The 2025 declassifications finally confirmed what audio technicians and researchers have long suspected: the Air Force One communications from November 22, 1963, were edited - not once, but twice - before they were ever archived.
✂️ The Tape That Didn’t Match the Transcript
In the newly released internal White House Communications Agency memo, one line jumps out:
“Ensure sensitive chatter is removed from AF1 composite prior to duplication for official record.”
The “composite”? That’s the version of the tape stored and studied for decades - the one everyone thought was complete.
The 2025 version includes a previously redacted 14-minute segment, now restored. And in that window, everything changes.
🛫 What They Were Saying Over Texas
The uncut segment includes a direct transmission from General Chester Clifton, JFK’s military aide, relaying:
“There is uncertainty whether the [body] will remain under federal control or return to Texas authorities.”
That line contradicts the official story - that the Secret Service had full authority the moment JFK was pronounced dead.
Even more alarming? A second voice interrupts with:
“Keep that off the Houston channel.”
That phrase was not present in the original public release.
📞 The Call That Wasn’t Logged
Another key moment: a brief back-channel call between Air Force One and an unnamed “Cabinet liaison” in Washington.
The call references:
“Reports coming in of multiple shooters - unconfirmed but circulating.”
That line was wiped from the 1964 archive. It’s reintroduced in the 2025 tape with a note:
“Segment previously omitted for clarity.”
📍 Why It Mattered - In Real Time
The 2025 files also reveal an FBI internal memo showing Hoover had a transcript of the full uncut AF1 audio by the morning of Nov. 23.
That version included references to Parkland, Bethesda, and a third location: “An undisclosed military facility.”
That facility is still redacted.
🎙️ History’s Most Important Flight - Redacted on Purpose
This wasn’t sloppy tape work.
It was controlled.
Curated.
And now, 60 years later, finally complete.