◆ SpookStack

Declassified Document Archive & Reader
Log In Register
Reader Ad Slot
Reader Ad Slot placeholder
If you would like to support SpookStack without paying out of pocket, please consider allowing advertising cookies. It helps cover hosting costs and keeps the archive free to browse. You can change this choice at any time.

Robert F Kennedy Assassination — Part 2

60 pages · May 11, 2026 · Document date: Jun 7, 1968 · Broad topic: Kennedy Assassination · Topic: Robert F Kennedy Assassination · 51 pages OCR'd
← Back to feed
7 « « One of the initial witnesses called by Ward, and presumably heard by MacDonell during the oneday hearing, described the Bal- liscan process, including the inherent "tilt factor" of the camera photography process, which is adjusted only visually rather than scientifically. Thus, by the time MacDonell testified, he may have realized that his affidavit, although filled with many articulated assumptions, had made no provisions for this "tilt factor." Most firearms experts reject reliance upon rifling angles, and the alleged differences in rifling angle between People's 47 and 54, even if assumed to be true as to the original Sirhan firearms evi- dence, is not an accepted criteria for identification purposes. (Modern Firearms by Calvin Goddard.) @e only other factor which had been suggested as establishing two guns was based upon the claimed difference in the number of eannelures depicted by photographs of Peoplets 47 and 54. Only. Herbert MacDonell had expressed that position. Throughout his investigation in 1970, his interviews in 1971, and his affidavit filed at the Ward hearing in 1974, Harper had never mentioned canneliures. And although Bradford was asked general questions by Ward regarding cannelures, Ward failed to ask Bradford any questions regarding the significance, if any, to be attached to cannelures as a criteria to consider in firearms identification. Additionally, cannelures apparently have absolutely no signi- ficance in the identification of fired bullets. Firearm identi-~ fication research shows that cannelures may or may not be utilized in coming to conclusions regarding identification of fired bullets. Wolfer has unequivocally stated in an interview with Kranz that cannelures are totally irrelevant because two consecutive shots fired from the same gun of the same identical type of bullet, including cannelures, may lead to significant differences as to cannelures -y the time the bullet leaves the barrel, aside fron further significant changes which may acrve upon impact. Photographs Another additional difference among the three critics of Wolfer concerned photographs. .Any expert opinion must be dependent upon the materials considered. There is significance in the fact that only Bradford indicated consideration of any photographs beside photographs of People's 47 and 54. This occured at Ward's hearing when Bradford stated that he’ had looked at Balliscan photographs, taken at Ward's request, of some of the test bullets fired by Wolfer. , It is difficult to understand why Harper and MacDonell concen-~ trated their findings solely on photographs of People's 47 and 54. Photographs of other bullets would undoubtedly have contributed to their examination, but neither man ever requested photographs of other bullets. Significantly, of the three experts, only Bradford Was never actually critical of Wolfer'ts conclusion, and it was Bradford who did not expressly restrict himself to merely photo-~ graphs of People's 47 and 54. - 18 .
OCR quality for this page
Community corrections
First editor: none yet Last editor: none yet
No user corrections yet.
Comments
Document-wide discussion. Follow the Community Standards.
No comments on this document yet.
Bottom Reader Ad Slot
Bottom Reader Ad Slot placeholder
If you would like to support SpookStack without paying out of pocket, please consider allowing advertising cookies. It helps cover hosting costs and keeps the archive free to browse. You can change this choice at any time.

Continue Exploring

Use the strongest next step for this document: continue reading, jump to the topic hub, or move into the matching agency collection.
Continue Reading at Page 39
Jump straight to page 39 of 60.
Reader
Robert F Kennedy Assassination — Part 03
Stay inside Robert F Kennedy Assassination with another closely related document.
Topic
FBI Documents & FOIA Archive
Open the FBI agency landing page for stronger archive context.
FBI
Robert F Kennedy Assassination Topic Hub
See the topic overview, related documents, and linked subtopics.
Hub

Agency Collection

This document also belongs in the FBI Documents & FOIA Archive landing page, which is the stronger starting point for agency-level browsing and for searches focused on FBI records.
FBI Documents & FOIA Archive
Open the agency landing page for introduction text, topic links, and more FBI documents.
FBI

Explore This Archive Cluster

This document belongs to the Kennedy Assassination archive hub and the more specific Robert F Kennedy Assassination topic page. Use these hub pages when you want the broader collection context, linked subtopics, and more documents around the same archive thread.
bureau's information
Related subtopics
Robert F Kennedy
15 documents · 1059 known pages
Subtopic
theodore-chaikin-sorensen
3 documents · 24 known pages
Subtopic
John F Kennedy Jr
1 documents · 180 known pages
Subtopic