Echo correlation analysis and the acoustic evidence in the Kennedy assassination revisited

A Dallas Police Department recording contemporaneous with the Kennedy assassination contains five impulsive sounds that have the acoustic waveform of Dealey Plaza gunfire. One of the sounds matches the echo pattern of a test shot fired from the Grassy Knoll. The shock wave precedence associated with this pattern is consistent with the muzzle velocity of a .30 calibre rifle. Criticism of the acoustic identifications on statistical grounds is based on erroneous assumptions concerning the assignment of values to the parameters that determine the probability that random noises could resemble gunshot patterns. A conservative estimate of the true value of the probability that the putative Grassy Knoll shot is attributable to random radio noise is no greater than 0.037. Alleged asynchroneity of the sounds with the time of the assassination stemmed from several incorrect assumptions. Whatever their origin, the gunshot-like sounds occur exactly synchronous with the time of the shooting.