Hoover and the 3 bullets

[Linda Powell]

A few years back, when the 'Johnson Tapes' were first released, they showed that a conversation with J Edgar Hoover was recorded on 27th November 1963 at 9.47 pm, part of which I transcribe below:

Johnson: How many shots were fired? Two?

Hoover: Three.

Johnson: Any of 'em fired at me?

Hoover: No, all three at the President, and we have 'em. The third shot tore a large part of the President's head off, and we have that and we have the gun here also. And we also have tested the fact that you can fire those three shots in three seconds.

Johnson: Were they aiming at the President?

Hoover: They were aiming directly at the President, there's no question about that.

Given that this is the director of the FBI informing the President, it may be reasonable to assume that Hoover had some basis for his claims (though I'm aware that Hoover's credibility has not stood the test of time). According to Hoover therefore, the FBI were in possession of all three bullets and had successfully tested the gun.

I note from this exchange that Johnson asks were 'they' aiming at the President, but it's not clear if he meant 'they' the bullets or 'they' the gunmen.

As I understand it, the only complete bullet found was the controversial 'Magic Bullet' found at Parkland Hospital and no intact bullet was recovered from the President's brain. Hoover in his attempt to appear efficient may of course have been referring to the shell cases found on the sixth floor, but he does seem to be quite specific in his mention of the bullet that hit Kennedy in the head.

Any thoughts or further information from anyone on the above transcript?