A Closer Look at the Zapruder Film: The Case for Alteration | David Mantik MD, PhD 12/6/24

A Closer Look at the Zapruder Film: The Case for Alteration" - by Dr. David Mantik

Timestamped Bullet Point Summary of Dr. David Mantik's Presentation on Zapruder Film Alteration Evidence

• Introduction and Background
[0:00] Dr. David Mantik acknowledges Doug Horne's commitment to this research and introduces the case for Zapruder film alteration, noting that Abraham Zapruder was a wealthy dress maker from Dallas whose ancestors came from Ukraine.

• The Missing Limousine Stop
[1:06] The film does not show the limousine stopping, but multiple witnesses including Walter Cronkite and Bob Clark reported that "the car stopped momentarily" and "came to an immediate stop" during the assassination.

• Twelve Unanswered Questions for Film Authenticity
[3:42] Mantik presents twelve difficult questions that supporters of film authenticity have never adequately answered, beginning with what happened to the limousine stop witnessed by 72 people according to Vince Palamara's research.

• Missing Multiple Head Shots
[4:09] The film suggests only one head shot, but a master list of 202 witnesses indicated JFK was shot from the right front, and Clint Hill reported a head shot after frame 313 had already occurred.

• Missing Turn onto Elm Street
[4:44] Zapruder stated he started filming when the limousine rounded the corner onto Elm Street and had plenty of time, but the extant film is only 6 feet long whereas the physical film should be about 25 feet.

• Warren Commission Data Contradicts Film
[5:17] Warren Commission drawings and data tables show the third shot occurring opposite the stairs to the grassy knoll, not at frame 313 as shown in the film.

• Secret Service Reconstruction Discrepancies
[5:45] Early Secret Service reconstructions show the final shot occurring well past frame 313, contradicting the film's timeline.

• No Contemporary Reports of Head Snap
[6:07] No promptly debriefed witnesses, including Zapruder's partner Irwin Schwartz, reported seeing a head snap in the film that weekend.

• Early Viewers Saw Forward Head Movement
[6:20] Both Dan Rather and Deke DeLoach saw JFK's head go forward in copies of the film that weekend, as did Ike Altgens who saw it in real time, but no one has reported forward head movement since 1963.

• Stemmons Freeway Sign Anomaly
[6:42] John Costella demonstrated that Zapruder's lens routinely stretched all images outward (pincushion effect), but the Stemmons sign alone escapes these optical laws, suggesting it was inserted after development.

• Compartmentalized NPIC Events
[7:20] The film was diverted from Life's Chicago office to NPIC in Washington DC on Saturday night, then to Rochester for most of Sunday, returning to NPIC Sunday night before copies went to Life for the November 29th issue.

• John Hicks' Overreaction
[7:57] NPIC director John Hicks overreacted in 1975 when he saw Dino Brugioni's briefing boards from Saturday night during the Rockefeller Commission investigation.

• Hollywood Experts Identify Fake Black Patch
[8:18] 72 of 75 Hollywood film experts agreed that the black patch on JFK's head was fake, and it closely matches the white patch on lateral X-ray films.

• Sydney Wilkinson's High-Resolution Analysis
[8:52] In 2008, Sydney Wilkinson purchased a third-generation forensic copy and created 6K digital files with 14.7 megabytes per frame, nearly 12 times more information than HD TV.

• Logarithmic vs. Linear Color Space
[9:45] Wilkinson scanned in logarithmic space retaining all available information, unlike home HD TVs which use linear color space with adjusted contrast and color balance.

• Density Analysis of Black Patch
[10:31] NASA scientist scans across JFK's black patch compared to John Connally's head on the same frame show JFK's head is densely black while Connally's appears natural under identical lighting conditions.

• Paul Routan's Professional Assessment
[12:37] Film restoration expert Paul Routan, with credentials dating to the 1950s, identified the black patch as fake, stating it "doesn't look real" and "moves differently than his head does."

• Aerial Optical Printer Technique
[18:18] Routan explains the alteration was accomplished using an aerial optical printer, creating a patch overlay that could be completed overnight using technology available in 1963.

• Color Separation Analysis
[19:25] Before the head shot (frames 308-310), the back of JFK's head shows natural color separation of red, green, and blue components, but after frame 317, it becomes uniformly black without natural color variation.

• Dino Brugioni's Testimony
[26:45] CIA photo analyst Dino Brugioni, who saw the film Saturday night at NPIC, remembered a much larger head explosion with white material and mist extending about a foot and a half above JFK's head.

• Missing Frames and Altered Explosion
[29:10] The existing film shows the head explosion in only one frame with graphic violence, but Brugioni remembered it lasting longer with a white mist, and he definitively states frames are missing from the film.

• Secret Service Agents Confirm Alteration
[39:15] Two Secret Service agents agreed with Brugioni that they saw a more graphic version during training, with Bill Carter reporting the "gruesome version" had been cut out and Marty Venker describing brain matter spraying over Jackie.

• Authentic Occipital Wound Evidence
[40:01] Doug Mizzer's analysis shows Hawkeye Works in Rochester forgot to cover up an authentic occipital wound in some frames, revealing the original wound location in the back of the head.

• First Generation Images at Sixth Floor Museum
[40:47] Mantik and Sydney Wilkinson viewed extremely high-resolution first generation images at the Sixth Floor Museum in 2009, seeing a trapezoidal black patch with sharp edges, but later visitors saw different, lower-quality images.

• Film Alteration Process Explained
[42:31] The alteration process involved loading the original film in a projector, bouncing it off a mirror, passing it through a clear cell where alterations could be added, then photographing it with an aerial optical printer.

• Chain of Custody and Technical Issues
[43:28] The film went from 8mm at NPIC Saturday night to 16mm when McMahon and Hunter saw it Sunday night, accomplished through the Bell and Howell Model 414 double-8 system that exposed both sides of the film.

• Zavada Report Contradictions
[47:44] Film analyst Rollie Zavada's report contains internal contradictions about whether copies could be distinguished from originals, and he later reversed his opinion about film splitting, contradicting eyewitness testimony from Kodak officials.
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Original Source Attribution:

'A Closer Look at the Zapruder Film: The Case for Alteration' | Dr. David Mantik/The Future of Freedom Foundation | Dec 6, 2024 | https://youtu.be/Ns4nil-UP1w?si=U4wILGEZcAQ8w6n7

This presentation was delivered in November 2024 at the Cyril Wecht Institute of Forensic Science and Law’s 22nd annual symposium, The JFK Assassination at 60: New Frontiers in Scientific, Medical, Legal and Historical Research, at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh.

You can download David Mantik's PowerPoint presentation via the following link: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/00l21q6494axtf5q9gnvi/A-Closer-Look-at-the-Zapruder-Film.pptx

David Mantik is a board-certified radiation oncologist, who (while still young) served on the tenure-track physics faculty at the University of Michigan. He also directed the residency training program at Loma Linda University, where he used protons, electrons, and X-rays to treat cancer. He received his Ph.D. in physics from the University of Wisconsin, his MD from the University of Michigan, completed a post-doctoral fellowship at Stanford University and held a Junior Faculty Clinical Fellowship at the University of Southern California. He has visited the JFK artifacts at the National Archives on nine separate days. While there he made hundreds of measurements on the extant JFK autopsy X-rays. His e-book is JFK’s Head Wounds.
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