John F. Kennedy, the thirty-fifth President of the United States, had gone to Dallas in November1963, to begin his quest for re-election. Everything seemed normal as the President arrived by flight. Everything seemed normal as he was greeted by the usual dignitaries. Everything seemed normal as he greeted all his fans and followers. Everything seemed normal until the President began his motorcade. However, what followed was far from normal. It was beyond what anybody there had thought of or ever imagined.

At 12:30 p.m. CST (18:30 UTC). The President Kennedy was fatally wounded by three gunshots while riding in his presidential motorcade in a through Dealey Plaza.

Chaos broke loose throughout the world as the ‘President of the United States’ was assassinated. Following soon, Lee Harvey Oswald, was arrested for murdering the President. Oswald was an employee of the Texas School Book Depository situated Dealey Plaza. He was arrested following several government initiated investigations and also the Warren Commission. Polls were taken following this decision and there was general favor for accusing Oswald for the crime. However, in 1966, the Gallup poll was taken and surprisingly it showed that a majority of the people believed that Oswald was not the only one responsible for the assassination. This led to the birth of a number of conspiracies and 44 years later there is still widespread speculation of how President John F Kennedy actually died.

J. F. Kennedy’s last ride through Dealey Plaza was recorded on a 8mm silent footage for 27 seconds. The shoot included the President embarking on the ride, the President getting shot and later on his car being rushed through the plaza. This film was recorded by a novice cameraman who was a garment manufacturer by profession named Abraham Zapruder. This rare footage came to be called as the Zapruder film. This film was a crucial link in the investigations. At the same time it provided fodder for all the conspirational theories as well.

All the conspiracy theories suggest a criminal party involved in the conspiracy such as the Mafia, the F.B.I, the then Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Nixon, George H. W. Bush, Cuban exile groups etc. The Three Tramps Theory: There were certain speculations about the identities of three rail-raiders. These rail-raiders were held at a train depot near by the place of assassination. The theory about these rail-raiders became popular and they came to be known as the Three Tramps. The three tramps were released on November 26th. The records of these three tramps were unknown to the public for almost 29 years. Conspiracy theories speculated that their records were forged by the Dallas Police.

The Lone gunman theory: Please refer the The Single Bullet Theory

The most amazing thing was noticed in the Zapruder film. The President’s limousine was an open one. So it had provisions for the Presidents personal security agents to stand along its sides and the back to provide a shield for the President. Just before the President entered the plaza the Zapruder film clearly shows one of the security agents in charge to call off the agents supposed to stand along the limousine. The film clearly shows a security agent shrugging and arguing against the order and the confusion that followed. The security agents were thus given orders to get off to remove the human shield and expose the President. This issue was raised as somebody inside the government was deeply involved in the killings.

One of the most popular theory was the LBJ theory. Vice-President Lyndon Johnson was appointed the President of the USA as a result of the murder of JFK's. This was considered as a motive and investigations were followed. A few moments after the swearing in, the new President was caught on camera winking to a Texas Congressman Albert Thomas. At the time of JFK’s death was under four major criminal investigations. Each of these cases were close on LBJ’s appointments as President.

Such bare facts were enough to make the public question the investigation carried out by the government and suspect various factors right from the mafia to the vice president himself.

Theories.com Contributor