Wednesday 22nd November 2023 marks the 60th anniversary of the shooting of US President John F. Kennedy (JFK). And unsurprisingly we’re no closer to knowing the truth of what happened that day than we were when it happened. So, why is that?
Conspiring to Conspire
I’m not really a fan of conspiracy theories…until I am. Although I tend to implement the IQ Barometer Routine for determining whether a conspiracy is of sound judgement or, just a little bit whacky. For instance, The Flat Earth Conspiracy Theorists suggest that for centuries those that have knowledge about shapes of planets (NASA, Isaac Newton, Donald Trump etc.) have been lying to us1 and we actually live on a flat disc, and at the edge of it is a big ice wall (which is not dissimilar to the one dreamed up for Game of Thrones).
But Why?
But when asked why we’re being lied to, i.e. what do the ‘authorities’ have to gain by this misdirection, the Flat Earthers aren’t so specific. Now, using my IQ Barometer Routine, I would ask myself whether a.) the Flat Earthers or b.) the Cosmologists/Planetary Scientists have a greater or lesser intellect than I do. And, whoever has the greater intellect is where the clever money goes.
JFK & The CIA
But it’s different with JFK because the delineation between the two ‘theories’ isn’t so clear, primarily due to money, power, influence and politics being involved. The theories being, was he shot by a lone, crazed gunman (Lee Harvey Oswald), or was it another shady plot constructed by the CIA?
The Magic-Bullet Theory
When I was about 10 or 11, I saw a programme about the JFK Assassination which was quite interesting until someone on the programme began to discuss the “Magic-Bullet Theory”. This is where it appears possible (but only in Dallas on the 22/11/63) for a bullet to strike one person (JFK) , change direction, strike another person (Governor Connally), go here, go there, go up, go down, do the Harlem Shuffle, disappear, then re-appear in pristine condition on a stretcher in a hospital a few days later.
JFK and the Confirmation Bias
But what I couldn’t understand was why this theory was even being entertained as an explanation for the so called “shots-to-wounds” ratio. And I was 11. And here I am, 50 years on, still none the wiser. In the modern world, this kind of thinking is called ‘confirmation bias’, where your beliefs determine your thinking, i.e. if your belief is “the authorities are always truthful”, it follows ergo, that the Magic-Bullet Theory must also be true.
Cognitive Distortion
Which bring us back to the Flat Earth Theory. Because if your belief happens to be “the authorities always lie”, then it follows that the earth must be flat if “they” say it’s round. The problem with this type of cognitive distortion is it doesn’t allow for any grey areas, e.g. that authorities sometimes tell the truth, albeit only when it suits them or when they have no choice.
What’s Going On?
But back to JFK. Most of us know the American President was gunned down in Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Texas at 12.30 on 22nd November 1963.
We also know that a lone gunman, Lee Harvey Oswald was accused of his murder. And that’s when it all gets terribly murky. Because it appears all we really know is JFK was shot dead. And Oswald was arrested for the murder. And that’s it. Everything else is conjecture.
Oswald’s Abilities
Because a.) Oswald wasn’t much of a marksman, b.) he used a cheap, poorly made rifle, c.) his positioning made the shooting virtually impossible to undertake, d.) there were too many shots fired, e.) JFK appeared to be shot from another direction (the Grassy Knoll) and on and on it goes.
The Girl on the Stairs
But there was another reason. A reason the CIA elected not to follow up even though it provided plenty of relevant information about the assassination. And that was the girl on the stairs.
The Other Girl, Not the One the Stairs
The Girl on the Stairs is a book by Barry Ernest, and details the movements of a woman by the name of Victoria Adams. No, not that one. My wife wouldn’t be born for another 10 years and certainly didn’t have a job in the USA either.
Were the Spice Girls involved?
This is another one, who wasn’t in the Spice Girls either, but worked on the 4th Floor of the Texas School Book Depository and watched the Presidential Motorcade as it drove past her window. The shots rang out and she and her work colleagues ran down the stairs and outside to see what had happened.
And this simple act resulted in numerous interviews with the Police, the FBI and the CIA, numerous accusations regarding the veracity of her story. That she left the building and didn’t see anyone.
It’s the Real Thing
Having just shot the President, Oswald was (according to the CIA) able to get to the 2nd floor (where he was seen quietly drinking a Coke), before Vicki Adams and her friend Sandra Styles, although he had been on the 6th Floor and they were two floors below him on the 4th, and he achieved this feat without being seen. So how could this have happened?
When Adams was interviewed by the CIA about her movements, she explained how the shots were fired and then she and her friends ran to the stairs and went outside. To which the next question was, “And who else was on the stairs?” Her reply? “No one. No one else.”2
Jackanory
Because not seeing anyone didn’t fit with the narrative, because for everything to fit into the story the CIA appeared to be creating, someone else needed to be on the stairs at exactly the same time. And that someone needed to be Lee Harvey Oswald. The police had somehow apprehended him just over an hour after the shooting, and now all they needed to do was place him at the scene of the crime.
The Invisible Man
But according to Victoria Adams, he wasn’t there. And not according to her friends either. But the CIA elected not to interview them even though Adams suggested on a number of occasions that they do so to corroborate her testimony. And the reason she suggested they did, was because they kept telling her she was wrong, that she wasn’t on the stairs when she said she was, that she was mistaken in how long it took her to get there, what time she left the office etc. etc.
Confirmation Bias Again
And here we are again with JFK and the Confirmation Bias. Raised to tell the truth as she understood it, Adams wouldn’t budge from her story. Telling the truth was non-negotiable. So when the CIA put the squeeze on her, suggesting she might have misremembered, that she was confused and plain wrong, she refused to be led. And then reaffirmed what she had already stated to be true, so help her God.
A secret service agent jumped onto the back of the car, after the shooting. This was the moment Adams and Styles left their office window and made their way to the stairs. This is when they realised the fireworks they thought they’d heard, were something else.
Incorrect Details in the Warren Report
However, despite overbearing pressure by the CIA to change her testimony, she signed it off and like the dutiful citizen she was, looked forward to seeing it, in print in the Warren Report. And, there it was, in black and white. Except. Except it wasn’t. Specific details of times were different. Her timings had changed to those the CIA had suggested were correct in the first place. How could that happen, she wondered?
For Oswald to be where the report said he was, he had to be on the stairs at the same time as Adams. So the commission duly changed her timings to retrofit her movements into the overall picture. The conclusion being her evidence had been ‘misremembered’.
Testimony Of Miss Victoria Elizabeth Adams (jfk-assassination.net)
And that was the point her life changed forever. That was the before and after moment. The sliding doors of her life.
Her testimony resulted in cars being parked outside her house overnight, with shadowy figures inside, and hanging about in the street. She was under no illusion that she was the subject of a nefarious surveillance team.
“I lost my starry eyed beliefs in the integrity of our government. And I was scared. I was a young lady alone with no family or friend support network at the time.”
Victoria Adams – February 2002 (The Girl on the Stairs by Barry Ernest)
Vortex
It resulted in her being constantly followed, her mail being intercepted, having to leave her job because she feared for her safety, having to move to another part of the country and living in secrecy for the rest of her life. Because people who were close to the vortex of activity on that fateful day, had an unpleasant habit of dying in unusual circumstances.
And it put into question everything she believed to be right in the world, that authorities didn’t lie and they certainly didn’t tamper with evidence.
“Remember though, I was a very young woman at the time (22 years) and believed in my government.”
Victoria Adams – February 2002 (The Girl on the Stairs by Barry Ernest)
Doctor
Many consider Adams’ doctored evidence to be proof that either Oswald didn’t shoot JFK or others were involved. And what of Oswald? Well, he was incredibly calm at the Police Station for someone who had just changed world history. He can be seen talking to reporters as if he’d just been given a speeding ticket.
Really?
But somehow, Jack Ruby, a known gangster, was able to ‘infiltrate’ the Police Station the next day and shoot Oswald before he could tell anyone what really happened. How inconvenient.
Oswald died, so did Ruby some time after and Victoria Adams went into hiding. When author Barry Ernest tracked her down in 2002, she said she was pleased she could finally tell her side of the story. She died in 2007.
So, it leaves us with just a few questions. Like, who lied? And why? And what really is the truth? None of these questions is expected to be answered any time soon.
Thank you for your time.
- Indeed, Greek mathematician and all round good guy Pythagoras first theorised on a round earth a mere 2,500 years ago
- This is paraphrased. The actual questions went along the lines of, “Did you see Lee Harvey Oswald? Was he on another floor? Where could Oswald have been?” Was he in the elevator? Why didn’t you see him? Let’s just say you saw him.” etc.