A decades-old home movie that vanished from public view nearly half a century ago could resurface and dramatically reshape the long-running debate over President John F. Kennedy’s assassination, potentially lending support to claims that a second gunman was involved.
The grainy 8mm film was shot by Dallas air-conditioning repairman Orville Nix on Nov. 22, 1963, as shots rang out in Dealey Plaza. The footage has not been seen since 1978, when it was sent to a Los Angeles company for technical analysis and later came under federal control — even though federal officials now maintain that the government no longer possesses it.
Nix passed away in 1972, but his granddaughter continued a legal fight inherited from her late father to reclaim the film. She argues that the footage could be worth more than $900 million, believing it may hold crucial evidence related to what she sees as one of the most consequential coverups in American history.
That effort took a major step forward after a federal judge ruled that the dispute over ownership and custody of the film may proceed, opening the door for the footage to potentially be made public for the first time in decades.
Unlike the widely known Zapruder film, which captured the fatal head shot, Nix’s camera was aimed directly toward the grassy knoll — the area many eyewitnesses believed gunfire originated from. For years, critics of the lone-shooter theory have argued that a second assassin may have been positioned behind a fence on that rise.
Nix’s footage shows first lady Jackie Kennedy climbing onto the back of the presidential limousine moments after her husband was struck, along with a view of the fence atop the knoll. Supporters of further analysis believe advances in optics and artificial intelligence could now extract details previously impossible to detect, potentially challenging the conclusion that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone.
“It’s really the only one that is known to have captured the grassy knoll area of Dealey Plaza right as the assassination occurs,” said Scott Watnick, an attorney representing Nix’s granddaughter, Gail Nix Jackson. He noted that the footage could reinforce a 1978 House Select Committee on Assassinations finding that Kennedy “was probably assassinated as a result of a conspiracy.” That congressional panel had obtained the Nix film during its investigation and played a role in the complicated legal history surrounding it.
“If we subjected the camera-original film to optics technology of 2026, we can certainly capture details in the film that we never could have captured when . . . the committee had the film in 1978,” Watnick said.
The FBI later disputed aspects of the House committee’s findings, publishing a 1980 analysis that challenged the acoustic evidence used to suggest a second shooter.
Over the past six decades, custody of the Nix film has shifted among multiple entities, including the FBI, United Press International, Congress, and a private Los Angeles firm, Aerospace Corp., which analyzed the footage and said it returned it to the National Archives. In 1988, the National Archives stated that it held only a copy, not the original. A Jan. 15 order by Court of Federal Claims Judge Stephen Schwartz now allows attorneys to pursue discovery aimed at clarifying what happened to the film and who controlled it.
The family’s legal argument relies on the Fifth Amendment, which bars the government from taking private property without providing “just compensation.”
At the same time, the 1992 JFK Records Act granted the government authority over assassination-related materials while establishing a framework for public disclosure.
The family’s valuation, however, could face skepticism. In 1999, an arbitration panel assessed the value of the more famous Zapruder film at $16 million, describing it as “a unique historical item of unprecedented worth.”
Attorneys for Nix Jackson say that valuation provides a baseline for what the Nix film may have been worth decades ago, but they argue that the government’s prolonged possession warrants substantial additional compensation.
“If one were to say this film is worth what that one is worth as of ’92, and you apply 32 years of compound interest at a quarterly compound basis, you start to get numbers in the many many hundred of millions,” Watnick said. One “preliminary estimate” reached by his team was $930 million.
The lawsuit, however, is not solely about money. Nix’s son, Orville Nix Jr., died in July, delaying parts of the case. His granddaughter’s legal team says the proceedings could force new disclosures about how the government has handled assassination-related materials, including fragments of Kennedy’s brain and recordings of internal communications among Dallas police on the day of the shooting.
“This is evidence of a murder, after all, of our nation’s president,” Watnick said. “So it’s even more important that we know where these records are.” The attorneys say they are unwilling to accept official assurances at face value, citing several key items they claim have become “unlocated” over the years, including the original supplementary autopsy report, as many as three autopsy photographs, and Kennedy’s brain.
The National Archives and Records Administration did not respond to a request for comment.
The 1964 Warren Commission concluded that Oswald acted alone in firing from the Texas School Book Depository as Kennedy’s motorcade passed below, but its findings have been questioned by critics for decades, keeping the assassination at the center of one of the most enduring controversies in American history.
{Matzav.com}
The Department of Transportation warned Thursday that a prolonged partial government shutdown would result in the furlough of more than 10,000 Federal Aviation Administration employees, while thousands of air traffic controllers would be required to remain on the job without pay.
According to the shutdown contingency plan released by the department, 13,835 air traffic controllers would be deemed essential and ordered to continue working during the funding lapse. The prospect has raised alarms about added stress on an already strained aviation system as the shutdown stretches on.
The funding impasse is expected to last until at least Tuesday, as House Democrats have not yet agreed to supply the votes necessary to expedite passage of a spending package that would reopen the government.
In a notice posted on its website, the Department of Transportation acknowledged the operational impact of the funding gap, stating, “Portions of DOT are affected by a lapse in appropriations.” The agency warned that “Website information may be outdated, transactions may be delayed, and inquiries may not be answered until funding is restored.”
The aviation industry has experienced significant disruption during past shutdowns. During last year’s extended funding lapse, the system saw widespread fallout, including more than 4,500 flight cancellations over a single weekend in mid-November and scaled-back operations at dozens of airports across the country.
Concerns about aviation safety have also remained elevated over the past year following several serious incidents, including a deadly collision in January 2025 between an Army helicopter and an American Airlines flight.
President Donald Trump weighed in on the situation, urging lawmakers to act swiftly to bring the shutdown to an end. “So hopefully enough people will use their heads,” Trump said, warning that a prolonged lapse in government funding would be “not a good thing for the country.”
{Matzav.com}
The Trump administration has conveyed to Iran through several indirect channels that it is willing to hold talks aimed at reaching an agreement, according to a senior U.S. official cited by Axios.
The outreach comes at a moment of heightened tension, as President Trump has ordered a substantial American military buildup in the Persian Gulf. That show of force has raised the stakes, amplifying concerns over whether diplomacy can still prevent a U.S. strike on Iran and stop the situation from spiraling into a broader regional conflict.
At the same time, Turkey, Egypt, and Qatar are working behind the scenes to arrange a meeting later this week in Ankara between White House envoy Steve Witkoff and senior Iranian officials, according to two regional sources familiar with the effort. One official involved in the mediation said the process is advancing, telling Axios, “It is moving. We are doing our best.” A second U.S. official separately confirmed that a meeting between American and Iranian representatives could indeed take place this week in Turkey.
The three countries pushing the talks are the same ones that previously coordinated with the Trump administration on the Gaza ceasefire, and they now see U.S.–Iran negotiations as a way to prevent a wider regional war. White House officials stress that President Trump has not made a final decision on whether to strike Iran and continues to leave the door open to a diplomatic solution. U.S. officials also say that Trump’s recent public comments about negotiations are not a bluff, though they acknowledge there is still uncertainty over whether Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei will authorize his diplomats to agree to terms that Washington would accept.
According to sources, Qatar, Egypt, and Turkey have been in contact with both Washington and Tehran, coordinating their efforts and attempting to build momentum toward direct engagement. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Sunday in an interview with CNN that “friendly countries” are working to build confidence between Iran and the United States, describing those efforts as “fruitful.” He added, “I see the possibility of another talk if the U.S. negotiations team follows what President Trump said: to come to a fair and equitable deal to ensure there are no nuclear weapons.”
Over the weekend, Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani traveled to Tehran, where he met with Ali Larijani, the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council and a close confidant of Khamenei. Shortly after that meeting, Larijani wrote on X that a “formation of a framework for negotiations is progressing.” Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi also became directly involved, speaking by phone on Saturday with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and urging him to agree to a meeting with Trump administration officials. A day earlier, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan hosted Iran’s foreign minister and discussed possible venues and agenda items for a potential meeting with White House representatives.
President Trump addressed the issue publicly on Saturday night while speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, expressing cautious optimism that talks could yield an acceptable outcome. “I hope they negotiate something that is acceptable. … They can negotiate a deal that would be satisfactory, no nuclear weapons. etc. They should do that. I don’t know that they will. But they are talking to us. Seriously talking to us,” Trump said.
In contrast, Iran’s supreme leader struck a confrontational tone the following day. Speaking in Tehran on Sunday, Khamenei accused the United States of seeking to dominate Iran and seize its natural resources, claiming Washington wants to “devour” the country and take over its oil, gas, and minerals. “The Americans should know if they start a war, this time it will be a regional war,” he warned, making no reference to negotiations.
When asked later about Khamenei’s remarks, Trump pointed to the American military presence already deployed in the region. He said the United States has “the biggest, most powerful ships in the world over there,” and added, “Hopefully we’ll make a deal. If we don’t make a deal, then we’ll find out whether or not he was right.”
As diplomatic maneuvering continues, military coordination between allies is also underway. IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir traveled to Washington on Friday and Saturday for meetings with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine, where the two discussed the possibility of a U.S. strike against Iran. U.S. and Israeli officials said the low-profile visit focused on briefing one another on defensive measures and potential offensive plans should a war with Iran break out.
{Matzav.com}
