Anchored Charge and Silver Chain Reasoning
What This Image Shows
A screenshot of the section of the thread that makes the anchoring argument. In the author words: if you are setting off a charge, you need to anchor it so the theories about an explosive device in his lapel microphone on his shirt makes no sense, since if that happened, the mike would move left, not right, from the force of the blast being initiated. On the chain: not only is it conductive, silver is more conductive than copper, but it would have been anchored by that thick chain around his neck, allowing the force of the explosive to push off, while anchored in place by the necklace since blasts tend to follow the path of least resistance. And on accuracy: something unanchored like the lapel mike on his shirt would not have been very accurate, but something anchored around his neck like the necklace would have been more accurate.
Responding to the objection that a crucifix is too small, the author states it was of more than sufficient size, arguing that if the center column of the cross held a small amount of PETN built in a cone shape to use the Monroe effect, it would produce an extremely powerful upward blast relative to its size. The Monroe effect is the standard principle behind shaped charges: focusing explosive energy in one direction.
Note what this section actually is — an internal critique of the mic theory from within the same broad argument. It accepts that something detonated and disputes only where. This is one of four screenshots of a thread by @cletus_jethro, a user identifying himself as a former U.S. Marine Corps explosive breacher, reshared on June 21, 2026 by @matt82704417. The thread proposes that the concealed charge was not in the lapel microphone at all but inside a crucifix pendant, on the reasoning that a charge must be anchored to be effective and that a heavy silver box chain around the neck would provide that anchor while a clip-on device on a shirt would not.
The claims are presented as the authors analysis and opinion, not as established fact. No explosive device of any kind has been recovered or identified in this case, the official finding is a rifle gunshot, and researchers who dispute the physical premise are documented separately. The full thread with its calculations and the objections to it is on The Exploding Pendant — Shaped-Charge Crucifix Theory. See also Mic vs Pendant, Demo of Shape Charge, and Microphone — The Exploding Mic Theory.
Where This Image Appears
This image is used on the following investigation page:
Related Areas
- Cluster: The Exploding Pendant — Shaped-Charge Crucifix Theory
- All photo evidence: Photos