Patsy Paschall, a resident of Mesquite,
Texas, filmed President Kennedy's motorcade as it passed
by the Old Red Courthouse at Main and Houston in downtown Dallas.
Her complete film has never been shown publicly. It may offer
answers to questions about the "Grassy Knoll" that have persisted
for decades. It definitely poses new questions.
On November 22, 1963, Patsy worked as a clerk in the
Old Red Courthouse. That day, she brought her Bell and Howell
8mm color movie camera to work so she could film President
Kennedy's motorcade as it passed through Dallas. She filmed
from a third floor tower of the courthouse as the motorcade
turned right onto Houston Street. With the President's
limousine out of sight, blocked from her view by the corner of
the Criminal Courts building, she began filming the other cars
in the motorcade as they proceeded west on Main Street toward
the intersection of Main and Houston Streets.
Hearing what she thought were three firecrackers - first a single
pop then two pops closely-spaced - she commented to her co-workers,
"Some nut's popping firecrackers!"
Patsy said she saw smoke coming from the grassy knoll. She
described it as looking like what "two or three" firecrackers would
produce. She went on to add that the smoke was in the area between
the retaining wall and the corner of the picket fence. Movement
behind the picket fence is clearly visible with the unaided eye
after Patsy panned from the motorcade entering the underpass back
to the Knoll area - even without any film enhancement.
At the time, Patsy feared that someone may harm her if she came
forward with the film. "I had a view with a camera that no one else
had," she said. "I used to think that someone would blow my head
off."
As a precaution, she gave the undeveloped film to her attorney to
hold on her behalf. Dallas attorney Fred Bruner contacted the FBI
and reported the existence of the film. FBI Special Agent Robert
Barret met Mr.Bruner at Dynacolor Corporation near Love Field in
Dallas. According to Mr. Bruner, the film was developed and only
one copy was made. SA Barret viewed the film in his presence and
even commented that he saw himself in the film. Mr. Bruner claims
that he kept both the original and the copy and that the FBI did
not take a copy of the film.
The film was not made available to the Warren
Commission.
Mrs. Paschall says she wonders why more people haven't sought her
out over the years. In its Nov. 24, 1967, issue titled "Last
Seconds of the Motorcade," Life magazine featured a photograph of
her -- and a frame from her film.
Mark Oakes, a local amateur historian, interviewed her in a
videotaped documentary, "Eyewitness Video-Real J.F.K. Facts," that
is available at the Texas/Dallas Archives in the J. Erik Jonsson
Central Library in downtown Dallas.
In memory of November 22, 1963.
You are searching in Paschall Park, Mesquite, Texas (open from
6:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m.) for a modern day Patsy type container. For
muggle prevention, please place the cache under similar cover. The
camoed cache is located a short distance from parking and contains
only a log book so BYO 
These coordinates were determined using a Garmin eTrex Legend Cx
and a Garmin eTrex Vista taken under moderate tree cover and
averaged over a 5 minute span to an accuraracy of 11.2'.
