Head Shot: The Science Behind the JFK Assassination

by G. Paul Chambers

After more than four decades and scores of books, documentaries, and films on the subject, what more can be said about the assassination of President John F. Kennedy? A great deal, according to this physicist and ballistics expert. This provocative, rigorously researched book presents evidence and compelling arguments that will make you rethink the sequence of terrible events on that traumatic day in Dallas. Drawing on his fifteen years experience as an experimental physicist for the US Navy, the author demonstrates that the commonly accepted view of the assassination is fundamentally flawed from a scientific perspective. The physics behind lone-gunmen theories is not only wrong, but frankly impossible. He devotes separate chapters to the Warren Commission, challenges to the single-bullet theory, the witnesses, how science arrives at the truth, the medical and acoustic evidence, the Zapruder film, and convincing evidence for at least a second rifleman in Dealey Plaza.This is the first book · identify the second murder weapon;· prove the locations of the assassins;· demonstrate multiple shooters with scientific certainty.The author concludes with a persuasive chapter on why this horrible event, now almost half a century old, should still matter to us today. For anyone seeking a fresh understanding of the JFK assassination, this is an indispensable book.

Genres: History, Nonfiction

264 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 2010

Reviews

[Pete daPixie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Isaac Newton visits Dealey Plaza. Away from the theories of complicity of domestic or foreign governmental agencies, organised crime, Cuban exiles or the craziest conspiracy theory of them all, Lee Harvey Oswald, 'Head Shot' presents the science behind the JFK assassination, with G.Paul Chambers' 2012 publication.
A very well written and entertaining treatise that offers us the arrival of the truth of the JFK assassination through the application of pure science and logic. The reader must be prepared to plough through some historical lecturing of how methods of scientific theory developed from the Greek thinkers to Galileo, but the effort is worth it as the author goes on to sink the single bullet theory along with Gerald Posner and Vincent Bugliosi.
Utilising Zapruder frames along with one of the best explanations of the H.S.C.A. acoustic data that I have read, as well as the science behind the paraffin test, we finally arrive with Sir Isaac and force equals mass times acceleration to prove the shooter upon the grassy knoll.
Mr Chambers follows Dr David Wrone to accept that there was no alteration to the Zapruder film. I am more inclined to follow Douglas P. Horne. I also have trouble with the conclusions here regarding the 'Harper fragment', which I cannot fit with the observations of the Parkland medics. However, these minor points aside, this book offers a unique overview of the coup d'état of '63.

[Brian T · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is perhaps one of the best, if not the best book written about the events in Dealey Plaza on November 22, 1963 for one simple reason - the author doesn't have an opinion! He approaches all of the evidence as science: plain, straight-forward, non-opinionated, science. The author spends very little time discussing theories. He focuses on science.

By overlaying the still photos taken from various vantage points, the witness testimony, the one audio recording from that day, the Zapruder film and other films, the autopsy information and the subsequent revelations since the Warren Commission convened, the author determines a conclusion. There is absolutely no feasible way that the wounds inflicted upon JFK and Governor Connelly came from one gun in one location on the top of the Sixth Floor Depository Building. It is absolutely impossible. The wound evidence refutes it. Witnesses refuted in immediately. The autopsy refutes it beyond a shadow of a doubt. The Zapruder film and audio data refute it. Even if one of these things was an anomaly, there is no way that ALL of them could be anomalies. Not at the same time. Science doesn't work that way.

The author also writes as length about the Warren Commission, which was run by people that had no vested interest in "obtaining the truth". The opinion of the Warren Commission had been pre-ordained. The Warren Commission was a farce, which should be readily apparent considering the amount of interest that is still placed on this subject almost 50 years since it occurred.

[Samantha · Rating 4 out of 5]

A scientific look of the assassination of John F. Kennedy by G. Paul Chambers--a man with no theory to prove either way. He just goes where the science takes him. Sometimes the science took him to where I didn't quite understand (yeah, um, physics and me aren't the best of friends) but I loved the way he logically laid everything out and chapter by chapter and assembled the evidence that we have available. (I had no idea so much was missing!) I loved the blow-ups of the Zapruder film to give his evidence. The x-rays were interesting and in all of the books that I have read about the Kennedy assassination (and the number is considerable) he offered evidence and scenarios I had never heard of! It really is one of the most interesting books about the Kennedy assassination I have ever read and I think it is mostly because it didn't begin with a preconceived notion of what happened and who was responsible like so many books do. It had no theory it wanted to prove. Admittedly, this book made my belief of what happened more probable, but it makes me sad to think we may never really know what happened that day. Definitely deserved four stars even if it did make my brain work on the weekend.

[Bob · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finally a rational, articulate scientist with no axe to grind takes a sober look at the evidence of what actually physically happened in Dealey Plaza. A little heavy on the history of science, how science works, and the history of science mistakes and hoaxes, but this slim volume nicely takes on some of the key areas of controversy vis a vis the physical evidence: the shots, the z film, the medical evidence, and the acoustical evidence, to make a convincing argument for more than one shooter.

[teleri · Rating 2 out of 5]

"The assassination of JFK was the crime of the century. It has spawned two generations of literature and a lifetime of debate."

This book was a bore. I struggled to find parts interesting, and when they were, they still lacked something. I will give credit and say that it opened my eyes to the assassination, and the author did a wonderful job explaining the facts, but it still bored me to the point where I didn't want to pick it up. I wished it had something grand that I could say, but everything felt plain. I was in a rush to finish it for no other reason than it would be over; God knows how many times I was going to stop reading and give up on it. I'll admit that the beginning was good, but the rest of the book was okay. I expected something, and it didn't deliver, so maybe that's on me.

There's not much to say about this book except it really goes into detail, which I liked, so if heavy loads of information doesn't interest you, then maybe give this book a skip.

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent book using scientific evidence to establish the existence of a second shooter in Dallas at the assassination of President Kennedy. The book does a great job providing counter arguments to other authors and books that claim there was a lone gunman in the shooting of President Kennedy. Particularly, the book provides an excellent argument as to how the Zapruder film could not have been altered. Additionally, the arguments in favor of more than one shooter are compelling and based on scientific principals, coupled with the video and audio evidence available. There does not seem to be any bias or agenda for the book, just a well-detailed and thought out presentation of evidence supporting the theory of more than one shooter. Definitely a must-read for those researching this issue and those interested in the truth.

[Lois · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m pretty saturated by now. This is the 5 or 6th book about the JFK assassination, and I’m no closer to finding out who did it and why! Where is Hercule Poirot when you need him?

Head Shot is written from the scientific approach. The author doesn’t present a conspiracy theory, nor gets involved with the political possibilities. He does explain the ballistics and angles of certain shots, the resulting damage to the human body, and other analyses. His conclusion, based on evidence, is that multiple gunmen were involved, not just Lee Harvey Oswald from the sixth floor of the book depository building. I tend to agree with him.

[Joe Bartello · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yet another in the countless books on the JFK assassination. This one very much corroborates the conspiracy and "more than one shooter" theories and uses sound analysis and cell by cell analysis of the Zapruder film to prove it. It also points out inconsistencies between the initial medical reports and autopsy results that to this author indicate tampering with the body or at the very least complete incompetence. Collusion is the more likely fact.
The author gives an extensive explanation of the scientific theory and travels from Aristotle to Darwinism to make his thesis that the only way to analyse the data is by using this method.
In my view he gets a bit carried away with this lecture on the segment on the Piltdown Man to explain how what are believed to be facts can be disproved eventually by applying the scientific method.
Anyone who has visited Dallas and stood on the "grassy knoll" and who has subsequently seen the Zapruder film, will likely feel quite compelled to believe that the Warren Commission was a coverup and that there simply must have been more than one shooter. I stood behind the picket fence some years ago looking at the "X" marked on the road where the first shot hit Kennedy and then imagined the slowly moving vehicle coming into perfect position for a shooter from my position to make the next couple of shots that entered JFK's neck and head. It still bothers me when I think about it and I believe that some day we will at least have offical recognition that like Abraham Lincoln's assassination, Kennedy's was done by team of carefully planned professionals and that for whatever reason, the authorities colluded to cover it up.

[Bruce · Rating 3 out of 5]

While it is always good to see another recounting of just how astonishingly impossible the "single bullet theory" is, the reader would best have an MIT degree before attempting some of the more dense chapters. Still worthwhile.

[Steve Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

A noted scientist examines the head shot to JFK. Convincing evidence that the shot came from the front. It should be noted Chambers was not a conspiracy freak, in fact he had no interest until challenged to solve the mystery one way or the other. A fascinating book.

[Lucas · Rating 5 out of 5]

The official account of the murder of JFK is in rough shape after this well aimed strike. I question the ability of any non-conspiratorial narrative of events to survive exposure to the elements of this tightly argued volume.

[Paul Keller · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great books that goes over the physics and science behind the shots that killed JFK. Some chapters are a bit filler but it helps set up or the method and reasoning behind the authors conclusions. Definitely a good reference for the subject on JFK.

[David Dickinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome book, would go well with any intro-level course in physics.

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amazing what happens when empirical evidence meets the Warren Commission. A definite must-read, not for names of conspirators, but to reveal the scientific truth.

[Larry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Using the laws of physics (e.g., conservation of momentum) as analytical tools leads to several conclusions:

There were at least two shooters (probably three, maybe four). One shot, probably two, came from behind the wooden fence on the grassy knoll. Three weapons most likely were used, at least one of which was a weapon like a .220 Swift. The killing shot came from the front, as did the shot in the throat. Calibrating sound analysis, film analysis, and ballistic analysis make these judgments firm.