In the 50 years since President John F. Kennedy’s assassination, the world is still trying to understand what happened on that tragic day in Dallas. Here’s the clearest view yet, a new motion-stabilized and panoramic version of the Zapruder film.

This version takes the original 18 frame-per-second film and interpolates it to 30 frames per second. There’s also a slow-motion version on this video, where each of the film’s frames were expanded to four interpolated frames.

It was a chilling sequence to watch in its original form, but now it seems even more real.

Technical issues aside, it’s still shocking to watch this video, which is the most infamous home movie ever created. Captured on an 8mm amateur movie camera by 58-year-old Abraham Zapruder, it’s the definitive view of the president’s death on November 22, 1963.

I remember that dark day as if it were yesterday. It was a day that changed the United States forever, and at the same time, was a demonstration of the power of television to unite an entire nation of shocked mourners. I remember experiencing the aftermath of the assassination as a seven-year-old boy, spending that weekend watching the tragedy unfold on live television. I can clearly remember my disbelief that one person with a gun could completely change the course of history.

As image enhancement technology becomes more sophisticated, we’ll probably see even more detailed views of this macabre film in the years to come — but for now, this stabilized and enhanced panoramic view is horrific enough.

Image and video: YouTube/AntdavisonNZ, via Boing Boing