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All around Michigan, on the afternoon of Saturday, October 25, groups of men gathered in front of television sets, eating pizza and watching the Michigan-Michigan State football game.
A similar scene could be found in a comfortable basement recreation room in northern Grand Rapids, but there were no football players on the screen.
Here, a pattern of dashes represented segments of an audio tape, a man fired an antique rifle in the Northern Michigan woods, a honeydew melon exploded in a fan-shaped spray, a line of cars passed through the streets of a city, a man on crutches told a crowd of newsmen that "He fought with us like a wild man," a goat suddenly stiffened and collapsed, the shoulders of a man in a car suddenly hunched up, police officers examined a wallet and a revolver on a quiet side street, a computer generated limousine appeared to come nearly to a full stop on a slight incline, and a straight red line passed slowly back and forth across a map until it reached the corner of a building and jerked dramatically.
The men who paid close attention to these images were also a somewhat different group from those gathered around other televisions around the state:
Their common interest: intricacies in the evidence relating to the assassination of President Kennedy. Originally planned as a gathering of those who believed Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone, the final group was evenly split, half believing in a conspiracy.
Perhaps the most remarkable thing about the gathering was its lack of rancor, its emphasis on sharing, and the civility of its discussions. Everyone contributed rare footage and photographs, no voices were raised, and no one "changed sides," but we all learned things during the two-day gathering.
New computer-generated animations by Dale Myers, likely to be generally available sometime next year, made it difficult to dispute a bullet striking Governor Connally just before Zapruder frame 223; demonstrated that along a line which crossed the sidewalk north of Elm Street and an area in front of the Texas School Book Depository, spectators saw the limousine appear to come to nearly a complete stop, due to a quirk of perspective; and showed the assassination as it might have appeared to a number of other key witnesses (Charles Brehm, Howard Brennan, Nellie Connally, Jackie Kennedy, and Bill Newman).
His attempt to use the animation to demonstrate the Single Bullet Theory was marred by placement of the entrance wound on President Kennedy's back at the lower neck, rather than the upper back position of the autopsy photographs, perhaps two inches lower.
A photograph showing FBI agent Robert Barrett at the Texas Theater, and a film clip showing him at the location of the shooting of Officer J.D. Tippit, made it clear that he was not the same man who was seen apparently picking up something from the grass in Dealey Plaza in a series of news photographs.
Todd Vaughan explained what firemen had been doing at the Depository after the assassination, which had been a puzzle to some earlier. The police had requested their assistance in providing emergency lights to aid in searching the Depository, rope to hold back the growing crowds, and a ladder to assist in checking for possible evidence concealed in Depository ceilings.
Vaughan and Myers discussed with me the evidence in the Tippit shooting, which Myers has studied in detail for many years. He made a strong case that the gunman was first seen in the area around 1:13 p.m., and that the shooting happened at approximately 1:14 p.m., timing which seem to best mesh the eyewitness testimony. Though not completely convinced, I was impressed, and felt the reconstruction deserved serious attention by those studying the shooting.
Greg Jaynes provided us all with autographed copies of Robert Groden's latest videotape, "The Killing of a President: A Video Magazine," a forty-minute overview blending material from "JFK: The Case for Conspiracy" and "The Assassination Films," his longer videotapes. It is a good introductory collection for those who haven't yet acquired copies of the key film footage.
Controversial claims were challenged, a variety of evidence was presented and examined, and the participants had a stimulating and valuable experience. It was the kind of exchange that should happen more often, allowing vigorous testing of everyone's assumptions, a greater likelihood that untenable theories will be discarded, and a better chance to see where theories are the strongest. I hope it doesn't prove unique, as it's something we all could use.
I welcome accounts from the points of view of the other participants.
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