Single-Bullet Theory

The Warren Commission concluded that Commission Exhibit 399, a nearly pristine bullet found on a stretcher at Parkland Hospital, had caused seven separate wounds in President Kennedy and Texas Governor John Connally. According to this theory, the bullet entered Kennedy’s back, exited his throat, then struck Connally in the back, emerged from his chest, shattered his right wrist, and finally lodged in his left thigh.

The commission adopted this explanation to account for the timing constraints imposed by the Zapruder film, which showed the two men reacting to their wounds within a timeframe that precluded separate shots. Commission investigators determined that Lee Harvey Oswald’s bolt-action rifle could not have been fired rapidly enough to inflict the wounds with separate bullets given the documented reaction times.

Critics have challenged the theory on multiple grounds. The bullet’s trajectory required a steep downward angle that some analysts argue was inconsistent with Oswald’s position in the Texas School Book Depository’s sixth floor. The bullet itself appeared remarkably intact despite allegedly causing extensive bone damage, particularly to Connally’s shattered rib and fractured wrist radius.

Computer simulations and reconstructions have produced conflicting results. Some studies, including those commissioned by the House Select Committee on Assassinations in the 1970s, have supported the feasibility of the bullet path. However, independent researchers have questioned whether a single projectile could maintain sufficient energy and structural integrity to cause all the documented wounds.

The theory gained the derogatory nickname “magic bullet theory” from critics who argued that the bullet would have needed to change direction multiple times in flight. Proponents counter that the men were not seated directly in front of each other, and that Connally was positioned lower and to the left, creating a plausible straight-line trajectory.

Ballistic experts remain divided on the theory’s plausibility. While some forensic analyses support the Warren Commission’s conclusions, others have cited metallurgical evidence suggesting that bullet fragments found in Connally’s wrist came from a different projectile than Commission Exhibit 399, undermining the single-bullet explanation.