NASA photo analyst: Bush wore a device during debate

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http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2004/10/29/bulge/

 

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NASA photo analyst: Bush wore a device during debate

Physicist says imaging techniques prove the president's bulge was not

caused by wrinkled clothing.

 

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By Kevin Berger

 

Oct. 29, 2004 | George W. Bush tried to laugh off the bulge. " I

don't know what that is, " he said on " Good Morning America " on

Wednesday, referring to the infamous protrusion beneath his jacket

during the presidential debates. " I'm embarrassed to say it's a poorly

tailored shirt. "

 

Dr. Robert M. Nelson, however, was not laughing. He knew the president

was not telling the truth. And Nelson is neither conspiracy theorist

nor midnight blogger. He's a senior research scientist for NASA and

for Caltech's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and an international

authority on image analysis. Currently he's engrossed in analyzing

digital photos of Saturn's moon Titan, determining its shape, whether

it contains craters or canyons.

 

For the past week, while at home, using his own computers, and off the

clock at Caltech and NASA, Nelson has been analyzing images of the

president's back during the debates. A professional physicist and

photo analyst for more than 30 years, he speaks earnestly and

thoughtfully about his subject. " I am willing to stake my scientific

reputation to the statement that Bush was wearing something under his

jacket during the debate, " he says. " This is not about a bad suit. And

there's no way the bulge can be described as a wrinkled shirt. "

 

Nelson and a scientific colleague produced the photos from a

videotape, recorded by the colleague, who has chosen to remain

anonymous, of the first debate. The images provide the most vivid

details yet of the bulge beneath the president's suit. Amateurs have

certainly had their turn at examining the bulge, but no professional

with a résumé as impressive as Nelson's has ventured into public with

an informed opinion. In fact, no one to date has enhanced photos of

Bush's jacket to this degree of precision, and revealed what appears

to be some kind of mechanical device with a wire snaking up the

president's shoulder toward his neck and down his back to his waist.

 

Nelson stresses that he's not certain what lies beneath the

president's jacket. He offers, though, " that it could be some type of

electronic device -- it's consistent with the appearance of an

electronic device worn in that manner. " The image of lines coursing up

and down the president's back, Nelson adds, is " consistent with a wire

or a tube. "

 

Nelson used the computer software program Photoshop to enhance the

texture in Bush's jacket. The process in no way alters the image but

sharpens its edges and accents the creases and wrinkles. You've seen

the process performed a hundred times on " CSI " : pixelated images are

magnified to reveal a clear definition of their shape.

 

Bruce Hapke, professor emeritus of planetary science in the department

of geology and planetary science at the University of Pittsburgh,

reviewed the Bush images employed by Nelson, whom he calls " a very

highly respected scientist in his field. " Hapke says Nelson's process

of analyzing the images are the " exact same methods we use to analyze

images taken by spacecraft of planetary surfaces. It does not

introduce any artifacts into the picture in any way. "

 

How can Nelson be certain there's some kind of mechanical device

beneath Bush's jacket? It's all about light and shadows, he says. The

angles at which the light in the studio hit Bush's jacket expose

contours that fit no one's picture of human anatomy and wrinkled

shirts. And Nelson compared the images to anatomy texts. He also

experimented with wrinkling shirts in various configurations, wore

them under his jacket under his bathroom light, and couldn't produce

anything close to the Bush bulge.

 

In the enhanced photo of the first debate, Nelson says, look at the

horizontal white line in middle of the president's back. You'll see a

shadow. " That's telling me there's definitely a bulge, " he says. " In

fact, it's how we measure the depths of the craters on the moon or on

Mars. We look at the angle of the light and the length of shadow they

leave. In this case, that's clearly a crater that's under the

horizontal line -- it's clearly a rim of a bulge protruding upward,

one due to forces pushing it up from beneath. "

 

Hapke, too, agrees that the bulge is neither anatomy nor a wrinkled

shirt. " I would think it's very hard to avoid the conclusion that

there's something underneath his jacket, " he says. " It would certainly

be consistent with some kind of radio receiver and a wire. "

 

Nelson admits that he's a Democrat and plans to vote for John Kerry.

But he takes umbrage at being accused of partisanship. " Everyone wants

to think my colleague and I are just a bunch of dope-crazed ravaged

Democrats who are looking to insult the president at the last minute, "

he says. " And that's not what this is about. This is scientific

analysis. If the bulge were on Bill Clinton's back and he was lying

about it, I'd have to say the same thing. "

 

" Look, he says, " I'm putting myself at risk for exposing this. But

this is too important. It's not about my reputation. If they force me

into an early retirement, it'll be worth it if the public knows about

this. It's outrageous statements that I read that the president is

wearing nothing under there. There's clearly something there. "

 

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About the writer

Kevin Berger is a senior news editor at Salon.