It would be a serious understatement to say that this year's COPA gathering ... was anything less than the best in my recollection... After having the incredible honor of saying a few carefully chosen words at the knoll at 12:30 on Friday November 22 ... I went here and there to do some digging for ongoing projects, and then suited up to give the keynote at the Adolphus. (T)he world is going to view the 40th anniversary next year with some seriousness, and it is our job and duty to guarantee that our side of the story is well represented, involves recent research, and does not flog long-dead ponies.

BILL TURNER spoke ... and told how he went from loyal FBI agent to serious skeptic ... his recent book Rearview Mirror is nothing short of anecdotally brilliant. He spoke of how we are seen as "conspiracy buffs," but quickly added that those of us who have done no digging or serious reading are nothing more than "lone nut buffs." ... He indicated a firm conviction that LHO was an FBI informant and had been contacted ten days before JFK's murder by agents W. Harlan Brown and James Hosty ... Turner closed with the famous "we all breathe the same air," and "miles to go before I sleep."

LISA PEASE led off (discussion of the RFK assassination) which took past thinking in a different, but logically reasonable, direction. ...the most telling point was Pease's argument that Sirhan fired no shots at all ... buttressed by verbal and written citations of eyewitnesses. ...the autopsy was clear about RFK being killed from a shot from behind, at close range ... it would have been pointless for Sirhan to fire at RFK, as he might have killed those who were slated to do the actual execution (that logic virtually parallels the JFK case in places).

LARRY TEETER, Sirhan's attorney since 1984, gave a riveting brief which makes clear that Sirhan had, in fact, no trial at all, and that his attorney at the time had been framed with his hand in the cookie jar, and in essence became the prosecutor for his own client, allowing evidence and stipulations that no defense attorney would ever allow. Teeter is continuing to file briefs...

JOSIAH THOMPSON again argued against the alteration of the Zapruder film, calling it an "urban myth"... Thompson saw the ongoing argument as part of a "death spiral" when "we start eating our own." GERRY SMITH attempted to rebut ... argued that the film was not shot at 18 frames/second, but rather at 48 frames/second, and that two-thirds of the frames were removed. When shown at a speed of 18, there is no obvious loss...

Speaking of his own research, DONALD B. THOMPSON gave a riveting interpretatin of the acoustic evidence. ...the DPD recordings showed five "impulse trains" suggesting five shots. ... Thomas took extreme care to point out how, exactly, H.B. McLain's motorcycle picked up the sounds, both in the sense of location and modulation, and his presentation was extremely convincing.

JOE BILES ... presented the most balanced essay yet on the Garrison prosecution in New Orleans.