Post by Gil Jesus on Jan 24, 2023 8:49:14 GMT -5
Was The Sound Of The Shots Proof Of A Second Gunman?
By Gil Jesus (2023)
One of the pieces of evidence crucial to the Warren Commission's conclusion of a lone gunman was the sequence of the shots.
The Commission, in its report, stated that the minimum time required to operate the bolt of the CE 139 rifle and fire a shot was 2.25 seconds.
That means that any sound emanating from the rifle as a result of firing it, would also take a minimum of 2.25 seconds.
The speed of sound is effected by temperature, the warmer it is, the faster sound travels. Since it was 70 degrees in Dallas that day, the speed of sound in Dealey Plaza was about 1,129 feet per second (344 m/s).
artsites.ucsc.edu/EMS/music/tech_background/TE-01/soundSpeed.html#:~:text=At%2021%20degrees%20C
Suffice it to say that while the position of witnesses in Dealey Plaza was relevent to WHEN the sound of the shots reached their positions, it had no bearing on the number of shots they heard nor did it have any bearing on the sequence of those shots.
For example, if one stood under the sixth floor window of the Texas School Book Depository, one should hear the sounds of the shots spaced apart at a minimum of 2.25 seconds, the time the Warren Commission's expert, FBI Agent Lyndal Shaneyfelt, said it took to fire a shot and cycle the bolt on the CE 139 rifle. (5H, p. 153)
And if one stood further down on Elm St., one should hear the shots with the same 2.25 second spacing since the speed of sound was the same down by the triple underpass as it was under the sixth floor window.
The timing of WHEN you first heard the shots would be different because of your position, but the sequence would be the same because the speed of sound was a constant.
Unless of course, the unlikely possibility that the temperature changed drastically between shots.
To prove this point, many of the witnesses described a shot sequence that was incompatable with three shots being fired from the CE 139 rifle. These witnesses were scattered around Dealey Plaza and yet described the same shooting sequence with a first shot, a pause and then two shots right on top of each other.
Witness testimony and accounts can be a reliable tool for investigators when those accounts corroborate each other.
So what did the witnesses say?
In 1966, Mark Lane interviewed Lee Bowers, a railroad employee who had been in a 14 foot tower in the parking lot behind the picket fence.
By Gil Jesus (2023)
One of the pieces of evidence crucial to the Warren Commission's conclusion of a lone gunman was the sequence of the shots.
The Commission, in its report, stated that the minimum time required to operate the bolt of the CE 139 rifle and fire a shot was 2.25 seconds.
That means that any sound emanating from the rifle as a result of firing it, would also take a minimum of 2.25 seconds.
The speed of sound is effected by temperature, the warmer it is, the faster sound travels. Since it was 70 degrees in Dallas that day, the speed of sound in Dealey Plaza was about 1,129 feet per second (344 m/s).
artsites.ucsc.edu/EMS/music/tech_background/TE-01/soundSpeed.html#:~:text=At%2021%20degrees%20C
Suffice it to say that while the position of witnesses in Dealey Plaza was relevent to WHEN the sound of the shots reached their positions, it had no bearing on the number of shots they heard nor did it have any bearing on the sequence of those shots.
For example, if one stood under the sixth floor window of the Texas School Book Depository, one should hear the sounds of the shots spaced apart at a minimum of 2.25 seconds, the time the Warren Commission's expert, FBI Agent Lyndal Shaneyfelt, said it took to fire a shot and cycle the bolt on the CE 139 rifle. (5H, p. 153)
And if one stood further down on Elm St., one should hear the shots with the same 2.25 second spacing since the speed of sound was the same down by the triple underpass as it was under the sixth floor window.
The timing of WHEN you first heard the shots would be different because of your position, but the sequence would be the same because the speed of sound was a constant.
Unless of course, the unlikely possibility that the temperature changed drastically between shots.
To prove this point, many of the witnesses described a shot sequence that was incompatable with three shots being fired from the CE 139 rifle. These witnesses were scattered around Dealey Plaza and yet described the same shooting sequence with a first shot, a pause and then two shots right on top of each other.
Witness testimony and accounts can be a reliable tool for investigators when those accounts corroborate each other.
So what did the witnesses say?
In 1966, Mark Lane interviewed Lee Bowers, a railroad employee who had been in a 14 foot tower in the parking lot behind the picket fence.
Patsy Paschall shot her film from the third floor of the old red courthouse. This is what she said she heard:
Newspaper reporter Mary Woodward stood on the north side of Elm St. This is what she heard:
And these are not the only witnesses who heard the first shot, a pause and the last two shots close together. So close, in fact, that they could not have been fired from the CE 139 rifle.
Witness Victoria Adams watched the motorcade from an office on the fourth floor of the Texas School Book Depository. She testified that, "we heard a shot and then it was a pause and then a second shot and then a third shot." (6H, p. 388)
Witness Bonnie Ray Williams was also inside the Texas School Book Depository on the fifth floor. He testified that, "... there was two shots rather close together. The second shot and the third shot was closer together than the first shot and the second shot, as I remember." (3H, p. 175 )
Secret Service Agent, Roy Kellerman, who rode in the front seat of the Presidential limo, described the first shot as a firecracker and the last two as shots, describing them as "...like a double bang----bang, bang." (2H, p. 76)
Those were the witnesses who testified before the Warren Commission and whose testimony the Commission chose to ignore.
Witness Victoria Adams watched the motorcade from an office on the fourth floor of the Texas School Book Depository. She testified that, "we heard a shot and then it was a pause and then a second shot and then a third shot." (6H, p. 388)
Witness Bonnie Ray Williams was also inside the Texas School Book Depository on the fifth floor. He testified that, "... there was two shots rather close together. The second shot and the third shot was closer together than the first shot and the second shot, as I remember." (3H, p. 175 )
Secret Service Agent, Roy Kellerman, who rode in the front seat of the Presidential limo, described the first shot as a firecracker and the last two as shots, describing them as "...like a double bang----bang, bang." (2H, p. 76)
Those were the witnesses who testified before the Warren Commission and whose testimony the Commission chose to ignore.
But there were other witnesses who the FBI interviewed and whose accounts corroborated those witnesses who testified.
The FBI made sure these witnesses were kept off the witness list and never appeared before the Warren Commission.
Witnesses like Carolyn Walther, who stood on the east side of Houston St, just 17 feet from the intersection of Elm. She told the FBI that, "there was a pause after this first report, then a second and third report almost at the same time". (CD 7, pg.25)
Secret Service Agent George Hickey, who rode in the back seat of the follow-up car behind the President's limo and reported that he heard, "two reports....in such rapid succession that there seemed to be practically no time element between them." (18H, p. 762)
And Mrs. Pearl Springer, who stood with Carolyn Walther on the east side of Houston St.. She told the FBI that, "after the first shot there was a pause and then two more shots were fired close together." (CD 7, pg. 26)
This is a diverse group of witnesses who positions varied. Some were inside the building, some were outside but in close proximity of the building. One was near the grassy knoll. One was behind the building in a tower. One was in the front seat of the limo. One was in the old courthouse.
But they all heard the same thing; a double bang for the second and third shots, a proven physical impossibility for a single gunman firing the CE 139 rifle.
The FBI made sure these witnesses were kept off the witness list and never appeared before the Warren Commission.
Witnesses like Carolyn Walther, who stood on the east side of Houston St, just 17 feet from the intersection of Elm. She told the FBI that, "there was a pause after this first report, then a second and third report almost at the same time". (CD 7, pg.25)
Secret Service Agent George Hickey, who rode in the back seat of the follow-up car behind the President's limo and reported that he heard, "two reports....in such rapid succession that there seemed to be practically no time element between them." (18H, p. 762)
And Mrs. Pearl Springer, who stood with Carolyn Walther on the east side of Houston St.. She told the FBI that, "after the first shot there was a pause and then two more shots were fired close together." (CD 7, pg. 26)
This is a diverse group of witnesses who positions varied. Some were inside the building, some were outside but in close proximity of the building. One was near the grassy knoll. One was behind the building in a tower. One was in the front seat of the limo. One was in the old courthouse.
But they all heard the same thing; a double bang for the second and third shots, a proven physical impossibility for a single gunman firing the CE 139 rifle.