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Dr. David Mantik, M.D., Ph.D., in conducting his optical density (OD) measurements of the three extant JFK autopsy skull X-rays in the National Archives, was perplexed at finding a 6.5 mm object inside JFK’s right orbit on the anterior-posterior (AP) skull X-ray. This (apparent) bullet cross-section was clearly the largest metal-like object in the X-ray films. But—under oath—none of the three autopsy pathologists could recall seeing it at the autopsy, nor did they remove it. Even more mysteriously, that piece of “metal” is not in the National Archives.

As noted in the new book, The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy: The Final Analysis, which Dr. Mantik and I recently co-authored, Dr. Mantik has seen the JFK autopsy skull X-rays more than anyone else. Using a densitometer, he measured the light coming through the X-rays millimeter-by-millimeter (with some measurements at a tenth-of-a-millimeter calibration). With regard to the 6.5 mm object, Dr. Mantik sought to determine if the X-ray image was authentic or if the 6.5 mm object was an artifact of forgery.

In January 1969, the (Ramsey) Clark Panel finally released its long-awaited (1968) review of the JFK autopsy. That report described a 6.5 mm (nearly circular) cross-section of an apparent bullet fragment inside JFK’s right orbit on the anterior-posterior (AP) X-ray film (Figure 1).1/

Figure 1: This is the anterior-posterior autopsy (AP) X-ray film, often abbreviated “AP.” This view is also sometimes called a “frontal X-ray film.” JFK was lying on his back. The film was placed directly behind his head, with the X-rays entering from the front. The arrow identifies the 6.5 mm object within JFK’s right orbit.

Curiously, although this was by far the largest metal-like object, it had not been described in the autopsy report. In fact, this was its first appearance in history. Furthermore, it had not been removed during the autopsy—and it does not exist in the Archives today—even though the sole point of the X-ray films had been precisely to collect such objects for forensic purposes.

In his five-volume masterpiece about the medical evidence in the JFK assassination case, Inside the Assassinations Records Review Board, Douglas Horne, a veteran ARRB examiner, described the curious 6.5 mm object:

In this anterior-posterior (front-to-rear) skull x-ray, there is an image of what appears to be an extremely radio-opaque, or dense (i.e., lucent) object seen on the x-ray which is purported to represent a metallic fragment—a cross section of the accused assassin’s bullet as it entered the back of JFK’s skull, and then lodged on the outside of his cranium, slightly below the purported entry wound in the bone. (This is the interpretation of both the Clark Panel and the HSCA’s medical panel.) As seen on the AP skull x-ray, this purported bullet fragment is the brightest single object in the image, and therefore represents the densest object depicted in the anterior-posterior skull x-ray—it stands out “like a sore thumb.” It is nearly circular and is about 6.5 mm in diameter. [Vol. 1, p. 49.]

Dr. Mantik’s OD measurements agreed with Horne—the 6.5 mm object was far too bright to have been a natural item. Mantik reasoned that 6.5 mm object (if authentic) should appear impossibly long on a lateral X-ray film (Figure 2).

Figure 2: The predicted, but physically impossible, front-to-back length of the 6.5 mm object is superimposed on the lateral X-ray film image. This prediction is strictly based on the ODs measured on the AP X-ray film. Dr. Mantik prepared this digital insert purely to illustrate the point.

Dr. Mantik’s OD measurements of the two JFK lateral X-rays at the National Article proved the 6.5 mm object was scarcely visible, another strong indication that the 6.5 mm object was a forgery.

Horne continued, puzzling that no such object was ever recovered from President Kennedy’s body at the autopsy (emphases are Horne’s):

So, if the apparent bullet fragment on the A-P x-ray of the skull was so bright, why was no such fragment recovered from the body, and why was this obvious evidence of an apparent bullet fragment in the A-P x-ray not mentioned in the autopsy report? Were the prosecutors and the attending radiologist, Dr. Ebersole, simply incompetent—or could the apparent bullet fragment on the A-P x-ray be an artifact placed intentionally on the x-ray subsequent to the autopsy? That is, could the “fragment” be part of a forgery designed to incriminate Lee Harvey Oswald? (According to the Dallas Police, a 6.5 mm carbine had been found on the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository building in Dealey Plaza, the site of the assassination.) [Vol. 1, p. 49]

Horne noted that a 6.5 mm carbine had (eventually) been found on the sixth floor of the TSBD. 2/ (Vol. 4, pp. 1102-1106.) He suspected that the 6.5 mm object was later inserted into the AP X-ray film by forgery to create “evidence” that would tie metal in JFK’s skull to Oswald’s supposed 6.5 mm Mannlicher-Carcano weapon.

Dr. Mantik’s optical density proves that the 3.5 mm object superimposed in the JFK A-P autopsy skull X-ray adds evidence to the conclusion that the U.S. government from the first moments after the assassination planned to frame Lee Harvey Oswald (LHO) as the lone gun assassin. From the moment of the assassination to the end of the Bethesda autopsy, the U.S. government had complete control over JFK’s body. Only a government that had no evidence against LHO would feel compelled to doctor X-rays to plant falsified “evidence” intended to frame LHO as the assassin.

Note: Dr. Corsi’s most recent book is his second book on the JFK assassination. The first book was Who Really Killed Kennedy?: 50 Years Later: Stunning New Revelations About the JFK Assassination.

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1/ “1968 Panel Review of Photographs, X-Ray Films, Documents and Other Evidence Pertaining to the Fatal Wounding of President John E Kennedy on November 22, 1963 in Dallas, Texas,” MD 59 – Clark Panel Report, ARRB Master Set of Medical Exhibits, Assassination Archives and Research Center.

2/ The original TSBD rifle was reported as a 7.65 mm Mauser bolt-action with a scope, not a 6.5 mm Mannlicher-Carcano. Dallas County Deputy Constable Seymour Weitzman and Dallas Sheriff’s Deputy Eugene Boone found it. For an early article on the substitution of the Mannlicher-Carcano for the initially found Mauser, see Walter F. Graf and Richard R. Bartholomew, “The Gun That Didn’t Smoke, Part One,” JFK Lancer Productions & Publications, The Assassination Chronicles, Spring 1997, pp. 20-38. See also: Raymond Gallagher, “When Did Oswald order the Rifle?” Probe Magazine, September-October 1998.

Image: YouTube screen grab (cropped).

Since 2004, Jerome R. Corsi has published over 30 books on economics, history, and politics, including two #1 New York Times bestsellers.  In 1972, he received his Ph.D. from the Department of Government at Harvard University. His book, Volume I, in his Great Awakening Trilogy, The Truth About Energy, Global Warming, and Climate Change: Exposing Climate Lies in an Age of Disinformation, received highly positive reviews from prominent climate scientists and professional meteorologists.  Volume II, The Truth About Neo-Marxism, Cultural Maoism, and Anarchy: Exposing Woke Insanity in an Age of Disinformation, was published in August 2023. Dr. Corsi has resumed podcasting on his new website TheTruthCentral.com.