PBS Nova " Cold Case JFK "

[Robin Unger]

Misleading Nova animation showing the bullet entering through kennedy's SHIRT COLLAR ?

Click on image to view full size:

Edited February 2, 2014 by Robin Unger

[Robin Unger]

The Nova program is all about proving the SBT was possible.

but this incorrect animation, sticks out like a sore thumb ?

[Robert Prudhomme]

As an old boss of mine was fond of saying, "Hard to get good help these days."

[Robin Unger]

I thought the Rifle shooting segment was VERY good.
showing the bullet going through ballistics gel and soap.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=z4VLmPxFyk8

but that bogus animation soured it for me

Edited February 2, 2014 by Robin Unger

[Ken Davies]

All of these shows are geared toward the single bullet theory, and the Oswald did it theory. Objectivity is non existent.

[Robin Unger]

[Robert Prudhomme]

Robin

I seem unable to post photos on this forum but there is a lovely still from that animation where the makers of this show made a host of mistakes.

1. The magic bullet is shown exiting JFK's chest just above his right nipple.

2. The magic bullet seems to be travelling through Connally at a downward angle of 45° and is shown exiting just above his navel.

3. The magic bullet is shown entering the palm side of Connally's wrist, and exiting the back side of his wrist. Medical records show the magic bullet actually ENTERED the back side of Connally's wrist, and EXITED the palm side of his wrist.

Of course, one can't really blame the makers of this animation for not showing things as they really were, as this would show to all what a mockery and a fraud the Silly Bullet Theory really was.

P.S. There are other reasons why the wrist wound makes the Silly Bullet theory impossible. Care to hear them?

Edited February 2, 2014 by Robert Prudhomme

[Pat Speer]

I showed these images at the close of my 11-21-13 presentation in Dallas. They are just the most recent spin on a 50 year-old problem: the back wound was too low to support the SBT.

My blog post on the NOVA program from The Onslaught:

November 13: NOVA: “Cold Case JFK” premieres on PBS. The Koch brothers are among those funding this program. I wonder if they had any influence on its content. Luke and Michael Haag, the father and son firearms team featured on CBS a few days before, are the chief experts on the program. Credible figures who suspect there was a conspiracy like Josiah Thompson, Robert Blakey and Jefferson Morley are used as talking heads, and essentially as window-dressing. Clint Hill is dragged out as well. The program's use of John McAdams is also illuminating. Whenever they need someone to fill in a part of the story, there's John. Now, this wouldn't be so bad if they didn't let him make stuff up. To explain the botched autopsy, McAdams spews: "The whole Kennedy entourage does not understand the distinction between just an autopsy and a forensic autopsy." (Oh, really? Robert Kennedy, the Attorney General of the United States, doesn't know what the word "forensic" means?) He then mocks the Kennedy family (chiefly Mrs. Kennedy) for choosing to have the autopsy performed at Bethesda Naval Hospital. He either doesn't know or doesn't care that the president's doctor, Admiral Burkley, gave her the choice between Walter Reed, an Army Hospital, and Bethesda, and that she was offered no alternative. The program then introduces Vincent J.M. DiMaio to further comment upon the competence of the autopsy. Chief among these complaints is that the doctors never viewed the clothes before writing their report. Within this sequence they show the autopsy photo of Kennedy's back. The importance of this will soon be made clear.

The program then discusses the Zapruder film. The narrator explains "The majority of witnesses heard three shots. The first bullet evidently missed. It has never been found." Oh my! What a juxtaposition! The narrator fails to explain that the very witnesses the program has relied upon to claim there were three shots, also claimed--overwhelmingly--that the first shot struck Kennedy. Hmmm... So what comes next? "Most agree the fatal head wound was the third and final shot, Zapruder frame 313." Uhhh...most what? Most researchers? Maybe. But not most of the witnesses close enough to say as much. So what comes next? "The earliest sign of trouble is at frame 225, when the car emerges from behind the sign." Oh, my, again! No mention of the HSCA's conclusion Kennedy was hit before he went behind the sign, and showed evidence for this by frame 207. Let's just pretend that never happened. Man, who were the consultants on this? Dale Myers? Gerald Posner? The ghost of John Lattimer? Oh, that's right, they have McAdams, who explains that Connally shows no sign of receiving a bullet before 235. The narrator then offers: "Rewinding to before the sign, neither man appears hit, so clearly both are shot sometime between frame 210, when they disappear, and frame 240, a time span of 30 frames." Arggh! The only government-hired photographic panel to study these frames concluded Kennedy was hit before frame 210. How can they not know this? Oh, I get it! They're telling us why the Warren Commission came to propose the single-bullet theory. But isn't that old news? Hasn't the conclusion of Arlen Specter in 1964 (that Kennedy was not hit before going behind the sign) been superseded by the conclusions of the HSCA photographic panel in 1978, that Kennedy was hit before going behind the sign? Is the whole program really this behind the times, an exploration of theories based upon facts no longer considered facts?

The next segment is devoted to the Haags' showing us how a Carcano bullet can be shot through boards without deformation, etc. The narrator makes it seem as if this is new information, when it's the same old stuff. WHAT A WASTE OF FILM! The program then shows us an animation of the single-bullet theory in slow-mo. The camera follows the bullet down to the back of KENNEDY'S COLLAR--five inches higher on Kennedy's clothes than the actual hole on Kennedy's clothes--then passes out Kennedy's neck! Oh, my, yet again! This is the same program that just rolled its metaphorical eyes over those incompetent doctors writing an autopsy report without inspecting Kennedy's clothes...and here it is "showing" us how Kennedy was killed, while ignoring the holes in his clothes! The Haags now prepare to shoot some soap. So freakin' what? None of this is remotely new! The program now shows us the animated segment shown on CBS a few days earlier. The narrator tells us "The single-bullet theory is all about what it does after it emerges from Kennedy's neck" as the bullet hits Kennedy at his collar and then emerges from his throat. This is a lie of epic proportions. The program has already shown us the photo of Kennedy's back wound; this wound is in a location inches away from where the animated bullet has entered. Who are they trying to fool? The writer of this program is Rushmore DeNooyer; I'll have to see what else he's done and avoid it like the plague. The narrator then declares "In these three feet, the space between Kennedy and Connally, lie the answers that prove or disprove the single-bullet theory."

Luke Haag then shoots a block of soap to simulate Kennedy's back and throat wounds. OOOPS! The hole in the back of the soap, representing the size of the temporary cavity, is far larger than the entrance on Kennedy's back. He then shows us the exit from the soap. It is slightly larger than the entrance, and has a lip around the exit, almost like the top of a Coke bottle. Haag shares, "This is the exit. We can see that it's very little different in size than the entrance." The Haags then start talking about how the bullet begins to yaw as it leaves the soap. They ignore that Kennedy's throat wound was far smaller than his back wound and that the bullet creating the throat wound showed no sign of yawing. Oh no! I sense an attack of the ovoids coming on...where they lie about the shape of Connally's back wound! I notice also that they keep saying there was three feet between Kennedy and Connally. This is not true. The HSCA studied this and determined there was but 2 feet between Kennedy's throat and Connally's back. We are now shown the shape the bullet made when hitting a piece of sheetrock placed three feet beyond the soap neck. They assure us this is "the same position Connally was in, three feet beyond Kennedy." This shows that the bullet was traveling sideways. Haag says "Connally's coat had this kind of a hole in it." This is another whopper. The hole in the sheetrock, pretty much an outline of a Carcano bullet, is about 4 times longer than wide. The hole in Connally's jacket, on the other hand, was determined to be about 1.7 cm by 1.2 cm, not even as ovoid as the hole in Kennedy's jacket, 1.5 cm by 1. The narrator then builds upon this lie by relating "And so does Connally's back, according to his surgeon." Wow, the hits just keep coming. This surgeon, Dr. Robert Shaw, of course, insisted the bullet creating the wound on Connally's back had entered at an angle, and had not hit Kennedy beforehand. The narrator then lists: "A straight line through JFK's neck, elliptical holes in Connally's back and coat with no bullet wipe, bits of lead in the wrist, a bullet noticeably flattened with lead bulging out the bottom, and tests showing that Carcano bullets consistently turn sideways; to Luke Haag the single-bullet theory adds up." To no one's surprise, Haag then concludes "There's no reason not to conclude that the single-bullet theory as proposed by Arlen Specter is the correct one."

Now, admittedly, that last bit was a bit tough for me to listen to--so much so that I missed something the first time around and only caught it after reading a review of the program by Martin Hay. "With no bullet wipe"... After he was first shown firing on soap, Luke Haag pulled a piece of cloth from the outside of the soap block and explained that it showed bullet wipe--which indicated that the bullet striking this soap block had not hit anything else prior to hitting the soap block. By saying Connally's coat had no bullet wipe at the end of this segment, then, the narrator was telling the audience that this lack of bullet wipe was evidence Connally was hit by a bullet previously hitting something else--Kennedy! But this was balderdash! Connally's clothes were taken home and washed by his wife after the shooting--no one told her not to! So how could the program's creators in good conscience insinuate the lack of bullet wipe on Connally's coat was evidence the bullet hit Kennedy?

The talking heads then briefly discuss the head shot. McAdams, Morley, and Thompson tell how the showing of the back-and-to-the-left movement of Kennedy's head on TV led to the HSCA's investigation. McAdams and Morley then denounce the dictabelt evidence. The program then takes an unexpected turn and begins discussing laser scanners. The Haags, here listed as "Firearms Expert"s, are behind this part as well. They laser scan Dealey Plaza, and claim their data is accurate within an eighth of an inch. This study leads Michael Haag to proclaim that a shot from the knoll is possible, but it would have to have impacted on the right front of Kennedy's head. We are then rushed to the Boston University School of Medicine, for a virtual reconstruction of Kennedy's head wounds by Greg Mahoney, a forensic artist, James McKinnis,(sp?), a forensic anthropologist and Peter Cummings, a pathologist specializing in gunshot wounds to the head. This should prove interesting. The images of them at work prove that they believe the large skull fragment found in the limousine to be frontal bone a la Dr. Angel, and not parietal bone, a la Dr. Baden. They also think far more skull was missing than is missing on the x-rays. Strangely, it appears they think the Harper fragment was high on the back of Kennedy's head. Where do they get all this? What is their source material? I have a suspicion they've assumed the "mystery photo" to reflect the condition of Kennedy's skull beneath the scalp, and don't realize large chunks of skull fell to the table as the scalp was peeled back. I then notice something even more alarming. Cummings has placed the "v-shaped notch" apparent in the mystery photo on Kennedy's forehead, above his right eye. This is where Dr. Angel placed it. Perhaps Cummings and his colleagues don't realize no one saw a beveled exit in this region and that Angel's conclusions were brushed aside by the Forensic Pathology Panel.

The next bit is also interesting. Cummings visits the National Archives to look at the original photos and x-rays. Cummings then gets all emotional about how honored he was to get to look at the photos. He tells us the photos in the archives are much clearer than those publicly available. We are then shown the back of the head photo while the narrator tells us "Even so they're not perfect. A photo intended to document the entry point is unclear, because for whatever reasons the autopsy doctors did not shave the head wound." Well, well. Ya gotta love this. Cummings can't identify the red spot in the cowlick as an entrance wound. The program isn't a total waste, after all. (I wonder how McAdams feels about this.) The program then gets even more interesting. Cummings says the brain photos show that the bullet traveled from the back of the brain forward, and that this rules out the shot's coming from the knoll. It then gets still more interesting. Cummings says that the fracture pattern on the x-rays suggests the bullet entered LOW on the head. He thinks the long fractures came from the EOP, and that the fractures by the cowlick are concentric fractures. (He doesn't seem to realize that an entrance at this location is inconsistent with the brain damage he's just described.) The narrator then uses this to argue against the shot's coming from the knoll. The program's creators don't even seem to know what Cummings is telling them--that the HSCA Forensic Pathology Panel got it wrong! Oh wait! They do. The program then visits HSCA wound ballistics consultant Larry Sturdivan. Of the HSCA panel, Sturdivan relates: "Probably the reason that they developed the higher impact point was simply to explain that that sort of line could line up with the school book depository window. I don't know why they assumed that it had to make a straight path." Well, this hides that the high impact point was not developed by the HSCA but picked out by a secret panel created by the Johnson Administration to combat conspiracy theorists. Sturdivan then explains that the bullets fired in the 1964 tests deformed and took curved paths. Sturdivan then proposes that Kennedy's movements after 313 came courtesy a neuro-muscular response.This is somewhat gratifying. In his 2005 book, The JFK Myths, Sturdivan explained Kennedy's movements via the "jet effect" theory pushed by Dr. Luis Alvarez. This theory met a timely end last month in Pittsburgh, when Tink Thompson showed Alvarez's notes to those in attendance at the Wecht Conference, and proved Alvarez had knowingly cooked his data.

The narrator then sums it all up. "No experiments can show why someone would take a rifle to a high window and pull the trigger, but they can show it's probable that Lee Harvey Oswald did, and that his shots alone killed President John F. Kennedy." Luke Haag then repeats his Sherlock Holmes mantra: "If you can rule out that which is impossible, that which remains, however seemingly improbable, is the truth." The first two-thirds of this program was just awful, but the last third was far better, and perhaps even important.

[James R Gordon]

Aside from positioning the JFK back wound incorrectly and having the bullet exit through the middle of John Connally’s chest, they also have the bullet enter and exit on the wrong sides of Connally’s hand/wrist. Do these people not do any basic research?

Wrist wounding:-

However this test really interested me. Firing the rifle from the correct distance this bullet managed to penetrate 46 slats of wood. Assuming the SBT is correct, which I do not agree with, from the entry in JFK’s back to exiting John Connally’s chest – aside from slapping into Connally’s 5^th rib – this bullet encountered no bones. Allow the bullet the damage to the wrist bones – which has to be nothing like 46 slats of wood – why did this bullet not go on to strike the inside of the car and do visible damage?

How can the experiment bullet pass through 46 slats of wood, but looses all energy after Connally’s wrist wound? Does not make much sense to me.

46 Slats of wood:-

James

[Robert Prudhomme]

The cartoon of the wrist wound is about as bizarre as can be. It shows the bullet passing through JBC's hand, entering palm side, when, in reality, it passed through the lower end of his forearm between the two long bones, the radius and the ulna. As you say, James, the bullet entered the back side of his wrist, not the palm side, and exited the palm side of his wrist.

As you pointed out, the 6.5 mm FMJ bullet fired from the Carcano has great penetrating abilities, and for this reason, was used in Africa to hunt elephants, invariably with head shots. Contributing to this are its round nose, allowing it to punch through matter instead of deviating as a pointed bullet might, its tough jacket walls (thicker than any other 6.5 mm FMJ bullet) and its smaller calibre and extreme length which lend it great in flight stability, as well as great stability when travelling through matter. With all of this going for it, one is left to wonder how the bullet that entered JFK's skull disintegrated into miniscule particles, as it did.

Returning to the wrist wound, there are a number of things about it that many seem to be unaware of. For example, the bullet that struck JBC's wrist appears to have been tumbling when it hit, and did not strike nose first. Rather, the bullet hole in JBC's shirt cuff was easily as long as a Carcano bullet, indicating it struck JBC's wrist side on. There is further evidence of this in the wound.

Now, before the WC supporters think I have joined their ranks, let me tell you the other things about the wrist wound that seem to not be common knowledge. The bullet that struck BC's wrist did not hit in the opening between the radius bone and the ulna bone (two long bones of the forearm) but, rather, struck the radius bone full on, breaking it into several fragments but NOT passing through it. This should have been the end of this bullet's journey but, miraculously, it then managed to somehow pass neatly between the radius and the ulna and hit JBC in the left thigh.

To understand just how ridiculous this is, imagine a brick wall around your yard with a narrow opening in it for your driveway. Further imagine yourself driving home after a night at the pub, attempting to turn into your driveway and running square into the brick wall instead. Then, without backing up, imagine yourself miraculously on your driveway and headed to your house, without so much as a scratch on the car. How did you get around the brick wall? In the case of CE 399, how did it run square into the radius bone, and then find itself miraculously at least an inch over and passing between the radius and the ulna??

Finally, James, you are quite correct in pointing out that the bullet struck the back side of JBC's wrist and travelled through it from back side to palm side. However, what most are unaware of is how impossible this is. If the bullet exited JBC at the level of his right nipple, this means that JBC's right forearm had to be rotated back far enough to present the back of his wrist to the path of this bullet. This is, of course, the exact opposite of what is portrayed in the Nova cartoon. Unless JBC was severely doublejointed in his right elbow, and there is no evidence to support this, it would have been physically impossible for JBC to hold his arm in this fashion. Not only that, to even come close to this position is an extremely uncomfortable thing to do, and the natural position would be the one shown in the Nova cartoon.

[James R Gordon]

Robert Prudhomme said:-

The cartoon of the wrist wound is about as bizarre as can be. It shows the bullet passing through JBC's hand, entering palm side, when, in reality, it passed through the lower end of his forearm between the two long bones, the radius and the ulna. As you say, James, the bullet entered the back side of his wrist, not the palm side, and exited the palm side of his wrist.

End quote.

I agree Robert. Remember that although the bullet entered the Dorsal side of the hand, it needs to be remembered that it was not the actual back of the hand it entered but behind the thumb. As you point out later in your response, in order for the bullet to strike and exit in the way it did would require a very unusual positioning of the wrist. Very close, as you point out, Connally would need to be double jointed to be able to be able to correctly position his arm in order for the bullet to enter and exit correctly.

Robert Prudhomme said:-

As you pointed out, the 6.5 mm FMJ bullet fired from the Carcano has great penetrating abilities, and for this reason, was used in Africa to hunt elephants, invariably with head shots. Contributing to this are its round nose, allowing it to punch through matter instead of deviating as a pointed bullet might, its tough jacket walls (thicker than any other 6.5 mm FMJ bullet) and its smaller calibre and extreme length which lend it great in flight stability, as well as great stability when travelling through matter. With all of this going for it, one is left to wonder how the bullet that entered JFK's skull disintegrated into miniscule particles, as it did.

End quote.

This is a really good point, and is not one that has been given a great deal of discussion. One of the really interesting points for me was when the Haag’s commented on the peculiarity of the Carcano ammunition. I had not been aware that because it was cylindrical it would have a very steady flight. I think those who support the SBT have been dealt a serious blow by this program. The Haag’s demonstrated that a Carcano bullet could travel through 46 wooden slats and also be essentially undamaged. In what way is the human head sufficiently different that it would allow this bullet, that could pass through 46 wooden slats, to explode when traveling through the human head?

The other point, which I mentioned in my post, is the power to penetrate that distance into those slats ought to have the bullet continue and smash into the car. The resistance offered by those slats is way beyond the resistance of the bodies of JFK and John Connally. The SBT supporters point out that after passing through Connally’s wrist had effectivly taken all power out of the bullet and it could only make a minor wound in the thigh. The Haag’s prove beyond dispute that this bullet would have had loads of power left. So I do not understand why it would not carry on to damage the inside of the car.

Robert Prudhomme said:-

Returning to the wrist wound, there are a number of things about it that many seem to be unaware of. For example, the bullet that struck JBC's wrist appears to have been tumbling when it hit, and did not strike nose first. Rather, the bullet hole in JBC's shirt cuff was easily as long as a Carcano bullet, indicating it struck JBC's wrist side on. There is further evidence of this in the wound.

End quote.

On this point I disagree. For me the authority on the wounding of John Connally is Gary Murr. He pointed out to me that Charles Gregory was firmly of the opinion that the bullet that struck the wrist was fragmented. It was not a pristine bullet. One point that made Gregory convinced it had already struck something was that fragments of Connally’s shirt and jacket had found their way into the wound. Only, I understand, damaged bullets do that.

Now you mention the idea that the bullet was tumbling. That seems highly unlikely given the kind of damage that was made to the shirt cuff. As you can see when the bullet entered through the shirt the damage created a kind of star shape. A tumbling bullet does not do that.

Connally shirt cuff damage:-

James

[Robin Unger]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkdgnXgptVc&list=TL6gPSR3aI5Uf8f0TTUGmFFAnuJN_bq7zg

film showing Connally turning in his seat. ( creepy, it reminds me of the elm st sequence )

Film clip was taken by office worker Andre Leche on his new movie camera
It shows Kennedy's motorcade riding along Main Street in Dallas

Mr Leche died in 1987 and the film was believed lost.

But his son Paul discovered it this year hidden in a safety deposit box

'After my father’s death in 1987 the original film canister was lost until this year. After looking in vain in my house, I was putting something valuable in my safety deposit box and came across a yellow Kodak box with “Kennedy" written on it.'

Clint Hill can be seen riding on the back of the Limo

Edited February 5, 2014 by Robin Unger

[Robert Prudhomme]

Darn, it doesn't seem to want to play for me.

[Ken Davies]

It is interesting to see JFK bring his right hand up toward his face, in a fist and then stick out his thumb, in a gesture of greeting to the crowd. It is somewhat similar to his hands moving upward as he emerged from behind the Stemmons sign. Any thoughts?

Thanks for the link, Robin.

[Robin Unger]

Darn, it doesn't seem to want to play for me.

Try this Robert

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkdgnXgptVc&list=TL6gPSR3aI5Uf8f0TTUGmFFAnuJN_bq7zg

Edited February 5, 2014 by Robin Unger