Scientists Cast Doubt On JFK Bullets And Oswald Alone Theory

[edbermac]

Anyone know where Unka Dick and his shotgun were on November 22?



But in all seriousness...I have never bought the 'lone gunman' theory. I read the book Crossfire on which Oliver Stone's JFK movie was based and found it quite fascinating.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/16/AR2007051601967.html?hpid=moreheadlines

In a collision of 21st-century science and decades-old conspiracy theories, a research team that includes a former top FBI scientist is challenging the bullet analysis used by the government to conclude that Lee Harvey Oswald alone shot the two bullets that struck and killed President John F. Kennedy in 1963.

The "evidence used to rule out a second assassin is fundamentally flawed," concludes a new article in the Annals of Applied Statistics written by former FBI lab metallurgist William A. Tobin and Texas A&M University researchers Cliff Spiegelman and William D. James. Scientists originally saw no evidence of a second assassin based on analysis of the bullets that killed President John F. Kennedy.

The researchers' re-analysis involved new statistical calculations and a modern chemical analysis of bullets from the same batch Oswald is purported to have used. They reached no conclusion about whether more than one gunman was involved, but urged that authorities conduct a new and complete forensic re-analysis of the five bullet fragments left from the assassination in Dallas. "Given the significance and impact of the JFK assassination, it is scientifically desirable for the evidentiary fragments to be re-analyzed," the researchers said.

Tobin was the FBI lab's chief metallurgy expert for more than two decades. He analyzed metal evidence in major cases that included the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing and the 1996 explosion of TWA Flight 800 off Long Island. After retiring, he attracted national attention by questioning the FBI science used in prosecutions for decades to match bullets to crime suspects through their lead content. The questions he and others raised prompted a National Academy of Sciences review that in 2003 concluded that the FBI's bullet lead analysis was flawed. The FBI agreed and generally ended the use of that type of analysis.

.............

Tobin, Spiegelman and James said they bought the same brand and lot of bullets used by Oswald and analyzed their lead using the new standards. The bullets from that batch are still on the market as collectors' items. They found that the scientific and statistical assumptions Guinn used -- and the government accepted at the time -- to conclude that the fragments came from just two bullets fired from Oswald's gun were wrong.

"This finding means that the bullet fragments from the assassination that match could have come from three or more separate bullets," the researchers said. "If the assassination fragments are derived from three or more separate bullets, then a second assassin is likely," the researchers said. If the five fragments came from three or more bullets, that would mean a second gunman's bullet would have had to strike the president, the researchers explained.

[MADem]

1. Well, this deserves a big kick and an R

I've always wondered if there were more than one person involved in that business, too. I just wish so much evidence hadn't been destroyed.

[azurnoir]

2. The Discover Channel

proved that the "magic bullet" theory could be true, under certain conditions that is. Salon did an article on the subject a few weeks ago.

http://www.salon.com/books/feature/2007/05/02/brothers/index.html?source=rss

[louis-t]

3. Other studies proved there was no "magic bullet"

I still hear the rhetoric from Stone's movie "...stopped in mid-air, turned right.." The evidence used in the "magic bullet" theory is flawed. It assumes that Kennedy and Connaly(sp?) were at the same level and directly inline with each other. They were not. Very simple. Mythbusters proved that one bullet could go through Kennedy, then Connaly's chest and wrist. The only thing that didn't work in their test was the bullet actually piercing the leg (in the test, it bounced off). They deduced that the bullet in their test had merely struck more bone and slowed a bit. "Pristine" condition of bullet also is a myth. It was flattened somewhat and the bullet used in the test looked remarkably similar to the one found on the stretcher, alledgedly placed there by (pick one) Jerry Ford, George Bush, Jack Ruby, Fidel Castro, The Smoking Man...

[azurnoir]

4. The CIA?

Stones movie may be rhetoric but the truth is I seriously doubt we will ever know the the truth.

[louis-t]

6. Right you are.

[cobalt1999]

5. yes, but remember the "scientist doubt global warming" article too.

In other words, it pays to be a bit skeptical of these types of reports.