G. Paul Chambers 2011 Lancer Presentation

[Kevin Balch]

I just viewed a video of G. Paul Chambers, author of Headshot, making a presentation of his findings at the 2011 Lancer Conference. With the recent flurry of discussions regarding the head shot in the JFK assassination, I was considering buying his book which promises a physics-based analysis of what happened. I’m glad I watched the video first as based on the presentation, I have decided against buying it.

First the good points:

1) Chambers emphasizes that any explanation of a physical phenomenon that has logical contradictions is wrong.

2) Chambers states that soft tissue will not radically alter the path of a bullet.

3) Chambers argues that the Zapruder film has NOT been altered.

4) Chambers points out that the human body blood pressure also figures into what happened but does not develop this any further in the presentation. Perhaps he does so in his book.

 

Now for the problems:

5) Chambers argues that the headshot that JFK is reacting to was a frangible round fired from the “Badgeman” position. But such a missile would leave particles on the left side and rear of the skull, which have not been observed. Since the missile’s momentum and kinetic energy are apparently entirely deposited in the head, I would guess that the entire head would explode.

6) Chambers claims that the momentary forward motion of JFK seen just prior to frame 313 was due to Greer slamming on the brakes and bringing the limo to a complete stop for a second or two. But if this happened, the maximum acceleration possible without the other passengers reacting to the braking would be about 1/3 g or 10 (feet/sec^2) which would overwhelm any momentum from a bullet and JFK would have continued to move forward although at a slower rate. Slamming on the brakes would have even increased the forward motion of JFK. In either case, he’d probably hit the back of the seat in front of him and end up on the floor.

7) A slamming of the brakes does not appear in the extant Zapruder film which does imply alteration. Chambers claims that the original in the National Archives shows a limo stop which no one else has observed and which limo stop advocates argue has been removed.

😎 Chambers says the acoustics evidence supports his theory but if, as he implies but does not admit that the Z film has been altered, the timing sequence presented in the film is wrong and thus useless for analysis purposes.

9) Chambers does not address the large wound at the right rear of the skull that numerous medical witnesses have observed.

10) Chambers accepts the “Badgeman” hypothesis and even claims to be able to identify the shooter as Lucien Sarte.

 

I wish Chambers had reviewed his analysis with point #1 in mind.

 

[Matthew Koch]

Badge man angle does not line up without Jackie being struck due to the angle, shooter was in Holland position which is to the left of bargeman in Moorman Polaroid.

[Gene Kelly]

Kevin

Martin Hay reviewed this book in Kennedy’s and King in August 2012: “G. Paul Chambers, Head Shot: The Science Behind The JFK Assassination”. His review is consistent with the points that you have made (both good and not so good):

"Despite telling us that “Consistency with other evidence is very important to scientists” he appears to have studied each point in isolation and then cherry-picked the details that fit his own thesis... although there are some good points scattered throughout Head Shot, they are unfortunately out-weighed by a number of factual errors, flawed analysis and glaring contradictions that would be sure to mislead the less informed reader."

Gene

[Tom Gram]

1 hour ago, Kevin Balch said:

7) A slamming of the brakes does not appear in the extant Zapruder film which does imply alteration. Chambers claims that the original in the National Archives shows a limo stop which no one else has observed and which limo stop advocates argue has been removed.

Look at Z316-321. As JFK is moving backward, Connally, Kellerman and Greer all lunge forward. It looks like Kellerman and Greer’s backs come off the seat. They also all move forward simultaneously. Maybe Greer did tap the brakes a bit? 

[Kevin Balch]

26 minutes ago, Tom Gram said:

Look at Z316-321. As JFK is moving backward, Connally, Kellerman and Greer all lunge forward. It looks like Kellerman and Greer’s backs come off the seat. They also all move forward simultaneously. Maybe Greer did tap the brakes a bit? 

Yes, that’s likely or Greer just removed his foot from the gas pedal momentarily as he looked back. The 61 Lincoln had a low gear which will produce a notable deceleration just by releasing the gas than if you just leave the car in “Drive”. I don’t know if that was the standard practice for the slow moving portions of the motorcade. I doubt it because you would have to change gears if you needed to suddenly accelerate. Maybe Vince Palamara or Pamela Brown can opine.

It’s been claimed that the brake lights of the limo came on. Perhaps. But if you’ve ever been in a parking lot on a bright sunny day, the sunlight can hit the plastic light housing in a way that makes it look like the brake lights are on.

The thing is, to decelerate at a rate that does not toss the passengers around takes longer than just slamming on the brakes.Then there is the time that the limo supposedly stopped. Then that heavy limo, probably 7000 pounds, has to accelerate to get to a speed where Clint Hill as to struggle to hang on. This limo, with all the people inside, the stuff in the trunk, the extended body was significantly heavier than the standard model but from what I have seen, it had the same engine. The total time that would have to be excised/edited from the film(s!) would be about 5 seconds.

We are left with two questions. Why didn’t the Secret Service follow-up car rear end the limo or at least pin Clint Hill and since that didn’t happen, what the hell took Clint Hill so long to reach the limo? Did he walk?

The other thing to consider is would Greer (as some believe) deliberately drive into an ambush and calmly slow down the limo to give the shooters a better opportunity?

Maybe the limo stop/alterationists can explain.

[Kevin Balch]

1 hour ago, Gene Kelly said:

Kevin

Martin Hay reviewed this book in Kennedy’s and King in August 2012: “G. Paul Chambers, Head Shot: The Science Behind The JFK Assassination”. His review is consistent with the points that you have made (both good and not so good):

"Despite telling us that “Consistency with other evidence is very important to scientists” he appears to have studied each point in isolation and then cherry-picked the details that fit his own thesis... although there are some good points scattered throughout Head Shot, they are unfortunately out-weighed by a number of factual errors, flawed analysis and glaring contradictions that would be sure to mislead the less informed reader."

Gene

Thanks!

I just ran across the video this morning and watched and wrote my takeaways from memory. I was going to give specific times in the video for my points but honestly, it probably would be a waste of time. Believers will continue to believe what they believe.

If the technical JFK assassination researchers with PhD.’s and Masters degrees in physics and engineering produce this kind of research, God help us!

Edited August 14 by Kevin Balch

[Tom Gram]

6 minutes ago, Kevin Balch said:

es, that’s likely or Greer just removed his foot from the gas pedal momentarily as he looked back. The 61 Lincoln had a low gear which will produce a notable deceleration just by releasing the gas than if you just leave the car in “Drive”.

Would that really be enough though? Just from eyeballing it it looks like the occupants jolt forward several inches in the span of less than 1/4 second. I think it’s reasonable to speculate at least that Greer put his foot on the brake when he turned around. It’d be interesting to see an ITEK type acceleration study of the occupants in those frames. If I recall, ITEK only dealt with JFK and Jackie. 

[Kevin Balch]

2 hours ago, Tom Gram said:

Would that really be enough though? Just from eyeballing it it looks like the occupants jolt forward several inches in the span of less than 1/4 second. I think it’s reasonable to speculate at least that Greer put his foot on the brake when he turned around. It’d be interesting to see an ITEK type acceleration study of the occupants in those frames. If I recall, ITEK only dealt with JFK and Jackie. 

I’ve driven my car in low gear and took my foot of the gas and I was noticeably jerked forward a few inches. But my car is certainly different and Greer might just have been in “Drive”.

But yes, it would be understandable if Greer tapped the brakes as he looked toward the back.  I don’t have any software that can analyze video frame by frame and it’s very difficult to do on Youtube. Maybe Josiah Thompson has done that.

[Pat Speer]

I read the book when it came out but pretty much tossed it into a corner after discovering Chambers believed the Harper fragment came from the side of the head and cited Dr. Baden on this. At the time I didn't know a single "researcher" who took Baden's bs claim seriously, and here was someone supposedly interested in the truth citing Baden as support for what John Hunt had already proved impossible. 

(Dr. Angel, a forensic anthropologist and an expert in skull anatomy,  had concluded the Harper fragment was parietal bone, and had placed it just back of the coronal suture, just rearward of the large triangular fragment. As Baden had wrongly and probably dishonestly oriented the mystery photo to have a bullet hole on the coronal suture, and have the other half of this hole on the triangular fragment, he couldn't accept Angel's orientation for the Harper fragment and had to move it somewhere else. So he moved it to the side of the head where it clearly did not fit, and claimed he'd demonstrated this placement using paper cut-outs on a skull. John Hunt then tested this and was unable to make it fit, and contacted the archives to gain access to the skull Baden had supposedly left behind, but was told no such thing was in the archives. IOW, Baden was bluffing. Note: this is discussed and demonstrated in Chapter 13b at patspeer.com)

[Robert Morrow]

7 hours ago, Tom Gram said:

Look at Z316-321. As JFK is moving backward, Connally, Kellerman and Greer all lunge forward. It looks like Kellerman and Greer’s backs come off the seat. They also all move forward simultaneously. Maybe Greer did tap the brakes a bit? 

I think the odds are very high that Greer hit the brakes as he realized he was in ambush and became undecided that direction he should go or what to. I think you can see in some photo or video the rear brake lights running red.

[Pat Speer]

5 hours ago, Kevin Balch said:

I’ve driven my car in low gear and took my foot of the gas and I was noticeably jerked forward a few inches. But my car is certainly different and Greer might just have been in “Drive”.

But yes, it would be understandable if Greer tapped the brakes as he looked toward the back.  I don’t have any software that can analyze video frame by frame and it’s very difficult to do on Youtube. Maybe Josiah Thompson has done that.

From my collection of Greer quotes in chapter 5b:

(A number of late-1960's phone calls between Greer and researcher Walt Brown as recounted in Brown's Treachery in Dallas, 1995) (Brown describes Greer's claiming he was unsure what to do when he saw so many people standing on the overpass over the motorcade route--in violation of standard protocol. Brown then continues) "With all this going through his mind, he heard a 'backfire,' which he did not immediately recognize as a shot, and then he looked back in time to see Connally begin to react to a wound. He never saw the President, he told me. He added that it was at that time that he hit the gas. I told him that it was several seconds later that the car fully accelerated, and I almost expected to hear a click at his end but instead I heard a deep sigh followed by his answer. The car was in low gear for parades, he told me, and it had to be shifted and then there would be a pause regardless, because of the weight of the heavily armored vehicle..."

[Kevin Balch]

6 hours ago, Pat Speer said:

From my collection of Greer quotes in chapter 5b:

(A number of late-1960's phone calls between Greer and researcher Walt Brown as recounted in Brown's Treachery in Dallas, 1995) (Brown describes Greer's claiming he was unsure what to do when he saw so many people standing on the overpass over the motorcade route--in violation of standard protocol. Brown then continues) "With all this going through his mind, he heard a 'backfire,' which he did not immediately recognize as a shot, and then he looked back in time to see Connally begin to react to a wound. He never saw the President, he told me. He added that it was at that time that he hit the gas. I told him that it was several seconds later that the car fully accelerated, and I almost expected to hear a click at his end but instead I heard a deep sigh followed by his answer. The car was in low gear for parades, he told me, and it had to be shifted and then there would be a pause regardless, because of the weight of the heavily armored vehicle..."

Interesting! I had experimented with this in my car and concluded it could be an explanation but doubted it was the explanation. But then the 1961 Lincoln transmission was certainly different from my car.

I don’t think the limo was armored as Hoover was telling LBJ he needed an armored limo. The weight was from extending the length of an off the assembly line Lincoln, the equipment such as the bubble top and 6 adult passengers.

Thanks!

[Kevin Balch]

Another possibility is that when Greer turned to look back he inadvertently turned the steering wheel slightly to the right. The passengers would have been accelerated to the left relative to the limo but from Zapruder’s perspective this might have appeared as a forward motion.

[Roger Odisio]

14 hours ago, Tom Gram said:

Would that really be enough though? Just from eyeballing it it looks like the occupants jolt forward several inches in the span of less than 1/4 second. I think it’s reasonable to speculate at least that Greer put his foot on the brake when he turned around. It’d be interesting to see an ITEK type acceleration study of the occupants in those frames. If I recall, ITEK only dealt with JFK and Jackie. 

https://www.assassinationresearch.com/zfilm/

Costella's frame by frame of the extant Zfilm shows that a motorcycle cop, who had been riding behind and to the left of the limo, pulls up beside it briefly and then recedes again as the limo takes off after the head shots. 

He first appears at frame 304. By 330 he is beside the trunk of the limo. He then begins receding as the limo accelerates and he disappears at 346.

Clint Hill appears at 332 to jump on the limo right beside the cop as it accelerates.

That's 26 frames of the cop moving forward in relation to the limo, or about 1 1/2 seconds.

I know of no testimony by the cop where he says he accelerated before the head shots beginning at 313.  The limo must have slowed down.    

 

[Roger Odisio]

16 minutes ago, Roger Odisio said:

https://www.assassinationresearch.com/zfilm/

Costella's frame by frame of the extant Zfilm shows that a motorcycle cop, who had been riding behind and to the left of the limo, pulls up beside it briefly and then recedes again as the limo takes off after the head shots. 

He first appears at frame 304. By 330 he is beside the trunk of the limo. He then begins receding as the limo accelerates and he disappears at 346.

Clint Hill appears at 332 to jump on the limo right beside the cop as it accelerates.

That's 26 frames of the cop moving forward in relation to the limo, or about 1 1/2 seconds.

I know of no testimony by the cop where he says he accelerated before the head shots beginning at 313.  The limo must have slowed down.    

 

I should add two things.

The forward movement by the cop in relation to the limo undoubtedly began before it was captured on the Z film.  The deceleration of the limo lasted for more the 1 1/2 seconds.

We are dealing with the extant Zfilm.  Any reference to precise frame numbers is therefore dicey.  Still, I doubt if the relationship between the cop and the limo was something they focused on when trying to alter the film.  They had to try to conceal the gaping wound in the back of Kennedy's head and fake one in his forehead as a priority, among other tasks. And time was limited.

The relationship between the cop and the limo should be seen as a first approximation of evidence that the limo slowed.