On social networks and the media you can often find a couple of photographs that allegedly show the First Lady of the United States immediately after her husband was shot. We checked whether these are real photos from the scene of the assassination of John F. Kennedy.
According to numerous publications on the Internet, in the black-and-white photo in question, Jacqueline Kennedy can be seen climbing into the back of a limousine a few seconds after the murder of her husband. Accordingly, Internet users indicate that the picture was taken on November 22, 1963, that is, on the day of John Kennedy’s death. The photograph also allegedly shows the president lying in the seat of a car, a Secret Service agent running towards Kennedy, as well as part of the presidential motorcade and numerous eyewitnesses to the incident.
So, on VKontakte there are similar posts at least since 2014. On this social network, we found about 60 publications with an alleged photo of Kennedy, which received at least 100 likes. Public posts became the most viral "Book of records"(3930 likes), World of history (2250), "Interesting facts" (2180), "Human history"(1630) and History porn (1300). These publications can be found on Twitter (examples here And here) And LiveJournal. In addition, the mentioned photo was used to illustrate materials about the Kennedy assassination and some news resources and publications, for example “New news", "Russian reporter"(with reference to The Insider*) and "Express newspaper"(under the headline "JFK Assassination Linked to Aliens"). And on the magazine’s website “Amateur“This photo was analyzed to explain the details and specifics of the murder.
The assassination of the 35th US President John Fitzgerald Kennedy was committed November 22, 1963 in Dallas, Texas. Lee Harvey Oswald fatal wounded politician, shooting him with a rifle while he and his wife Jacqueline were riding in the presidential limousine, but the president did not die in the car itself. According to reports, published According to the US National Archives and Records Administration website, Kennedy, still alive, was taken to Parkland Memorial Hospital, located about four miles (6.4 km) from the scene of the injury. Less than half an hour later, death was officially recorded. Thus, even if the photograph being analyzed is genuine, JFK must still be alive in it, so technically the caption “a few seconds after the assassination of her husband” is not entirely correct.
The moment the president was wounded and the next few seconds filmed eyewitness Abraham Zapruder. His amateur video, dubbed the “Zapruder Film,” lasts just over 26 seconds. And consists of from 486 frames. If you look at all the frames individually, you won’t be able to find the moment in the photo in question when Jacqueline Kennedy would have climbed out onto the back of the car and at the same time a Secret Service agent Clinton Hill was at a noticeable distance from the presidential limousine. According to the original records, first Hill ran to the car, and only then the first lady got out of the back seat. In addition, according to the video, at that moment there was no reporter or eyewitness with a camera near the limousine on the roadway who could take a photo from such an angle.
The details inside the car are also different. For example, in the viral photo the rear seat upholstery is dark in color, although in reality it was light. Also, the original car did not have separate headrests, as can be seen from others photo.
In fact, the viral photo does not include JFK, his wife, or the Secret Service agent, since it was filmed specifically for a TV movie that was released much later than those tragic events. According to the news agency website UPI, this is a reenactment shot of the assassination of John F. Kennedy. The caption reads: “Secret Service Agent Clinton Hill (stuntman Larry Hill) rushes to return Jacqueline Kennedy (actress Christine Rose) to her car after her husband President John F. Kennedy (actor Don Gazzaway) is shot by an assassin. This moment was part of a re-enactment film made for television and filmed in Dallas."
Under another photo of the staging clarified, that they were talking about the film “The Trial of Lee Harvey Oswald.” There are three films with this title on IMDb, but Christine Rose played only in that came out in 1977, and this was the actress’s film debut. According to the synopsis, the plot explores what could have happened if Oswald had gone to trial. In reality, on November 24, 1963, while being transferred from the police department to the county jail, Oswald was shot nightclub owner Jack Ruby. In the film, Ruby shot Oswald much later.
Below is the entire film. The moment with the assassination of John Kennedy begins at the 12 minute mark. 27 seconds, and the desired scene with Jacqueline Kennedy and Clinton Hill is at mark exactly 15 minutes.
A little less often you can find another photo in online publications. It is in color and also supposedly shows Jacqueline Kennedy immediately after her husband was shot. For example, in the public magazine “Amateur"On VKontakte, a post with this photo received almost 17,000 views (and there are also fast on Twitter "Diletanta"), in the community of the magazine "Discourse" - more than 10,000, and in the group #necro_tv — 13,000. On the EADaily website under this photo indicated: “The moment of the assassination of John Kennedy. Dallas, November 22, 1963." It is also found in various blogs And articles.
Although the photograph is very reminiscent of the footage from the aforementioned “Zapruder Film,” it is also a photograph of reconstruction. For example, this can be understood by the people in the background: in the original “Zapruder Film” visiblethat the eyewitnesses were standing on the lawn near the road, and not lying on the ground. In addition, the wound on Kennedy's head is not visible in the image, although the image quality is noticeably higher than in the Zapruder video. This dramatization was created for the feature film directed by Oliver Stone “John F. Kennedy: Shots fired in Dallas", which premiered in 1991. The frame we are interested in can be found on the websites “Kinopoisk", IMDb and photo agencies Alamy - everywhere it is indicated that it refers to a film from the Warner Bros. studio. Starred as Jacqueline Kennedy Jodie Farber.
*The Ministry of Justice included the journalistic project The Insider in scroll foreign non-governmental organizations whose activities are recognized as undesirable in Russia, as well as in registry foreign media performing the functions of a foreign agent.
Cover photo: UPI Photo/Files
Mostly not true
- Is the photo of billionaire David Rockefeller's smiling widow at his funeral true?
- Is it true that John Kennedy, speaking in Germany, mistakenly called himself a Berlin donut?
- Is it true that the photo shows Alfred Hitchcock swimming in the Thames?
- Snopes. Does Photo Show Jackie Kennedy Reaching For Help After JFK's Assassination?
If you find a spelling or grammatical error, please let us know by highlighting the error text and clicking Ctrl+Enter.
