When Was JBC Hit?

[Steve M. Galbraith]

Except that the right shoulder lifts and moves forward between z222 and z224:



Here is a longer clip:


So if you think he was hit by a bullet in the right armpit, why would the right shoulder lift and turn forward?  After that the left shoulder lifts but there is no reason to believe it is anything other than a voluntary movement as he prepares to turn around. 
Yes, of course. The momentum is transferred from the bullet to the body while it passes thorugh the chest. That occurs almost "instantaneously" (about 1/1000th of a second to pass through JBC's torso).

The momentum transferred is the bullet mass x the change in velocity. But since the bullet also must have struck the right wrist with a speed of about 1000 fps in order to shatter the radius, the loss of speed in the torso is only about 500 fps or about 150 m/s.  So it would be about 3 mm/second of movement.  How far do you think that can move the body in 1/18th of a second? Answer: 3/18th of a mm.  Do you think you can see that in the zfilm?

The movement of the shoulders is much greater than 3/18ths of a millimetre per frame.  What this means is that the movement seen between z222 and z228 is not from a bullet but is a voluntary movement.

Andrew: What caused his right shoulder to move while his left remained, to me, still? To me (confirmation bias/motivated reasoning and all that) his right shoulder goes downward first and then the left follows. They both then "shrug" up.

He specifically said that it felt like a "balled up fist" that first hit him. No pain at that time. Isn't that what we see here?, i.e., a rightward down motion first. Do you not see that?

[Andrew Mason]

The difference between these two images is about 0.70 seconds.

Which is more than enough time for a voluntary action as he prepares to turn around to check on JFK, as he said he did after the first shot.  No need to assume he was hallucinating when he said he was not hit in the back on the first shot.  No need to assume that JFK assumed the position seen in z224 and z225:

between z222 and z224. 

[Andrew Mason]

Andrew: What caused his right shoulder to move while his left remained, to me, still? To me (confirmation bias/motivated reasoning and all that) his right shoulder goes downward first and then the left follows. They both then "shrug" up.

According to the evidence this was the first shot which did not strike JBC in the right armpit.  JBC said that he reacted to the first shot by turning around to look at JFK, realizing that he had just heard a rifle shot and feared an assassination was occurring.  Nellie said that JFK reacted like we see him reacting after z224 BEFORE the second shot.   So, according to the evidence, his right shoulder moves because he has to lean forward a bit and lift his right arm a bit so he can turn around to the right, which he does in the ensuing two seconds.

He specifically said that it felt like a "balled up fist" that first hit him. No pain at that time. Isn't that what we see here?

No. Not according to the evidence. According to the evidence this was the first shot.  He was hit like that on the second shot.

[Zeon Mason]

What about JC s sudden snatching the hat up in the air at about Z230?

Doesn’t that indicate something more than just JC hearing a shot and then trying to turn around?

Can Andrew point out anything in the Z270-ish range of frames indicating
some kind of impact of a bullet hitting JC?

[Andrew Mason]

Can Andrew point out anything in the Z270-ish range of frames indicating
some kind of impact of a bullet hitting JC?

The sudden movement of JBC that begins at z271-272 and continues through z278 before he falls back. It is subtle but before he falls back onto Nellie he moves toward the front of the car without moving any part of his body to initiate this motion.

There is also a slight change in his hand position and the hat he is holding between z271 and z272.

There is also the odd lifting of JFK’s hair on the right side of his head that George Hickey observed at the time of the second shot (z273-277).

Finally, there is Wm Greer’s first turn around at around z280 which he said he did immediately after -“almost simultaneous” with- the second shot.

[Charles Collins]

The sudden movement of JBC that begins at z271-272 and continues through z278 before he falls back. It is subtle but before he falls back onto Nellie he moves toward the front of the car without moving any part of his body to initiate this motion.

There is also a slight change in his hand position and the hat he is holding between z271 and z272.

There is also the odd lifting of JFK’s hair on the right side of his head that George Hickey observed at the time of the second shot (z273-277).

Finally, there is Wm Greer’s first turn around at around z280 which he said he did immediately after -“almost simultaneous” with- the second shot.

The sudden movement of JBC that begins at z271-272 and continues through z278 before he falls back.


The position of JBC at 271-272 relative to the sniper’s nest window is not compatible with a bullet entering and exiting JBC’s back and chest respectively in the places that it actually did enter and exit. Plus, going from memory, JBC testified that he turned back to his right AFTER he was shot. How do you explain these two issues with your idea?

[Jack Nessan]

Watson was on the air continuously up to the time he interviewed Zapruder and we can see that he didn’t have any opportunity to meet with him. It is apparent from the beginning of the interview that Watson was meeting Zapruder for the first time, just after Zapruder had walked into the studio.

Zapruder’s uncertainty about the number of shots may be because he was concentrating on watching the President and relying more on visual cues. He observed effects from only two shots.

Wow. You can’t even view a simple interview without attempting to twist it into this goofy story you have going on all the time. Actually, it is mind boggling unbelievable. 

Wouldn’t it be better to just stick to proving you do not know anything about physics, firearms, witness testimony, sound analysis, and ballistics instead of branching out to proving you do not know anything about assessing the Jay Watson -Zapruder interview?

[Steve M. Galbraith]

The sudden movement of JBC that begins at z271-272 and continues through z278 before he falls back.


The position of JBC at 271-272 relative to the sniper’s nest window is not compatible with a bullet entering and exiting JBC’s back and chest respectively in the places that it actually did enter and exit. Plus, going from memory, JBC testified that he turned back to his right AFTER he was shot. How do you explain these two issues with your idea?

Yes, that was going to be my followup question: How can JBC be hit in the back when he's clearly turned sideways at 271/272? Even before that he's turned away from the building.