Badge Man

The degraded original version of the Moorman photograph: the Badge Man is purportedly located behind the stockade fence at photo center. While the photo itself is 2.875 inches (73.0 mm) wide, the Badge Man is just 1⁄69 of an inch (0.37 mm).^[1]

Enlargement of the Badge Man from a UPI copy

The Badge Man is a figure that is purportedly present within the Mary Moorman photograph of the assassination of United States president John F. Kennedy in Dealey Plaza on November 22, 1963. Conspiracy theorists have suggested that this figure is a sniper firing a weapon at the president from the grassy knoll. Although a reputed muzzle flash obscures much of the detail, the Badge Man has been described as a person wearing a police uniform—the moniker itself derives from a bright spot on the chest, which is said to resemble a gleaming badge.

The Moorman photograph was taken a fraction of a second after the fatal bullet struck Kennedy's head. It was analyzed by the House Select Committee on Assassinations, but no evidence of hidden figures was found. In 1983, Gary Mack—the curator of the Sixth Floor Museum—obtained a higher-quality copy of the photograph. Upon enhancement, Mack noted what he believed to be the Badge Man in the shadowed background. This alleged second gunman has appeared in several conspiracy theories concerning the assassination of President Kennedy.

Among photographic experts, the consensus is that the image lacks the resolution to determine whether or not the Badge Man is a human figure. The reputed Badge Man is not present in any other photographs of the assassination and was not seen by any witnesses. Former Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney Vincent Bugliosi criticized the Badge Man interpretation, and analyst Dale K. Myers has argued that it is not an actual person due to proportional discrepancies. It has been suggested that the figure is actually an optical distortion from a Coca-Cola bottle, or simply different background elements.