The re-examination of the autopsy materials and the formation of the Clark Panel was in response to criticism of the WC.
The entrance wound in the back of JFK's skull slightly above and slightly to the right of the EOP doesn't line up with a shooter on the 6th
floor SE corner of the TSBD. The Clark Panel moved the wound 4 inches up on JFK's skull, from the EOP to the crown, to accommodate a
6th floor shooter. Dr. Finck noted in his after action report of the review of the x-rays and photos that the photo of the inside of JFK's
skull, that was made to show the EOP entrance wound, was not among the material reviewed.
In the so-called "Military Review", the three pathologists who did the autopsy at Bethesda authenticated the autopsy photos and X-rays, but included the following admission:
"Due to the fractures of the underlying bone and the elevation
of the scalp by manual lifting (done to permit the wound to be
photographed) the photographs show the wound to be slightly
higher than its actually measured site."
A year later, using the same photographs and X-rays, the Clark Panel determined that the skull in-shoot was indeed higher than "its actually measured site". Some 10 cm-or-so higher. But the Clark Panel had no need for ridiculous face-saving explanations for the now-high-position in-shoot like "manual lifting" and "fractures of the underlying bone".
There's no indication that the Bethesda team exposed the surface of the occipital bone (that involves severing a multitude of attachments at the EOP) at autopsy. It seems unlikely that they manually and visually measured the in-shoot relative to the EOP, instead using palpation to find what Humes assumed was the EOP.
The occipital bone has no midline on the external surface above the EOP, so a measurement from the midline of the exposed skull could only be if the in-shoot was in the parietal bone. It would seem to me that they mistook a bump below the scalp for the EOP; they suggest a reason with "fractures of the underlying bone".
A fracture edge or small piece of loose bone between the scalp and skull could easily be mistook for the EOP. A clear admission from Humes would have undermined his profession esteem. And so he was allowed to dance around the issue in interviews with the HSCA and JAMA. No one challenged him and Boswell. They got away with it while making fun of JFK researcher "amateurs" who essentially defended their lower entry site.
