Report of the President's Commission on the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy

Hidell Notice of Classification Examination

Hidell Notice of Classification Examination The face of the Hidell notice of classification was produced from the face of the Oswald notice through a two-step photographic process. The counterfeiter first photographed the Oswald notice to make a basic intermediate negative, then opaqued out all typed or handwritten information, including Oswald’s name, selective service number 41-114-39-532, the local board official’s signature, and the mailing date. A second intermediate negative was made of the lowermost third of the Oswald notice, reproducing the printed legend exactly but at reduced size. The two intermediates were combined to produce a third negative identical to the basic intermediate except that the reduced legend created a square blank space in the lower left corner. A photographic print was then made from this third negative, and new material was inserted into the resulting blanks, including the typed name “ALEK JAMES HIDELL,” selective service number 42-224-39-532, and mailing date “Feb. 5, 1962.” Two typewriters were used, as shown by differences in the design of the typed figure “4” and by differences in impression strength, likely because the counterfeiter switched typewriters when the first ribbon proved insufficiently inked for the glossy photographic paper. The notice also bore uninked indentations visible only under strong side lighting, apparently made with the typewriter set at stencil, possibly as a dry run to center and align the inserted material. Sidelight photography revealed that “ALEK,” “JAMES,” and “HIDELL” had each been typed in stencil at least twice before being typed with the ribbon, a capital “O” had been stenciled prior to one of the “ALEK” attempts, and a serial number and mailing date had also been typed in stencil.