The evidence

The backyard photographs

Oswald with a rifle, a pistol and two Marxist newspapers: genuine or faked?

RECORD / AT A GLANCE

Authenticity supported by every forensic study

False that they were faked. The House committee’s panel found the negative came from Oswald’s camera and “no evidence of fakery”; computer studies in 2010 and 2015 found the shadows and the stance consistent with a real photo.

THE EVENTS / THE INVESTIGATION / THE STORY

The chronology.

READ THE FILE

Evidence & assessment.

Open an article for its evidence, labeled AI assessment and numbered sources. Read the complete static edition ↗

WHAT PEOPLE SAY ABOUT THIS FILE

The claims, rated.

1 claim people make about this file, each rated documented, partly true, disputed, unproven or false. Think a rating is wrong? Use Dispute or Support, or join the Discussion.

FALSE The shots, the rifle & the bullet

“The backyard photos of Oswald with the rifle are fakes.”

The House committee’s panel found no evidence of fakery; later computer studies agreed.

Who says it: Oswald himself, critics.

The evidence in this file ↗ · On the full claims board ↗

All 155 rated claims ↗

OPEN THE RECORD

Sources & limits.

Numbered citations in each article identify the relevant sources. These records have different purposes and evidentiary weight.

  1. HSCA photographic panel: authenticity of the backyard photographs, volume VI ↗

    The panel’s study of the negative, the camera and the shadows. It found no fakery.

  2. Warren Commission report, chapter 4: the assassin ↗

    The rifle order from Klein’s under the name A. Hidell, the paper bag, the palm print, the Marine scores (212 in 1956, 191 in 1959), the Tippit evidence and the paraffin test the Commission did not rely on.

  3. Hany Farid: “A 3-D Photo Forensic Analysis of the Lee Harvey Oswald Backyard Photo,” Dartmouth, 2010 ↗

    A computer model showing the shadows are consistent with one sun.

  4. Dartmouth: 2015 study of Oswald’s stance in the backyard photo ↗

    Center-of-mass analysis showing the pose is physically stable.

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