When President John F. Kennedy was gunned down in Dallas on November 22, 1963, the world was left reeling and questioning. The official account pinned the crime on a solitary shooter, but not everyone bought it. Over the years, whispers of a darker plot emerged, including one theory so bold it defies belief: that the man steering Kennedy’s limousine, a Secret Service agent, might have played a deadly role. 

Born in the shadows of the tragedy, this idea lingered on the fringes, only to flare up again in 2025 with the release of long-sealed government files. Though scoffed at by scholars and investigators, it refuses to fade, fueled by a mix of suspicion and tantalizing clues. What sparked this unlikely tale? Why does it keep finding new life? This blog ventures into the heart of one of the strangest chapters in JFK conspiracy lore, uncovering its roots and asking why, after all these years, it’s once again grabbing attention. Step into the mystery—some secrets, it seems, won’t stay buried.

The Official Findings on JFK Assassination

The official investigation into President John F. Kennedy’s assassination, conducted by the Warren Commission, concluded in 1964 that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone in firing three shots from the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository in Dallas on November 22, 1963. Using a Mannlicher-Carcano rifle, Oswald was determined to have struck Kennedy twice—once in the upper back and once in the head, the latter being the fatal shot. The commission, established by President Lyndon B. Johnson, relied on ballistic evidence, witness testimony, and the Zapruder film to assert that all shots came from behind the limousine, dismissing any notion of a shooter inside the vehicle. The report found no credible evidence implicating Secret Service agent William Greer, the driver, or suggesting a broader conspiracy involving the government or other parties.

Despite this, skepticism persisted, fueled by inconsistencies like the “magic bullet” theory—where a single bullet allegedly caused multiple wounds to Kennedy and Governor John Connally—and the chaotic aftermath in Dealey Plaza. In 1979, the House Select Committee on Assassinations (HSCA) revisited the case and agreed Oswald fired the shots but suggested a “probable conspiracy” based on acoustic evidence hinting at a fourth shot from the grassy knoll. However, the HSCA explicitly ruled out any involvement by Greer or shots from within the limo, attributing the head shot to Oswald’s position above and behind. Both investigations emphasized Greer’s role as merely the driver, noting his actions—slowing the car and looking back—were reactions to the chaos, not evidence of guilt. Mainstream experts, including forensic analysts and historians, have consistently upheld these findings, rejecting the driver theory as a misreading of footage and lacking supporting testimony or physical proof.

The Driver Did It: Origins of the Theory

The idea that Secret Service agent William Greer (President Kennedy’s limousine driver) shot JFK is a fringe conspiracy theory that began decades after the 1963 assassination. Early on, a few independent researchers toyed with this notion, but it did not gain traction initially. 

Notably, in the early 1970s Fred Newcomb interviewed witnesses and authored an unpublished 1975 manuscript Murder From Within alleging that the fatal shot came from inside the limo However, this work remained obscure.

It wasn’t until the mid-1980s that the theory first surfaced publicly in a significant way. This happened largely due to a misinterpretation of the Zapruder film. Back then, only low-quality copies of the famous Zapruder home movie were circulating. One researcher, Lars Hansson, obtained a poor 4th- or 5th-generation VHS copy and thought he saw Greer turn with a pistol. 

Hansson initially promoted the idea in a video titled “Dallas Revisited,” but later recanted his own theory. Despite this, Milton William “Bill” Cooper, a prominent conspiracy theorist, seized on the claim. In the late 1980s, Cooper began lecturing and distributing tapes that showed the murky Zapruder frames, insisting the driver had fired a weapon. He even wrote about it in his 1991 book Behold a Pale Horse. 

Cooper alleged a cover-up: he claimed to have seen a top-secret Naval Intelligence report stating Greer delivered the head shot. In Cooper’s version, the weapon was no ordinary gun – he described it as a special electrically operated device (in some accounts, provided by aliens) used by the driver. This fantastical twist (linking the assassination to UFOs) shows how the theory began to evolve even as it emerged.

Popularization and Media Attention in the 1990s

In the early 1990s, the “driver did it” theory moved from the fringe into wider discussion. Oliver Stone’s 1991 film JFK had rekindled public interest in assassination conspiracies (though that film did not endorse the driver theory). 

In March 1992, the Globe ran a sensational cover story headlined “JFK Murdered By His Own Limo Driver.” This nationally distributed tabloid article brought the theory to many readers for the first time. It recounted the claim that Greer slowed the car and turned around twice, firing the fatal shot at frame 313 of the Zapruder film. 

While mainstream media and serious historians did not embrace the claim, the article gave the theory a burst of attention and recruited new believers. 

Even as it spread, the theory faced pushback – not only from debunkers, but from prominent JFK conspiracy researchers themselves. For instance, author Jim Marrs (who wrote Crossfire, a book on the JFK plot) called the driver theory “deeply flawed.” Marrs noted that Greer did brake and turn around, which he considered negligent, but he flatly stated “the driver-shot-Kennedy theory is not true.” He pointed out the lack of any contemporaneous witness outcry — if the driver had literally blown the President’s head off, someone in the crowd or motorcade would have noticed and said so. Marrs also traced the theory’s late emergence (circa the 1980s) as evidence that it was a modern concoction, unknown to any 1963 witnesses or investigators. 

Nonetheless, the idea took on a life of its own in conspiracy-focused media. Throughout the 1990s, it was discussed on talk radio shows, in JFK assassination newsletters, and among the growing community of “assassination researchers” who traded theories.

Zapruder Film Analysis and Video Evidence

Proponents of the Greer theory rely heavily on visual analysis of assassination footage, especially the Zapruder film. They often scrutinize the film frame-by-frame to build their case:

Zapruder Film (Frame 312–313)

Conspiracy theorists claim that in the split-second before the fatal head shot, driver William Greer can be seen turning toward JFK with an object in his hand. In frame Z-313 (the instant of the head shot), they argue Greer’s arm is extended and a muzzle flash or smoke is visible. (Officials say Greer’s hands were on the wheel and the “flash” is a sunlight reflection off Agent Roy Kellerman’s head or the chrome.) 

Advocates highlight that Greer did look back at Kennedy—something he denied in his Warren Commission testimony—and suggest this was him aiming a weapon. Some also note that First Lady Jackie Kennedy’s reaction (crawling onto the trunk) could be interpreted as her trying to get away from the shooter inside the car. These interpretations come from replaying the film in slow motion or zoom, sometimes with diagrams or arrows pointing to Greer.

Orville Nix Film

The Nix film, taken from the opposite side of Dealey Plaza, shows the limo from a rear angle. Though much blurrier, it confirms the limousine slowed almost to a stop during the shooting. Conspiracy theorists use this to argue Greer deliberately slowed down to shoot Kennedy (or to allow others to shoot). 

In the Nix footage, Greer’s head turn is also vaguely apparent. Advocates claim the synchronization of Zapruder and Nix films bolsters the scenario that Greer turned, shot, then faced forward and sped off—violating Secret Service protocol to “hit the gas” after an attack.

Other Footage & Photos

Less commonly, other footage is cited. The Muchmore film and Bronson film captured portions of the scene but are not as clear. A few theorists also mention the Moorman polaroid photo, though it doesn’t show the inside of the car. Some believers assert an unaltered “original” version of the Zapruder film exists that more clearly shows the driver firing. For example, a recent documentary recounted a claim that a secret copy of the film (shown to a journalist) had a wider field of view where a “floating tree” anomaly revealed tampering in the public version. In other words, they suspect the government edited the Zapruder film to hide Greer’s actions – a theory mainstream experts (including Hollywood filmmakers) find unsupported.

Over the years, numerous videos and montages have been produced to advance this theory. One of the first was Lars Hansson’s “Dallas Revisited” in the 1980s, which looped the head-shot frames repeatedly with narration. In the 1990s and 2000s, copies of Zapruder film clips circulated at gun shows and via mail-order VHS tapes among conspiracy buffs. Bill Cooper included the footage in his live presentations, pointing out what he called the “smoking gun” in Greer’s hand (Dallas Revisited | Invisible Citizen). With the rise of the internet, these analyses moved to video-sharing platforms:

• On early YouTube, channels like “Saintly Oswald” posted detailed breakdowns of Greer and Kellerman’s movements, freeze-framing the crucial moments. (One such video, “The Driver Shot Connally, Too,” argued that Greer first shot Texas Governor John Connally, who was riding in front of JFK] before turning the gun on Kennedy [Murder From Within: U.S. Secret Service Limo Driver, Bill Greer, Shot Both JFK & Connally on Nov. 22, 1963 – The Millennium Report]) These videos often annotated the film to highlight the driver’s left arm crossing his right shoulder, etc.
  
• Many of these videos have been taken down from YouTube over time (for policy violations or simply as fringe content). However, they continue to resurface on alternative platforms. For instance, the Saintly Oswald videos that vanished from YouTube were re-uploaded to BitChute, where they remain available. On forums and sites like AboveTopSecret and Reddit, users regularly share links to these clips and debate their authenticity. Enthusiasts also share slowed or stabilized Zapruder gifs, and some have created their own analysis videos on platforms like Rumble and Odysee.

Recent Revival in Light of 2025 Declassified JFK Files

The assassination remains a hot topic, and periodic releases of official documents tend to rekindle old conspiracy theories. In March 2025, the U.S. government released a new batch of declassified JFK files, part of the ongoing effort to finally open all records. While these files mostly contained details about Lee Harvey Oswald’s travels and CIA monitoring in 1963 (and revealed no bombshell “smoking gun” evidence of an inside job), they nevertheless spurred fresh chatter in conspiracy communities. Rather than focusing on the mundane content of the files, many online conspiracy commentators used the occasion to revisit theories – including the claim about the driver – that they feel were long covered up.

On social media, videos once again began circulating purporting to “prove” William Greer killed Kennedy. One viral clip in March 2025 (shared widely on Twitter/X) edited the Zapruder film to make it look as if the driver clearly turned and fired. Accompanied by captions pinning the assassination on a cabal, the video gained thousands of views. However, fact-checkers quickly pointed out that this footage was manipulated – the version had inconsistent frame timestamps and visual anomalies where the supposed gun appears. In reality, the authentic Zapruder film (available on YouTube and in the National Archives) shows no such clear-cut gun in Greer’s hand, and the “timing jump” in the viral clip betrayed that it was a doctored edit.

Despite debunking, posts about the driver theory trended in some forums as the 2025 document release reignited distrust of the official story. Conspiracy-focused websites ran articles boldly asking if “New JFK Files Reveal Driver’s Role?” Fact-checking outlets like Misbar noted that the new files themselves say nothing about Greer; no witness or agency document in the archive implicates the Secret Service driver. Indeed, all official investigations (Warren Commission, House Select Committee, etc.) found zero evidence of shots fired from inside the limo. But true believers interpret the continued secrecy around some files as proof that something is still being hidden – possibly Greer’s guilt.

On JFK assassination forums, users in 2025 debated the driver theory with renewed vigor. Some cited the declassified files’ details about CIA operations as distractions, insisting the “real truth” was in the Zapruder film all along. Others pointed out the files show no sign of a cover-up involving Greer. Interestingly, even a few mainstream outlets like Fox 4 Dallas briefly mentioned the resurgence of wild theories in their coverage of the file release (noting how quickly misinformation spread online).

Discussion Continues

Six decades after Kennedy’s death, the accusation against William Greer remains a topic of discussion whenever interest in the case is revived. From its murky origins in suspicious footage, the theory has evolved into a kind of legend in conspiracy lore – complete with grainy videos, elaborate narratives, and passionate proponents. And with each new round of declassified files or documentaries, this resilient theory finds new life online. The notion that “the driver shot JFK” is the conspiracy theory that won’t die, continually fueled by our collective fascination with what might have happened in those tragic few seconds in Dallas.

Loading...