Thursday, March 31, 2011

Military History Channel's New Documentary on JFK: "Beyond The Magic Bullet"

Nuts, I used to really enjoy debating conspiracy-theorists on the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.  I have always held that Lee Harvey Oswald killed Kennedy and that he acted alone -- just like the Warren Commission said he did, way back in 1964.  Now it's just getting too easy to win those arguments.  They aren't much of a challenge anymore.

This week the Military History Channel showed a documentary called "Beyond The Magic Bullet."  The magic bullet, if you have been hiding in the woods these past few decades, refers to the Mannlicher-Carcano bullet that was Oswald's second shot from the sixth story window of the Texas School Depository on that early afternoon in Dealey Plaza, Dallas, Texas, on November 22, 1963.

That bullet, a copper metal jacketed round, is said to have passed through Kennedy's throat, into Governor Connally's back where it broke a rib, then emerged near Connally's right nipple where it then slammed into his wrist, went through that and embedded itself in his leg.  The spent bullet was found on Connally's stretcher at Parkland Hospital.  The bullet appeared almost pristine, that is, undamaged from its passage through two human bodies.   It had lost some of its lead through the open end of the metal jacket and was slightly flattened on one side.

For years conspiracy-kooks have railed to the heavens about how impossible this is, that one bullet could make such wounds and yet suffer so little deformation in the process.  They contemptuously referred to this bullet, Commission Exhibit (CE) 399, as "the magic bullet."

The researchers in the film, however, showed that identical bullets from the same batch used by Oswald were often pristine, after being fired through the end of a log, where it was embedded several feet in, and by other bullets fired through gelatin blocks designed to mimic the physics of the human body.  Further, the bullets fired through the gelatin blocks began to tumble, head over end, after emerging from the target -- exactly what happened to CE 399 when it exited Kennedy and slammed sideways into Connally's back, leaving a "keyhole" wound.  CE 399 then went through Connally, through his wrist and into his leg, where it was shallowly embedded, later falling out on the stretcher at Parkland Hospital.

The researchers then created body models of both Kennedy and Connally, with simulated organs and bones (made by a company who produces such things for safety testing, forensic studies and other uses).  Both of the torsos were positioned like the original humans targeted by Oswald, e.g., with the Connally torso twisting to the right and the Kennedy torso with its right arm raised as if supported by the side of the car.  Photographs of the actual bodies in the car were superimposed with a photograph of the molded torsos to prove that the models were exactly in the same position as the originals, and the same distance apart.  A block of gelatin containing wrist bones was used to simulate Connally's wrist.

A rifleman then fired one of the same bullets, from a rifle identical to Oswald's, from a height of six stories.  He aimed for a small red mark on the right side of the Kennedy torso's upper back area, the same spot where CE 399 struck Kennedy, traveling downward and through Kennedy's neck.  The shot was very accurate, striking about one inch away from the red mark.  Slow motion cameras show the bullet emerge from the simulated neck of Kennedy and then to immediately begin tumbling, striking the Connally torso in the back and making an almost identical keyhole wound as the original; the bullet, however, did not strike only one rib bone as in the actual assassination, but two.  Still, the bullet traveled through the simulated wrist of Connally and then bounced off the simulated leg.  After hitting two ribs instead of one, the bullet was sufficiently slowed so that it could not penetrate the leg, as it did in the original scenario.  The test bullet, probably as a result of striking two ribs instead of one, was somewhat more deformed than CE 399, but still in one piece, somewhat twisted in its length but not mushroomed.  In other words, less pristine than CE 399, but still in remarkably good shape.

What "Beyond the Magic Bullet" proved, convincingly, was that the path of CE 399 was exactly as described in the Warren Commission report on the assassination and created all seven wounds between Kennedy and Connally.

The bullet wasn't magic and there was no conspiracy.  Conspiracy kooks, you lose again.

144 comments:

Stogie said...

That was a bit off topic, wouldn't you say?

Stogie Jr said...

The magic bullet! LOL!!!!

I can't believe people buy this crap. It's like they can't accept that a great man like JFK could have been killed by a single Marxist loser. There had to be more then one sniper involved, and it was a great conspiracy. What a bunch of dopes!

Greg Gauthier said...

I just watched this after having read both "Crossfire" and "On the Trail of the Assassins" in the last month. Two things stand out: 1) Kennedy's front neck wound as shown on the documentary is several inches lower than Kennedy's actual wound, and 2) irrespective of the claims made in the documentary, John Connally's eyewitness account of the assassination was the same from his first interview just after the event, to his last interview over 40 years later - he heard the first shot, recognized it as such, turned arount to see JFK, saw him, and then was hit. There was no doubt either on his part or that of his wife Nellie, that there were TWO initial shots. So much for the "magic bullet".

Stogie said...

Both books "Crossfire" and "On the Trail of the Assassins" were written by conspiracy kooks on steroids; their opinions have no credibility, except with other kooky conspiracy theorists. Kennedy's neck wound was accurately described and you are full of baloney. Further, Connally was wrong about there being two shots; it has been proven conclusively by physical analysis of the lead in both men's wounds that the lead came from the same bullet.

The film I discuss is so irrefutable and obviously correct that only a true believer like you could dispute it.

Greg Gauthier said...

Well then, forget about any of the books. Look at the slow-motion footage showing the location of the bullet exiting the gelatin JFK, and compare this to the location of the JFK trecheotomy incision in the autopsy photos. The simulation was not able to replicate this, and it has nothing to do with opinion, only with the facts presented in the documentary as they relate to the reality of the actual wounds. Moreover, the JFK back wound as noted by the Dallas ER doctors was several inches lower than that shown by the Warren Commission. Plus, the doctors at the Bethesda autopsy recovered an additional bullet (described in their receipt as a "missile"). This was reported by the WC, which still stood by their single bullet theory, even though it was not supported by any physical evidence and refuted the actual testimony of the eyewitness victim (the Governor of Texas).

Stogie said...

No Greg, forget about any kooky books. You are wrong about Kennedy's back wound; you are basing it on a rough drawing by one of the doctors; this old myth has been refuted numerous times. You are new to the assassination, and now must go through all the basics like a kid learning his ABC's, and I am impatient with you. Bring yourself up to speed by reading some responsible books, like Posner's "Case Closed" and the even more recent "Four Days in November" and "Reclaiming History," both by Vincent Bugliosi. Bugliosi is the prosecutor who put the Manson family behind bars.

Finally, go read through the JFK Assassination website, "The Kenndy Assassination Homepage" at this link: http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/home.htm

It is by John McAdams, a professor. Read up on the "Magic Bullet" theory and the JFK neck wound, or just about any other conspiracy claim, and you will find them convincingly refuted by the evidence.

By the way, not only did neutron activation analysis prove that one bullet made the wounds in both JFK and Connolly, the film I reference remove all doubt, duplicating both the path of the bullet, the tumbling effect, and the keyhole wound on Connolly's side.

You are very naive and credulous to think that a person being shot has the mental acuity to discern the number of bullets being fired and the ones causing what wounds, where. Three bullets were fired, and the first missed both JFK and Connally, hitting a curb, and that is probably what confused Connally about the 2nd bullet.

Stogie said...

Greg, here is the verbiage about the rough drawing that seemed to place the bullet lower on JFK's back than was actually the case (from the Assassination website):

Another thing conspiracy authors will do to attack the Single Bullet Theory is to move the entrance wound in Kennedy's back down below the Warren Commission location, and move the wound in the front of Kennedy's neck up in order to require an absurd trajectory though Kennedy's body. This drawing, again taken from Groden and Livingstone's High Treason, shows this assumption.

What is the evidence for the "low" back wound location? The piece of evidence that conspiracy books will most often show you is the facesheet from the autopsy. It seems to place the wound too low to be consistent with the exit wound in the front of the neck.

What will the conspiracy books not tell you about this? They won't tell you that the face sheet also has a measurement placing the wound. It places the wound 14 cm. below the tip of the right mastoid process. That's not consistent with the lower dot location, but it is consistent with other statements in the autopsy. They also won't tell you what the autopsy report says about the track of the bullet through the body.

The other missile entered the right superior posterior thorax above the scapula and traversed the soft tissues of the supra-scapular and the supra-clavicular portions of the base of the right side of the neck. This missile produced contusions of the right apical parietal pleura and of the apical portion of the right upper lobe of the lung. The missile contused the strap muscles of the right side of the neck, damaged the trachea and made its exit through the anterior surface of the neck. Warren Commission Report, p. 543.
But how could the facesheet show that dot in a lower location, yet describe the wound in a higher location, 14 cm. below the tip of the mastoid process, and above the scapula?

Commander J. Thornton Boswell, who drew the facesheet, was asked about this by The Baltimore Sun in 1966. He explained that he made no attempt to draw the facesheet exactly to scale, and insisted that the measurements he made were precise, and properly locate the wound. He made on "X" on a copy of the face sheet, to indicate where the wound actually was. See the November 25, 1966 issue of the Sun.

Of course, photos were made at the autopsy, including photos of Kennedy's back. You can see for yourself what they show.

Stogie said...

Greg, here are some questions put by an MD to a conspiracist author, Wecht, concerning Connally's mistaken belief that the first bullet hit JFK while Connally was hit by the 2nd. It disproves Connally.

In your recent book, Cause of Death, you quote Connally as
saying:

"'We heard a shot,' Governor Connally told reporters
inDecember 1963 in first public statement about what had
happened. 'I turned and looked into the back seat and the
President was slumped. He had been hit.'"

You go on to write,

"Until his death in 1993, Governor Connally said, he too was
hit. On many occassions he rejected the 'single bullet
theory.' Amazingly, he said he believes the basic
conclusion of the Warren Commission--that Oswald was the
lone gunman."

Question:
As you must know after over 20 years of reviewing the
Zapurder film, Connally could know when JFK was hit. When
Connally was hit (either at Z223-224, or even later) he was
facing forward. In fact, Connally was facing forward as he
is lost from view going behind the Stemmons freeway sign. At
that time, JFK is still waving and smiling and has not yet
been hit.

Connally turns back around only long after both he was shot
and Kennedy had already been shot for the first time. Furthermore, Connally states that he heard a shot, then turn around to look behind him, then turn back around toward the front. This occurs just after Zapruder frame Z 160. At
this time Kennedy has not yet been hit.

Thus Kennedy could not have been hit by the first shot as
Connally believe, no?

Thus, would you not agree that any statement that Connally
makes about when JFK was shot is unreliable?

Your comments, please,

Robert R. Artwohl, M.D,

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adam said...

I'm not a conspiracy theorist....just a person with two working eyes. That bullet that hit JFK in his head was fired from in front of him and to his right. Anyone with at least 1 working eye could see that. LHO couldn't have made that shot. People can talk about magic bullets all they want, it's condition, where it was found, etc....the kill shot wasn't Oswald.

Stogie Chomper said...

Anyone with one working eye could clearly see the shot was from behind Kennedy. The gush of blood and brain matter erupted from the right side of the front of his head, clearly proving the shot came from behind. Quite a few people have easily duplicated that shot. You clearly don't have a clue.

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