02-07-2015, 11:27 PM
My recollection is, the actual doctors that operated on Connally and actually removed metal from his body were always very skeptical of the "pristine bullet." The fact is, there was metal removed from Connally during surgery, there was metal remaining in his body after the surgery. The actual bits and pieces (that survived the WC evidence gathering process) did not add up to enough metal to rule out CE399. However, no one actually weighed the fragments that remained in his body.
The other problem is of course that no one knows exactly how much CE399 might have weighed before firing. The Warren Commission used an estimate at the high end of the spectrum IIRC. Your guess is as good as anyone else's.
Of course, Connally himself didn't believe the origin story of CE399, and in fact, recollected that a bullet fragment large enough to make an audible noise fell from his body, in the process of him getting on the examination table, which fragment was allegedly put into an envelope by a nurse and turned over to the FBI...except the FBI doesn't seem to have the fragment, although the envelope itself seems to have left a partial evidentiary trail.
The problem with comparing the fragments to CE399 now, of course, is that nobody really believes that CE 399 AND the fragments in evidence are actually authentic, in fact there is an FBI lab guy (Guinn?) that testified that lab fragments were missing or had been switched; and also, neutron activation analysis is no longer considered a reliable way to match bullet metals.
Search this site (or Google) for "stretcher bullet" to see some of the stretcher bullet lore. You also could attempt to measure the 2D "area" of the metal bits in the x-rays, take a guess at the "third dimension" thickness, and then calculate their weight...
The other problem is of course that no one knows exactly how much CE399 might have weighed before firing. The Warren Commission used an estimate at the high end of the spectrum IIRC. Your guess is as good as anyone else's.
Of course, Connally himself didn't believe the origin story of CE399, and in fact, recollected that a bullet fragment large enough to make an audible noise fell from his body, in the process of him getting on the examination table, which fragment was allegedly put into an envelope by a nurse and turned over to the FBI...except the FBI doesn't seem to have the fragment, although the envelope itself seems to have left a partial evidentiary trail.
The problem with comparing the fragments to CE399 now, of course, is that nobody really believes that CE 399 AND the fragments in evidence are actually authentic, in fact there is an FBI lab guy (Guinn?) that testified that lab fragments were missing or had been switched; and also, neutron activation analysis is no longer considered a reliable way to match bullet metals.
Search this site (or Google) for "stretcher bullet" to see some of the stretcher bullet lore. You also could attempt to measure the 2D "area" of the metal bits in the x-rays, take a guess at the "third dimension" thickness, and then calculate their weight...
"All that is necessary for tyranny to succeed is for good men to do nothing." (unknown)
James Tracy: "There is sometimes an undue amount of paranoia among some conspiracy researchers that can contribute to flawed observations and analysis."
Gary Cornwell (Dept. Chief Counsel HSCA): "A fact merely marks the point at which we have agreed to let investigation cease."
Alan Ford: "Just because you believe it, that doesn't make it so."
James Tracy: "There is sometimes an undue amount of paranoia among some conspiracy researchers that can contribute to flawed observations and analysis."
Gary Cornwell (Dept. Chief Counsel HSCA): "A fact merely marks the point at which we have agreed to let investigation cease."
Alan Ford: "Just because you believe it, that doesn't make it so."