The magic bullet theory, more commonly known as the single bullet theory, is a crucial element of the Warren Commission's conclusion that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone in the assassination of President Kennedy.
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2 Criticism 3 2003 Computer Animation 4 Related topics 5 External links 6 Other meaning: Ehrlich's Salvarsan |
According to the Warren Commission, three shots were fired, on the grounds of ear-witness testimony, an open police radio-mike recording, and three shells found at the "sniper's nest" in the book depository. One hit Kennedy in the throat. One hit the curb ahead of the limousine, by the railway bridge, throwing off fragments that injured one James Tague on the cheek. The third struck Kennedy in the head.
As recorded in the Zapruder film, Gov. Connally was also wounded. Rather than introduce a fourth bullet, the Commission adopted (4 to 3) a theory advocated by Arlen Specter: that the bullet that wounded Kennedy in the neck was also responsible for Connally's wounds. The bullet's path was estimated to be through Kennedy's throat, then John Connally's back, through Connally's right wrist, ending up in his left thigh. Said bullet apparently fell out of Connally's thigh, and it was found on his stretcher at Parkland Hospital.
Test shots through animal flesh and bones with cloth covering were performed by ballistics experts. According to these tests all of the Governor's wounds could be explained by a single bullet. Under the assumption of appropriate relative positions of President Kennedy and Governor Connally in the car, the ballistics experts considered it also plausible that the same bullet that passed through the President's neck could have subsequently inflicted the Governor's wounds. The Warren Commission concluded that it was probable that the President's neck wound and all of the Governor's wounds were caused by a single bullet.
Some point to the Zapruder film as possible evidence that the 'magic bullet theory' is invalid, though in fact the wounding of both men occurred in between two frames of the film, with accords with the correct timeframe had the same bullet hit both men. Contrary to the Warren Commission's opinion, critics have alleged that Governor Connally was not positioned such that the bullet passing through the President's neck could have inflicted the Governor's chest wounds. However computer generated images produced in 2003 based on the exact placing of Kennedy and Connally at the moment of the shooting show that Connally's location was exactly correct for such an injury. Contrary to the impression created when viewing the film two-dimensionally, the jump seat on which Connally was sitting was not located directly in front of Kennedy but in the centre right of the car, with Connally's right ahead of Kennedy's left. In addition, the seat was lower than Kennedy's and Connally was sitting on the seat at an angle at the moment of impact. With this new evidence in mind, forensic and ballistic experts analysing the trajectory of bullets were of the opinion that Connally's lower position, at an angle in front of the President's left, lined him up perfectly to be hit by a bullet, had one indeed gone through Kennedy. In addition, Kennedy's posture, in which he was leaning forward (probably on account of his back pains) meant that a bullet could enter Kennedy's back, then his throat which due to his slumped position was pushed forward and lower than the entry point, and then hit Connally.
The Warren Commission claimed that the slug found on Connally's stretcher at Parkland Hospital (coded CE399 by the Commission) was the 'magic bullet'. This slug was about 1.5% below average mass, severly flattened, with some lead squeezed out of the bottom of the copper jacker. Conspiracy theorists invariably print a picture of the bullet from the side, where it appears "pristine"; from straight-on, it most certainly does not appear pristine.
Critics claim out that a bullet that passed through several layers of clothing and flesh, smashed a four inch section of a rib, and broke a radius bone could not be in such good shape. But a military jacketed bullet is specifically designed to remain intact, and according to the Warren Commission theory the bullet did not hit any bone directly until it had passed through both Kennedy and Connolay's torsos, slowing it dramatically. Test shots showed
that a fast, pristine bullet would sustain more damage (and would also
inflict significantly more damage) when smashing a radius bone. A
slowed down and tumbling bullet, however, that hits the wrist end-on or
partly with the side could be consistent with the Governor's wrist
wounds and the bullet's little damage.
Skeptics make another point: the only known examination of Kennedy's back
wound—the first wound attributed to the magic bullet—is from
the Bethesda pathologists, who noted a steep 45–60° downward angle
and no exit. The ‘Oswald window’ was only about 20° above
Kennedy at the time.[1]
However skeptics point out that the Bethesda examiners were harried
and harassed; it's quite possible the record is in error. One doctor initially presumed the wound on the front of the President's throat to be an entry point, only to conclude later that it was an exit point.
The Warren Commission rejected out of hand the idea of a conspiracy behind the Kennedy Assassination—of all the subpanels, none was given with the question of who other than Oswald shot Kennedy[1]—CE399 was ruled not to be planted on Connally's stretcher by unknown persons. Some conspiracy theorists believe that the slug could have been planted—say, by Jack Ruby, whom witnesses placed at Parkland Hospital at an opportune time.
Without the 'magic bullet theory', the Commission would have had to assume a fourth shot and may not have been able to conclude Oswald was the sole shooter, which would have left the Kennedy assassination officially unsolved at the conclusion of the Warren Commission investigation.
The magic bullet gives the critics fuel to discredit aspects of the Warren. However no evidence has ever been found to substantiate the theory of there being a fourth bullet; the only initially credible suggestion, courtesy of a recording of a police radio that captured the sound of the shootings and which appeared to show four shots, was discredited conclusively in 2003 when it was shown that the police motorcyclist whose radio supposedly recorded the shots could not have been in the spot necessary to capture a clear recording of the shooting, but was in fact 170 yards away. (The motorcycle cop himself had always insisted that he had not been at that spot required to get a reliable recording.) From the location he was in, the 'fourth shot' may well have been an echo reflected off nearby buildings. Other than the now discredited recording, there is no evidence of a fourth bullet.
A BBC Correspondent programme, broadcast on 23 November 2003 and based on an ABC computer animation, using exact computer generated images based, frame by frame, on the Zapruder film, and using exact placings of Kennedy and Connally in the car at the moment when both were hit, suggested that the wound suffered by Connally matched exactly the entry point that would have occurred had a bullet passed through Kennedy, exited the President's neck and hit Connally. The trajectory led directly to the location from which it was claimed Oswald had fired. Based on the exact line shown, the speed of the bullet fired by Oswald's gun, the movements of both men when hit, the timescale within which they reacted (and movements on Connally's jacket immediately prior to Connally's reaction, which indicate something had hit him a fraction of a second earlier) the programme concluded that it was 100% certain that the gunman was located where Oswald had been, that the magic bullet could only have been fired from there and that both men had with absolute certainty been hit by the same bullet. In addition it was physically impossible for Connally to have have been shot at that spot in his body except through the President.
Pertinent facts included evidence that Connally was seated lower (on a jump seat), and further to the right, than Kennedy (i.e. Connally's right side was in front of Kennedy's left), and that Connally was twisted to his right at the time of the bullet's impact.
Magic Bullet is also the term used by bacteriologist Paul Ehrlich to describe his sought-for goal: a specific cure for syphilis which would attack the syphilis spirochaete while having no effect whatsoever on human tissue. He also applied the term to the drug he developed circa 1910, Salvarsan (arsphenamine). Salvarsan was not truly the "magic bullet" for syphilis because of significant deleterious side effects. The phrase "magic bullet" has, however, become associated with Ehrlich and Salvarsan and is still used today to characterize wished-for drugs.Findings of Warren Commission
Criticism
2003 Computer Animation
Related topics
External links
Other meaning: Ehrlich's Salvarsan
