1. Gary Mack is the undisputed expert on Moorman and the provenance
of the photos, having done extensive research into all known sources of
good prints of Moorman 5. He obtained around a dozen early prints from
Harold Weisberg, Josiah Thompson, Robert Groden, UPI and other sources,
as well as information regarding the copy negatives. He researched the
copyright, sales, uses, etc. Anything Gary says in this area you can take
to the bank.
2. Among the copies he obtained from Groden were closeup slides of various
portions of the image, including the end of the concrete wall, which seemed
to show a large puff of smoke. (Cutler thought this was made by a man
he called the "smoke puffer" in the blackdogman location.) Groden indicated
that his slide had been made from an 8x10 borrowed from Thompson, as
he recalled. The Weisberg and Thompson prints were of about equal quality,
both having been early prints from the UPI original copy negative. Another
copy Gary obtained was the ZIPPO print, of unestablished provenance.
3. At the TV station where he worked, Gary put this slide on a large screen
monitor, adjusted the brightness, and saw what he thought was a man's
head. The slide was very underexposed, and he asked me to copy it
to see whether the quality could be improved.
4. Using a Repronar slide copier with electronic flash and bw fine grain
film, I shot a roll of exposures at half-stop increments. At least three
of the exposures yeilded optimal results. I chose the best exposure
and made 8x10s, which very clearly showed the image that Gary dubbed
Badge Man and I call Badgeman (take your pick).
5. Gary and I did several years of research on the discovery, including:
.....taking it to MIT, where computer enhancement showed it to be a man
.....copying Mary's ORIGINAL, which she brought to my office
.....havinng the Thompson #1 copied by profesional photographer Byrd Williams
.....having a very large drum scan made from the Williams/Thompson #1
.....having the original copied by professional photographer Gordon Smith.
6. In the 1980s Geoffrey Crawley and I, USING MARY'S CAMERA, and
jury-rigged Kodak film, took "recreation" photos in Dealey Plaza. When
overlaid over the Moorman photo, they were a perfect match in the
central areas. At the time, I THOUGHT IT ODD that to achieve the
correct line of sight, we had to SIT ON THE GRASS ABOUT FOUR FEET
SOUTH OF THE CURB.
7. In the 1990s, I determined that the line of sight of the Moorman photo
WAS TOO LOW FOR HER TO STAND ON THE GRASS as shown in Zapruder,
but was accurate only if Mary was standing in the gutter about 18 inches
north of the curb. This has been confirmed by many others (see Fetzer et al).
8. A small group disputed this, and produced an image they called the
DRUMSCAN as "proof". It proved nothing except a diversion they called
the GAP. The "gap" is IMMATERIAL to my studies, and is a red herring
to distract from the obvious. Too, the DRUMSCAN IS PROVABLY ALTERED
from the Moorman 5 image...and the quality of the image is distinctly of
inferior quality. The drumscan is worthless as proof of anything.
9. A reconstruction photo taken by Nigel Turner proves the Badgeman
image is the correct size and place.
10. For years I believed that the Moorman 5 HAD TO BE A GENUINE IMAGE.
I no longer believe that, because my Zapruder studies show that the
representation of Zapruder and Sitzman ON THE PEDESTAL CANNOT
BE ACCURATE (see The Zapruder Waltz). The Z/S image is either altered
or added. Actually, it is entirely possible that the Badgeman image could
also be an added red herring. I have no idea how or when Moorman 5
could have been altered.
11. The Badgeman image IS NOT A HOAX nor any addition BY ME. It
was present in all images I have studied...just better in some than others.
If Moorman 5 was altered, it was done by someone WITH A MOTIVE.
Now who would that be?
This is a summary of everything I remember at the moment. If I remember
anything else, I will add it. If Gary wants to add anything, I suggest that
he post it to the forum or email it to John Simkin.
Jack
