Eddie Mair: YouTube knows who killed JFK
"One of the most infamous murders of the 20th century doesn’t really come alive until you’ve had a good rummage through what the internet’s finest amateur detectives have to offer"
If you find yourself online and a little bored, can I suggest you get yourself on YouTube and type in “JFK assassination”. Yes, there are countless items marking the 50th anniversary on radio, television and in the newspapers, but in my opinion one of the most infamous murders of the 20th century doesn’t really come alive until you’ve had a good rummage through what the internet’s finest amateur detectives have to offer.
See how the US networks handled this early example of “breaking news” – just as now, early reporting often turns out to be plain wrong. Moments after the assassination, a sombre NBC voiceover hinted at the years of controversy that lay ahead, intoning: “It is believed two shots were fired.”
Almost every credible documentary ever made and every discussion ever had about the killing can be found online. There is in-depth analysis, slow-motion, frame-by-frame scrutiny of every piece of film footage, and even digital reconstructions of the day Dealey Plaza became the world’s most famous crime scene.
When you tire of squinting at Mr Zapruder’s grainy footage, you can watch a cartoony JFK wrenching from the impact of a cartoony bullet. In contrast to the usual rules of the genre, the 35th President does not bounce back up, reinvigorated. He dies, just like he always does.
At least we can trust the Zapruder film; it shows us what happened in real life. Unless you explore further and discover the truth: parts of the film were ALTERED – and, look, here is a laborious video explaining how.
Dozens of links promise “the truth” about the assassination. There is a big market in exposing “the lies” and even a helpful video where someone describes how Rose Kennedy reacted to the news. (At last!)
It’s easy to mock some of the apparently outlandish theories, which is why I’m enjoying it so much. There is great fun to be had with experts freezing 50-year-old black-and-white footage of the grassy knoll, then zooming in on a tiny detail. They see a gunman. Perhaps I need new glasses, but all I can make out are black, white and grey dots. Aware that their discovery won’t be apparent to everyone, the experts draw the outline of a gunman around the grainy dots so that you can clearly see for yourself: some dots with an outline drawn round them.
Do take some time to explore the theory that Mr Kennedy was in fact assassinated by Bill Greer, the driver of his limousine. Did Bill do it? Watch the video and judge for yourself! One of these films must be right – right? But which really shows the truth?
I discovered the saddest truth on a trip to Dallas a few years ago. It’s possible to visit the old Texas School Book Depository – now The Sixth Floor Museum – and see for yourself the lair from which, we’re told, Lee Harvey Oswald fired the only bullets that day. It was the world’s worst example of closing the stable door after the horse has bolted. A notice on the front door reads: No smoking. No photography. No firearms.