A CONSPIRACY THEORIST SAID:
In CE903, the POTUS stand-in is sitting too high and the Connally stand-in is too close to the door. .... If you look at any of the films from 11/22/63, they show JFK and Connally's shoulders nearly at the same level. Possibly an inch difference in height. The distance between the two men is larger in the Lincoln than in the Cadillac.
DAVID VON PEIN SAID:
You're wrong. And the Robert Croft photo illustrates the fact that you're wrong (particularly about the "height" differential between Kennedy and Connally):
By just eyeballing each of the pictures, the Croft photo (which was taken at approximately the same time as frame 161 of the Zapruder Film) matches the re-enactment photograph seen in Commission Exhibit No. 903 very nicely:
Of course, the pictures weren't taken from the exact same angle, so that fact must be taken into account as well. Here's a side-by-side photo comparison:
THE CONSPIRACY THEORIST SAID:
The car [in CE903] is not the Lincoln but the Cadillac. .... The height difference and the distance between the two bodies in the Cadillac is not the same as the Lincoln.
DAVID VON PEIN SAID:
Yes, there were differences between the two automobiles (Kennedy's
Lincoln Continental and the Secret Service's Cadillac follow-up car,
which was the car used by the Warren Commission and FBI during the re-
creation of the assassination in Dealey Plaza on May 24, 1964, because
JFK's SS-100-X limousine wasn't available for the reconstruction
tests). But those differences were taken into account.
Or would some conspiracy theorists now like to call Lyndal Shaneyfelt
of the FBI a liar, too? Here's the relevant testimony provided by
Shaneyfelt on June 4, 1964 [at 5 H 148-149]:
ARLEN SPECTER -- "Was there any difference between the position of
President Kennedy's stand-in and the position of President Kennedy on
the day of the assassination by virtue of any difference in the
automobiles in which each rode?"
LYNDAL L. SHANEYFELT -- "Yes; because of the difference in the
automobiles there was a variation of 10 inches, a vertical distance of
10 inches that had to be considered. The stand-in for President
Kennedy was sitting 10 inches higher and the stand-in for Governor
Connally was sitting 10 inches higher than the President and Governor
Connally were sitting and we took this into account in our
calculations."
SPECTER -- "Was any allowance then made in the photographing of the
first point or rather last point at which the spot was visible on the
back of the coat of President Kennedy's stand-in before passing under
the oak tree?"
SHANEYFELT -- "Yes; there was. After establishing this position,
represented by frame 161, where the chalk mark was about to disappear
under the tree, we established a point 10 inches below that as the
actual point where President Kennedy would have had a chalk mark on
his back or where the wound would have been if the car was 10 inches
lower. And we rolled the car then sufficiently forward to reestablish
the position that the chalk mark would be in at its last clear shot
before going under the tree, based on this 10 inches, and this gave us
frame 166 of the Zapruder film."
------------
There is also this (from Page 97 of the Warren Report):
"On May 24, 1964, agents of the FBI and Secret Service conducted
a series of tests to determine as precisely as possible what happened
on November 22, 1963. Since the Presidential limousine was being
remodeled and was therefore unavailable, it was simulated by using the
Secret Service followup car, which is similar in design. ANY
DIFFERENCES WERE TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT." [DVP's emphasis.]
-------------
Plus, we also have the following Warren Commission testimony provided
by Secret Service Inspector Thomas J. Kelley [beginning at 5 H 131]:
ARLEN SPECTER -- "Without specifying all of the details, Inspector
Kelley, are the follow-up car and the Presidential car generally
similar in dimensions?"
THOMAS J. KELLEY -- "Yes, they are. There are very few, of course,
seven-passenger convertible cars in existence, and...these cars are
specially built for us by the...Ford Motor Company, and the followup
car by the General Motors Company."
[...]
SPECTER -- "And what is the differential between the jump seats and
the rear seat on the Secret Service followup car?"
KELLEY -- "The jump seat of the Secret Service car is a little closer
to the right door. However, the seating arrangement is not exactly the
same in these cars, in that there is a portion of a padding that comes
around on the rear seat. But relatively, when two persons are seated
in this car, one in the rear seat and one in the jump seat, they are
in the same alignment as they were in the President's car."
--------------
And there's also CE871 and CE872, which consist of diagrams of both
the Secret Service Cadillac and JFK's limousine. It's just about
impossible to read the specific numbers written on these two diagrams,
but the differences in the dimensions between the two vehicles seem to
be negligible (plus there's the fact, as mentioned on page 97 of the
Warren Report, that "any differences" between the two cars were "taken
into account" during the May 1964 re-enactment in Dallas).
David Von Pein
January 23, 2010 [This forum link is no longer available.]
