Why are there so many versions of the Zapruder Film? And what is the reason for continuing secrecy after 60 years? The National Archives and the Sixth Floor Museum in Dallas claim that the copyright over the film prevents FOIA requestors from obtaining copies of Zapruder Frames, even those behind the poor black and white copies that were published by the government in the 1964 Warren Report Volumes. (See Above) It makes little sense that the public is not allowed to inspect copies of the slides that were published by the government 60 years ago. That the photos were originally published in in such low quality black and white is reason enough to want to see the original color photos.
Frame 188 is one of the rare frames that the National Archives chose to release to FOIA requestors (through its Warren Commission identifiers CE396 and CE497). It is unknown why the National Archives released copies of some Zapruder Frames that were Warren Commission Exhibits, but refused to release those the entire set that were also printed in Warren Commission Exhibits Volume 18.
Below are copies of several versions of Frame 188 for comparison. There are significant differences in color, resolution, and presence of the sprocket holes. It is unclear why the Warren Commission would print Frame 188 in black and white when they obviously had possession of two color versions. Another mystery is why they would use CE396, appearing to be a lower resolution copy when they had CE479, which appears to be a higher resolution version. Further, the colors of the bushes are quite significantly different, that would not appear to be merely the result of making a copy.
Adding to the mystery, why would Life print low quality black and white frames when it had the original color film? Further, why did the copy they printed at the 50th anniversary appear to be lower resolution than the Warren Commission photo CE479?
