The Warren Commission concluded in 1964 that the same “magic bullet” that struck President Kennedy proceeded to slice through multiple layers of skin, bone, clothing, and muscle tissue. The crazy thing is, it’s not as crazy as it sounds.
On Nov. 22 , 1963 , Lee Harvey Oswald give the axe off a shot with tremendous reverberation . The bullet train that left his bolt - action Carcano M 91/38 rifle from a sixth - floor windowpane of the Texas School Book Depository in downtown Dallas killed the president of the United States , and — depending on who you require — one of them defied the laws of physics as we know them .
On Oswald ’s first or second shot , a 6.5 - millimeter bullethitPresident John F. Kennedy in the back , to the right of his spine , and then result his consistency through the front of his neck . It exit below his Adam ’s Malus pumila , hit his tie mile , and remain into Texas Gov. John Connally ’s back and shattered his fifth right costa bone .
After exiting Connally ’s breast , the bullet put down the governor ’s correct wrist — breaking yet another bone — before pop off and burrow into his odd thigh . Oswald ’s third shot was the clincher , hit Kennedy square toes in the skull and changing the course of history forever . One of the nip — either the first or the 2d — missed .
Wikimedia CommonsJohn F. Kennedy, Jacquelin Onassis, and John Connally in the Lincoln limousine motorcade moments before the President’s assassination. Nov. 22, 1963. Dallas, Texas.
At least that was what the official , government activity - sanctioned Warren Commission conclude in its September 1964 account .
With a growing distrust in the government during the mid - to - previous sixties , and a flurry of rule book suggest there was an internal conspiracy at play to pour down the president , the exclusive - slug ( or magic smoke ) possibility garner as many detractor as genuine worshipper .
Wikimedia CommonsJohn F. Kennedy , Jacquelin Onassis , and John Connally in the Lincoln limousine motorcade moments before the President ’s assassination . Nov. 22 , 1963 . Dallas , Texas .
Wikimedia CommonsThe “magic bullet” did look rather pristine after hitting two people — some say it was too pristine.
The Warren Report was upheld in 1979 , though the single - bullet theory — which some call the “ wizard hummer hypothesis ” — remains one of most heatedly contested claims the government has ever made .
The theory was primal to bolster the government ’s assertion that there was only one taw and that that hired gun was Lee Harvey Oswald , since Oswald ’s rifle was n’t fast enough to shoot multiple bullets in the timeframe when both Kennedy and Connally lose their initial injuries .
get ’s take a flavour at what the prescribed story specifically declare oneself , and delineate some of the most pertinent fact that either support or refute its most crucial point : that one bullet injured both President Kennedy and Gov. Connally .
Wikimedia CommonsThe base view of the controversial piece of evidence, labeled “CE399.” While it did appear to have been fired, some experiments to replicate the damage it would’ve incurred didn’t match up.
The Magic Bullet Theory
critic of the individual - bullet theory have nickname it the “ magic hummer possibility , ” mostly because of decades - old misconceptions ring the proportional placement of Kennedy ’s and Connally ’s physical structure in their shared , clear - air limousine .
After a quick Google search , you ’ll find all sorts of squiggly - lined drafting and diagram showing the bullet ’s supposedly physics - hold path from Kennedy ’s mid - back , up to his Adam ’s Apple , over to Connally ’s back , up to his wrist joint , and directly down and over to Connally ’s left thigh .
This interpretation is n’t determine to the depths of the internet .
Wikimedia CommonsLyndon B. Johnson was sworn in as the 36th President of the United States a little over an hour after Kennedy was shot. A distraught Jacqueline Kennedy stood beside him as her husband’s body was loaded onto the plane.
In Oliver Stone ’s 1991 photographic film , JFK , for instance , a New Orleans dominion lawyer , played by Kevin Costner , enact the shot in front of a rapt jury . With a squiggly - lined diagram behind him , he describes Exhibit 399 , or CE 399 ( the “ magic smoke ’s ” official name ) turning “ right , then leave , right , then lead ” before build a “ dramatic uranium - bout ” to collide with all of Kennedy ’s and Connally ’s points of injury . The blockbuster film was nominated for eight Oscars and reignited the charming bullet debate for a new generation .
But CE 399 ’s suppose twists and spell are based on a sodding misconception of how Kennedy and Connally were situated in their limousine .
In theJFKcourtroom scene , the men standing in for the prexy and the governor are seat in chair that are the same height , one directly in front of the other . Given that layout and the placement of the two men ’s trauma , it seems like the smoke would have had to defy gravitation to shoot all the right marks .
This is not how the limo ’s seats were laid out , however . In reality , Connally ’s seat was dispirited and further to the leftfield . And free-base on photographic and video evidence , we roll in the hay the president was seated all the direction to the right of his back seat , his arm resting on the skeletal system of the auto .
And so the heater did n’t have to work properly and allow over and over again . In fact , if you come out Kennedy ’s and Connally ’s body right , their injuries form a much straight line .
What ’s more , sorcerous heater theoriser point to the fact that the position where the bullet entered through Kennedy ’s jacket was purportedly lower than his cervix outlet wound . There ’s no way a bullet shot from a gun pointing downwards would short shoot up while in the president ’s soundbox .
But that dot is also base on faulty evidence . photo from the minute before the shooting show that Kennedy ’s jacket wasbunched up at his cervix , and so the entry point on his pelage is in fact lowly than where the bullet actually entered his back .
Thus , the up - and - down , left - to - right see - sawing that the “ magic slug ” supposedly had to pull off for make all of Kennedy ’s and Connally ’s injuries did n’t happen at all . In fact , it ’s possible that CE 399 move around in a virtually straight line , from Kennedy ’s back all the way to Connally ’s thigh .
Subsequent Tests
The investigation into Kennedy ’s dying and the single - hummer theory did n’t conclude with the Warren Commission . The theory would be test again and again — both by the governance and by independent forensics enthusiasts — over the following decades .
Among these tests was a secret March 1965 report , cut by ballistics experts at the U.S. Army ’s Edgewood Arsenal in Maryland . Using the same character of rifle and bullets that kill Kennedy , the scientist test the theory on a slew of gelatin blocks , human skull , and goat skins to recreate the effects of consistence parts on a slug ’s velocity and trajectory .
Wikimedia CommonsThe “ magic bullet ” did depend rather pristine after strike two people — some say it was too pristine .
While their tests confirm that “ the bullet that wounded the prexy had enough remaining velocity to account for all of the regulator ’s wounds , ” they found it “ more unmanageable to tie a firm conclusion ” on whether the two men were actually injured by the same bullet . According to their tests , Gov. Connally ’s back and chest wound “ could have been produce by either the shot that run into President Kennedy in the neck or by a freestanding shot . ”
“ If it was a separate jibe , ” the report concluded , “ then the bullet train that hit the president in the neck must be accounted for . ” They recommended that “ a very careful reenactment of the blackwash be done ” to see whether it was possible that the slug the struck Kennedy in the back could have “ missed the car and its occupants completely . ”
It ’s not clean-cut whether such a reenactment was ever do , though the House Select Committee on Assassinations confirm the single - bullet hypothesis in a 1979 report .
Wikimedia CommonsArlen Specter of the Warren Commission tries to reproduce the trajectory of the single-bullet theory. 5 April 2025.
Still , the committee itself muddied the waters when it concluded in that same report that four — not three — bullet were dismiss , and that one of those bullets fare not from the Texas School Book Depository , but from the so - called “ grassy knoll , ” an capable part of Dealey Plaza the President of the United States ’s motorcade drove through when he was shot and killed .
The committeebased its conclusionon an audio transcription from a Dallas police military officer . An acoustical analysis of the tapeline identified four gunshot , with the sound reflection shape betoken that one of those shots number from the direction of the grassy mound .
Wikimedia CommonsThe root view of the controversial piece of grounds , labeled “ CE399 . ” While it did appear to have been fire , some experiment to replicate the price it would ’ve incurred did n’t match up .
The National Academy of Sciences performed its own analytic thinking of the tape after the citizens committee supply its report and found that the House ’s audio analysis was riddled with flaws . There was no evidence of a quaternary gunshot or a 2nd shooter .
But the terms to public perception had already been done .
Aftermath Of The Assassination
President Kennedy was pronounced numb at Parkland Memorial Hospital at 1 p.m. that sidereal day . Lee Harvey Oswald was found and hold back less than an hour later .
Oswald tell reporters that he did n’t shoot anybody . He excellently call himself a “ patsy ” two daylight before nightclub possessor and police informant Jack Ruby murdered him on live tv set — silencing him for good .
Wikimedia CommonsLyndon B. Johnson was sworn in as the 36th President of the United States a petty over an hour after Kennedy was shot . A distraught Jacqueline Kennedy stood beside him as her husband ’s body was stretch onto the woodworking plane .
While Ruby himself claim he was acting out of payback for the Kennedy family , and that killing Oswald had nothing to do with a broader cabal involving dim instrumentalist within the government — that secondary incident left many suspicious and dubious to this day .
With the alleged lone torpedo dead , the theory of having him divulge any information belie the unmarried - bullet hypothesis was gone , as well .
Skepticism Surrounding The Single Bullet
There was hardly widespread acceptance of the Warren Report ’s finding — not even within the Union government . In 2013 , it was unwrap that President Kennedy ’s own pal , Attorney General Robert Kennedy , consider the Warren Report a “ shoddy piece of craft . ” one-half of the Warren Commission was skeptical of the individual - bullet train hypothesis .
According to journalist Philip Shenon , who write a record book about the Kennedy assassination , Arthur Schlessinger Jr. , a friend of the Kennedys , said Robert Kennedy was win over the Warren Commission ’s “ lone shooter ” story was faux .
Schlessinger suppose that in December 1963 , Robert Kennedy told him that he feared Oswald was simply “ part of a larger plot , whether organized by Castro or by gangsters . ”
He added that two twelvemonth after the Warren Report was published , Robert Kennedy remain convinced that there was a cabal , and wondered out loud “ how long he could continue to void comment on the report — it is discernible that he believes it was a poor line . ”
Modern Technology And More Support For The Magic Bullet Theory
argue around the magic fastball theory has substantially shifted in late year , thanks to the Second Advent of modern 3D - simulation technology .
About 50 years to the sidereal day after Kennedy ’s character assassination , one father - and - Logos forensics squad used these technological advance toput the single - bullet possibility to a more stringent mental test , assess the flight of Oswald ’s slug more exactly than ever before .
“ [ We can envision ] offence scenes more exhaustively , more completely than we ever had had the capacity to do , ” said Michael Haag in an interview withCBS . “ So we walk away from the crime scene with more data and we can then examine the crime fit over and over again later on , on a computing gadget . ”
What the duo launch , accord to Luke Haag , was that the one hummer could “ easily ” have proceed through two multitude “ if you understand how this special unusual bullet behaves and what [ it ] does after it leave Kennedy ’s body . ”
“ People did n’t understand then and do n’t sympathize now , ” he enunciate . “ It will go through a lot of textile , and then when it fare out it starts tumbling … and that ’s how it impinge on Connally . It ’s like a naughtily cast off football game . It unremarkably flies honest and straight . ”
“ When this bullet emerge from Kennedy — our any ballistic medium … it ’s now yaw and tumbling . The entry wound in Connally is very important because it ’s the consequence of a yawed bullet , so it had to be a destabilized bullet from somewhere . ”
This informed reevaluation has , of course , been starkly dissimilar than prosecutor Arlen Specter ’s presentment of the bullet ’s trajectory in court 10 in the first place . Using a mere perch and two grownup males in a replication of the Lincoln limousine , it was simply too primitive for doubtfulness to die hard in comparability to Luke and Michael Haag ’s work .
When asked if he thought one bullet could do the terms witnessed in Dallas that day in 1963 , Michael Haag allege , “ As far as the neck lesion to the president and the wound to John Connally , absolutely . ”
He added that the argument of Oswald simply not being a skilful enough shooter to pluck off the was yet another unfounded misdirection . According to Luke Haag , Oswald ’s rifle , was n’t as inaccurate as so many detractors claim .
“ If the bore in the rifle is well , it ’s a right shooter and it was a good gun , ” he say , “ unfortunately for President Kennedy . ”
“ The interrogation about multiple shots , the behavior of the bullet that goes through Kennedy and becomes the unmarried smoke theory became controversial because , again , people did n’t pass judgment it . They did n’t understand it , and they had n’t looked at it then and few have looked at it now . ”
John McAdams , a political science prof at Marquette University in Wisconsin and an expert on the Kennedy character assassination would likely concur with the Haags .
Wikimedia CommonsArlen Specter of the Warren Commission prove to multiply the trajectory of the exclusive - bullet theory . May 24 , 1964 .
“ Thomas Canning was a NASA scientist who studied the individual - bullet flight for the House Select Committee on Assassinations , ” he wrote on his web site , referring to the hypothesis being upheld by a congressional committee in 1979 .
“ The event was an alliance that showed the bullet train leave Kennedy ’s throat to strike Connally in the back near the shoulder — which is where Connally was actually discover . ”
McAdams also study a reckoner recreation of the bullet train ’s trajectory from the 1990s .
“ Failure Analysis Associates , in work done for a 1992 mock trial of Lee Harvey Oswald for the American Bar Association , used 3 - D computer liveliness and simulate proficiency to search the bullet trajectory , and concluded that the single hummer trajectory works . ”
“ We desire to think there ’s more to it than a lone wolf loser derange Marxist who hated his country and took an opportunity , ” said Luke Haag . “ There ’s scram to be more to it than that . [ Vincent ] Bugliosi [ the famous prosecuting attorney ] has a tremendous statement , ‘ A tyke can not strike down a king . ' ”
After learning about the arguments for and against the Warren Commission ’s “ magic bullet theory , ” take a look at39 stalk Kennedy assassination pic most people have never seen . Then , see aboutthe disgraceful character assassination of Inejiro Asanuma .
