Shadow Noes: FBI Called Shooter a ‘Shadow’ but Physics Makes that Impossible
Explosive photographic evidence once hidden from the American public for years by the FBI, fundamentally upends the official story of President John F. Kennedy’s assassination. At one time the FBI dismissed an image in the photo as a shadow. Small problem. The ‘shadow’ casts a shadow of its own, which is not possible. At the center of the controversy is a long-suppressed image snapped by witness Frank Cancellare on November 22, 1963. It is a photograph that CIA contract pilot and firsthand witness Robert “Tosh” Plumlee insists shows a gunman and spotter positioned on the SOUTH knoll of Dealey Plaza, opposite the infamous grassy knoll that has dominated public attention for decades.
Plumlee says the image captures exactly what federal investigators worked to conceal: a shooter beneath a tree beside a pickup truck in a parking lot the FBI falsely claimed had already been cleared of suspicious individuals and vehicles. Even more stunning, Plumlee argues the Bureau’s assertion that the figure is merely a “shadow” collapses under basic physics, because the alleged shadow appears to cast a shadow of its own.
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- Hidden photograph challenges decades of accepted JFK assassination conclusions
- Plumlee testified privately before Church Committee and HSCA investigators
- FBI claimed south knoll parking lot contained no suspicious vehicles
- Cancellare image allegedly shows shooter, spotter, and pickup truck
- “Shadow” explanation contradicted by shadow beneath figure
In addition to being an EYEWITNESS to the assassination, Tosh also provided sworn, closed door testimony to Congressional committees and investigators, to include the Church Committee and investigators for the House Select Committee on Assassinations (HSCA). Further bolstering that credibility was his being called to testify in front of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee (twice) more than 12 years later. If Plumlee weren’t credible, why would Congressional committees continue calling him back for closed-door testimony so many years AFTER he’d already testified?
Re-examination of Iconic Photo Bolsters Plumlee account
For centuries, the iconic Shroud of Turin was something that could barely be seen with the naked eye. Then, in 1898, after developing photographs of it, Secondo Pio saw the negative, which was much more revealing and has since become an iconic image. The images above include negatives of the shot taken by Frank Cancellare present a similar dynamic.
For decades, Plumlee has insisted that at least one fatal shot came not from the infamous grassy knoll to the north, but from the south knoll — a location largely ignored by the Warren Commission and buried in subsequent investigations.
The photograph, taken by witness UPI photographer Cancellare, shows the south knoll parking area moments after the assassination. The photo was conspicuously absent from the Warren Report and remained hidden from public view until years later when it surfaced through HSCA-related disclosures in the mid to late 1970s.
Why was it concealed?
According to Plumlee, the photograph captured exactly what federal investigators desperately wanted the public to never see.
Plumlee says the Cancellare photo shows a shooter concealed beneath a tree, accompanied by a spotter standing near a pickup truck parked on the south knoll. The FBI, however, officially claimed the parking area had been cleared and contained no suspicious vehicles or individuals. Yet the photograph shows multiple vehicles in the lot — including the pickup truck Plumlee specifically identified decades ago.
Even more controversial is the FBI’s explanation that the dark figure identified by Plumlee is merely a “shadow.” Plumlee rejects that claim outright for one critical reason: the alleged “shadow” itself appears to cast a shadow beneath it, something physically impossible if the object were only a lighting artifact.
The implications are staggering. If Plumlee is correct, federal investigators not only ignored eyewitness testimony and photographic evidence, but actively suppressed material contradicting the lone-gunman narrative before the American public ever had a chance to examine it.
Now, as renewed public interest in the JFK files collides with growing skepticism toward federal transparency, Plumlee is speaking out again — not merely to revisit history, but to expose what he believes was an institutional cover-up stretching from Dealey Plaza to the FBI itself.
This is not another recycled grassy knoll theory. It is the account of a man who says he stood on the south knoll, testified in secret, and watched the government bury evidence hiding in plain sight.
Relevant Article(s):
OPTIONAL Q&A:
- If the FBI cleared the south knoll parking lot, why does the Cancellare photograph appear to show multiple vehicles still present?
- Why was Frank Cancellare’s south knoll photograph excluded from the Warren Report and withheld from the public for years?
- Why did Congressional investigators later obtain the image through HSCA channels if it held no evidentiary value?
- How does the FBI explain a supposed “shadow” that appears to cast a shadow beneath itself?
- Why has the public fixation remained on the grassy knoll while testimony regarding the SOUTH knoll received little scrutiny?
- What did Robert “Tosh” Plumlee tell investigators behind closed doors during the Church Committee and HSCA investigations?
- Why would a CIA contract pilot claim he was aboard a flight transporting an abort team into Dallas the day before the assassination?
- Did federal investigators suppress photographic and eyewitness evidence contradicting the lone-gunman narrative from the very beginning?
ABOUT ROBERT “TOSH” PLUMLEE…
Robert “Tosh” Plumlee is a former contract pilot who claims to have participated in covert aviation operations connected to U.S. intelligence agencies beginning in the early 1950s.
According to his account, he flew missions throughout the Caribbean and Latin America involving weapons transfers, intelligence logistics, and clandestine operations targeting Cuba.
Plumlee has provided statements to investigators examining intelligence activities and the Kennedy assassination over several decades.
ABOUT DORY WILEY…
Dory A. Wiley has studied the assassination of President John F. Kennedy for more than 40 years and is one of Dallas’s foremost independent researchers on the subject. He has done extensive work on the claims made by Robert “Tosh” Plumlee and finds them to be largely unassailable. For the past decade he has hosted an annual JFK Assassination Symposium in Dallas, bringing together researchers, historians, and eyewitnesses to examine the evidence and pursue the historical record. He serves on the Board of the Dallas Historical Society, and the University of North Texas Library. Mr. Wiley is President & CEO of Commerce Street Holdings, LLC, and appears frequently on CNBC and Fox Business as a guest contributor on financial topics.
ABOUT RALPH PEZZULLO…
Pezzullo is a New York Times bestselling author, and award-winning playwright and screenwriter. He is also the host of the popular podcast “Heroes Behind Headlines,” which is ranked in the top 1% off all podcasts worldwide.
Born in New York City, he grew up in Mexico, Vietnam, Bolivia, Colombia, Guatemala, Uruguay and Nicaragua as the son of a US diplomat. His over 30 books published include New York Times bestsellers Jawbreaker (with former CIA operative Gary Berntsen), Inside SEAL Team Six (with Don Mann), Most Evil, Zero Footprint, Left of Boom and Ghost. His latest books, both released in 2025, are The Great Chinese Art Heist and Stolen Elections: Takedown of Democracies Worldwide.
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