Single-Bullet Trajectory Analysis (JFK/HSCA)
Definition
The 1979 House Select Committee on Assassinations photogrammetric reconstruction of the Kennedy assassination trajectories, the most extensively reviewed shooting reconstruction in forensic science history.
- Investigating body
- US House Select Committee on Assassinations (HSCA)
- Year
- 1979
- Method
- Photogrammetric trajectory reconstruction
- Subject event
- The assassination of President John F. Kennedy
Common questions
Why is this case referenced as a teaching example in trajectory analysis?+
The HSCA's 1979 photogrammetric reconstruction is one of the most extensively documented and independently reviewed shooting reconstructions in forensic science history, making it a standard reference point for how trajectory evidence, wound geometry, and scene photography are combined.
What forensic disciplines did the HSCA reconstruction combine?+
It drew on photogrammetry to establish camera and subject positions from film evidence, wound ballistics to interpret entry and exit trajectories, and scene measurements, integrating them into a single geometric reconstruction of the shooting sequence.
Related terms
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- The angle between the bullet's trajectory and the surface it penetrates, measured from the surface plane. Calculated from entry-hole geometry: sin(angle) =...
- Bullet Trajectory Kit (BTK)
- A laser-based trajectory projection system by Sirchie that replaces the physical rod with a laser module, projecting a visible beam along the...
- Bullet Wipe (Metal Wipe)
- The grey-black ring of bullet-jacket material (grease, metal oxides, carbon) deposited around the margin of an entry hole as the bullet's periphery...
- Burke and Rowe 1992
- The primary peer-reviewed study of bullet ricochet behaviour on concrete, asphalt, and vehicle metal surfaces, published in the Journal of the Forensic...
- Faro Focus 3D
- A terrestrial laser scanner used for crime-scene documentation, capturing a full-resolution point-cloud model of the scene at millimetre accuracy. Trajectory rods or...
- Keyhole Wound
- An asymmetric teardrop-shaped bullet entry hole produced when the bullet strikes the surface sideways or is unstabilised, indicating close-range fire (pre-stabilisation) or...
- Ortho-Tron Projection Rod
- A commercial trajectory rod system manufactured by Sirchie, widely used by the FBI Evidence Response Team and forensic laboratories internationally, providing standardised...
- Ricochet
- The deflection of a bullet off a surface at a low angle of incidence, producing a new trajectory that diverges from the...
- Trajectory Rod
- A rigid fibreglass or aluminium rod inserted through a bullet wound channel and aligned with the channel geometry to define the bullet's...