Listening to the news today, I heard a story about recently released video from the JFK assassination. I wondered how this video could be kept hidden for so long, assuming some network had it stored away in a forgotten container only to find out it was a personal recording by an average person who was watching the motorcade and just happened to be recording it.
Previously unreleased footage of John F. Kennedy’s fateful motorcade in Dallas moments before he was gunned down was released on Monday, a surprising new detail in a saga that has gripped the United States for four decades.
The silent 8mm film shows a beaming Jacqueline Kennedy close up in vivid color waving to the crowd.
A group of excited bystanders — women sporting big 1960s hairstyles — waves to the cameraman shortly before the motorcade sweeps past.
The president’s coat is clearly if briefly seen bunched up on his back — a detail that will be scrutinized by conspiracy theorists who see evidence of a plot in, among other things, the fact the bullet wounds on his jacket and body did not appear to match.
The film was donated to the Sixth Floor Museum in Dallas by amateur photographer George Jefferies and his son-in-law, Wayne Graham. It was released to coincide with the Presidents Day federal holiday.
Museum curator Gary Mack said he was not surprised Jefferies took so long to come forward.
“Everyone who captured the motorcade before the assassination thinks their pictures are unimportant. But to historians, all photos and home movies are important to possibly answer questions that will be asked in the future,” he said.
I came out of my office to watch the story as it ran. MSNBC showed a few seconds of the video, but not enough to really see anything. One of the points discussed in the story is the number of other people seen in the video who also had video recorders. Experts (for some unknown value of “Experts”) are apparently going to try to find out who these other people are (and I have no idea how they will do that – maybe those Student Loan collections companies will help) and see if they can get any more long forgotten videos and pictures of the assassination.
I expect to see lots of conspiracy theorists analyzing this video if it ever makes it in full to the general public. I’m sure we’ll see more detailed analysis telling us there is no way one gunman could have shot JFK, or that the video proves he couldn’t have been shot from the location and angle Lee Harvey Oswald would have had. But then, there are loons everywhere, aren’t there?
EDIT: Fixed bug in which most of the story was cut. Also, found out after I posted that the full video has already been posted online.
[tags]New JFK assassination video made public, Oh the conspiracy theorists will have a field-day with this[/tags]