While conspiracy theorists and historians eagerly await the expected release of JFK assassination files later this month, some experts are warning that the document dump may turn into a debacle.
The long-anticipated declassification of a cache of documents concerning the case is due to occur by October 26th, per a 1992 law which stipulated that the files were to be kept that date, pending approval by the president.
With President Trump having so far given no indication that he intends to thwart the release, students of the assassination are hopeful that they will finally get their hands on the files soon.
However, a pair of authors who penned books on the infamous event caution that those looking to take a deep dive into the documents may want to curb their enthusiasm.
Philip Shenon and Larry Sabato say that the plan by the National Archives to post all of the files at the same time is a recipe for disaster.
The researchers note that a much smaller release back in 2013 saw the department's computers overwhelmed with traffic that left them struggling to even see the files at the time.
Expecting an exponentially larger amount of interest in this landmark declassification, they muse in a piece at Politico that "pandemonium is almost guaranteed."
Specifically, the authors fear that media outlets desperate to report on the story in a timely fashion will do a haphazard job of detailing what is in the voluminous file release, should they even be able to access it.
Meanwhile, JFK assassination aficionados who can understand the context of the information contained in the documents will likely take weeks or months to fully parse through the files once they are more easily available.
And so, with the breakneck pace of today's modern news cycle, one can see salacious tidbits from the files to generate front page stories for perhaps a day or two.
Alas, after that, the assassination would be relegated to being a historic event where the specter of a sinister plot is largely verboten in the mainstream.
Particularly worrisome is that the release has been portrayed as a proverbial 'final chapter' of sorts when it comes to the assassination, meaning that the expected lack of a smoking gun could be spun in a way which closes the case in the eyes of many skeptics.
Coast Insiders can prepare themselves for the highly-anticipated file release by checking out this collection of C2C's annual JFK assassination specials featuring a myriad of guests and experts.
Not a Coast Insider yet? Sign up today.
Source: Politico