Welcome to my Friday feature!
In each weekly post, I explore
my thoughts on several
book-related topics.
For my second post about this topic, I have chosen an event that was a national trauma, one that has also led to the wildest theories about who was really behind it. Those who remember the day have definitely never forgotten it. It was a day in which the brilliant promise of a man's dreams for the future of a nation died right along with him. Everything associated with that day, as well as the days following it, still haunt all of us Americans, no matter what our political affiliation, or lack thereof. This one event has remained as a blight on our history, much as Lincoln's assassination has,
Although a suspect was caught and arrested, he would not live long enough to give a grieving nation any answers, as he himself was killed not long thereafter. Lee Harvey Oswald, who was apprehended the day after the tragedy, had bought a .38 revolver and a rifle with a telescopic sight months before that fateful day in Dallas. He also killed a policeman, Officer J.D. Tippit, less than an hour after killing Kennedy. Jack Ruby, the man who later killed Oswald, had some minor connections to organized crime. He claimed that he had killed Oswald because he was so grieved by the JFK assassination. However, this event was the catalyst for one of the first conspiracy theories, which claimed that Ruby killed Oswald in order to silence him, and that he was hired by whoever did not want the truth to come out -- most likely the Mafia.
In 1964, the Warren Commission Report ruled out the possibility that either Oswald or Ruby were part of a conspiracy, whether within or outside the United States. However, in 1978, the House Select Committee on Assassinations put forth the tentative conclusion that it might have been possible that Kennedy was killed because of a conspiracy masterminded by organized crime. The committee also concluded that there might have been more than one shooter.
According to the Time Magazine website, a 2003 ABC News poll "found that 70% of Americans believe Kennedy's death was the result of a broader plot." Among the conspiracy theories mentioned in their article, there's one stating that Kennedy was killed by CIA agents who were furious with him because of the Bay of Pigs fiasco. Other theories claim that his murder was ordered by the KGB, while yet another claims that the Mafia had him killed in retaliation for the investigations of organized crime being conducted by Robert Kennedy at the time. One very disturbing theory states that Lyndon B. Johnson, Kennedy's Vice President, plotted the assassination.
The USA Today website lists six conspiracy theories, and they are the very same ones mentioned on the Time Magazine website, except that they add another -- "the umbrella man theory", which states that a man shot a dart at Kennedy's neck from the tip of his umbrella. This theory was debunked in the 1970s, though.
Recently, I encountered a rather unusual, but fascinating theory on Amazon -- that Kennedy was indeed assassinated by the CIA, but the reason was because he had been trying to "force the CIA to share classified UFO information with other government agencies". This theory is the subject of a book titled Kennedy's Last Stand: Eisenhower, UFOs, MJ-12, and JFK's Assassination, written by Michael E. Salla, and published in October of 2013. This book ties in very nicely with the UFO conspiracy theories I mentioned in last week's "The Book Lover's Den".
According to the CNN website, Dave Perry, who is a retired former insurance agent, has been investigating the most common theories since 1976. Perry does not believe the LBJ theory, saying that it was created by Texans who didn't like Johnson.
I am certainly very glad that Perry has stated this theory is untrue; I just find it very hard to believe that Kennedy's Vice President would have done something like that.
There's one theory, Perry says, that he has been unable to debunk -- the one dealing with the CIA (not related to UFOs). For further information, please see the links at the end of this post.
Naturally, I am most interested in reading the Salla book, but I'm also interested in the books that mention more mundane theories. In fact, this subject has been in the back of my mind for years now, because of the huge impact it had on our national history. The same goes for the 911 tragedy, which is another event that has sparked several conspiracy theories, although, to my knowledge, none have involved UFOs or extraterrestrials.
Here are the books I would like to read on this very sad, yet fascinating topic:
Although a suspect was caught and arrested, he would not live long enough to give a grieving nation any answers, as he himself was killed not long thereafter. Lee Harvey Oswald, who was apprehended the day after the tragedy, had bought a .38 revolver and a rifle with a telescopic sight months before that fateful day in Dallas. He also killed a policeman, Officer J.D. Tippit, less than an hour after killing Kennedy. Jack Ruby, the man who later killed Oswald, had some minor connections to organized crime. He claimed that he had killed Oswald because he was so grieved by the JFK assassination. However, this event was the catalyst for one of the first conspiracy theories, which claimed that Ruby killed Oswald in order to silence him, and that he was hired by whoever did not want the truth to come out -- most likely the Mafia.
In 1964, the Warren Commission Report ruled out the possibility that either Oswald or Ruby were part of a conspiracy, whether within or outside the United States. However, in 1978, the House Select Committee on Assassinations put forth the tentative conclusion that it might have been possible that Kennedy was killed because of a conspiracy masterminded by organized crime. The committee also concluded that there might have been more than one shooter.
According to the Time Magazine website, a 2003 ABC News poll "found that 70% of Americans believe Kennedy's death was the result of a broader plot." Among the conspiracy theories mentioned in their article, there's one stating that Kennedy was killed by CIA agents who were furious with him because of the Bay of Pigs fiasco. Other theories claim that his murder was ordered by the KGB, while yet another claims that the Mafia had him killed in retaliation for the investigations of organized crime being conducted by Robert Kennedy at the time. One very disturbing theory states that Lyndon B. Johnson, Kennedy's Vice President, plotted the assassination.
The USA Today website lists six conspiracy theories, and they are the very same ones mentioned on the Time Magazine website, except that they add another -- "the umbrella man theory", which states that a man shot a dart at Kennedy's neck from the tip of his umbrella. This theory was debunked in the 1970s, though.
Recently, I encountered a rather unusual, but fascinating theory on Amazon -- that Kennedy was indeed assassinated by the CIA, but the reason was because he had been trying to "force the CIA to share classified UFO information with other government agencies". This theory is the subject of a book titled Kennedy's Last Stand: Eisenhower, UFOs, MJ-12, and JFK's Assassination, written by Michael E. Salla, and published in October of 2013. This book ties in very nicely with the UFO conspiracy theories I mentioned in last week's "The Book Lover's Den".
According to the CNN website, Dave Perry, who is a retired former insurance agent, has been investigating the most common theories since 1976. Perry does not believe the LBJ theory, saying that it was created by Texans who didn't like Johnson.
I am certainly very glad that Perry has stated this theory is untrue; I just find it very hard to believe that Kennedy's Vice President would have done something like that.
There's one theory, Perry says, that he has been unable to debunk -- the one dealing with the CIA (not related to UFOs). For further information, please see the links at the end of this post.
Naturally, I am most interested in reading the Salla book, but I'm also interested in the books that mention more mundane theories. In fact, this subject has been in the back of my mind for years now, because of the huge impact it had on our national history. The same goes for the 911 tragedy, which is another event that has sparked several conspiracy theories, although, to my knowledge, none have involved UFOs or extraterrestrials.
Here are the books I would like to read on this very sad, yet fascinating topic:
Sources for this Post
What are your thoughts on
this subject?
Please leave me a comment
and let me know!
this subject?
Please leave me a comment
and let me know!
