Apr
07
JFK Assassination – NBC Films – Prayer Man & AI – Part 3
This time I used Grok, at first I was like; mwah.
Wiegman in Grok Click pic to enlarge.
Wiegman in Grok, Click pic to enlarge.
Then added Darnell in the mix as well. This one looks better for the people in front of the steps than the ones on them, but overall this is a worthwhile attempt.
It may not help with Prayer Man at this point, but it does assist with other individuals.
Darnell sharpened in Grok. Click pic to enlarge.
If there are high res scans of these films then these would be even clearer.
Then you’d have an even bigger issue, and that is exactly why higher res images will not happen.
Sep
28
Anna Paulina Luna’s Letter to NBC to request the JFK Assasination films
In case you are not too familiar with this subject: this article is about the films that NBC is holding that were taken during and right after the assassination of JFK in Dallas, Texas. The large majority of this post is due to Ed Ledoux’s dilligent work and his perserverance in trying to get hold of these films since they are so pivotal for Prayer Man.
NBC has been anything but cooperative from day one, they have stuck with the Warren Commission side of events of the JFK Assassination. Richard E. Sprague while trying to get hold of the JFK Assassination films, decades ago already reported in 1968 he had no luck getting access to any of the footage the network had taken. It was only through affiliates that Sprague managed to get hold of some of them. He got a copy of the Wiegman film through UCLA. Alec Baldwin also made mention of this when working on a JFK 50th anniversary show for MSNBC that was never aired.
In my book, Prayer Man – More Than a Fuzzy Picture, I mention Ledoux’s earlier work from a decade ago. He was in direct contact with NBC trying to obtain digital copies of the original films.
Not much came out of that other than the acknowledgement that they admitted to having the films. I quote from a reply on June 3rd, 2015 by Meg Nakahara to Ed Ledoux:
Thank you so much for your patience. Unfortunately, I have some bad news. I just received a call from the powers that be and sadly they do not want to authorize any film transfers from the original footage. They are pretty protective of the original and hence the reason we have the dubs that we are able to license from.
And by dubs they mean old U-matic 3/4 inch vhs tape transfer copies that are, in this digital age, of inferior quality.
A decade later and Ledoux has been a busy trying to contact the NBC offices and Anna Paulina’s office and I am more than happy to share his recents efforts, which took a fair bit of effort.
After the first hearing on April 1st, which I wrote about shortly after, some of us were wondering aloud what was being done by the committee in trying to get the original Darnell and Wiegman films. And Ed started to email shortly after to enquire whether he could get a copy of the letter that was meant to be sent out to NBC, and this proved to be quite a task.
I spoke with him earlier this week and from that conversation it transpired that he had been trying get hold of Anna Paulina’s letter to NBC requesting the films that were taken during the assassination. And in our case to be more precise the Dave Wiegman and James Darnell films.
He emailed and tried to call numerous times to get hold of this letter and after months of perservering he got it! Ledoux eventually managed to get in touch with Chief Legal Counsel William Christian at Anna Luna’s office, who passed him on to Chief of Staff Sam Luna (no relation) and he forwarded the letter to Ledoux.
Click photo to enlarge. With thanks to Ed Ledoux.
At the same time Ledoux tried to call and email NBC, especially the licensing office, to get an update about the request and the films. However no one would answer or reply to his emails. He left messages, but they were not returned either. I quote from his entry at The Education Forum. Because I wanted to make contact with the same people to get their opinion on the testimony before congress and what was going on in the office to satisfy what may become a subpoena.The same staff I’d spoke to before without any delay and strangely their phones went to voicemail. You could leave a message. But they wouldn’t call back. So I got the staff directory and I started calling everybody in the office, management etc. Everyone’s phone went to voicemail. No one would return a message. no matter how detailed or indiscript I left it.
And in closing if we are so wrong that Prayer Man is Lee Harvey Oswald, which is merely based on a belief if I may add. Why are the films not released? I mean Zapruder, a violent and graphic recording, has been in the public realm for quite some time now. Or could it just be that the films are just the cherry on top of the DPD & FBI evidence that Oswald stated where he was at that time. Out with Bill Shelley in front and Then Went Ouside to watch the P. Parade.
To be continued.
More:
The Search for the Wiegman and Darnell Films.
May
19
Greetings all!
It has been a while since I posted as I did not have much to share and I needed a much needed break from it all. And now I have a few things to share with you. But before I start I wish to thank everyone who bought my book and also took the effort of reviewing it and heaping it with such praise. I am completely chuffed by the overal large postive feedback to it.
A new job, which I started in Jan. this year, was the perfect escape from it all. In early Dec. 2023 I was approached for it and after a trip to Germany I was offered the job within 15 minutes and the first 10 was just about my book. So after all it was good for something!
Although I did look at some things, the work I did is so demanding from a time perspective that pro-activeness wasn’t on the cards at all and it will take some time before I get back into the ring.
But (there is always one) I have started to collect some bits that will be used in an update to the book. But it will be quite a while before I even attempt to do that. I am planning to release a hardback version then and will also insert more photographic media. The print quality of photographs prevented me from doing this last year. Hopefully things will have improved by the time the updated version will be released. Watch this space for further announcements.
Instead I started to work on some technicalities of the Malcolm Blunt archive and I can tel you that in the past month I have been busy using OCR on about 15,000 PDFs to increase ease of searching through the entire set of records. This was the easy part as I could let it do its job in the background.
Next comes grouping the records, renaming and catagorising and rehousing it on a new Google Drive depository which I hope to have completed by the 61st anniversary. It will have a few thousand extra PDFs which have not been shared before. I shall announce its completion of course. I know this is a thankless task, but I wish to complete the whole thing there and then before I can move on. The beauty of doing this huge undertaking is that I end up reveiwing previously scanned documents again and this ‘break’ from all that documentation has enabled me to see further bits that I can use, also for books 2 & 3. Whenever that may be.
Oh yes!!!!!!
Mar
22
Spring update.
Greetings!
Quick update from me. I have been relatively busy until the beginning of Jan. with the work on my papers that yet have to come out. I hope both the T.S.B.D. (at this point just over 200 pages) and Prayer Man (clocking at 140 pages as we speak) papers will be released later this year. A taste of one of these papers can be read in the up and coming sixth issue of Garrison Magazine. This will be out near July.
As you have seen recently I posted the Hosty notes story and the two T.S.B.D. related stories, one about Victoria Adams’ fellow employees and a page on Steven Wilson. All these articles are part of the papers coming out later this year.
Then an update of the Anatomy of Lee Harvey Oswald’s Interrogations paper will be released just before or at the same time as the other two. I have added about ten pages of extremely rare and important information.
Once the papers are out I will start putting scripts together, based on the papers, for a new set of four movies. of which I reckon there will be an Autumn release of the first one. Otherwise early 2021.
For the past month and a bit I have been scanning pages of Malcolm Blunt’s archive. I did about 10,000 pages but not a lot was really good for Prayer Man related matters. A few T.S.B.D. titbits but nothing much. On other fronts plenty of it. Most of it is already accessible at that archive.
Corona virus has kicked in and that has put a stop to me scanning more pages in at this time. So it’s back to my own work again and perhaps a small article or two from my many drafts ;) We’ll see. Until then stay safe and healthy, look out for another.
B.
Mar
27
Oswald’s Shirt
I expect t
Apr. 2 2026 Updated with Gallery of Oswald Nov 22 pix
I expect this article will be amended in the near future. Since I have a paper coming out soon I needed a referral article to start off with.
Oswald’s shirt at the 6th Floor Museum. Click to enlarge. Screen grab B.K.
Lee Oswald would wear a shirt on his way to and from the Texas School Book Depository and be working in his T-shirt inside the building. He was captured inside the Texas Theater wearing a brownish shirt and after the scuffle inside, his arrest and ride to City Hall he can be seen with this shirt hanging of one shoulder entering City Hall’s third floor.
-
- Lee Harvey Oswald in police custody, Dallas, following assassination of Pres. John F. Kennedy, 11/22/1963
-
- Lee Harvey Oswald after the press conference
-
- Lee Oswald escorted by Richard Sims and Elmer Boyd
-
- Elmer Boyd with Lee harvey Oswald after his first interrogation.
-
- Richard Sims on the far left while escorting lee Harvey Oswald.
-
- Oswald’s arrival at DPD
-
- Oswald’s arrival at DPD
In this post we will have a look at that brown shirt he wore on the 22nd. The shirt he allegedly changed into after a bus & cab ride to his rooming house after having ‘escaped’ from the T.S.B.D.
Oswald is seen wearing this shirt for the whole duration of the 22nd. Only just after the midnight press conference is he asked to hand it over. F.B.I. Special Agent Vince Drain eventually takes possession and flies with it and the rest of the evidence overnight to Washington for the F.B.I. to analyse it.
Lee Oswald was allowed to wear his own clothes for the day. Whereas Jack Ruby was put in a white uniform quite quickly after murdering Oswald.
Vincent Drain’s trip from Dallas to Washington with the assassination evidence. Click to enlarge.
Then there is a report by Robert Gemberling of the FBI, dated Dec 4 1963.
Several people, who had seen or interacted with Oswald at various times that day were asked whether they recognised this shirt as the garment Oswald was wearing on the 22nd. And by going through the statements of them we get the following:
Oswald’s shirt. Click to enlarge.
Here are their statements just regarding that particular shirt.
Oswald’s shirt. CE 150. Click to enlarge.
From that whole group of statements is one important person missing, and that is Marrion Lewis Baker, who allegedly encountered Oswald in the second floor lunch room, which we know is complete and utter rubbish. Let’s study his W.C. testimony.
Mr. BELIN – Did you notice what clothes the man was wearing as he came up to you?
Mr. BAKER – At that particular time I was looking at his face, and it seemed to me like he had a light brown jacket on and maybe some kind of white-looking shirt.
Anyway, as I noticed him walking away from me, it was kind of dim in there that particular day, and it was hanging out to his side.
Mr. BELIN – Handing you what has been marked as Commission Exhibit 150, would this appear to be anything that you have ever seen before?
Mr. BAKER – Yes, sir; I believe that is the shirt that he had on when he came.I wouldn’t be sure of that. It seemed to me like that other shirt was a little bit darker than that whenever I saw him in the homicide office there.
Mr. BELIN – What about when you saw him in the School Book Depository Building, does this look familiar as anything he was wearing, if you know?
Mr. BAKER – I couldn’t say whether that was–it seemed to me it was a light-colored brown but I couldn’t say it was that or not.
Mr. DULLES – Lighter brown did you say, I am just asking what you said. I couldn’t quite hear.
Mr. BAKER – Yes, sir; all I can remember it was in my recollection of it it was a light brown jacket.
Mr. BELIN – Are you referring to this Exhibit 150 as being similar to the jacket or similar to the shirt that you saw or, if not, similar to either one?
Mr. BAKER – Well, it would be similar in color to it–I assume it was a jacket, it was hanging out. Now, I was looking at his face and I wasn’t really paying any attention. After Mr. Truly said he knew him, so I didn’t pay any attention to him, so I just turned and went on.
Mr. BELIN – Now, you did see him later at the police station, is that correct?
Mr. BAKER – Yes, sir.
Mr. BELIN – Was he wearing anything that looked like Exhibit 150 at the police station?
Mr. BAKER – He did have a brown-type shirt on that was out.
Mr. BELIN – Did it appear to be similar to any clothing you had seen when you saw him at the School Book Depository Building?
Mr. BAKER – I could have mistaken it for a jacket, but to my recollection it was a little coloured jacket, that is all I can say.
Baker’s testimony is very telling and one can only draw the conclusion that he did not see him at the T.S.B.D. why wouldn’t any copper not know what a possible suspect wore after an encounter as such. This is basic stuff for any law enforcement officer to notice and memorise.
Captain Will Fritz made mention of two changes of Oswald’s ‘escape’. The first one was the inclusion of a cab ride as he left the bus prematurely, which he did in his interrogation notes from the Nov. 23rd morning session, and the second one as described, in the document of Dec. 4th below, that Oswald not just changed his shirt, but all his clothing. Which he did not, he did not change his T-shirt! Which is a strange thing, change your shirt but not the T-shirt after having worked in it that morning.
Will Fritz FBI Report by Vincent Drain. Click to enlarge.
Lee Oswald’s bus and cab ride can be doubted for several reasons. Ed Ledoux initiated a great thread about this at Reopen Kennedy Case Forums . I added various pieces of evidence to this thread and it is more than likely that this escape from the T.S.B.D. did not happen at all.
Roger Craig noticed someone looking like Oswald coming down the hill in front of the T.S.B.D. and getting into a Nash Rambler at about 12:42. Craig ID-ed Oswald as the man inside Fritz’s office later that afternoon. All this was reported in the Dallas Times Herald on the morning of the 23rd.
The bus ticket was only found on Oswald when he was frisked again just before his first line-up. Why would Oswald take this transfer with him while going into the Texas Theatre? Bus driver McWaters, co-passenger Julia Bledsoe and cab driver William Whaley can be doubted to a high degree speaking the truth.
Oswald’s shirt is photographed in great detail for the Shaneyfelt exhibition. Named after Lynda L. Shaneyfelt who is a special agent for the FBI in the laboratory. I am showing two of the photographs that are cropped on to the shirt. Compare the pix and see that this is not Lee Oswald. These and the others can be seen at the Mary Ferrell website (pgs 467-470).
Oswald’s shirt for the Shaneyfelt exhibition. Source: Mary Ferrell. Click pic to enlarge.
Feb
17
Marina Oswald: “It’s Lee”
By Ed Ledoux and Bart Kamp.
Some photos and text has been added and amended. Feb. 22nd 2019.
In June and July of 2018 the core ROKC members were discussing amongst themselves whether to get in contact with Marina Oswald and ask her what she thought of the whole Prayer Man situation. We agreed to put it forward to her, nothing ventured nothing gained right?
Stan Dane printed one of the better shots of the Wiegman and Darnell films alongside a picture of the book cover and sent these enlargements to her. No photo of Doorway man (a.k.a. Billy Lovelady) was sent to her at any time. Stan did not receive a reply so Ed Ledoux rang her and left a message on her answer machine not expecting to hear back from her. But less than 25 minutes later she rang back. He asked her whether she had received the images and she said she had.
Prayer Man enlargements sent to Marina Oswald. Pic. Stan Dane.
Out Of The Shadows Into The Light Prayer Man book cover. Pic. Stan Dane.
What follows is Ed Ledoux’s story abut this particular phone call:
I wanted Marina Oswald to tell me about that figure seen in the Darnell and Wiegman films Stan Dane had sent to her, a figure who was standing in the dark shadowy top left corner, one whom was labelled Figure J. in drawings by Richard Bernabei.
Occupants front steps of the T.S.B.D. by Richard Bernabei. Click pic. to enlarge.
I felt the need to explain everything first, as she immediately asked what this was all about and began to tell all the details as best as I could relate quickly to her about Weigman and Darnell, the steps, our research and that of others.
Sketch of Prayer Man and Bill Shelley on the front steps of the T.S.B.D. by Richard Bernabei. Click pic. to enlarge.
Sketch of Prayer Man, Billy Lovelady, Otis Williams and Bill Shelley on the front steps of the T.S.B.D. by Richard Bernabei. Click pic. to enlarge.
When I was about to mention Richard Bernabei’s annotated sketches of Weigman from the late 60’s, which were not sent to her, with the unknown figure marked J. she stopped me.
Marina interjected and said “That’s Lee” I was taken aback as she knew exactly what and who I had asked about. She volunteered her answer. I exclaimed “What?” to make sure I had heard her correctly. And she replied to me “It’s Lee.” and did so as quite a matter of fact.
There I was thinking, here is the one person besides Marguerite Oswald whom would know the likeness of Lee better than any armchair detective or internet warrior could. Here she was confirming the identity of her husband and in effect the work done by Sean Murphy until the 50th anniversary of the murder, and now carried on by the ROKC crew as a litmus test in the Kennedy assassination.
When I asked Marina about the images of Prayer Man to Lee she said, “Yes, seen it many times” like it was old news.
Well I was dazzled by her quick wit and retorts. She is no slouch when it comes to her late husband and the case.
Well I was dazzled by her quick wit and retorts. She is no slouch when it comes to her late husband and the case.
She said “They have dropped the assumed part, and just say he is guilty” so I explained the FBI and Justice Dept. have both closed the case and retroactively declared Lee guilty.
I asked if she knew of a way to help and she understood the problem.
She wanted to know my age, she sharing hers first like a lady. I shared mine and she said “Good, you’re young enough to get something done.”
I told her about the book, “Prayer Man, Out Of The Shadows And Into The Light” by Stan Dane.
Marina asked when it was published. I said it has been out three and a half years.
When I told her what information it had about documenting Lee on the first floor and in the vestibule, she responded resolutely, “I don’t need to be convinced.”
Marina was kind and soft spoken, wanted me to help her children who suffer the most by having a father wrongfully called a murderer. No jury, no trial, no full investigation, yet the United States legal system allows this.
I asked if she knew of a way to help and she understood the problem.
She wanted to know my age, she sharing hers first like a lady. I shared mine and she said “Good, you’re young enough to get something done.”
I told her about the book, “Prayer Man, Out Of The Shadows And Into The Light” by Stan Dane.
Marina asked when it was published. I said it has been out three and a half years.
When I told her what information it had about documenting Lee on the first floor and in the vestibule, she responded resolutely, “I don’t need to be convinced.”
Marina was kind and soft spoken, wanted me to help her children who suffer the most by having a father wrongfully called a murderer. No jury, no trial, no full investigation, yet the United States legal system allows this.
As Marina Oswald called me back in such a short time after I had left a message I did not record this call. But I did call her back again two weeks later, this was after I sent her Stan Dane’s book and asked her to give me her blessing to what she had said to me two weeks prior. In this conversation she stated that she had not read the Stan Dane book, as there were too many characters involved and that all they had to do is compare two faces; Lee and Billy Lovelady. The rest didn’t matter. Listen to the short recording below.
NBC Universal holds the original footage of Darnell and Wiegman from that day in 1963 when The President, John F. Kennedy, was murdered.
These original 16 mm films contain much better detail than the circulating ones. The copies that are around were transferred to 3/4 inch VHS tape nearly 60 years ago and are overall not very clear due to the generational gap and the artefacts it inherited due to the transfer.
Poor quality images allow the weak and timid to say it might be Lee or dispute it, and until better images they retort that they can’t agree it is Oswald, until its shown and proven to be Lee.
Thus the Prayer Man litmus test has enabled ROKC to sample those researchers genuinely looking to end all debate as to Lee’s innocence.
The naysayers dismiss with a wave of the hand the literal mountains of physical and documented evidence that puts Lee on the first floor during the assassination and outside during the shooting.
Naysayers accomplish this by saying the images taken from the films are to blurry.
Blurry yes, but good enough for them to identify Buell Frazier, and Billy Lovelady without second guesses.
I have spoken with Buell Frazier and I got the sense he recognises the figure but cannot allow himself to say what Marina effortlessly stated. “It’s Lee.”
Buell has identified himself in the films.
Buell Frazier in Darnell.
He has said he thought the figure near him called Prayer Man is Bill Shelley, Buell may default to Bill but he also realises Bill left the steps with Billy Lovelady to walk down to the rail yard and knoll area. Buell cant reconcile the figure with the logistics of those present.
I want to show Buell a better image too.
Slowly these things help to settle this important matter. Just over a week ago Bart managed to show a note made by FBI agent James Hosty which clearly stated that “He went to 2nd floor to get coca cola to eat with lunch and returned to 1st floor to eat lunch. Then went outside to watch P. parade.”
This document and the Fritz interrogation notes show that Lee himself is giving his alibi to the police and knowing that Bill Shelley was there with him, only for police authorities to twist things and use it against him.
Lee said he stepped out to see what all the excitement was about as reported by Detective Ed Hicks.
Reporters were documenting this statement.
In his interview shortly before Lee was murdered by Jack Ruby, Postal Inspector Harry Holmes asked about Lee’s alibi.
Specifically that Lee was in the Vestibule or nearing the vestibule when the shooting took place. There is only one vestibule proper. It is between the two outer columns flanking the steps, up to the front door.
That is in part Oswald’s alibi, being out in the vestibule and knowing who else was on the steps.
I wanted to see the best images of those steps and who was in the vestibule and asked for and was granted a license for the Darnell film. Additionally I made an offer to transfer Darnell into 4k or 8k resolution, using the vendor of their choice to perform the scan and at my cost, but I was soon told that the powers that be had denied access to the film.
Rather than provide me the best quality image available NBC asked that I use a high quality format but media that was from a 3/4″ tape circa 1970’s era.
I declined to accept this paltry material.
I thank the folks who helped with the project, especially Bart Kamp, Greg Parker, and Stan Dane who have searched for the original films with me.
Thanks to the fine folks at ROKC I knew beyond a shadow that Lee was Prayer Man and I continued based on evidence that the films were in New York at the NBC ‘archives’ there.
The films are still awaiting a new Executive to allow access to study them.
Greg Parker has sent a public letter asking NBC Universal for the films to be accessed by researchers and students.
We are still waiting their reply.
Thanks to Marina I realised the truth has just begun.
Marina asked me about the films timing, she said it’s important. I explained that the limo is still seen exiting Dealey Plaza in the Dave Wiegman film, which syncs up with Wiegman and then Darnell, so its a matter of seconds.
Marina said that makes Lee innocent.
I agreed,…
I’ve spoke to Marina a few more times to update her on the Prayer Man project and various aspects of the case. I am going to tell her about the Sixth Floor Museums donation they received of a 2k copy of Darnell.
Alan Dale asked Stephen Fagin at the Lancer conference about the film and Fagin told that it can be viewed in the museum’s viewing room, but there is no zooming or slowing the playback there unfortunately.
I had mentioned to her that I would find better footage, as she was not positive NBC would ever allow access. So we are hopeful to have more to discuss in the future.
