrating a hunter in a tree desiring to shoot an impala as a lion chases it down a hill away from the hunter & leaving out the lion. The hunter has an unobstructed line of sight to the impala with the lion gone. The car may seem to be a good transportation investment if the leaking transmission is not noticed. The Challenger may have seemed to blow up on its own if the external fuel tank & rocker boosters had not been studied & analyzed. As I said before, this 'con-job' really becomes evident when one visits the site in Dealey Plaza & performs the simple 'country boy science' experiment a couple friends & I performed in the early '70's, mimicking the two vehicles & passengers at the Z-313 location on Elm Street while trying to see the lower portion of the 'sniper's nest' window. None of us could see the window after trying a variety of body configurations while trying to be as historically accurate to the conditions of Nov 22, 1963 as we could with limited tools to work with. If we could see the problem, so could those experts that initially investigated it (we reasoned). All of the researchers & participants involved in this thread clearly demonstrate with science, math & weaponry facts & statistics just how the public has been deprived for 51 years of a truthful account of the ambush of President Kennedy, John Connally & the wounding of James Tague in the process. If the Nobel Peace Prize folks award prizes for humanitarian truth seeking efforts, all of you are winners IMHO. BM

Just substitute Henry Wade for the WC report, Mark (lol). You are correct! I can't encourage enough people to actually visit the site & try their own z-313 re-enactment. In my case, me & my two friends tried all sorts of variations in body positions & moved several feet before & past the Z-313 street X. In none of them could the person at the z-313 street X see the lower portion of the sniper's nest window (if any of the window could be seen at all). The slope of the street & a tailgater is what makes the difference here. In the vicinity of the Z-313 street X, a 'tailgater' simply blocks a 'sniper's nest' view of a human target. Closer to the TSBD this situation changes & a line of sight is possible for other than the z-313 headshot. I suspect had Oswald lived, his attorneys would have argued that he did not murder JFK because he could not see him at the Z-313 shot because of his guards on the right side of the Queen Mary or the car's hood & windshield blocked an unobstructed shot if a shooter did see JFK as a target. This doesn't eliminate him possibly being a participant in the non-lethal shots, providing the weapon for another shooter to use or whatever. One can get a view of Z-313's street X from the 6th Floor Museum's online webcam and can see what cars tailgating a smaller car in front of them at the Z-313 street X looks like. They won't have the luxury of having replicas of the JFK Lincoln of the 1956 Queen Mary with actor stand-ins for the guards & human targets. It's better than nothing at all. Your 3D presentation description (if historically accurate in regards to the cars & human passengers) would really answer a lot of questions & shouldn't be that hard for today's computer visual effects gurus to create & publicize IMHO. BM

One of the basic questions I would ask is: Did a 6th floor TSBD 'sniper's nest' shooter (Lee Oswald or anyone else) have an unobstructed line of sight to JFK the entire length of the ambush (shot #1 thru shot #3)? As we know, the Secret Service, FBI & WC avoided addressing this question & providing the public with visual evidence to answer it by omitting representations of the SS 'follow-up' car & the human passengers it contained that tailgated the JFK parade car when it came under gunfire on Elm Street. To this day, one has no historically accurate Government investigation & report visual reenactments to determine if a clear line of sight existed for each of the alleged TSBD shots 51 years ago, the most critical being the shot that struck JFK in the head & killed him. As I commented several times on this forum, a visit to Dealey Plaza & standing, squatting or sitting on the Z-313 'street X' with one or more friends standing 10 or so feet back representing the SS car, it's windshield, humped hood, fat fenders & two agents standing roughly 7 feet above street level on running boards while one on the street X (the Z-313 spot) looks back at the TSBD should bring results that indicate such a shot from the 'sniper's nest would not be possible because the shooter's line of sight was obstructed. I believe had Lee Oswald had lived to stand trial his attorneys would have conducted their own 'historically accurate' shooting re-enactments & demonstrated to the jury that what was published in the WC was a distorted con job on the public. This same con job has continued throughout the years in TV documentaries & special reports. One needs to actually visit the site & determine for themselves that the 'kill shot' did not originate from the TSBD 'sniper's nest' because a shooter there did not have an unobstructed line of sight to JFK to shoot & kill him. BM

Robert, could the barrel of the Japanese version of the Carcano be swapped out with the Italian Carcano? In one of the WFAA-TV Dallas broadcasts on 22 Nov 1963, one of Jay Watson's announcers reported DPD had found a Japanese rifle in the TSBD. Did the Japanese Carcano have 'Made Italy' stamped on the barrel? Did the Japanese Carcano have the same serial numbers as their Italian counterparts? Let's say DPD found a Japanese Carcano on the roof of the TSBD that had fired bullets from it. Could the barrel be exchanged with the 'Oswald Carcano', making it appear to be the murder weapon when it wasn't? Is that possible? An amateur photographer's film of DPD allegedly finding a rifle on the roof of the TSBD exists. When you get to the ammo specifics, could you kindly explain to non-hunters (like myself) just how bullets designed to act as 'flying drills' exploded in JFK's skull when he was (according to official investigations, their conclusions & released reports) impacted by a Carcano FMJ round & did not explode when JFK was hit in the back? Why would a 'flying drill' bullet produce a shallow back wound? Was the round that was chambered a FMJ or frangible bullet? Shouldn't a FMJ Carcano round have gone completely through JFK's head? Shouldn't a FMJ Carcano round hitting JFK in the back have either lodged or exited in the vicinity of JFK's heart or stomach (if fired from the angle of the TSBD 'sniper's nest')? Giving the evidence the benefit of the doubt, do you believe a frangible Carcano round was mixed in with the other two FMJ bullets, that being the one that struck President Kennedy in the head & killed him? For those of us following your educational posts, I've saved the best questions for last. Based on your experience with small arms & subsequent ammo variations, do you find the SBT, JFK's fatal headshot, John Connally's wounds, James Tague's cheek wound plausible, possible or impossible for the 'Oswald carcano" & the ammo attributed to it that allegedly killed JFK, wounded John Connally & bystander James Tague? BM

Nothing will open a person's eyes faster to the con job pulled on the public in ambush re-enactments by the Secret Service, FBI, WC & HSCA than visiting Elm Street in Dealey Plaza, standing, squatting or sitting at the Z-313 street marker X & having a friend or two stand back closer to the TSBD 10 feet or so while looking at the lower portion of the 6th floor sniper's nest window. You won't be able to see it (your friends will block your view). For those who cannot get to the site in person, one can simply watch traffic on the museum's 24/7 online webcam & notice how a smaller vehicle literally 'disappears' when a taller vehicle tailgates it around the Z-313 spot on Elm Street. I'd suggest trying the street experiment early on a Sunday morning when traffic is usually dead or extremely sporadic. Don't get yourself run over or ticketed!. A billion words defending the official accounts of the ambush cannot vaporize what one can see with their own eyes. After experiencing this for myself in the early 1970's (before the area became commercialized with a profit motive), I realized the official story of the shooting death of President Kennedy is a farce. To put it simply, there is no line of sight from Z-313 back to the TSBD sniper's nest with the obstruction the SS follow-up car & agents standing on the right side running boards presented while tailgating the JFK parade car at that spot in the street. It's obvious to me that those involved in the omission of the SS follow-up vehicle (with actor stand-ins) in the official reenactments were aware of the blockage problem at Z-313 & avoided addressing it by simply making the SS follow-up car & occupants disappear from the re-enactments; a total distortion of the history that occurred on Elm Street in Dallas. BM

That's a possibility, Thomas. Let's say the assassin missed on his first shot & the bullet flew over Greer or Kellerman (or through the windshield) & the shooter saw it kick up debris near Mr. Tague & realized the weapon was firing high & to the right. Then that person compensated his aim with the next two shots & was spot on with the fatal shot & a bit low with the back wound. Time would be an obvious factor working against the shooter. Some people are really good shooters under all kinds of conditions. I read that in one of Annie Oakley's shooting demonstrations she tossed a playing card up in the air & hit it multiple times before the card fell to the ground. 'Slop shots' at that! Best, BM

Wow! What a stunning visual revelation, Chris! It makes one wonder how a TSBD sniper's nest shooter could be aiming at that spot on JFK's car with the SS car tailgating it with Agents Ready & Landis standing on the running boards. Perhaps that is why the FBI & WC did not include the SS follow-up car & actor stand-ins in their re-enactments? I asked some hunter friends for comments about this topic. I was told that the found carcano, shooting high & to the right, would send all bullets fired from it flying into Kellerman or over the windshield where he sat in the car if the shooter aimed at JFK's head or back, possibly striking Mary Muchmore, James Altgens, the Franzen family & others in that vicinity. This tells them either the shooter knew the weapon's performance extremely well & compensated remarkably for it during the ambush or the weapon was not used at all. BM

Howdy, Robert Prudhomme: Thank you for the info you provided, particularly when the shims were added to the scope. There is some confusion about this event on the Internet & in books. I had completely forgotten about the shooting skills of TV's Jed Clampett & Jethro Bodine shooting flies off a fixture on their Beverly hills mansion (LOL). As I recall, Granny was mostly seen wielding a shotgun in the TV series. The shooting skills of Annie Oakley during traveling rodeo shows is a fascinating subject to delve into. From what I have been reading online, I believe the possibility of a southpaw shooter has been gaining popularity in discussion forums following the research of John Armstrong. Mr. Armstrong believes Roscoe White is holding the weapons in the Oswald 'backyard photos' & explains why at his website. I'm not sure if Roscoe White was a southpaw or where the perception he was originated. I'll look for the name of the witness that claimed seeing two men in the TSBD monkeying around with a scope on a rifle shortly before the attack on JFK & John Connally began & post it when I find it. As I remember, basic training Drill Instructors had a difficult time with some people during rifle marksmanship getting them out of the habit of taking 'slop shots'. I recall instruction in 'field visual aiming compensation adjustments' using tracer rounds. As I understand the evidence, the alleged 'sniper's nest' shooter had no tracer rounds to work with. I believe your weapons & ammunition topics are of great interest to a global audience; many who gained their only experience in life with small firearms during the course of military basic training or boot camp. The shooting death of JFK & the wounding of John Connally & James Tague all with one weapon & 3 bullets has mystified people since the event happened 51 years ago. The time you invest to educate us is a tremendous humanitarian deed IMHO. BM

To Robert Prudhomme, No one has asked you about 'Annie Oakley' style of shooting with the MC. Some of Annie's famous shooting demonstrations included pointing some of her weapons at a target, firing & striking the target without using aiming sights or scopes.In the Army (back in the day) it was called 'slop shots', 'luck shots' & several other not nice & proper nicknames I can't repeat here. Basically, it's simply pointing the barrel of a weapon at a target mass without using a scope or fixed aiming sights and pulling the trigger. Some of the 'good 'ol country boys' I served with were quite good at this sloppy appearing style of marksmanship, particularly in battle. As a pre-teenager, I remember seeing Chuck Connors firing a repeating rifle from the hip on TV's 'The Rifleman'. Sometimes he did this while walking down the street of an old West town. Assuming the MC was the sole murder weapon, do you see any possibility of 'slop shots' by the shooter? Also, by adding shims to the MC scope, didn't the FBI invalidate it's MC test results by changing the configuration of the weapon? The 'Oswald weapon' scope originally had no shims. Some feel how the weapon fired in the hands of a murderer as found an hour after it was allegedly used to ambush President Kennedy & Governor Connally is what needed to be publicly presented, not how it fired with a scope adjusted post-ambush. In comments I have read online, some are stating that a shooter in the TSBD 'sniper's nest' using the 'Oswald weapon' would have had to be aiming at the trunk of JFK's parade car & to the left of JFK in order to hit him with either of the back or head shots. Do you agree with that assessment? I've read some discussion on other venues that the weapon scope mounted on the Oswald carbine suggests to some that a left-handed shooter used it to shoot at JFK, the MC's barrel resting on the window sill (or boxes) with the southpaw working the bolt with their right hand on the bolt's pull back knob ('riding the bolt knob'). The reasoning being that a right handed shooter would have taken the scope off as a hindrance. I seem to recall a WC era witness describing seeing 2 men in the sniper's nest 'fiddling' with the scope of a rifle just before the ambush. Is it possible the scope was added as a prop at the last minute to enhance the MC's appearance as a sniper weapon to those who found it, entered it into evidence & displayed it to the global public as the assumed murder weapon of JFK? I'm not a southpaw & know nothing about the pros & cons of left-handed shooters. Would a left mounted carcano scope be as equal a hindrance for a leftie as it would for a right handed shooter? BM

Hi, Pam. You hit on the part of the story that is intriguing my friends; namely, what's going to happen to all the chicks in the McAdams Internet henhouses when the old hen roosts elsewhere? What other website would take them? BM

Hello, Gary & Ken: Gary & others might be interested in this online essay about the 'Oswald weapon' here: http://harveyandlee.net/Guns/Guns.html I am sure he & others will be curious about the 'other' carcano with the same serial number as the 'Oswald weapon' sold to an individual the FBI knew about in 1962 & never publicly disclosed. Also, how Lee Oswald allegedly acquired a weapon in the mail with a money order that had not been cashed & endorsed by the banking system for money orders at the time. Hobbyists, like myself, should find it as enlightening as the research efforts of the ballistics, ammo & small arms weapons experts Ken, I saw a video posted on a video site similar to YouTube in which Rather is standing on the West side of the TUP explaining why he was there & what he saw after the ambush here: (advance to the 24:15 location on the video for Mr. Rather's Dealey Plaza remembrances) According to the stats, the video is entitled 'My Days In Dallas - A Remembrance With Dan Rather' & aired on AXS-TV November 18, 2013 (YouTube has the promo for this program posted). Dan Rather's recollections in this video & elsewhere will be obviously confusing to many people in light of the info you have graciously provided. BM

That 'fast summation' comment I made refers to the discussion in this thread: http://jfkfacts.org/assassination/news/the-origins-of-mannlicher-carcano-bullets/ The last time I checked, comments are still growing. The topic is still under discussion. Some are interpreting it much differently than others & there is some confusion to boot. What Mr. Burnham publishes online is 'takeable to the bank' IMHO. I ran across it in following Mr. Prudhomme's online research efforts. There's something to be learned from him wherever he posts IMHO. I was using it to demonstrate that educational information follows Mr. Prudhomme's research efforts & comments. In this case, there's info to be learned about rifle scopes, frangible, exploding & other types of carcano bullets from comments Mr. Prudhomme contributed to the discussion. He's got some info on WWII tossed in the mix as well. I did not intend my comment to appear to insinuate Mr. Prudhomme had claimed CIA contract bullets were fired by the 'Oswald weapon'. He did not. That claim was made by the website referenced in the discussion intro section. It's good to get to the bottom of it here at EF. Sorry if I caused you unnecessary 'headaches', Mr. Prudhomme. BM