Early study of Acoustics Evidence?

[James DiEugenio]

I never heard of this this before.  Has anyone else?  This guy owned one of the most famous sound studios in Hollywood.

He is confused about the official number of shots but why was his study hidden?

 

Edited April 9, 2020 by James DiEugenio

[Eddy Bainbridge]

This man didn't get the original. He clearly had two copies that he was capable of playing. It also puzzles me he is so adamant of four shots when other analysts have considered the dictabelt may have recorded five shots. It suggests that in the limited time taken it would be difficult to be so certain of the number of shots.

Perhaps he was told there were two shots as a means of authenticating his conclusions. 

[James DiEugenio]

I agree Eddy.  Don Thomas says that it was actually five shots.

But Blakey told him that he could never sell that to the HSCA.

What interests me about this is I never heard of it and I would like to know when it happened and for what reason.

He mentions a TV film, the Trial of Lee Harvey Oswald.  That putrid mess was made by Larry Schiller.  So with his connections it would make sense that he could get the tape or a copy.  And he would have told him two shots.  Someone should talk to this guy maybe from CAPA.

[Ron Bulman]

He doesn't know how the recording was set up on the motorcycle?  I'm not questioning his expertise in the field but nobody told him about about the motorcycle cop's mic being "stuck" open during this sequence, and recorded on the dictabelt?  That's pretty important info relating to his analysis.

Also, he refers more than once to "they said" two shots.  Even the WC said three shots, though one missed.  So, even though one supposedly  missed "they" should have heard at least three shots.  Not just the "two" that hit, at least one of them being a "magic" bullet.  

This is important given the HSCA team studing this concluded at least five but as Jim says Blakey said he could only "sell" four.  And, that many researchers over the years suggest somewhere closer to up to eight shots.  Though some may have likely been silenced.

This also gets into the motorcycle channel two mic being stuck open preventing communication before during and immediately after the shots on channel two.

[Chris Bristow]

Officer Mclain's opinion about the tape is very convincing and he swore it was not his motor that is recorded on the tape. First point is he and another motor cop(Name?) Said they could hear the cop on the tape whistling. Mclain made it clear that he is not a "Whistle while you work kind of guy".
The first tape is the dictabelt and from 23 to 25 seconds you hear about 7 notes whistled. It is not very loud but has no distortion to it. I assume with the mic mounted on top of the gas tank under the windshield the cop would be whistling almost straight into the mic. The windshield blocks much of the ambient sound from the front and may also reflect the whistle sound back to the mic. The whistle is so distinct there is no question that it is a human whistling. Mclain and the 2nd cop stated they recognized  the cop by his whistle. This is pretty strong evidence that it was not Mclain's mic that was stuck or 'keyed' that day.
A second piece of evidence I find very compelling is both Mclain and cop 2 said they recognized the motor sound on the tape as a 45ci trike just like the type meter maids are known to drive. The cop they thought was whistling did drive a 45ci trike and was a few miles from the plaza at that time). Mclain rode a 1200cc that has that wonderful unique sound especially when idling and sound nothing like the 45.
   Those opinions are subjective of course but there is more to it. Mclain stated that he came to a stop on Huston just before Elm. He turned his head to the left and saw the head shot. This means his bike was at or almost at an idle when the head shot occurred.
From the 30 sec mark to 50 seconds on the first recording the sound of the engine is fairly clear. You hear the engine sound as a static pattern but it is possible to count the the rpm as the engine is popping. Counting those pops in a wave analysis program shows the engine was running at, as I recall. about 2200rpm. The second recording is a sample of a 45 trike as it drive away from the mic. You can compare it to the dicta belt at 30 to 50 sec.
 Anyone who loves Harley's knows the sound of a 45ci trike engine. It has this weird sound like rubbing steel wool across a sheet of metal while matching the rpm as you rub back and forth. Mclain and cop 2 recognized the 45ci sound and even though the sound on the tape is a representation  of the motor in a static pattern I think it is convincing. And I should point out that the engine is the the closest and loudest ambient sound the mic would pick up. If there is not something obvious like a train going by the mic should always pick up the engine. A 1200 at an idle may be harder to hear but the the pattern  of the 1200 at idle is unmistakable.
 If it is the motor sound then regardless of whether it is a 45 or 1200 the entire dicta belt issue ends there. If it is the motor it is running at approx 1800-2200 rpm and could not be Mclain who was stopped at the head shot.

I have an unrelated story: I had a 1966  1200 without an electric start. One hot day I turned the ignition on to kick start it. The motor had stopped in a position at which  one cylinder was timed to fire. So when I turned the switch the spark plug must have fired and the cylinder must have had fumes due to the hot sun on the engine, because when I hit the switch the motor went Kathunk and tuned over once. The friggin thing almost started itself without a starter motor!!!
 

 

Edited December 28, 2021 by Chris Bristow

[Stu Wexler]

Chris- very interesting,  So:  how confident are you it is a Harley engine you are hearing, McClain's or not?  Am I right in saying that, whosever vehicle it is, you believe it was in motion when it was recording?  Did McClain give the name for his suspected whistler?

[Stu Wexler]

Also: what is the source for McClain saying he stopped at the headshot?

[Chris Bristow]

5 minutes ago, Stu Wexler said:

Chris- very interesting,  So:  how confident are you it is a Harley engine you are hearing, McClain's or not?  Am I right in saying that, whosever vehicle it is, you believe it was in motion when it was recording?  Did McClain give the name for his suspected whistler?

I suppose I'm 85% confident in what I hear. But as I was writing that post I realized that you would pretty much have to hear the engine. How could you have a microphone mounted right on top of the gas tank and not hear the engine? I could see if a person had the mic up to their mouth it may drowned out the engine. But if the mic is just sitting there the biggest sound would be the engine. Other ambient sounds may come and go that are louder but every time you hear the keyed mic that 1800 to 2200 RPM is in the background. I considered that McClain's bike at a full idle may not be obvious enough to hear. But then the question remains what is the repeating sound that we do here?

I think McLean did mention the name of the cop and question in the article. I lost a lot of stuff with my last hard drive failure so I don't have it. I believe if it is an engine sound it had to be in motion at 2200 RPM.

[Stu Wexler]

So Chris: does that mean you are skeptical of that the dictabelt is a recording from a police motorcycle?

[Joseph McBride]

I write about this audiotape in INTO THE NIGHTMARE.  Mary Ferrell was an intelligence asset who planted the dubious

tape to discredit the HSCA, using it "like a planted mine sure to go off and destroy everything that surrounded it." Gary Mack was also involved in this operation.

Edited April 11, 2020 by Joseph McBride

[Chris Bristow]

4 hours ago, Stu Wexler said:

So Chris: does that mean you are skeptical of that the dictabelt is a recording from a police motorcycle?

No I think McClain was likely correct that the keyed mic was another Dallas PD officer riding a three-wheeled Harley 45 who at the time was a few miles from Dealey Plaza.

[James DiEugenio]

 Chris, then you think the sounds are not gunshots then?

What could they be?

I am not saying I am an acoustics believer, but this is the problem you have here.  

[Eddy Bainbridge]

It is important to be aware of the strength of the acoustic evidence: The analysis proposes that the wave form created by test shots fired from the TSBD matches with a high degree of probability the sounds on the Dictabelt. The sounds are timed on the tape to accurately match the assassination timing. The sequence of the shots matches the hypothetical positions of a microphone travelling at the speed of the motorcade. 

If the acoustic evidence is to be rejected, then there are some astonishing coincidences to be faced. 

I am not an acoustic expert but the dictabelt is a filtered recording of the actual sounds. To suggest you can listen to the recording and state what type of engine can be heard needs to  consider what effect the filtering had. 

To accept the testimony of McClain as accurate, one needs to consider what influences may have come to bear on his testimony. 

[Chris Scally]

There have to be serious doubts about Leo Chaloukian's story!

He tells of an unidentified "someone" in Washington DC, in the 70's, but he cannot obviously be more precise than that? Was this person from the FBI, or from the HSCA? He had the original and a copy of the radio recording? The description of the original recording doesn't sound like a dictabelt to me. There was a "recorder" on McLain's motorcycle? "Everyone" said there were two shots, until Chaloukian identified four? The unidentified guy from Washington testified at a mock trial of Oswald about the recording - anyone know what trial that was?

This sounds like a good cocktail-party story to me, at best!

 

[James DiEugenio]

Well Chris, he seems to be still around.  GIve him a call.