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What peer-reviewed publications since 1998 have challenged or supported single-shooter vs. multiple-shooter interpretations using modern audio/visual forensics?
Executive summary
Peer‑reviewed, forensic audio/visual studies since 1998 have produced a small but contested literature that both supports and challenges multiple‑shooter readings—most prominently acoustic reconstructions tied to the JFK Dictabelt debate (HSCA/BBC/NRC/Science & Justice papers) and later digital video/ballistic re‑analyses that support a single‑shooter interpretation (Heliyon, other modern forensic reviews). Major contested claims: the HSCA’s acoustic work [1] was later challenged by National Academy panels and by papers finding the “gunshot” impulses off‑time; counter‑papers since 2001–2006 (Science & Justice; J Forensic Sci; subsequent re‑analyses and Sonalysts/Sabato work) pushed back in both directions [2] [3] [4] [5] [6].
1. The journal articles that opened and re‑opened the acoustic case
The House Select Committee on Assassinations relied on Bolt, Beranek & Newman (BBN) acoustic analyses and concluded there was a high probability of two gunmen, a result grounded in peer‑reviewed acoustic methodology used at the time (HSCA findings summarized at the National Archives) [2]. D.B. Thomas’s 2001 Science & Justice article challenged the NRC panel’s synchronization and argued a gunshot‑like impulse coincided with the assassination, a peer‑reviewed claim that renewed debate about a grassy‑knoll shot [6] [7].
2. Peer review pushed back: NRC and later acoustic rebuttals
The National Research Council (NRC) examination and later technical reassessments identified serious synchronization and timing problems and concluded the putative “shot” impulses were recorded about a minute after the assassination—undermining the multiple‑shooter claim based on that tape [4]. Subsequent peer‑reviewed critiques and multi‑expert re‑analyses (including a 2005 reinvestigation by multiple acoustic experts and a Sonalysts/University of Virginia‑commissioned 2013 study) found errors in Thomas’s methods or raised doubts about the Dictabelt’s utility for proving a second shooter [8] [4] [5].
3. Modern audio/visual and ballistic re‑analyses that favor single‑shooter conclusions
Video‑based biomechanical and ballistic re‑examinations published in peer‑reviewed outlets (for example work concluding head kinematics in the Zapruder film indicate a shot from behind) have supported the Warren Commission’s single‑shooter, School Book Depository origin for fatal shots; one Heliyon article explicitly reported that video mechanics support a shot from behind [9]. Modern ballistic reconstructions using 3‑D models and computed tomography have been highlighted by journalists and forensic scientists as tools that, in several re‑reads, do not conclusively support a frontal (grassy‑knoll) shot [10] [11].
4. How scholars judge the weight of "modern forensics"
Scholars and forensic practitioners stress that modern methods (high‑resolution waveform analysis, spectrography, 3‑D ballistic modeling) are more powerful than 1960s‑era techniques but remain constrained by the archival evidence quality—speed variations, missing originals, channel crosstalk, and damaged media limit certainty [12] [13]. The National Archives pages and recent document releases underline that new material keeps the debate alive, but that early peer‑reviewed forensic claims depend heavily on assumptions about synchronization and media provenance [13] [14].
5. Where peer‑review converges — and where it fractures
There is consensus in peer‑review that acoustic identification of gunshots requires detailed spectral, waveform and echo analyses and that false positives are possible without careful calibration [12]. The fracture lies in synchronization and statistical interpretation: Thomas (Science & Justice, 2001) argued a strong probability for a grassy‑knoll impulse, while NRC and later papers found timing or methodological flaws and placed the impulses outside the assassination window [6] [4]. Both camps published in peer‑reviewed venues and continued to publish rebuttals and re‑analyses [3] [4].
6. Broader lessons for contemporary "single vs multiple shooter" debates
Recent journalistic and academic reviews caution against treating any single forensic study as definitive: archived media degradation, unrepeatable field conditions, and differing statistical models produce competing peer‑reviewed conclusions [5] [15]. The 2013–2019 wave of digital re‑examinations and the 2025 releases of archival records have not ended scholarly disagreement; instead they show modern forensics can sharpen questions but often cannot fully close them when source material is compromised [16] [15].
7. Practical reading list from the available reporting (select peer‑reviewed items cited by sources)
- HSCA / BBN acoustic analyses underpinning the 1979 "high probability" finding (archive summaries) [2] [17].
- D.B. Thomas, Science & Justice, 2001: peer‑reviewed echo/correlation claim supporting a grassy‑knoll impulse [6] [7].
- NRC and later rebuttals (Journal items noted in the NRC follow‑ups and a 2005 multi‑expert reanalysis) arguing the impulses are ~1 minute late [4] [18].
- Modern video/biomechanical analysis published in Heliyon arguing head kinematics support a behind‑shot [9].
Available sources do not mention a comprehensive meta‑analysis since 1998 that settles the single‑ vs multiple‑shooter question across all audio/visual forensic techniques; the literature remains contested and case‑specific (not found in current reporting).