Mark Tyler

Here is the map of witnesses reporting one or two shots well after the head shot: Compared to the previous maps, far fewer witnesses are certain they heard shots during this timeframe, although enough are adamant that shots were fired around Z360-Z400 to accept this as corroborated. A few seemed to hear a pair of shots, such as Mary Moorman and Jean Hill who gave very clear interviews on the day explaining that sequence of events. The dataset is too small to spot any clear patterns, although once again Elm Street is the main area of these witnesses. One thing that is very noticeable here is how no witnesses in the Presidential limo, SS follow up car, or VP car actually heard this shot or shots. My view is that this is due to a couple of reasons: A very loud siren was being emitted from the Secret Service follow up car which distracted enough people who were in the immediate vicinity (judging from the map nobody within 30 feet of the siren heard the shot(s)). The stressful nature of events startled many people, especially those who witnessed the head shot which distracted them from the final shot(s) (many bystanders literally turned and ran just after Z313, underlining the horrific nature of the events they had just witnessed). By contrast, those witnesses further away from the siren who weren't terrorised were able to report the final shot(s) in the sequence. The best example of this were those in Camera Car #3 who all reported that the final shot was fired as they began their turn onto Elm Street, so they must have been very close to the TSBD gun and well away from the siren or the chaos unfolding on Elm Street. In particular Malcolm Couch gave enough detail in his statements to identify where the car was located when he heard the first shot fired around Z190-Z220; the second shot near Z313; and the final shot around Z360-Z400. Thanks to the Hughes film and the Zapruder film we have a very accurate measure of where the camera cars were at those times which makes it fairly easy to convert the witness statements to a timeline of when the shots were fired. Studying the raw data from over 400+ witnesses is a little daunting and rather hard to digest in tabular form, so many thanks to Eddy for suggesting the idea of looking for patterns on the map regarding the double bangs and witness locations as I think it makes it easier to understand the very complex crime scene.

In the Wiegman frame, the hard top car just about to pass Hargis is the VP SS follow up car. The continuity and synchronization of this works perfectly in the animation. The animation frame you quoted was from Z368, but the Wiegman frame was over 4 seconds later at Z447 which is why the cars had all moved down Elm Street a little bit more. The Mayor's car didn't stop for more than a few seconds, but the longer delay came thanks to the camera cars which were very sluggish to get away as several cameramen got out of the cars and took films and photos before returning to their cars. The Wiegman frame is a little blurry due to Wiegman running fast down Elm Street so I wouldn't worry too much about some of the odd visual artefacts and lack of sharp detail.

Here is the map of witnesses reporting one or two shots in the vicinity of Z313: Compared to the first shot(s) circa Z225, there are far more witnesses who heard double bangs. Just like with the first map, the main group of witnesses who heard this double bang were situated on Elm Street or the bridge over Elm Street (almost a straight line from the TSBD or Dal-Tex buildings to the bridge I would say). A handful in the Houston and Main Street area heard a double bang, but not many. The final piece of this work will be the much smaller group of people who heard a shot or shots well after Z330, which I hope to complete by the end of the weekend.

The general pattern of the vehicles would be the same: each of the cars would have decelerated into the turn, and then accelerated out of the turn at a certain point. However, the exact speed going in, out, and the point of acceleration would vary from car to car. The exact point you referenced for the Presidential limo and the camera car is indeed the same at about 8-9 MPH, but other cars like the VP car and it's SS follow up seem to be a little quicker at 9-10 MPH. It's not a big difference, and both seem reasonable guides for what the other cars must have done. With the Mayor's car being directly behind the VP SS follow up travelling at 9-10 MPH, that must also be a reasonable speed for the Mayor's car as the driver would have been looking very closely ahead as the car in front accelerated away. Sadly, with no other cameras recording this area at the same time we can't really be certain of the exact speed of the Mayor's car at all points on the bend. The only certainty is that we see where the Mayor's car is at Z180 in the Zapruder film, and also Z447 in the Wiegman film about 14.6 seconds later. In the animation the computer program decelerates the car at Z180, and starts accelerating it soon after such that we don't see it in the Altgens 6 photo at Z255, and it's then in the right place to be stopped at Z447. By slowing down the car during Z180-Z280, you will necessarily speed it up later in that sequence towards Z447 (unreasonably pushing it over 15 MPH), or it creates a timing gap in the Zapruder film.

Eddy, I managed to map the witnesses reporting the first shot noises circa Z180-Z240 here: Of the 400+ witnesses I studied, about 100 of them can be pinned down to hearing a shot in this rough timeframe thanks to them mentioning JFK reacting or the positions of the cars. The witnesses who reported two shots around this time are in purple squares, with a single shot being yellow. There aren't many double bangs, but there is one main cluster, with the centre of this being the Presidential limo (as identified by the large ellipse). The other two minor areas are the bridge, and also the two cameramen Nix and Bronson on or near Main Street. The most obvious pattern here is that about 90% of witnesses heard a single shot at the beginning of the shooting which means 90% of the witnesses don't accept the modern lone nut theory which requires an extra missed shot at Z160 or before. Even in the 10% part, most say that the two shots were on top of each other with barely any time between them, which as far as I'm concerned consigns the very early missed shot theory to the trash can as it requires 3-5 seconds between those shots. Over the weekend I will do the timeframe around Z313, which has dozens of witnesses reporting a double bang.

Yes, I had the Mayor's car moving slightly faster in that part of the bend than the Presidential limo. This is partly due to the speed constraints later due to the Mayor's car probably being at a standstill by Z447: This drags up the speed somewhat after the start of the Wiegman film, followed by a short braking operation as they saw the chaos unfolding ahead. In version 2.3 I have him peaking at about 13 MPH followed by him stopping at Z430. With no film depicting this timeline it's rather tricky to be certain, but stopping the Mayor's car at Z410, Z430, or Z450 would change the speed, as well as the tightening of the vehicle cornering you mentioned earlier (which seems quite reasonable, although difficult to know with certainty due to the lack of clear films of that area at that time). There is a trade off between speed and the line taken around the corner, as the tighter the turn the less distance is travelled, but also the slower the car must be travelling. The bikes had the same issue, with the inner bikes being near 5 MPH, and the outer ones being near 10 MPH.

I think visually depicting the locations of witnesses who heard single and double bangs on a map of Dealey Plaza would be very interesting, just in case it revealed a pattern. When I get some free time I will look at doing something like this as I think it could be quite useful to know. About 100 of the 400+ witnesses gave enough information to know roughly when they heard the shots, so there should be enough data to spot a pattern if there is one.

Do you mean that the animation map needs adjusting to shrink the corner down a little? This looks like the HSCA survey you are using, so it's worth mentioning there are some disagreements between this, the Warren Commission survey, and the other ones folks have put together over the years. Do you have any high resolution aerial photos from 1963 that might nail down the exact nature of the curve relative to the fixed landmarks? I have seen some later photos of that corner, but there have probably been changes since 1963. Here is CE699 which isn't the best resolution: https://www.history-matters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh17/pdf/WH17_CE_699.pdf

I have indeed read things like the Thompson/Aguilar article here, referencing some interesting interviews with witnesses regarding the original bullet found on the stretcher: https://history-matters.com/essays/frameup/EvenMoreMagical/EvenMoreMagical.htm Looking at the issue of the first shot or two, I do find it very difficult to fully explain the events we see in the Zapruder film relative to the victim injuries, and CE399. The single bullet theory has a number of strengths, but it also has problems regarding the trajectory and why CE399 wasn't damaged more after breaking so many bones. Did employees of the FBI subvert the investigation? Of course, the HSCA proved this by getting James Hosty to confess to destroying Oswald's threatening note, presumably to avoid the negative attention that it would attract (i.e. why didn't the FBI do something about Oswald and his subversive threats before the President drove past his place of work?). Who knows where else this may have happened in this case to avoid embarrassment? In general I feel we are missing a piece or two of the jigsaw, probably due to the inadequate autopsy and the rather haphazard investigation. Two commonly discussed options I have heard on each side of the debate are: Lone nut argument: JFK had a curious slouch due to waving (and possibly his back problem), which explains the trajectory from his back to throat wounds coming from the sixth floor window. CE399 is authentic and wasn't damaged more due to being slowed down by going through JFK first before hitting bones in John Connally at a greatly reduced speed. Conspiracy argument: The flatter vertical trajectory through JFK is explained by the bullet coming from a lower source such as the Dal-Tex building (perhaps hinted at by the arrests there soon after the shooting, e.g. Jim Braden). CE399 is a red herring due to being fraudulently introduced when the authorities didn't want to acknowledge that a conspiracy occurred. Sadly both seem rather moot as it's impossible to prove either with any certainty, but I suspect the truth is close to one of these two options.

This camera data is an interesting reference, thanks for sharing it. So it looks like the 36.5 seconds of footage Wiegman took was just about as much as he could get without winding the camera back up (37 seconds). This might explain why the last couple of items were so short, as he desperately tried to use up the remaining frames before the camera spring was completely unwound. I tend to agree with you that he would have done the whole sequence on a single wind as he probably didn't have time to crank it up again. Did you try speeding up the Wiegman film to account for the 29 FPS estimation based on the Mayor's car position? (adding an extra 20% of speed to your media player should do the trick) I find the film speed at 29 FPS to be more natural, such as the people at the end running and Charles Hester jumping up. At 24 FPS the speed feels a little sluggish and unnatural.

Hi Benjamin, I hope you find the work useful. Having a complete real-time motorcade reconstruction based on all of the photos, films, and witness statements helps to explore the various theories regarding the crime scene. In some cases it exposes some of the mistakes that witnesses made in their statements such as timing, but in general most of the witnesses seem to be correct regarding what they saw and heard. Many of the contradictions between the witness statements can be resolved by understanding that some were distracted and missed the first or last shots. After accounting for that, I noticed things started to fit together a bit more. The exact timeline of Connally's wounding is tricky to judge due to the subjective nature of photo-analysis, but the first time I see him moving abnormally is about Z225-Z230 at the same time JFK raises his arms so I suspect they were both hit at roughly the same time. Have a look at a slowed down Zapruder film to see them both react at the same time, with Connally's hat moving upwards rapidly and his whole body seems to twist and flinch with discomfort: Whether this is a single bullet, or a pair of different shots I'm not sure, but the downward angle of 20-25 degrees through Connally does seem to match the sixth floor window perfectly if the wound occurred Z190-Z220 as the film would imply. The thing that baffles me is the flat trajectory through JFK, as this doesn't really fit Connally's wounds unless JFK was hunched forward somehow (which looks unlikely judging from the Zapruder film). As I recall, when Connally studied the Zapruder film frames before giving testimony to the Warren Commission he said he thought he was hit by frame Z230, so this might be worth considering. Connally's testimony is very interesting regarding the shots, as he insists that he wasn't hit by the first shot, but was hit about two seconds later. Here is a quote from his Warren Commission testimony which underlines this rapidity: "I knew it when I just looked down and I was covered with blood, and the thought immediately passed through my mind that there were either two or three people involved or more in this or someone was shooting with an automatic rifle. These were just thoughts that went through my mind because of the rapidity of these two, of the first shot plus the blow that I took," 4H133 - https://aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh4/html/WC_Vol4_0071a.htm If this is correct then Connally is telling us that there was more than one gunman. Alternatively he may have been hit by the first shot, but suffered some kind of delayed reaction due to the shock from his injuries. Either way it's hard to match his statements with the popular modern lone nut theory which involves a missed shot fired at Z160 or before, followed by a 3-5 second delay before the single bullet hits the victims. Nellie Connally's statement also challenges the modern lone nut theory as she said the first shot hit JFK, and that the second shot came soon after, but before the head shot that we see at Z313. As we see from the Zapruder film, all of this happened in the five seconds during Z225-Z313, so three shots in five shots is impossible for the clunky bolt action gun found in the TSBD (not forgetting that many witnesses also heard another shot well after the head shot, which would be a fourth shot). I haven't studied the medical side too deeply, but from what I have heard from other researchers is that it might have been possible for the wrist wound to have occurred from the shrapnel which emerged from JFK's head and was projected forward in various directions. It's probably impossible to know with certainty, but maybe this explains why CE399 was not damaged more, i.e. it didn't actually hit the wrist bone and it simply went into the thigh directly from the chest wound? Judging from Z312 of the Zapruder film Connally's right hand was exposed and facing upwards at the time of the head shot so it's certainly possible for the wrist wound to have occurred then. I'm fairly open minded about exploring different theories to explain the crime scene evidence. Any theory that fits with the known facts and has no loose ends is well worth considering. A second gunman is quite possible, and judging from the witness survey I compiled, about 60% of those who gave clear information suggested that at least two of the shots were fired in rapid succession (within a second or two, which is impossible from the gun in the TSBD). The majority of these witnesses mentioned that this double bang was towards the end of the gunfire, although a few did hear a double bang at the beginning.

That's right, in the earlier animation version I had a wider turn where the cars all sat in the middle of the centre lane, but I realised that most of the cars took the turn by being closer to the left hand white line at the beginning of Elm Street. In other words they cut the corner ever so slightly, rather than following a perfect circular arc. The exact position of the Mayor's car is tricky to judge as we don't see a white line for several seconds into the Wiegman film, so the best view is probably from the Dorman film here: It's not completely clear from this slightly blurry frame where the white line is, but a slightly earlier frames suggests it's just behind the car, but not hidden by very much (maybe the horizontal white area just behind the window frames?). There could be a slightly tighter radius if the car started turning slightly earlier on Houston Street, so anywhere near Z270 could work for the beginning of the Wiegman film. Z270 would mean a Wiegman film rate of about 27.3 FPS. Anyone can do this calculation as follows: Wiegman FPS = 264 / ((447 - START) / 18.3) 264 = Wiegman frames elapsed since frame 1 (to match Z447 with W265). 447 = Z-film frame sync point with Wiegman 265 (based on the Presidential limo location being visible in both film frames, triangulated with the lamppost). 18.3 = Average Z-Film FPS. START = Zapruder start frame synchronized to Wiegman frame 1. For example, using START=246 results in the 24.0 FPS that Dale Myers used.

33 Zapruder film frames (or close to two seconds) does seem to be the gap between my Wiegman film analysis and what Dale Myers concluded in his 2007-2010 Epipolar report here: https://www.jfkfiles.com/jfk/html/acoustics.htm For those reading this who don't know about what I call the "Wiegman Timing Anomaly", Myers said that the Wiegman film was recorded at 24 FPS (based on the assumption that 16mm film cameras typically used that rate in the 1960's). However, I have concluded that due to the measurements of the Mayor's car position I think it was closer to 29 FPS. Connecting the two second gap to the Towner film frame rate issues is an interesting coincidence that I hadn't noticed before. The other thing worth mentioning is that the Towner frame rate analysis is also locked into the Hughes film thanks to a 4.8 second segment which ended here: Chris, is there a similar problem with the Hughes film at 18 FPS, or are you saying the Hughes/Wiegman films are authentic and that the problem of a two second gap is just with the Towner film and the Zapruder film?

Thanks for the tip, I'm glad my motorcade analysis could help in some small way! I should also express gratitude to the members of the forum who have helped me over the last two years to nail down the details and correct some of my mistakes along the way. Although I disagree with Josiah Thompson on the dictabelt issue, I'm very grateful to him for the amazing investigative work he has done in the case, and also the very cooperative attitude he has had towards other researchers. For example, he has taken time to share his knowledge on this very forum, which has been a great source of help for me for studying the witnesses and their statements. As an example of his public speaking, here is a video from 1975 where Thompson lucidly explains the various problems with the single bullet theory (10:50 to 23:40 in the video):

Hi Stu. Apart from McLain, the other bikes in Dealey Plaza were in even worse positions to record the audio on the Houston/Elm Street turn: The presidential limo bikes were well down Elm Street so it couldn't be them. Officer Baker was on the wrong side of the road and was nowhere near the turn onto Elm Street, just like McLain (as proven by the Hughes film circa Z190). The other bikes were still on Main Street (Courson, Haygood, etc), or possibly just turning onto Houston Street when the shooting started. One or two three wheeled bikes were on Main Street, but they were nowhere near where they need to be on the Houston/Elm turn (as proven by the Hughes film showing Houston Street bereft of any bikes just before the Zapruder film started at Z133). The HSCA scenario, or the second animation which I mentioned in my previous post, is where I explored what Don Thomas and others think happened regarding McLain and Courson. Sadly I couldn't make the timing and continuity work unless McLain roared forward along Houston Street at 30 MPH from 10-15 MPH on the Main/Houston bend, so I think there is no chance that the stuck open mic on the bike was in Dealey Plaza. Last year someone suggested that the microphone that recorded the gunshot impulses onto the dictabelt could have been in Dealey Plaza but in the Mayors car or the Secret Service #2 follow up car (with the noisy bike with the stuck open mic being elsewhere in Dallas). I initially thought this might be possible as the animation shows those two cars are in roughly the right position on the corner turning onto Elm Street from Z175-Z313 during the shooting up to the head shot. For this to be correct then a police microphone would need to be in one of the cars and switched on, which I don't think we can know either way for certain. However, I then realised that in the seconds after the head shot at Z313, Sam Kinney in the Secret Service #1 follow up car started a very loud siren which many other witnesses reported (most notably Marilyn Sitzman who said it was the loudest thing she heard that day). As we all know by listening to the dictabelt recording, the only audible sirens appear 3-4 minutes after the alleged shots which means that whatever was recorded at the time of the assassination could not have come from any microphone in Dealey Plaza as the siren does not appear. Anyway, that's my current view, but as always I'm very open to re-evaluating things if anyone thinks I have made a mistake or there is a better explanation for the evidence.

Well spotted Chris, I changed the start of the Wiegman film to Z280 as I found it smoothed out the deceleration of the Mayor's car as it turned onto Elm Street Z133-Z220 (and then the acceleration that followed a few seconds later on Elm after Z250). This slightly slows the film frame rate down to 29 FPS from the 31 FPS which I had before for the Z295 start of the Wiegman film, but it's still within the 27-31 FPS range which is my visual estimate of the true Wiegman film rate. If you think this causes any problems let me know the details and I will check these workings again.

I've just published version 2.3 of Motorcade 63: https://www.marktyler.org/mc63.html There are no major changes this time, just small improvements in various areas. However, I have included a second animation at the bottom of the above web page which explores the ideas that were first established by the HSCA acoustics scientists regarding the position of a microphone in Dealey Plaza (it was originally suspected as being on the bike ridden by HB McLain). Over the last 20 years or so these ideas have been refined by others such as Don Thomas, and recently explored by Josiah Thompson in his recent book "Last Second In Dallas". Acoustic science is a somewhat dry and esoteric topic, so I thought it would be useful to have an animated version of this scenario so all researchers can see in real time what the practical implications are regarding the motorcade vehicles and timing issues. In the main animation I have placed McLain in the positions established by the Hughes film (circa Z150), the Dorman film (circa Z410), and also the DCA film when McLain was on Main Street just before entering Dealey Plaza (and briefly by the Paschall film a few seconds later). However, in the HSCA scenario I have McLain's bike travelling around Dealey Plaza to be consistent with the acoustics analysis, and also consistent with the photographic record. Several important issues regarding continuity arose during this work: I had to assume that the bike we see in the Hughes film at Z150, and the Dorman film at Z410, was officer JW Courson (nothing else seems to fit the evidence). In doing this both McLain and Courson moved forward by some 100-200 feet from the positions established by other earlier photographs in the motorcade such as this Dillard photo which shows McLain (bike id 352) near the camera cars: This position was maintained just before McLain entered Dealey Plaza as proven by the DCA film: At the end of the Hughes film segment where the Presidential limo had just turned onto Elm Street, we see Houston Street without any bike visible: This was about 3.2 seconds before the Zapruder film restarted at Z133. Using the shot timings from the dictabelt where the Z313 shot was fired from the grassy knoll, I have put McLain in the position to record the first gunshot at Z175 which is 2.3 seconds after Z133, or 5.5 seconds after the Hughes film frame above was recorded. The animation assumes that McLain was just to the right of this film frame and sped up as he travelled the 200 feet in those 5.5 seconds (which is an average speed of 36.4 ft/sec or 24.8 MPH). The animation also includes acceleration and deceleration near the street corners which pushes up the peak speed of McLain's bike to about 30 MPH. I'm not aware of any contradictions between this animated scenario and the known photos and films taken during the time period studied, but if anyone thinks there is a contradiction please let me know. Although this new animated HSCA scenario is theoretically possible, with nothing in the photographic record to contradict it, the speed of McLain's bike is completely preposterous due to the rapid acceleration along Houston Street (why would he be motivated to do such a thing?). By contrast, the main animation has the bike moving around Dealey Plaza at its usual speed of 5-10 MPH and in close proximity to the camera cars, which is consistent with the earlier stages of the motorcade (and also in formation with Marrion Baker to McLain's right, with Courson in formation with Clyde Haygood further back). As always, I'm happy to receive constructive feedback from others so I can improve the work and fix errors or omissions. I'm especially interested in hearing from people who still believe the HSCA acoustics work is correct, but think that my animation positions for McLain are wrong (or if the microphone was on a different vehicle). For a historic view of these issues, here are web links to very thorough articles written by Don Thomas and Dale Myers from 2008-2010: https://www.maryferrell.org/pages/Essay_-_The_Bike_With_the_Mike.html https://jfkfiles.blogspot.com/2010/11/jfk-assassination-acoustics-and.html

The overall timestamp is the overlapping films: Wiegman, Bell, and Couch. Through those we can know the total time from start to finish (roughly 30 seconds), as the Wiegman film shows Hargis dismounted at Z447 and the Bell film shows Hargis running back as McLain rides past: Of course we don't know exactly what McLain was doing during all of that time as there is no continuous film footage of him, but we do know he must have travelled from Houston Street when the shooting started (either at the beginning or end of the street depending on whether you believe the HSCA scientists or not), to being halfway down Elm Street when the Bell and Couch films caught him. After all of these calculations, we can know Hargis only spent about 15 seconds at the lamppost (plus about 15 seconds jogging between the points, to total the 30 seconds I mentioned earlier), which is just about enough time to survey the area, but nothing else. This exactly matches his Warren Commission testimony so I am very confident this is what happened on the day.

Hi David. Hargis does seem to be looking in that direction as Zapruder and Sitzman jumped down from the pedestal before they headed for the pergola shelter. The Hester's were both on the ground with David Wiegman filming them, so Hargis was probably looking for a gunman of some kind. Hargis spoke to the Warren Commission and explained what he did on the day: https://www.history-matters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh6/html/WC_Vol6_0152a.htm He also mentioned looking towards the railroad overpass and the TSBD, so all of this would have taken the roughly 15 seconds before he decided to go back to his bike. He then carried on looking around beyond the overpass, and got off his bike as corroborated by this later Bell frame which shows a bike parked between the two overpass bridges: He didn't seem to see anything of note, which would explain why he didn't stay in Dealey Plaza very long.

That's right, we took a little detour off the topic of the dictabelt and explored what Hargis did on Elm Street while McLain was riding past. Sorry for any confusion!

You are right Chris, Hargis didn't get across before LBJ's car passed him. Here is a Wiegman film frame from about Z447, or 7-8 seconds seconds after the head shot: As you can just about see at the left of the frame, he has just dismounted and is ready to scamper across the road. The Mayor's car stopped for a few seconds which gave him enough time to cross the road. You can see the brake lights of the Press Pool car in the foreground which is reacting to the Mayor's car stopping just ahead. Once Hargis got to the north side of Elm Street he stood at the lamppost for about 15 seconds as he surveyed the area before running back to his bike, and was was caught by the Bond 4 photo that Pat referenced. Here is Hargis standing at the lamppost (top right and bottom right images):

That's a good point George, the sirens that are audible later in the recording suggest that the motorcade approached the microphone and then passed it, which supports the idea that it was somewhere en route to the hospital and the motorcade sped past it. I'm not aware of anyone who has resolved these problems with the dictabelt evidence, so until then I regard it as a red herring. However, even if you remove the dictabelt from consideration there are other pieces of evidence which support Josiah Thompson's shot scenario involving bunched shots Z175-Z230 and Z310-Z330. This work includes analysis of the witness evidence and how it relates to measurable events in the Zapruder film such as the jiggle analysis and the movements of the victims.

Yes, I have read the book and I followed the points being made regarding the dictabelt and the acoustics reports. Although I have never studied acoustic science outside this case, I do think the book is written well enough to communicate the salient points to non-experts. Yes, I accept that the noise on the dictabelt is indeed a motorbike which seems to accelerate and decelerate at various points, along with the rider occasionally whistling. The cause is almost certainly an accidentally stuck open microphone, and this very situation was mentioned in conversation by the dispatcher about 4 minutes after the alleged shots. I think we can accept this general narrative as proven. I regard the exact location of the bike and stuck open microphone as unknown, but wherever it was it must conform to the proven evidence above and what is on the recording itself (especially the timing issues I mentioned in my earlier post). I offer the general Trade Mart area as consistent with the known evidence, but the exact position is probably unknowable. With the lack of Dealey Plaza ambient noise such as crowd noise before the alleged shots, and sirens after the alleged shots, I feel this rather contradicts the idea of it being recorded in Dealey Plaza. By contrast, at various points on the other channel we hear Jesse Curry talking with crowd noise in the background, and even a siren very briefly immediately after the shooting when he first reported the incident. When one microphone picks up known ambient Dealey Plaza noise, why doesn't the other one? Apart from the microphone not being in Dealey Plaza, I can't think of a plausible explanation. The most likely location of McLain before and during the shooting was Houston Street as depicted in the Hughes and Dorman film frames I linked earlier in the thread which shows him to be in the wrong position to record the audio on the dictabelt. However, if we look at things another way and force McLain to be where he needed to be it leads to an interesting conclusion. The Hughes film shows Houston Street to have no bike anywhere just after the Presidential limo turned onto Elm Street: This frame was filmed about 3.2 seconds before the Zapruder film starts at Z133, and we can see there is no bike anywhere on Houston Street. According to the dictabelt theory the first shot is fired as the microphone is just about to start turning onto Elm Street at around Z175, which is about 2.3 seconds after the Z-film starts at Z133. If we assume McLain was just to the right of the final Hughes frame above, he has to travel the whole of Houston Street in just 5.5 seconds so this means his bike must have averaged 27 MPH (220 feet travelled in 5.5 secs = 40ft/sec). Once you include reasonable assumptions regarding the time taken to accelerate and decelerate the bike, the peak speed must have been around 35 MPH. This proposed scenario is the *ONLY* way McLain can have been in the correct position for the dictabelt scientists to be correct, but it requires McLain to have ridden his bike at a preposterous 35 MPH which makes no sense considering the motorcade was travelling at around 10 MPH. I can't concoct any reasonable scenario to make the dictabelt theory work, but if anyone else can, please do let me know!

JFK does indeed seem to slump forward after Z328, and his head does seem to change shape around this time. Whether this is due to a second shot, or just that his skull was shattered and unstable after a single shot at Z313 is very difficult to know with certainty (sadly the Z-film is so blurry during that time it's hard to tell). The audio on the dictabelt is surprisingly complex when you look at the detail of how parts of the recording seem to get copied from one channel to another, and then get relayed at a barely audible volume. If the acoustics evidence is correct regarding the 95% certainty of a grassy knoll gunman, then these facts must logically follow: The microphone *MUST* have been starting to turn the corner onto Elm Street during Z175-Z230 when the first shots were fired. By Z313-Z400 the microphone and the bike *MUST* have been well down Elm Street and *SHOULD* have picked up the very loud siren blaring from the Secret Service follow up car (which was reported by many witnesses, including Sam Kinney who started the siren himself). About 3 minutes after the shooting we do hear the sounds of several sirens on the dictabelt as the motorcade raced to Parkland Hospital, so we know the microphone was capable of recording sirens. On point 1, which bike in Dealey Plaza was it that had the stuck open microphone? The Hughes film shows officer McLain to be turning onto Houston Street at Z150, and the Dorman film shows him to be turning onto Elm Street after Z410: The DCA film proves there was no other bike anywhere near the camera cars and congressman cars as the motorcade approached Dealey Plaza, so it must have been McLain in the Hughes and Dorman films above: In other words, if the dictabelt audio was recorded in Dealey Plaza it couldn't have been McLain or any other bike as they were nowhere near the required point during the beginning of the shooting. Point 2 is crucial as it proves that the bike microphone could easily record the sound of sirens, and is consistent with the HSCA claim that if the microphone was in a 300 foot range of the siren it would be recorded. So why are there no sirens near when the alleged shots were fired? The only logical conclusion is that the microphone was not in Dealey Plaza, and it was a few miles away, perhaps near the Trade Mart which was en route to the hospital. This map shows the 2 mile route from the Stemmons ramp near Dealey Plaza to the Trade Mart, which is a good match for the 3 minutes gap on the dictabelt if the bike was just the other side on Harry Hines Blvd: It is true to say that the alleged dictabelt shots roughly correlate with Zapruder film events, such as the victims reacting, and the jiggle analysis. However, with several intractable problems like the lack of a bike in the right place and the lack of a siren, I find it too problematic to use as proof regarding multiple shots at the beginning of the shooting or near the head shot. Having said all of that, the other evidence Thompson and the HSCA refer to regarding the multiple shots fired during Z175-Z230 and Z290-Z330 does seem to stand up to scrutiny rather well (early witness reports, jiggles in the Z-film from loud shots disturbing Zapruder, etc).

https://kennedysandking.com/john-f-kennedy-articles/fidel-castro-s-first-speech-on-the-jfk-assassination-11-23-1963