What Killed JFK Jr.?

By Robert D. Morningstar, Airman

 

 

 

 Prelude from "The Book of Enoch":


"XLIII: And I saw other lightnings and the stars of heaven, and I saw how He called them all by their names and they hearkened unto Him...Also another phenomenon I saw in regard to the lightnings: how some of the stars arise and become lightnings and cannot part with their new forms."

 During the course of the past two weeks, July 17th through July 31st, 1999, this writer has received much "hate mail" for his stated opinions on the JFK Assassination and the accident that took the life of JFK Jr. Some have been so base, so vile and so foul that they cannot be reprinted here. Others, regarding the JFK assassination, received from "cranks", have accused the writer of mendacity (which I deny) and of having a "God Complex" which I cannot deny for it is true: when God speaks, I listen. So when my "intuition" advised me not to fly to Brookhaven Airport from Essex County Airport on the night of July 16, 1999, I decided to postpone the flight.
 JFK Jr. departed Runway 22 (upper right) on 7/16/99 In recent days, many wild and hair-brained ideas have been bruited about regarding JFK Jr.'s fatal crash from a fraudulent "FBI Preliminary Report" and an "Interpol" agent's leak, to a bomb plot and finally, the Brookhaven Laboratories' purported use of a particle beam weapon aimed at JFK Jr.'s airplane to destroy it.  The most controversial and divisive of all is the above-mentioned "FBI Preliminary Report" which many otherwise intelligent people seem to have taken as gospel truth. It has caused a lot pain, great heartache and much evil because the villain who wrote it seemed to know a smidgen government jargon and cleverly imbedded emotionally loaded terms within it along with simple acronyms (i.e., POTUS) for the simple-minded and gullible conspiracy fanatics eager to eat up anything as long as it explains the tragedy in conspiratorial terms and insinuations.

 
 Using a semblance of facts and a lot of wildly paranoid imaginings, someone anonymously concocted the "FBI" document to outrage the reader into jumping to a single conclusion, namely, that someone planted a bomb on JFK Jr.'s Saratoga II TC and blew off its tail section in flight.
 As a pilot with many years of flying experience, this writer has tried for the past two weeks to keep a level head and to extract the facts from the fiction in order to keep this from destroying the credibility of many who have devoted years to unraveling the real conspiracy: the assassination of his father, President John F. Kennedy.
 For this effort, this writer has received excruciatingly vicious attacks to his credibility, credentials and motives. Some have gone so far as to insinuate that the writer is part of the cover-up, "eager to buy into the government's explanation". I responded that I was eager for nothing but the truth in expressing my opinion. Such is the nature of "the Beast", it turns on anyone who does not tow the "conspiracy party line" and swallows all the bilge the Beast is spouting unquestioningly.
 Does it make sense to you, reader, that this writer, who has dedicated many years of work to unraveling the mystery of the murder of President Kennedy should now turn against the President's son and conspire to cover-up his "murder"? Of course, it is ludicrous yet some would have you believe that it is so. Why? Simply, because they say so! Or, because they WANT to believe that it IS so! Yet, nothing could be farther from the truth.
 Let us consider the purported "FBI Preliminary Report". I first received this through a usually reliable Internet news agency, which has done good work in the past, particularly in regard to recent school shootings in Littleton. The "Report" was touted as a "big leak" from someone "inside" the investigation who, of course, must remain anonymous for his own protection. However, as this writer will demonstrate in the following dissection and analyses of the patently specious document, a "mole", the craven author of the "big leak", has simply micturated a river lies down many thirsty people's throats.

 The document reeked of "leak" from the very opening point. As I wrote to a friend who seemed to have been taken in by it hook, line and sinker:

"I cannot go along with this pseudo-FBI Report...I just think that you and others have been fooled by someone with an agenda of their own design intended to inflame passions and split the fragile unity of the JFK research and other conspiracy research groups (Waco, OKC, Columbine, etc.) asunder. I apologize for my sarcastic comments...because I realize from his response that he (the disseminator) really believes his "leaker" and is not responsible for its creation but only for its propagation and that can only be described as 'misguided', misguided by 'the mole' who wrote it."

 The mole that wrote that piece made several mistakes in its construction and it appears self-evident that whoever wrote it never got near the aircraft. One of the most telling remarks is the one concerning the luggage having been blown out of THE REAR of the plane. Another is his gaff regarding "third trimester". Yet, another is the classification of the document first (even before it was opened or read).
 Point # 1. No declassification until 7/22/2029.

 The date 2029 appears carefully chosen and is designed to be associated in our subconscious minds with the real cover-up of the Warren Commission Report documents by Lyndon Johnson which the unconscious memory will easily recall was the year 2039! Of course, 2029...2039. As anyone can see it rhymes, and of course if "it rhymes it MUST be true"...(but as they say in the argot) NOT!


This is followed by 3 yet more ridiculous and meaningless points 2 through 4:

 "2. This is in deference to the wishes of a senior member of the Kennedy family." Writerís Comment: The writer finds this point insufferably derogatory and insulting to the Kennedy family. The idea that Senator Ted Kennedy (to whom this surely refers) would ask for a cover-up of the facts instead of justice for his "murdered" nephew and his family is beneath contempt.
 "3. Also in deference to the order of the national government and in respect to certain foreign intelligence agencies having reciprocal agreements with the U.S."
4. POTUS order and national security findings attached."Writerís comment: It is difficult to conceive that anyone could take this lie seriously since NOTHING IS ATTACHED! The acronym "POTUS" has become a "boogey man" to many right wing radicals, standing (as it does) for "President of the United States". The mole has used the word "deference" twice and "respect" once in points 2 & 3, very kind and considerate sounding terms although "inference", "insinuation" and "disrespect" would be more appropriate.
 The writer would like to skip to point 15 so that points 5 through 13 may be taken as a whole.
 "15. A short, perfunctory examination of the recovered bodies was completed. Examination revealed that Carolyn Bessette Kennedy was in third trimester pregnant, the fetus a boy."
 Writerís comments on Point 15, i.e., the moleís "third trimester" gaff: Apparently, the villain who wrote this doesn't know what "third trimester" means. If Caroline Bessette Kennedy had been in "third trimester" of pregnancy, her belly would have been quite big, quite obvious, unconcealable and the talk of the town. There is no possibility that gossips and the "paparazzi" (paper vultures) would not have noticed and would have been feeding on the story for weeks while holding the world in suspense with bated breath.
 This fraudulent document seems typical of the type of disinformation (with no basis in fact) that is put out by hate groups. It appears to be the product of a rabid person with an axe to grind and willing to use anything to play on the pain and sympathies of an already wounded world audience. To what purpose? For their own secret agenda...with no weapon but hatred to fan the flames of outrage and indignation. It sounds like anti-abortion propaganda used by its activists to horrify the public and to "demoralize" and "immoralize" the opposition. The simple term "third trimester" has become so emotionally loaded in regard to abortion that it may elicit an immediate negative emotional association in the reader even without the word "abortion" following it. Naturally, as the mole chose the gender, it had to be a boy, further alienating those of us who care about the male lineage of the Kennedy family. Point 15 finishes with a series of incoherent non-sequiters regarding the recovery and shipping of the bodies "to foreign locations" and is not worthy of any further comment except to say that they indicate again that the mole was never near the evidence, neither the aircraft nor the recovered bodies.
 Is the reader starting to see my point?
 The rapidity with which this document was produced is also astounding. It seems to have been written even as the pieces of airplane were being pulled out of the ocean by someone who thinks they know the FBI/government jargon. It is clearly a piece of emotional blackmail designed to sicken, incense and outrage the reader and to indict the FBI, FAA, NTSB and the U.S.government. Several of whose members may merit indictment for other transgressions and crimes (Waco, Ruby Ridge, etc) but NOT for this.
 Let us look at points 5 through 12:
 "5. The recovered aircraft shows evidence of an explosive device having been glued or affixed within the tail luggage compartment.
 6. Device was apparently actuated by a barometric trigger. Radio signals not ruled out.
 7. Tail of aircraft was dismembered from the plane making it front heavy.
 8. Study of radar shows the plane fell in excess of 6,000 feet per minute up to radar cutoff.
 9. Satellite images supplied by the National Reconnaissance Office record an outbursting flash from the aircraft just prior to it going into perpendicular descent.
 10. Tail structure was dismembered just prior to descent."
 Writerís note: The mole has now mentioned the "dismemberment" (another emotionally loaded term) of the tail TWICE in Points 7 and 10.
 "11. Recovery of a piece of luggage from beyond the flight path of the aircraft correlates with it being hurtled out of the tail luggage compartment at outburst."
 *Note: If a bomb had blown off the rear or tail section, the luggage would have been "behind" not "beyond" the flight path.
 Regarding the severance (not "dismemberment") of the tail section and luggage issue, the evidence of "boobery" on the part of the anonymous author is even more telling: Whoever wrote this paranoid fantasy was never near the evidence and does not know much about the aircraft!

 REGARDING SEVERED TAIL SECTIONS IN CRASHES


First, in regard to severed tail sections, this has happened in the past. The Vne (never exceed speed) of a Piper Saratoga II is 193 Kts. So, if JFR Jr. exceeded this Vne, one of the likeliest possibilities is that the empennage (tail section) would have broken off. Being smaller than the main fuselage and wing (root) section, it would be more likely to brake off first. Many pilot's may recall that several years ago, the Beech V-Tail Bonanza was given the name of "The Doctor Killer" when so many "m.d." (and I might add a few lawyers) flew this high performance plane so fast that they were regularly killed in this manner, i.e. breaking off the tail section, which of course would make the remaining part of the fuselage, with engine running at full power, fly off with little or no time for "Mayday". But as you will see below this did not happen.

 "12. Preliminary examination of the aircraft shows residue of an explosive device the Laboratory identifies as being the type used by certain foreign intelligence agencies. Refer to POTUS order and findings"
 Writer's note on Point 12: This is patently false as no signs of fire were found in the recovered wreckage but it does serve the purpose of casting suspicion on "foreign intelligence", insinuating Israel and Mossad, others prefer to implicate Red China.
 "13. Study of Air Traffic Control and other radio signals shows no Mayday report from the aircraft, explained by rapidity of descent. "
 In JFK Jr.'s case, flying at 2500 feet, one can easily calculate how fast the plane would plummet, descending at 5000 to 6000 ft/min., roughly 30 seconds. These last 30 seconds would have been spent by the pilot trying to regain control (if he was conscious) while analyzing the problem, seeking a solution and recovering control. Only after realizing that there was NO SOLUTION would the "Mayday" or "Pan Pan" call have gone out and the "7700" distress code would only then have been dialed into the Mode C transponder to transmit the emergency signal.

 However, if the engine had exploded (which it did NOT do), all electrical systems, due to incineration, including radio equipment, would have ceased to function.


ON RECOVERING LAUREN'S LUGGAGE


It is REALLY hard to be a "good liar" and the writer of the purported "FBI Preliminary Report" is a really BAD LIAR. Another of the moleís miscalculations occurred regarding the recovery of the luggage.

 Lauren Bessette's luggage was recovered first on the day after the crash. It was this FACT which convinced this writer that all three victim had perished when this was reported early on July 17th. I did not need to hear anything else to know that if the luggage had indeed broken out of the fuselage, the impact had to have been catastrophic. When this luggage washed up on the beach the next morning, it was presumed by many that (because luggage is stowed in the rear of most of the smaller Piper aircraft) this indicated that a bomb had blown off the tail where the luggage was presumed to have been stowed in this aircraft. This is not necessarily so.

 Two months before this accident, I had read the current issue of AOPA PILOT (July 1999) which actually came out in May) featuring the same Saratoga II TC on the cover. The article, written by Peter A. Bedell clearly states on page 50 that:

"Loading a Saratoga is a snap thanks to THE STANDARD NOSE BAGGAGE COMPARTMENT."
(Emphasis mine).

 It is known now that the engine separated from the fuselage upon impact and, therefore, the luggage would have gone with it. The recovery team found THAT THE TAIL SECTION DID NOT SEPARATE FROM THE FUSELAGE UNTIL THE AIRCRAFT CRASHED INTO THE SEA! (See explanation below).
 "14. Investigation and examination has been strictly compartmentalized." Note: Point # 14 is inherently contradictory and no comment is necessary except to question "How would this mole know all 15 points of disinformation if it had REALLY been "strictly compartmentalized"?

 THE WITNESSES ON PHILBIN BEACH

But how do we explain the "explosion"?

 This writer, at first, thought the possibility existed that the engine had exploded (one can never trust an engine 100 percent). Engine overheating, especially in a turbo charged one, is another consideration that must be monitored more closely in the Saratoga than in Beech Bonanzas or Mooney aircraft which have cowl flaps for added cooling in climb or descent attitudes. As the AOPA Magazine article by Peter A. Bedell states:

 "Despite the fact that there are no cowl flaps, engine cooling during the climb was ADEQUATE (emphasis mine-RDM) with oil temperature reaching 210 degrees F and cylinder heads reaching about 380 degrees F. In cruise, these came down to 190 and 350, respectively."

Writer's note: The word "adequate" does not mean "good".

 On the hot and steamy night on which the tragedy occurred, this would have had to be monitored even more closely as the temperatures between 2500 feet and the surface were in the high 80's and mid-90's. JFK Jr. made three ascents and descents (which I interpreted as disorientation) in the moments before the catastrophe and the effect on the engine in these rapid ascents and descents if not closely monitored and well managed could have caused the engine to overheat.
 What appears to me to be a completely falsified "FBI Preliminary Report" is being bandied about seeking to plant suspicion on the U.S. Government (and Israel), to inflame passions and to compromise and frame everyone investigating the crash.

THE REMAINING PROBLEM
 However, there remained the problem of the explosion. A white flash and a loud noise WAS seen and heard near the site of the crash around the same time. Eyewitnesses on Philbin beach had seen it along with several others, some on the waters off Gay's Head.
 This FACT was immediately seized upon as THE PROOF that a bomb had been planted on the plane, in the tail (which we now know DID NOT SEPARATE FROM THE FUSELAGE UNTIL IMPACT) and of course, this "PROVED" beyond the shadow of a doubt that JFK Jr. had been assassinated by the forces of evil, including everyone from Bill and Hillary (Newshawk and militia theory) to Israel and the Mossad (Barry Chamish theory).
 It really is amazing to me, living as I do in New York City and flying from the same airport (Essex County Airport) for 9 years, what incredible eyesight Newshawk in the western U.S. and Chamish in Israel have that they can tell this writer exactly what the weather conditions were ("EXCELLENT" is their word) on July 16th, when I looked out my window in Manhattan that evening and could not see New Jersey's Palisades across the Hudson. I too had considered plans to fly that night to Brookhaven Airport (where the nuclear laboratories are located) but postponed it because the haze was so bad that I could not see across 3 miles from "the house on 92nd Street" to the New Jersey Palisades. At Essex County Airport, Kyle Bailey, a pilot who had similar plans to fly to Martha's Vineyard that night, saw JFK Jr. who had broken his ankle on Memorial Day weekend "using one crutch" during the pre-flight check. Kyle Bailey also looked at the sky and the haze and knowing that it would get worse over the ocean cancelled his flight.

 A WHITE FLASH AND EXPLOSION OBSERVED BY WITNESSES


However, the problem of the bright, white flash seen in the hazy sky and the sound of an explosion still remained. I cannot (and would never) say that the witnesses on Philbin Beach and on the water did not see and hear what they have claimed. Just like the witnesses at Dealey Plaza, I believe them, they were there. I know they saw it and heard it and like good citizens, good Americans, reported what they saw in the hope that we might get to the truth. This singular fact which has been seized upon as "THE PROOF POSITIVE" of the conspiracy to murder the son of my childhood hero truly did puzzle and perplex me until last night. I have pondered this FACT for two long weeks.

WHAT CAUSED THE WHITE FLASH?

What could have caused the explosion, the white flash, and the loud noise? What kind of high explosive flashes "white" when detonated (gasoline flashes yellow-orange)? What could have damaged the plane, disoriented the pilot (or rendered him unconscious), destroyed the electrical system (prohibiting communication of a distress call) but left the engine running at full power until impact?

 On July 29th, nearly two weeks after the tragedy, as I drove home in New York City toward "the house on 92nd Street", I found the answer. That night, a night remarkably like the night on which John F. Kennedy Jr. died, with temperatures in the mid-90's, extremely high humidity and exceptionally hazy, I looked into the sky and I saw one of the many faces of God. The Face appeared as a great white flash in the haze with a thunderous roaring voice. A flash of lightning arced across the sky before me, followed by another, farther away, deeper in the hazy night sky and appearing simply as a "white flash", its ARC obscured by the haze. This was followed by the muffled sound of an "explosion".

 That night I began to write this report while a cacophony of conspiracy theories arced across the internet still proclaiming evil forces or scientists had bombed the tail or "beamed" JFK Jr. with a "Star Wars" technology weapon out of the sky for political reasons.


The bombing of the tail section scenario was debunked when all the pieces of the aircraft recovered were found within a 120 foot-long debris field. Had the aircraft tail been severed by a bomb at 2500 feet in altitude and cruising at 160 knots (184 mph), the tail would have simply tumbled and fluttered vertically into the sea with the aircraft flying away in an unpredictable direction into the sea. In the 30 seconds which would have followed, the aircraft, descending at 5000-6000 feet per minute, would have left the tail BEHIND, depending on the angle of descent, with separation anywhere from .5 to 1.533 miles. The tail, in fact, might never have been found. Yet, according to the NTSB Report that was published two days later, the entire debris field was only 120 feet long running in a direction approximately from NNE (010) to SSW (090). The tail did separate but it was upon impact after the plane struck the pitch-black sea. The airplane cartwheeled violently, striking the right wing first, then the engine compartment, with it the engine still running, tore itself from its engine mounts with the luggage in the adjacent compartment spilling into the sea. This was followed by the left wing and finally, with a huge impact the tail separated from the aircraft fuselage ALL WITHIN 120 FEET OF EACH OTHER...North by northeast to south by southwest.Still, the rumors continued to harp on "particle beam weapons from Brookhaven National Laboratories, "the bomb", and the "clear" and "excellent" weather derived mainly through misinterpretation of radar weather maps purported to be from the night of July 16 and the morning of the 17th.After contacting the New York Air Traffic Control Weather Briefing service for confirmation, this writer posted several notices informing the publishers and promoters of the "excellent weather" scenario of their misinterpretation of the maps: <Haze is neither "smoke" nor "precipitation". It is not considered"weather". It is considered an "obstruction to vision".

 Consider this: radar was invented to see through such "obstructions to vision" and it really would NOT be very useful if it picked it the obstruction you're trying to see through, would it? You might just as well look out the window for all that would be worth. I first confirmed this with the NYC Air Traffic Control Weather Briefing Service, which has no vested interest in weather "cover-up".

 I've tried to explain this to (the publishers of the weather radar maps) but they've got a tiger by the tail and don't know how to let it go...'cause it will eat them (and a few others) alive.>


I explained to several colleagues the plight and predicament of a pilot who unwittingly flies into severe weather (thunderstorm or lightning). To one who had written that "Distractions just before landing can cause the pilot to lose their sense of direction, especially at nightover water." I responded: "...a bolt of lightning is the most distracting thing a pilot will ever see and if it's at night, after the eyes have adapted to night vision, 50 million volts of electricity in your face will destroy night vision instantly. Cruising at 160 knots and at 2500 feet, it will probably be the last thing that pilot will ever see. Just remember how many seconds it took your eyes to adapt after the last flashcube popped in front of your face the last time someone took a picture of you indoors or at night. What? About 7 seconds? Imagine that amplified about a million times...and that's what I believe JFK Jr. had to deal with. I pondered the problem of the white flash and the sound of an explosion, which the witnesses on Philbin beach saw and everyone has assumed that it HAD to be a bomb. If it was, it was a "God Bomb"...Heat Lightning! The atmospheric conditions were perfect for this phenomenon: extreme heat, extremely high humidity, and rapid cooling occurring after sunset and over the ocean. It explains everything: disorientation, shock (both kinds), possibly loss of consciousness, loss of control, accelerated descent, etc. A similar incident happened to me 10 years ago but luckily it was in daytime. It is human instinct to turn away rapidly from such a thing. This would explain JFK Jr.'s unusual turns and maneuvers in the immediate aftermath, which were originally thought to be signs of "disorientation" or "pilot error". This writer was amongst those who originally misinterpreted his evasive reactions in these terms. I hereby apologize to the pilot-in-command, John F. Kennedy Jr., for jumping to conclusions.

 The explosion story had puzzled me and I couldn't dismiss it. The people saw what they say they saw. With the dense haze (verified by pilots who flew that night) the people on the beach would not have seen the ARC only a white flash and the sound.

Today, August 3rd, I received more scientific data supporting and, I believe, confirming my theory, with the release of the latest report which says that all the light bulbs in the aircraft were blown out, electric circuits fused, the battery totally discharged and signs of electromagnetic pulse. This continues to be misinterpreted as a "particle beam weapon" issuing from Brookhaven National Laboratories. However, it is partially correct, there isn't a particle beam anywhere more powerful than nature's own: a lightning bolt. What has more electromagnetic pulse than a 50 million-volt lightning bolt? All right, 60 or 70 million does or an atomic explosion! But, I'm sure you get the point."

 Aircraft are struck by lightning regularly, many survive, and some do not. John F. Kennedy Jr. may not have survived a lethal lightning strike, typically seen in this region on extremely hot, humid and hazy nights. These are the perfect conditions for heat lightning. No rain, no precipitation, just heat lightning, pure, simple and devastatingly destructive to anyone near it. It does not have to strike your aircraft directly to disorient you or to
knock you unconscious. This nearly occurred to me in flight many years ago flying from Brookhaven Airport. Columns of lightning surrounded the Piper Warrior, over the nuclear accelerator ring near the famous laboratories, heading back to base at MacArthur Airport, where I first learned to fly. I am lucky to be alive to tell the story. Why? Because I listen to the "voice of God" when it roars across the sky, I head the other way; I take evasive maneuvers, as JFK Jr. instinctively did that night.


Some are not so lucky. JFK Jr. was not lucky on July 16th, 1999. God appears to be the great conspirator; God is the great assassin! If you don't believe it, consider the souls of those who died on the Titanic, ask the remaining survivors. God took them suddenly in a similar, natural manner, coming out of the darkness of the sea as a great white flash of ice which few saw coming. This was followed by a long, roaring, rumbling sound, which many heard. Yet, no one could believe it. The death of John F. Kennedy Jr. appears to have been "an act of God." God will one day take me and He will one day take you. But, of course, they'll always blame someone else.

 An Epitaph for All Lost Airmen:


"Agony and ecstasy, Life and Death,
Are separated from each other by the margin of one breath.
Why should we choose one above the other?
When One comes from the Universal Father
And the Other takes us to the Universal Mother?"
 ---From "The Winds of History", written in memory of JFK and his son.
John F. Kennedy, once claimed "...that here on earth, God's work must truly be our own."
Robert Lee Scott, a "Flying Tiger", claimed "God is my Co-Pilot".
Robert D. Morningstar adds, "...He is also my Navigator."
The reader must excuse me now, I must get on with "God's work".
This PIREP (Pilot's Report) has been forwarded to the National Transportation Safety Board.

 

 

 

 

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