General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy believed President Kennedy was killed by a conspiracy. [View all]Spider Jerusalem
(21,786 posts)the film shows the right front of JFK's head exploding from the bullet that hit it. This is consistent with the autopsy photos and X-rays. It is also consistent with a hit from behind (his head moves forward at the moment of impact, with a movement of about 3 inches based on the previous frame). The only reason any people claim the film was altered (and very few people DO claim that) is that they also claim there was a hit from in front and that the autopsy photos and X-rays were altered, or falsified, or even more absurdly, that the body itself was altered before arriving at Bethesda for the autopsy. The head wound in the Zapruder film is consistent with what's shown in the autopsy photos and X-rays...so therefore it has to be faked too. That's the logic, or illogic.
It's worth noting also that the chief proponents of the "faked Zapruder film" hypothesis are: David Lifton, who also maintains that Kennedy's body was altered...regarding which, Cyril Wecht said: "I could have a team of the best doctors in the country and we couldn't do in a day what he says was done in hours"; you can't just alter a body like that postmortem and disguise the evidence of wounds, it does not work like that; and the other main proponent of the "faked film" hypothesis is one James Fetzer, who also maintains that no planes struck the WTC, that the moon landing was faked, and that Sandy Hook was a false flag operation to provide a pretext for disarming the populace. These are not credible people.
I have no idea what "respected medical professionals" you're talking about; the HSCA's forensic pathology panel agreed that the wounds were consistent with two shots; one entering the upper back and exiting at the throat, one entering the back of the head and exiting right front. (The entry wounds were clearly defined by abrasion collars and, in the case of the head wound, bevelling on the interior surface of the skull). There was a track of microscopic fragments in along the track of the bullet. All of this was examined by qualified forensic pathologists, and all was found to be entirely consistent with the shooter being located above and behind. Not in front, not to the side. There were no other bullets. Almost all the witnesses heard THREE shots. Not four, not five, three. There was only one shot that hit Kennedy in the head.
http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/toobig.htm