https://www.wsj.com/articles/just-w...spiracy-involving-conspiracy-buffs-1511285776
From today's WSJ, I copied it because you need a sub to read it.
DALLAS—Some believe the government is behind it. Others point to a cabal of business interests. A 72-year-old claims to have done it, though he admits he did not act alone. Or a figure known as “the cousin” may have played a role.
Yet years of denials, conspiracy theories and even grainy video have failed to reveal the perpetrators behind one of the most enduring mysteries in Dallas: Who creates the “X” on Elm Street in Dealey Plaza that supposedly marks the exact spot where President John F. Kennedy was fatally shot on Nov. 22, 1963?
“Nobody knows who does it,” said Glen Garrett, a 68-year-old vendor in the plaza who sells replica newspapers of that day for $5.
As the 54th anniversary of JFK’s assassination approaches, the X, as it does each year, becomes a magnet for a nation still obsessed with every detail of the tragedy. No matter that the X is a crudely formed marker of dubious origin taped or painted in the middle of a busy street.
Tourists strain from curbsides to get pictures of it through three lanes of flowing traffic. Some are gutsy enough to make it onto the road for a shot posing next to it.
It’s unclear how long the X has been there—locals say at least two decades. On rare occasions, the X vanishes, but always returns. It has been repainted or replaced with reflective tape, mainly in white. Though recently it turned up in green. When it fades, or is scrapped off during road work, it rematerializes within days.
Sometimes a second X marks the spot believed to be where the first bullet hit Mr. Kennedy. But it is the X closest to an underpass that gets the most attention and is considered “The X,” purportedly marking the spot of the final shot listed in an autopsy report as the fatal one.
Several visitors, when asked about the X on a recent day, assumed it is maintained by the City of Dallas.
“It attracts people, that’s why I assume they keep the X down,” said frequent visitor Rickey Chism, a 57-year-old who lives in the Dallas area and as a 3-year-old witnessed the assassination with his family. Mr. Chism carries an old news photo showing him at the site as a child with his family on the day President Kennedy was killed.
The city denies involvement. City spokesman Richard Hill points to tour groups that operate around the plaza as maintainers of the X, but he couldn’t provide any names.
The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza, located in the former Texas School Book Depository where Lee Harvey Oswald shot Mr. Kennedy from a sixth-floor window, also has distanced itself from the X.
“The museum is not responsible in any way for the two X’s painted on Elm Street in Dealey Plaza,” museum spokeswoman Laurie Ivy said in an email.
The museum has a live-streaming webcam from the sniper’s perch, but it is too far away to discern features of individuals near the X.
The city has previously defended its removal of the X during road work. Its rare removal is looked at by JFK aficionados as an attempt by the city to erase an unpleasant past.
“The city takes it away, and they will replace it,” says Rachel Heathman, owner of Dallas City Tour, who believes independent walking-tour guides help maintain the X. She says the X is one of the most asked-about places on her tours.
Arthur Johnson, a vendor in the plaza for 21 years who sells replica JFK assassination newspapers, claims that he once saw a city crew come by years ago and paint the X. He said he hasn’t witnessed anyone redoing the X in recent years but that his cousin is claiming two lime-green X’s that marked spots on this recent day, and he believes him.
The cousin, who also sells replica newspapers in the plaza, refused to answer questions without payment.
Robert Groden, a 72-year-old JFK conspiracy theorist who sells his books and merchandise on the assassination in the plaza, says he and an assistant have maintained the X over the years—but he didn’t claim the current X’s on the road, one of which he called inaccurate.
“It’s historical,” Mr. Groden said of the X. “And I got tired of telling people a 100 times a day where the spot is.”
Vendors and tour guides work year-round at the site. And interest has heightened due to the government’s recent release of a trove of JFK documents.
Last week, visitors ran onto Elm Street to take quick pictures with the X, sometimes causing cars to slow to keep from hitting them. Frequent users of the road know to drive with caution when folks are about in the plaza, not knowing what to expect. There have been instances of people lying in the road beside the X.
The X sometimes moves a smidgen here and there, as evidenced by faded markings of past X’s. Some amateur historians question the accuracy of the X, and whether it really does mark the spot.
Pennington/Getty Images.
Regardless, the X typically gets more attention than a plaque in the grassy knoll at the site noting the plaza was designated as a National Historic Landmark in 1993.
The disappearance of the X’s drew much attention in November 2013, just days before the city’s big ceremony in the plaza to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the assassination. A city spokesman at the time said the two sections of road with X’s were repaved to level out the road to remove any trip hazards.
That was met with deep skepticism, and alternate theories.
Dallas residents and vendors noted the smoothness of the road at the time. They surmised that the city wanted to remove such a visceral reminder of the assassination before the arrival of thousands of visitors to the ceremony, including national media.
A crude white X was back marking the spot within a few days after the ceremony.
From today's WSJ, I copied it because you need a sub to read it.
DALLAS—Some believe the government is behind it. Others point to a cabal of business interests. A 72-year-old claims to have done it, though he admits he did not act alone. Or a figure known as “the cousin” may have played a role.
Yet years of denials, conspiracy theories and even grainy video have failed to reveal the perpetrators behind one of the most enduring mysteries in Dallas: Who creates the “X” on Elm Street in Dealey Plaza that supposedly marks the exact spot where President John F. Kennedy was fatally shot on Nov. 22, 1963?
“Nobody knows who does it,” said Glen Garrett, a 68-year-old vendor in the plaza who sells replica newspapers of that day for $5.
As the 54th anniversary of JFK’s assassination approaches, the X, as it does each year, becomes a magnet for a nation still obsessed with every detail of the tragedy. No matter that the X is a crudely formed marker of dubious origin taped or painted in the middle of a busy street.
Tourists strain from curbsides to get pictures of it through three lanes of flowing traffic. Some are gutsy enough to make it onto the road for a shot posing next to it.
It’s unclear how long the X has been there—locals say at least two decades. On rare occasions, the X vanishes, but always returns. It has been repainted or replaced with reflective tape, mainly in white. Though recently it turned up in green. When it fades, or is scrapped off during road work, it rematerializes within days.
Sometimes a second X marks the spot believed to be where the first bullet hit Mr. Kennedy. But it is the X closest to an underpass that gets the most attention and is considered “The X,” purportedly marking the spot of the final shot listed in an autopsy report as the fatal one.
Several visitors, when asked about the X on a recent day, assumed it is maintained by the City of Dallas.
“It attracts people, that’s why I assume they keep the X down,” said frequent visitor Rickey Chism, a 57-year-old who lives in the Dallas area and as a 3-year-old witnessed the assassination with his family. Mr. Chism carries an old news photo showing him at the site as a child with his family on the day President Kennedy was killed.
The city denies involvement. City spokesman Richard Hill points to tour groups that operate around the plaza as maintainers of the X, but he couldn’t provide any names.
The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza, located in the former Texas School Book Depository where Lee Harvey Oswald shot Mr. Kennedy from a sixth-floor window, also has distanced itself from the X.
“The museum is not responsible in any way for the two X’s painted on Elm Street in Dealey Plaza,” museum spokeswoman Laurie Ivy said in an email.
The museum has a live-streaming webcam from the sniper’s perch, but it is too far away to discern features of individuals near the X.
The city has previously defended its removal of the X during road work. Its rare removal is looked at by JFK aficionados as an attempt by the city to erase an unpleasant past.
“The city takes it away, and they will replace it,” says Rachel Heathman, owner of Dallas City Tour, who believes independent walking-tour guides help maintain the X. She says the X is one of the most asked-about places on her tours.
Arthur Johnson, a vendor in the plaza for 21 years who sells replica JFK assassination newspapers, claims that he once saw a city crew come by years ago and paint the X. He said he hasn’t witnessed anyone redoing the X in recent years but that his cousin is claiming two lime-green X’s that marked spots on this recent day, and he believes him.
The cousin, who also sells replica newspapers in the plaza, refused to answer questions without payment.
Robert Groden, a 72-year-old JFK conspiracy theorist who sells his books and merchandise on the assassination in the plaza, says he and an assistant have maintained the X over the years—but he didn’t claim the current X’s on the road, one of which he called inaccurate.
“It’s historical,” Mr. Groden said of the X. “And I got tired of telling people a 100 times a day where the spot is.”
Vendors and tour guides work year-round at the site. And interest has heightened due to the government’s recent release of a trove of JFK documents.
Last week, visitors ran onto Elm Street to take quick pictures with the X, sometimes causing cars to slow to keep from hitting them. Frequent users of the road know to drive with caution when folks are about in the plaza, not knowing what to expect. There have been instances of people lying in the road beside the X.
The X sometimes moves a smidgen here and there, as evidenced by faded markings of past X’s. Some amateur historians question the accuracy of the X, and whether it really does mark the spot.
Pennington/Getty Images.
Regardless, the X typically gets more attention than a plaque in the grassy knoll at the site noting the plaza was designated as a National Historic Landmark in 1993.
The disappearance of the X’s drew much attention in November 2013, just days before the city’s big ceremony in the plaza to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the assassination. A city spokesman at the time said the two sections of road with X’s were repaved to level out the road to remove any trip hazards.
That was met with deep skepticism, and alternate theories.
Dallas residents and vendors noted the smoothness of the road at the time. They surmised that the city wanted to remove such a visceral reminder of the assassination before the arrival of thousands of visitors to the ceremony, including national media.
A crude white X was back marking the spot within a few days after the ceremony.
