In this interview, investigative reporter Gerald Posner, who concluded that Oswald acted alone to kill JFK, says it was "coincidence, but not conspiracy" that made it possible, and mentions a whole bunch of WHAT IFs, which must be taken account of to understand the event. He uses those words "coincidence, but not conspiracy" during the 29th minute of the video. He also calls these events "perfect storms", when events all line up together to bring about the worst storm possible. In this rare case "it all broke right for the assassin", Posner says. We also say about this kind of coincidence that "the stars aligned" for an event. So WHAT IF, in fact, they did? And in fact, they did!

Among the what ifs Gerald Posner mentions starting at about 7:50 minutes in the video are what if Oswald had been accepted to go to Cuba in late September 1963, he would not have been in Dallas. What if his shot had hit General Walker in April, Oswald might have been caught and in jail in November. What if JFK's car had the bubble top, it might have made Oswald's target harder to see. What if the other employees on the 6th floor had stayed there to eat lunch and watch the president pass from there? What if agent Greer had speeded up the car faster and made evasive moves after the first two shots? And as for Ruby shooting Oswald, as Posner mentions during minute 29, what if Oswald himself had not asked his jailers for another sweater, thus delaying his transfer to the county jail? Oswald would have been transferred already before Ruby was finished sending his money order to his stripper employee at Western Union down the block, before he entered the police station. Oswald was the "equivocal assassin", which confuses people. What if Marina had accepted Oswald's offer Thursday night to move back in with him in Dallas? The assassination would not have happened the next day. Oswald getting a job at the School Book Depository right on what would be the motorcade route is said by conspiracy theorists to be "too coincidental"; it must have been planned -- by Ruth Paine?

The "stars aligned". JFK was born on May 29, 1917. His chart shows often-violent planetary symbol Mars aligned with two other planets in what astrologers call the 8th house of death. Saturn and Neptune were aligned at the top of his chart, the place of status. The only other presidents with this conjunction in their charts were those who died in office: William Henry Harrison, the first of the series, Abraham Lincoln, Franklin D Roosevelt, and John F Kennedy; plus Lincoln's contemporary Andrew Johnson who succeeded Lincoln and was impeached. The fact that these two planets had reached a very-close 90-degree square hard aspect on Nov.22, 1963, is amazing too. On google I found this description: "Saturn and Neptune form a tense angle (the square), as a wake-up call, in a time of confusion. It's a time to let the truth and your own moral courage light your way through the thicket of illusions. This cosmic choreography of Saturn squaring Neptune promises to intensify a phenomenon that's already underway". What's even more remarkable was how these 2 planets in mutual square aspect were also related to JFK's own horoscope, specifically to potentially-violent Mars in his house of death.

Planetary aspects are the relationships and angles that planets form to each other, like 90 degree angles (squares), 180 degree angles (oppositions), and alignments (0 degrees, or conjunctions). These are what astrologers call hard aspects, the indicators of doom or challenges. JFK faced an incredible array of these on Nov.22, 1963. Saturn, the least-favorable planet, was in Aquarius in a close 90 degree square that day to Mars in the 8th house of death in JFK's horoscope, the most-violent planet. This is the most dangerous possible aspect that can happen at any time. Saturn that day was in conjunction to Uranus in Aquarius in JFK's chart, the indicator of sudden and unexpected events and which squared Mars, Jupiter and Mercury in JFK's horoscope. So Saturn that day was also square to JFK's Mercury and Jupiter. Neptune was also opposing these 3 planets. JFK was born with Sun in Gemini, which was also in his 8th house of death; both Uranus and Pluto were then in Virgo closely squaring his Sun, and in conjunction with his Moon in Virgo. These are planets that can indicate sudden and violent events. Mercury was also in Sagittarius that day opposing JFK's Sun, and squaring Uranus and Pluto. Mars and Venus were both in Sagittarius squaring his Moon, and opposing JFK's Venus, his ruling planet that was also located in his house of death. The Moon was in Aquarius approaching conjunction with Saturn, squaring Neptune and squaring JFK's Mars from there. And this is not all! No astrologer looking at these aspects would have advised JFK to do anything that day but stay at home hiding under the covers! At the moment of assassination, the Moon aligned exactly with Mars in Oswald's horoscope, also in Aquarius and squaring JFK's Mars.

Another famous cycle is often mentioned, and that is every 20 years from 1841 to 1961, Jupiter always aligned with Saturn in "earth signs" (Taurus, Virgo or Capricorn). The president who took office during this conjunction died while still in office. The first one was William Henry Harrison in 1841, and the second was Lincoln who took office in 1861 and died in 1865. The other victims were Garfield, McKinley, Harding, FDR, and JFK who took office in 1961 and was the last to suffer this fate. In 1981 the conjunction slipped into an air sign, Libra, and then president Ronald Reagan survived a gunshot by one inch that year. Only one other president died while still in office, and that was Zachary Taylor who died in 1850 during the opposition following the first conjunction in this series.

Another aspect of the JFK case is the famous list of coincidences with the Lincoln assassination.

If we can't find meaning in the senseless deaths of Lincoln and Kennedy by inventing conspiracies, we can still find some meaning in the outstanding coincidences and planetary alignments that indicate some higher or cosmic order of destiny happening.

Not all the coincidences mentioned in this "urban legend" that has been circulated since the event are accurate, but most of them are; even if some definitions of words are stretched a bit. In my opinion it does not matter if not everything and every event in their lives, including these, matched exactly in every single detail.

So let's review the items on the list that are true and impressive, showing some corrections.

Abraham Lincoln was elected to Congress in 1846.
John F. Kennedy was elected to Congress in 1946.
Their last names both have 7 letters.

Abraham Lincoln was elected President in 1860.
John F. Kennedy was elected President in 1960.

Both were runners up in a competition for vice president in years ending in 56.

Both were particularly concerned with civil rights. The emancipation proclamation was announced in 1862 and took effect in 1863. The civil rights bill was proposed in 1963 and passed in 1964.
Both lost male children while living in the White House (although childhood deaths were more common in the 19th century, as Mr. Beat points out). The lost childrens' 3 names all had 7 letters each, as Mr. Beat also points out.

Both Presidents died on a Friday.
Both Presidents were shot in the head (unlike other famous assassination victims), with their wives sitting beside them.

(Interesting that the 1962 movie The Manchurian Candidate showed this too, and as a result of a communist conspiracy; hmmm... https://youtu.be/UwfFWXUEyfQ?si=4rKD6sMCDEBHxzel )

Kennedy’s secretary was named Lincoln, but none of Lincoln's secretaries were named Kennedy.
MashedTubers points out in a comment on Mr. Beat's video: "Lincoln did not have a secretary named Kennedy but part of his SECURITY detail was a police officer named John Kennedy." JOHN A. KENNEDY was Lincoln's security chief who played an investigative role when Lincoln was assassinated, according to this article:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/261835314_Abraham_Lincoln_and_John_F_Kennedy_Evidence_of_Reincarnation_Through_Coincidence_and_Synchronicity

Both presidents were succeeded by southerners named Johnson, the only presidents so named.
Andrew Johnson, who succeeded Lincoln, was born in 1808.
Lyndon Johnson, who succeeded Kennedy, was born in 1908.
Their first names both have 6 letters. Andrew Johnson was impeached and declined to run again in 1868. Lyndon Johnson declined to run again in 1968 partly because of public opposition and election losses.

John Wilkes Booth, who assassinated Lincoln, was born in 1838, but not 1839.
Lee Harvey Oswald, who assassinated Kennedy, was born in 1939.

The three names of both assassins were composed of fifteen letters. (also, according to numerology scores for letters, their 3 initials both add up to 35. JFK was the 35th president.)

Lincoln was shot at the theatre named ‘Ford’.
Kennedy was shot in a car called ‘Lincoln’ made by Ford.

Lincoln was shot in a theatre, and his assassin ran away and hid in a warehouse (a tobacco barn, shot there by authorities in a gun battle).
Kennedy was shot from a warehouse (a school book depository), and his assassin ran and hid in a theatre (shot 2 days later by another assassin, after engaging in 2 gun battles with authorities, including an attempted murder in the theater where he ran to and hid). Neither assassin ever stood trial.

Both Lincoln and Kennedy married in their thirties to 24-year old wives who spoke French. Mr. Beat points out that Mary Todd was 23.

Lincoln had a cousin who became a US senator, and another who became mayor of Boston. His relative Levi Lincoln graduated from Harvard and became attorney general. Lincoln's son Robert became minister to London.
JFK's brothers Ted Kennedy and Robert F Kennedy were US Senators, and Robert Kennedy, also a Harvard graduate, was attorney general. John Kennedy's grandfather Fitzgerald was mayor of Boston, and his father Joseph Kennedy was minister to London.

By the way, I am distantly related to Abraham Lincoln. I don't know if that counts for anything. :)

The stories about "conspiracy" swirling around these two assassinations is interesting too. In 1865 Lincoln was killed by one man, but he was part of a small conspiracy in which Vice President Andrew Johnson and Secretary of State Seward were also targeted. Johnson's would-be assassin chickened-out, but Seward was also attacked, but he recovered. Booth assassinated Lincoln because Booth wanted to keep the civil war going. Andrew Johnson did not get the war going again, but he did resist Lincoln's civil rights policies and opposed Reconstruction, for which he was impeached in February 1868, and he declined to run for re-election. Nevertheless, Reconstruction was ended and reversed after 1877.

Of course, many allege (falsely, it appears) that Kennedy was also killed by a conspiracy, a much, much larger one even involving the US government itself. There were indeed, it appears, conspiracies afoot to kill him, but Oswald beat them to it and did it alone. Another official, Texas Governor John Connally, was also injured by Oswald, but he recovered. Lyndon Johnson was held in a protected area at Parkland Hospital, where Kennedy died, and soon the JFK autopsy was moved to Washington DC because of concerns that Oswald or another co-conspirator might attack Lyndon Johnson in Dallas. This move of the autopsy is often cited as evidence for the alleged conspiracy. The supposed motive for JFK's assassination was to keep the US-Vietnam War going, which Kennedy had started to end. But later on in 1965 Johnson did greatly expand it, and in March 1968 he decided to decline to run for re-election partly because of public opposition to his war policy. Unlike Andrew, of course, Lyndon did continue Kennedy's civil rights policies and, one could say, re-started Reconstruction. But this policy was ended and partly reversed after 1980.

references for the Lincoln Kennedy coincidences:
Joseph F Goodavage, Astrology: The Space Age Science, Signet Book, Parker Publishing Company, 1966, p. 186.
Strange Coincidences by Jim Whitlow, Hallliwell Local History Society, 2023
Fact Check: 1964 Lincoln-Kennedy list is only partly accurate Devon Link, USA Today, 2020
Mr. Beat reviews some of the coincidences too, adds some to my list, refutes some, and downplays some Judge for yourself; I would say a few of his downplays are themselves a bit over-"stretched" too.

Similar astrology aspects and coincidences surround that other great event most often explained by conspiracy theorists: the 9-11 attacks.

In fact, using astrology, I predicted that the US would go to war in the Summer of 2001. September 11th was still Summer. This is in my book Horoscope for the New Millennium (1997) and in my 2000 video Predictions That Came True 2001-2011 and I spoke of this often in lectures before 2001 and mentioned that the USA would be attacked.

Why did I predict this? See the video. Note especially that when Jupiter is in or near Gemini, as it was just before and during 9-11, US wars are more frequent. The astrological coincidences go even deeper, which I only noticed later. Pluto, for example, was in the 9th sign of the zodiac Sagittarius, and Uranus was in the 11th sign of the zodiac, Aquarius, and Neptune was there too. Saturn, symbol of structures, was in Gemini, "The Twins", and the "Twin Towers" were toppled. The symbol for Gemini resembles two towers. Sagittarius, from which Mars and Pluto had opposed Saturn 2 months before, is represented by a flying arrow. Mars turned stationary as it passed closest by Earth, when astrologers know a planet is most significant, in July 2001, and as history shows and I verified before 2001, wars start more often in the weeks following a stationary Mars. Pluto of course was also stationary at about the same time and remained in Sagittarius in opposition to Saturn through the attack and beyond. As I noticed long before 2001, this opposition straddled what many believe is the horizon of the US horoscope, the Sibly chart. And as I had already verified, Saturn-Pluto hard aspects have frequently accompanied the start of many great wars in modern times, such as both world wars and the US attack on Vietnam as well as the colonial wars of 1898-99, the Arab Spring wars of 2011 and the Yom Kippur war.

The 9-11 coincidences, mostly numerical, are less well known.

ABC News quotes some of these, and then tries to downplay them:
"First there were the 11 numerologists whose e-mails began by pointing out that Sept. 11 is written 9-11, the telephone code for emergencies. Moreover, the sum of the digits in 9-11 (9 +1+1) is 11, Sept. 11 is the 254th day of the year, the sum of 2,5, and 4 is 11, and after Sept. 11, there remain 111 days in the year. Stretching things even more, the e-mails noted that the twin towers of the WTC look like the number 11, that the flight number of the first plane to hit the towers was 11, and that various significant phrases, including "New York City," "Afghanistan," and "The Pentagon" have 11 letters."
https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/WhosCounting/story?id=98225&page=1

There are some other number coincidences. Other key names add up to 11 letters too, like George W Bush, Mohamed Atta (and the two t's in his last name also resemble the Twin Towers being hit by 2 airplanes), and Shanksville, nearest town to where Flight 93 crashed. I will post more of these coincidences if and when I remember them. I found more here, as well as some bogus ones: 9/11 Coincidences by Barbara Mikkelson. Here's a few more valid and corrected ones I found there.
New York is the 11th state.
Flight 11 was carrying 92 passengers. 9 + 2 = 11
Flight 175 was carrying 65 passengers. 6 + 5 = 11 (both of these flights hit the world trade center towers, which looked like the number 11)
The Madrid bombing took place on 3/11/2004. 3 + 1 + 1 + 2 + 4 = 11. (but 9 + 1 + 1 + 2 + 1 = 14)
There were 911 days in between the tragedy of Madrid and 9-11.

"There are many more of these after-the-fact manipulations, but the problem should be clear. With a little effort, we could do something similar with almost any date or any set of words and names."-- ABC News. Really? It seems to me as much or more of a stretch to claim this as there is to believe these number coincidences indicate destiny at work. And when astrology confirms this conclusion, as it also does about JFK, it is even harder to deny.

We can find order and meaning, not by asking too many questions and making up conspiracy theories for which there's no evidence, but noticing coincidences, synchronicities, perfect storms, "stars" that are aligned, number patterns, symbolic imagery patterns, and so forth. Not all coincidences that we can find are that amazing, so applying some logic and evidence to them is good. But strong coincidences can guide us toward discoveries and lessons for us, too. And, of course, we can also know more by understanding human nature and the often-warped personalities of those involved in such great and tragic crimes as these.

BACK to The Reason for Conspiracies LINKS by Eric Meece

BACK to The Reason for Conspiracies, the JFK Conspiracy Theories with LINKS compiled by Eric Meece

Case Closed: Lee Harvey Oswald and the Assassination of JFK - Gerald Posner on History Author Show