The Magic Bullet - Fact or Fiction?

[Tim Nickerson]

The fact they both reacted at the same time may look convincing but it does not prove he was hit as opposed to just reacting to being very close to the shot.

You have Connally out to be a Barney Fife-like character.

Connally said he turned to the right because he heard the gunshot on that side and also wanted to look at JFK. Then according to the SBT he was shot BEFORE he started to turn not during it.

Where do you get that from? The SBT has him being hit as he was turning back toward the front after he had rotated to his right to try to see Kennedy over his right shoulder.  He began that initial turn to the right at about z157 and reached the maximum right rotation at z193. At the time of the strike (ca Z223), his upper torso is turned about 30 degrees to the right.

[Jack Trojan]

You think that they could test DNA back then?

DNA is shorthand for blood, flesh or bone, as if you didn't know.

None of the blood , flesh, or bone from Connally's torso would be expected to be on the bullet.

"A bullet that is not broken up during penetration usually emerges without detectable amounts of blood or tissue clinging to it. As it penetrates, the bullet is moving so rapidly that its primary effect on tissue is to push it aside, creating a temporary cavity, not pick it up." -- The JFK Myths: A Scientific Investigation of the Kennedy Assassination, by Larry SPersonivan, pg 120

https://www.amazon.com/JFK-Myths-Scientific-Investigation-Assassination/dp/1557788472

By the time that the FBI lab received the bullet, any blood that might have been on it from Connally's shallow thigh wound would have been wiped clean from being in the sheets of Connally's stretcher and the pocket linings of two or three people.

Horsesh@t. And I won't even get into the condition of the MB after it crashed thru JFK's T1 vertebrae and zig-zagged into Connally's chest and smashed thru his wrist bone (leaving material) only to fall out of his thigh and onto the wrong gurney with the copper jacket completely intact and only slightly deformed at the base. Almost like it was fired into a swimming pool.

If that's not magic, then I've got some beans you might be interested in.

[Andrew Mason]

Mr. DEVINE. The first shot that you hear which caused you to look to your right, I think you said you didn't get far enough around to see the President, is that accurate?
Mr. CONNALLY. That is correct.

http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/russ/m_j_russ/hscacon.htm

Fair enough. But that does not mean that he could have turned farther and decided not to turn farther.  The point is that he was trying to turn to see the President but couldn't catch him in the corner of his eye to see how he was so he decided to turn to the left, which is where it appeared to him he would get a better view of JFK - presumably because JFK had moved to the left.  Where do you see that move to the left in the zfilm prior to z225?

[Andrew Mason]

The simultaneous reaction of both Kennedy and Connally is unmistakable and undeniable. They were both hit at virtually the same time by the same bullet.

I agree that both are reacting at the same time to a shot. Whether the reactions began at the same time is not possible to tell because we cannot see if JFK began reacting while behind the Stemmons sign. He certainly appears very different when he emerges in z225 than he did in z193. The fact that both are reacting to a shot does not mean that they are reacting to being hit by it.  The evidence is pretty strong that there was only one shot to that point.  If that is the case, JBC is reacting to the first shot exactly as he said he did- by turning to his right to see the president because he had just heard a rifle shot and thought an assassination was occurring.

[Andrew Mason]

How do we know Connally was reacting to being hit? Maybe he was just reacting to a round landing within a couple feet of him. If the round did come through the windshield it would have passed within inches of Connally's head.
 I find it questionable that after having 4 inches of rib blasted away he would/could twist around to his right as far as he could  to see JFK. Secondly he holds his Stetson in his right hand after having his Radius shattered and the tendon to his thumb  severed. Then he articulates his wrist downward to fit his hat between him and the door of the limo as he twists around to see JFK. If a round passes through your wrist I doubt you would then bend it like he does.

Very good question. Connally said he reacted to the shot - the first shot - that he believed struck JFK because he heard it and knew it was a rifle shot. He feared an assassination was unfolding and turned to see the President.

The evidence is consistent that the first shot struck JFK so what you see after z230 is Connally's turn to see JFK which he said he did before he was hit in the back on the second shot. The vast majority of witnesses who recalled a pattern to the shots said the last two were closer together so Connally was hit many frames later.  Greer said he turned around immediately after the second shot. His turns just before z280. That is just after Connally is hit.

The irony is that with this evidence (first shot hit JFK, first shot was after z190, last two shots were closer together) there is no need to explain a missed shot for which there is no evidence and there is no need for a second shooter.  Oswald could easily have fired all three.

[Tim Nickerson]

Fair enough. But that does not mean that he could have turned farther and decided not to turn farther.  The point is that he was trying to turn to see the President but couldn't catch him in the corner of his eye to see how he was so he decided to turn to the left, which is where it appeared to him he would get a better view of JFK - presumably because JFK had moved to the left.  Where do you see that move to the left in the zfilm prior to z225?

Why should we presume that JFK had moved to the left at that point? Connally simply had not turned far enough to his right. Myers has him reaching a 48 degree right rotation at z193. That just wasn't far enough to see Kennedy. Why Connally stopped there, I don't know.

[Tim Nickerson]

I agree that both are reacting at the same time to a shot. Whether the reactions began at the same time is not possible to tell because we cannot see if JFK began reacting while behind the Stemmons sign. He certainly appears very different when he emerges in z225 than he did in z193. The fact that both are reacting to a shot does not mean that they are reacting to being hit by it.  The evidence is pretty strong that there was only one shot to that point.  If that is the case, JBC is reacting to the first shot exactly as he said he did- by turning to his right to see the president because he had just heard a rifle shot and thought an assassination was occurring.

As Kennedy emerges from behind the sign, the involuntary reaction has yet to show itself. We can see his right hand and arm, that he had been lowering after waving to the crowd, still dropping. He did not begin reacting while behind the Stemmons sign.



The reactions of both Kennedy and Connally begin at the same time.  They are in sync.

[Andrew Mason]

Why should we presume that JFK had moved to the left at that point? Connally simply had not turned far enough to his right.

The problem with that reasoning is that Connally said he was TRYING TO SEE THE PRESIDENT. If I recall correctly, in his initial hospital statement he said the JFK had moved and he could not see him when he turned. There is no way at all that he was trying to see the President prior to disappearing behind the Stemmons sign.

Myers has him reaching a 48 degree right rotation at z193. That just wasn't far enough to see Kennedy. Why Connally stopped there, I don't know.

Right. Exactly.  The reason is rather obvious: he wasn't trying to see the President. If he was he would have turned around like he did after z230.