In 1963, a Dallas maintenance man captured the assassination of John F. Kennedy on film.
A lawsuit by Orville Nix’s heirs alleges decades-long government concealment of the crucial home movie. Recorded by Nix, the film provides a unique perspective of Kennedy’s assassination, and his family has been striving for years to reclaim the original.
According to Jefferson Morley, a CIA author, the significance of the original film today is paramount. With the advancements in digital image processing technology, the original film could offer valuable evidence. The quality between generations in analog films like Nix’s degrades, making the original vital.
Nix’s film, taken from Dealey Plaza’s center, offers an unobstructed view of the infamous “grassy knoll” as Kennedy’s limousine drove into an ambush on Elm Street in Dallas on November 22, 1963. This location is speculated as the potential position of hidden snipers.
In 1978, the House Select Committee on Assassinations examined the original film with photo experts, leading to a conclusion of Kennedy’s assassination as a probable conspiracy involving “two gunmen.” However, limitations in the technology left uncertainties about the marksmen captured in Nix’s footage. The original film vanished, leaving only imperfect copies behind.
The Nix family believes that modern computer-enhanced analysis could reveal the truth. A 2015 lawsuit was dismissed due to jurisdiction, but a new 52-page filing in the US Court of Federal Claims was recently submitted. This lawsuit meticulously documents the complex journey of the original film since its creation and accuses the National Archives and Records Administration of deceit and mishandling.
Nix’s film was sold to the UPI press agency for $5,000 in 1963, with the promise of its return in 1988. Upon Nix’s death in 1972, the rights transferred to his family. They were unaware when the House Special Committee on Assassinations subpoenaed the film from UPI in 1978.
Kenneth Castleman, a prominent photo expert, emphasizes the urgency to digitize the deteriorating film using modern techniques. The Nix family is demanding $29.7 million in damages and the film’s release. Its release could potentially unravel the enduring mysteries of the Kennedy assassination, but time is of the essence.