Let's assume that this photo is the real stuff, ask how is this taken, by who, at what angle and distance and by what camera.To capture the moment a bullet travelling about 3 times the speed of sound, even intentionally, carefully organised, by the best photographer, etc etc, is quite impossible. This shot is a freak shot, a miracle of sort.
The speed of the bullet is faster than the speed of sound. This means that the bullet would have gone passed Trump before one could hear the sound of the firing. Thus, a photographer cannot anticipate when to press the button on the camera. The clarity of the shot means that it is likely taken by a DSLR at very high speed, like 1/4000 or 1/8000 sec. A high speed video camera could capture the same pic. In an event like the rally, no one would be thinking of shooting the event by video or still camera using very high speed. It was not needed.
The pic also said that the camera was quite near to Trump and at about the same level, not from the ground or from high above. It could be slightly lower than Trump to capture the sky and not the spectators. For the photographer to shoot this pic at very high speed is very telling. Was he preparing to capture a bullet to fly pass Trump? So, this is likely to be a fluke shot, by a fluke photographer that somehow set the camera at very high speed, using likely a DSLR.
What did the pic revealed? There was a shooter firing the shot at a level much lower than the roof of the supposed shooter, Thomas Crooks. The shot could not be fired from the roof of the barn, so not from Crooks.
From a report by the police, the event became more bizarre. A man with a rifle on the roof of the barn must have triggered an alert. An assassin that must be stopped quick and fast. To shoot on sight at the first opportunity. There must be urgency, an emergency or crisis situation. The people assigned to prevent such an eventuality must have jumped and be all excited, guns pulled and ready to shoot at the first opportunity.
It was reported that two police officers climbed up the building where the shooter was. The shooter saw them first and pointed the rifle at them. They quickly ducked. The shooter turned around and almost immediately shot at Trump. See all the loopholes in this police report?
What was on the mind of the two police officers. Going up for a peek, or with adrenalin pumping, going up for the kill? And they sneaked up from behind the shooter. How did the shooter, proned and aiming at Trump, be the first to spot them, turned around and pointed the rifle at them? Would it be more likely that they saw the shooter first, and could have fired immediately? It seemed that there was no urgency or no sense of a security threat, that the shooter was there to assassinate Trump.
The shooter, armed with a plain AR15, without a scope, without all the necessary gadgets of a sniper, compared the weapons of the two police snipers on the roof, look at the weapons they had, could this standard AR15 be able to hit Trump at more than 130m away by a 20 year, not trained as a sniper? And the shooter was in a hurry, not taking his time, was under pressure with two policemen on his back, could aim and squeeze the trigger like a pro, no panic, no fear, no anxiety? He was alarmed by the policemen, turned back quickly, and fired immediately using an ordinary AR15, and hit Trump from a distance of 130m! This Crooks must be a super sniper, with a super AR15 to get his job done. Possible? Really?
Could Crooks be just a decoy, a distraction, when there was another sniper with a real sniper rifle that fired the shot, in the comfort of secrecy, not rushed, not pressured, at his own time and choosing?
What do you think?
Redbean, as a photography enthusiast yourself, how difficult is it to photograph a bullet travelling at three times the speed of sound? And at that exact moment just past Trump. I have doubts about the photo of the travelling bullet. It is unreal.
ReplyDeleteWhy does someone need to carry such a top-end camera to capture the shot? Truly must be an expected shot! All these muddying the waters serves only one purpose - to confuse.
ReplyDeleteHi Anon 5:08pm. If a photographer knows where the bullet is coming from, its flight path, and when it is coming, it is possible to capture it, but, it would require plenty of shots, and needs a lot of luck. It is not easy as it is a fraction of a second to capture the shot and the camera must be in continuous mode all the time. With careful coordination with the shooter, planning and timing, may be able to do it. Maybe, but not easy. Easier for a high speed video camera, but very difficult for a DSLR.
ReplyDeleteIn the Trump case, the photographer did not know where and when the bullet is coming from, its flight path, it is near impossible to catch such a pic. Unless one has several cameras on all the time, better with high speed video camera and covering, in this case, Trump and the area around him, with the camera rolling and rolling...and hoping and hoping.