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Interesting take on Charles and Beatrice Hester


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Largely because the view of the Hesters in the Wiegman film goes by so quickly, I never stopped to think about the time elapsed between the shooting and their actions, or their actions as responses to photographers approaching the pergola:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rca94tYyFZ8

Edited by David Andrews
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David, I don't follow the concealing something view but I've always felt that Hester and a couple of others who ran to the rear of the pergola clearly seem to be looking to the back and to the left, showing us that something was going on behind the pergola and towards the area behind the fence. It gets their immedaite attention.....you can confirm that in the much more recent film taken from the Records building which shows movement behind the east side of the fence...with someone apparently running in between the fence and the parked cars. It would be very interesting to see a photo montage of all the folks who immediately tried to look behind the pergola and the fence and contrast that to the number of people looking upwards towards the TSBD.

Of course that would be circumstantial and proves noting - but it would be an interesting study none the less. No doubt this will get me another note from Gary M. ...grin.

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If indeed it was their immediate attention. This version of Wiegman's clip calls attention to the things I noted in my opening post, making the Hesters look a little stagey. Why be panicked at that point? The Newmans were closer to the street and not jumping around - except for Bill Newman pounding the turf with his fist.

Edited by David Andrews
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David, I guess we have gotten to the point after 51 years where virtually anything can be taken as suspicious.....and a lot of that is based on the logic of how things should have gone. I see a good bit of that on more than one thread. The problem is that in the midst of a shooting, of the sort of chaos that occurred during and after the attack, I'm not sure that logic serves as a satisfactory benchmark. I've never been in actual combat but I have been in a couple of pretty dangerous situations and I can say from experience that some of the actions and reactions of those times were reasonable but a number of things that I and others did at the time look pretty strange in retrospect.

About the only thing that really means is that I'll just bow out and leave photo interpretation to others....

Edited by Larry Hancock
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Larry: I haven't meant to be confrontational. I just ran into this clip by accident, and I thought the uploader noticed some important things about the deportment of the Hesters, and how relatively late after the shooting their panic occurs (and just after being photographed in a relative post-shooting calm). These things haven't been pointed out before, and they look a bit beyond an "anything" that can be taken as suspicious.

The Hesters and Sitzman/Zapruders can seem a bit like gatekeepers guarding the pavilion at the west end of the pergola, inside which some vaguely seen but suspicious figures were photographed. The Hesters' connection to the other, photographically inclined Hester family that did government work on assassination-related photos is tantalizing as well.

Edited by David Andrews
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David, I certainly understand - and didn't mean to imply there were not suspicious behaviors in the photos. Number one on that list for me is the very strange behavior of the "umbrella man" and "beret man" who seem to calm at all times and seriously violate some normal personal space constraints. As to the Hesters, I also understand the time delay issue but wanted to point out that people's reactions are pretty unpredictable, I've seen folks run to shelter from a tornado when he storm had already passed - after they had almost impassively watched it bear down on them before hand .

That's why a montage/time line struck me as a really serious opportunity for some new photo research. While its perhaps not possible to absolutely time stamp, it would certainly be feasible to do it roughly starting at the time of the shooting and then lay out a photo series showing who responded and what they did....focusing on where they appear to have looked or responded to what they felt was the location of the threat/shooting. That would be a more objective exercise and test the Hester's reaction as well. My gut tells me there were people at the top of the steps looking over the fence and behind the pergola just about the time Mr. Hester moves to the rear of the pergola...but that is a gut feel only. Lots of folks do photo work, its something new they could tackle and at the same time give us an objective head count of who was really looking where for the shooter.

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William, I don't think the film is on line as there were lots of follow on legal issues related to its handling and availability. However, you can read the full story of the film and an analysis supporting the view that it does not show anything suspicious at:

http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/paschall.txt

Which is just one more reason I'd like to see some independent photo researchers do a broader time line and photo montage bringing all these things together. Maybe there is nothing suspicious at all going on in the three to five minute period following the shots....or maybe there is.....it seems like a worthwhile line of inquiry but up to now the detailed analytical work has all been on the debunking side of the question, with no equivalent counter arguement.

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There have been past threads on figures visible in the concrete pavilion at the west end of the pergola (behind Zapruder and Sitzman). I'd like to see that issue explored photographically again, to see if these figures actually existed. How did they exit the scene if they were there?

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Thanks, Bernice. It would be nice to see the west end of the pergola revisited, as so many of the photos and films in the 2006 thread have been removed.

There is a past thread on figures and action in the concrete pavilion behind Zapruder, I will try to find it and post the link when I have more time.

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