WHO WAS
STRUCK BY THE
MOST FAMOUS
RICOCHET IN HISTORY?
On November 22, 1963, President John F.
Kennedy was shot by Lee Harvey Oswald
as he rode in a convertible car through Dallas.
Conspiracy theorists refer to Oswald’s second
shot as a “magic bullet,” because in addition to
hitting Kennedy it also hit his fellow passenger,
Texas Governor John Connally. What’s more, the
huge bullet wounds did not match the caliber of
theriflethatwasused.Butthelatestanalysisof
that tragic event now shows: Oswald’s allegedly
“magic” shot was nothing more than a ricochet,
acting in accordance with the laws of physics.
The bullet grazed a vertebra in Kennedy’s neck,
began to turn, struck Connally’s torso and wrist,
and finally lodged backward in Connally’s thigh.ROUTE OF THE BULLET
Three shots were fired by Oswald from the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository:
The first was wide of the mark, the second, shown here, injured Kennedy and then Connally.
The third struck Kennedy in the head —fatally.Movies show people being
shot while underwater. But
in reality, the odds of producing
dangerous ricochets are much
higher than the odds of striking
the target. That’s because when
projectiles hit the water’s surface
at a high speed and a fl at angle,
the supposedly permeable wateracts like a totally impenetrable
solid surface. The bullet rebounds
at approximately the same angle
at which it arrived. In Austria this
principle has even given rise to a
sporting competition. During the
annual Preberseeschießen event,
shooters fi re at a target by aiming
at its refl ection in the water.CAN A RIFLE BULLET
BOUNCE OFF A LAKE?
9
projectile speed
KENNEDYKENNEDYBULLET’S
DIRECTION
OF TRAVELCONNALLYCONNALLYThe bullet
breaks a
cervical
vertebra.Entry wound
matches the
6.5mm of the
bullet caliber.It becomes
a ricochet
and begins
to turn.Exit wound
in the throat;
the bullet
keeps going.Entry wound
matches the
3-centimeter
bullet length.Exit wound
in the chest
is roughly
5 centimeters.The bullet
remains
lodged in
the thigh.The fi fth
right rib is
completely
smashed.The bullet
enters the
right arm
backward.899 feet per
second400 feet per
second1,499 –1,601 feet
per second1,699 –1,801 feet
per second10
ideasanddiscoveries.com 75 Mar 2017