Those Front Steps

[Tom Gram]

12 hours ago, Benjamin Cole said:

Am I looking at the right object?

There is a long cardboard box, or paper bag,  just to the right (from viewer's perspective) of the mail box? 

I see what appears to be man, not a woman, standing behind the cardboard box/paper bag, possibly holding it.  In fact, the man, though very very blurry, does fit the general appearance of LHO. 

To me, the cardboard box/paper bag looks quite long. 

Not sure why Marion Baker would be running towards the bag, when he thought he heard shots from the top of the TSBD (pigeons flying) or Dal-Tex buildings. 

Great inquiry. 

It still looks like a man to me too. I think the supposed skirt is just him moving his left leg behind the boxes, but it’s tough to tell. I didn’t really want to go there since it’s so blurry and inconclusive, but if it is a man, I agree that the general appearance alone - white, skinny, dark hair, etc. - does not exclude LHO. 

One thing’s for sure though: the alleged bag is the real deal. An unidentified person was definitely standing East of the TSBD doorway behind the mailboxes, alone, holding a long, irregular object bearing a surprising resemblance - at least in blurry, distorted form - to perhaps the single most suspicious item that anyone could possibly be holding at that moment in time and general location other than a loaded rifle. 

Is that not deserving of more comments? I’m still waiting for someone to jump in, tell me I’m having a conspiratorial hallucination and explain why Alan is wrong. Any takers? 

Perhaps people are turned off by the idea of drawing conclusions from blurry photos, and rightfully so - but here’s the thing: If it really is a long paper bag, what are the chances it is not the alleged rifle bag? Pretty damn low right? It’d have to be a remarkable coincidence for someone to just be casually standing there holding a random long bag like that outside the TSBD just seconds after the shooting. 

I agree with Jean Paul that we should try to find some other photos of the mailbox area. Maybe we’ll even see this alleged bag, or get a better view of the person who appears to be holding it. 

 

[Alan Ford]

46 minutes ago, Miles Massicotte said:

To be clear: do you think that PM in Darnell and Weigman is also Oswald, moved to a more recessed position within the stairwell after where you claim he can be seen in Hughes?

Hello Mr. Massicotte, I am not at all convinced that PM in Darnell and PM in Wiegman are the same person. They are standing in different spots, at different elevations, and with different body orientations. As such, they require separate treatment.

Re. PM in Darnell: I used to believe he was Mr. Oswald, but not any more.

What changed my mind was the higher-quality frame from Darnell below, which Mr. Bart Kamp published a while back. (Please ignore the red arrow, which is Mr. Kamp's and is added to illustrate a point not relevant to the present discussion.)

It's worth noting that this frame is not a doctored version of any version previously out in the public domain. We know this because it goes wider than any previously published version. The man under the green arrow was never seen by any of us before--------------

Had this frame been in the public domain ten years ago, no one would have thought to suggest that PM is Mr. Oswald. Everyone would have taken one look at the neckline, said, 'It's a woman', and moved on.

Importantly (for me), Mr. James Hackerott had--------quite some time PRIOR to Mr. Kamp's publication of the above wider frame----------given a report on his visit to the Sixth Floor Museum, where he had viewed their copy of Darnell. He told everyone who cared to listen that the neckline of PM would prove a real problem for the PM=LHO claim. I took note of this at the time, without drawing any firm conclusion. However, when the above wider frame was published, I saw what Mr. Hackerott had said.

As for who PM in Darnell might be, I think it's probably Mrs. Pauline Sanders

But-------without wanting to sound glib--------I don't greatly care at this stage who she is. Because she's not Mr. Oswald.

By the time of Darnell's filming of those front steps, Mr. Oswald has already left them.

[Jean Ceulemans]

del

Edited November 9, 2023 by Jean Ceulemans

[Alan Ford]

14 minutes ago, Tom Gram said:

It still looks like a man to me too. I think the supposed skirt is just him moving his left leg behind the boxes, but it’s tough to tell. I didn’t really want to go there since it’s so blurry and inconclusive, but if it is a man, I agree that the general appearance alone - white, skinny, dark hair, etc. - does not exclude LHO. 

The streetworks barrier in front of the woman is a dominant (and confusing) element in the image. Once we get clear on its components, we can single out the woman's two legs beneath her skirt:

Here's the barrier in an aftermath photo:

 

[Sean Coleman]

Another pic

 

 

Edited November 15, 2023 by Sean Coleman

[Alan Ford]

13 minutes ago, Sean Coleman said:

Another pic

 

Thank you, Mr. Coleman.

There's something on the ground in front of the west mailbox, going up as high as the words 'U.S. MAIL'. Perhaps it belongs to the lady, and she has placed it down to pick up the long paper sack?

[Alan Ford]

We know from the Bell film that there was no one back there by the mailboxes at the time of the motorcade:

So something made this woman----------whoever she is----------respond in the strangest way to the shots and the ensuing pandemonium: she made her way over to the mailboxes, picked up a long rectangular object and drew attention to herself.

Officer Baker noticed her, and ran straight in her direction.

[Marcus Fuller]

On 10/24/2023 at 7:48 PM, Alan Ford said:

They would need to be rather big hands, Mr. Fuller!

Depends where you're looking! lol 

[Jean Ceulemans]

6 hours ago, Alan Ford said:

As for who PM in Darnell might be, I think it's probably Mrs. Pauline Sanders

But-------without wanting to sound glib--------I don't greatly care at this stage who she is. Because she's not Mr. Oswald.

By the time of Darnell's filming of those front steps, Mr. Oswald has already left them.

Looks like a female posture indeed, with that neckline and wearing a short sleeve dress, 

[Miles Massicotte]

On 10/24/2023 at 8:46 AM, Alan Ford said:

The man in the red(dish) shirt standing way over by the west side of the doorway in Hughes---------------------

 ------------------------is not Mr. Billy Lovelady.

I am very hesitant to believe anything based off of a fuzzy picture, especially because the JFK assassination community doesn't have the greatest record regarding fuzzy pictures. But I will admit one thing caught my attention here: the man in Hughes seems to have his shirt significantly more unbuttoned than Lovelady does in Altgens6. It is also tempting to say that his shirt looks more like a reddish brown shirt than a plaid one like Lovelady's, but the picture is really too grainy to say that with any certainty. 

[Miles Massicotte]

9 hours ago, Tom Gram said:

One thing’s for sure though: the alleged bag is the real deal. An unidentified person was definitely standing East of the TSBD doorway behind the mailboxes, alone, holding a long, irregular object bearing a surprising resemblance - at least in blurry, distorted form - to perhaps the single most suspicious item that anyone could possibly be holding at that moment in time and general location other than a loaded rifle. 

Is that not deserving of more comments? I’m still waiting for someone to jump in, tell me I’m having a conspiratorial hallucination and explain why Alan is wrong. Any takers? 

Perhaps people are turned off by the idea of drawing conclusions from blurry photos, and rightfully so - but here’s the thing: If it really is a long paper bag, what are the chances it is not the alleged rifle bag? Pretty damn low right? It’d have to be a remarkable coincidence for someone to just be casually standing there holding a random long bag like that outside the TSBD just seconds after the shooting. 

I agree with Jean Paul that we should try to find some other photos of the mailbox area. Maybe we’ll even see this alleged bag, or get a better view of the person who appears to be holding it. 

 

Tom I do agree, but it begs the obvious questions: how did the bag get there, then how did it get to the 6th floor, and why did no eyewitness mention it? It sure looks like the bag, but unless we can come up with reasonable hypothesis that accounts for these 3 questions then color me skeptical. 

That said, all of this has me admittedly intrigued. At this point, is there really any excuse why we can't get high resolution scans of not only Darnell and Weigman, but all the front step films? Figuring out exactly what is happening there between the turn onto Elm and the last shot seems like it should be one of the top priority areas of research right now, even if it turns out Oswald is not on the steps.

[Alan Ford]

3 hours ago, Jean Ceulemans said:

Looks like a female posture indeed, with that neckline and wearing a short sleeve dress, 

Yep, alas.

I say alas, because when I first saw this image I was very disappointed. The PM-in-Darnell=LHO claim seemed so promising!

It was a false dawn--------BUT (here's the important bit) a gloriously productive false dawn. For it motivated some good people to redouble their efforts to establish the real story of Mr. Oswald's movements & whereabouts around and at the time of the motorcade. This intense research effort built on some really fine work over the years from i.a. Mr. Richard Bernabei, Mr. Don Willis, Mr. Greg Parker, Mr. Robert Prudhomme and Mr. Sean Murphy.

The single most glorious production to come out of this massive research effort was Mr. Kamp's unearthing, in 2019, of the Hosty draft report on the first interrogation:

It contains not one but THREE game-changing revelations:

1. Mr. Oswald claimed he "went outside to watch P. Parade"

2. Mr. Oswald claimed he visited the second-floor lunchroom for a Coke before the motorcade

3. His claims were distorted outrageously by the 'investigators' who reported officially on them.

Having Agent Hosty's draft report allowed us to trace exactly how Mr. Oswald was deprived of his alibi.

**

Where does the collapse of the PM-in-Darnell=LHO claim leave us?

Well, I say let's take a leaf out of the book of those still pushing that claim. They say that the whole claim is about 'more than a fuzzy picture'. I agree!

So............. I have a simple question for them:

IF it were to be established to your full satisfaction that PM-in-Darnell is not LHO, where would that leave all the evidence you have amassed pointing to his having gone out front for the motorcade?

Here's the question in even simpler form:

IF Mr. Oswald is NOT PM-in-Darnell, is he still somewhere in that doorway?

Simplest version:

IF so, then WHERE?

I say we already have the answer to that last question-----------------------

----------------------and cordially, humbly invite the good folks still clinging on to PM-in-Darnell=LHO to take immense pride in their role in having kept 'LHO Out Front' in the forefront of research consciousness, and to stop investing all their faith in this woman's somehow turning out to be a man:

That would be the royal way to prove they really mean it when they say that Prayer Man is 'more than a fuzzy picture'.

Edited October 25, 2023 by Alan Ford

[Alan Ford]

35 minutes ago, Miles Massicotte said:

I am very hesitant to believe anything based off of a fuzzy picture, especially because the JFK assassination community doesn't have the greatest record regarding fuzzy pictures. But I will admit one thing caught my attention here: the man in Hughes seems to have his shirt significantly more unbuttoned than Lovelady does in Altgens6. It is also tempting to say that his shirt looks more like a reddish brown shirt than a plaid one like Lovelady's, but the picture is really too grainy to say that with any certainty. 

Probative? No. But definitely worth noting. And we have Mr. Pat Speer to thank for the fact that we don't have to work off a lousy b/w photo of CE151, the 'reddish-brown' shirt Mr. Oswald helpfully told Captain Fritz his officers could find in the wardrobe in his rooming-house.

[Alan Ford]

42 minutes ago, Miles Massicotte said:

At this point, is there really any excuse why we can't get high resolution scans of not only Darnell and Weigman, but all the front step films? Figuring out exactly what is happening there between the turn onto Elm and the last shot seems like it should be one of the top priority areas of research right now, even if it turns out Oswald is not on the steps.

Hear hear!

Speaking of the turn onto Elm St., there are several frames weirdly missing from the Towner film:

[Credit: Mr. Chris Davidson]

I believe they may have been excised because they show some unusual movement from Pres. Kennedy related to his desire to see the doorway. Can I prove this? No----------because the damn frames have been excised!

I also suspect such telltale movement from Pres. Kennedy is also the reason why the extant Zapruder film does not show the turn onto Elm.

Edited October 25, 2023 by Alan Ford

[Charles Blackmon]

10 hours ago, Alan Ford said:

Thanks indeed, Mr. Blackmon. Sorry to hear about your difficulty with viewing images. Perhaps you might try switching browser? I had the same difficulty a while back and it worked for me.

You would think that would work, but it doesn't. It may have something to do with my Internet filter. Have you ever considered putting together an e-book on your front step findings?