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

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

133-A and 133-B Composite Analysis

During interrogations, Oswald had claimed 133-A was a composite, stating the face was his but the body was not. Shaneyfelt examined both 133-A and 133-B and concluded they were not composites, noting with very minor reservation that he could not entirely eliminate an extremely expert composite. He observed no inconsistencies in lighting, lens configuration, or other characteristics typical of composite photographs. [A10-404, A10-405]

Magnification Use in Photograph Examination

Shaneyfelt confirmed that he used the technique of magnification in his analysis, which would normally reveal characteristic marks where the edge of an added head had not been entirely retouched out in a composite photograph. He found no such characteristics in 133-A and 133-B. [A10-405]

Negative 749 Doctoring Assessment

Shaneyfelt’s examination of Commission Exhibit No. 749 showed absolutely no doctoring or composition. Since the negative was made in Oswald’s Imperial camera (Commission Exhibit 750), creating a composite of 133-B would have required putting two pictures together and rephotographing them in the Imperial camera without leaving a discernible trace. Shaneyfelt characterized this scenario as “beyond reasonable doubt” and “in the realm of the impossible.” [A10-406, A10-407, A10-408]

133-A Publication Retouching Analysis

Following the assassination, photographs similar to 133-A appeared in various newspapers and magazines with minor differences from 133-A and from each other. Shaneyfelt examined several reproductions and concluded that individual publishers had taken reproductions of 133-A and retouched them for clarifying purposes, accounting for the observed differences. His conclusion was confirmed when one publisher submitted its original retouched photograph, and other publishers either confirmed their retouching practices or failed to contradict his testimony. [A10-409, A10-410, A10-411, A10-412, A10-413]

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