{"id":132296,"date":"2025-10-18T15:58:23","date_gmt":"2025-10-18T22:58:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/?page_id=132296"},"modified":"2026-03-04T17:19:57","modified_gmt":"2026-03-05T01:19:57","slug":"tracking-down-nbcs-missing-footage","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/?page_id=132296","title":{"rendered":"Tracking Down NBC\u2019s Missing Footage"},"content":{"rendered":"

[Editor\u2019s note<\/strong>: This article is part of a special report by the November 18 Project. The table of contents for the report is here<\/a>.]<\/em><\/p>\n

NBC\u2019s footage from Congressman Ryan\u2019s trip to Jonestown has provided great context and insight into the final days of Peoples Temple. It has also been the subject of debate and speculation over its rumors<\/a> of missing footage.[1]<\/sup><\/a> Requests made under the Freedom of information Act by Fielding M. McGehee<\/a> and Shannon Howard<\/a> to the FBI have resulted in zero \u201cresponsive records\u201d \u2013 although a substantial paper trail of the footage\u2019s whereabouts is evident throughout the FBI\u2019s RYMUR serials. In the immediate days following the tragedy, NBC reported to the FBI that they possessed over 13 hours of footage<\/a> regarding the \u201cmatter,\u201d but they have refused to release the entirety of their footage from the trip, or even a complete synopsis of it, to the public.<\/p>\n

In recent years, NBC has periodically made screener compilations accessible<\/a> to the public, but these copies certainly fall short of the 13 hours of footage referenced in early FBI serials. Eyewitness accounts from those in Jonestown during the trip and former NBC employees corroborate the rumors of additional footage. For example, in a conversation with Shannon Howard and Richmond Arquette, NBC audio technician Steve Sung \u2013 who was literally tethered to slain cameraman Bob Brown during the trip \u2013 was confident that NBC possessed additional footage from the tour of Jonestown and from interviews with the Concerned Relatives and families in Jonestown. Likewise, back at NBC Studios in New York following the tragedy, NBC producer Pat Lynch revealed she had personally screened<\/a> \u201calmost three hours of footage\u201d from Jonestown alone. Forty-seven years later, the question still stands: where is the rest of NBC\u2019s footage from Jonestown?<\/p>\n

In 2025, during a visit to the National Archives in Washington, DC, I discovered a set of notes created by the House International Relations Committee\u2019s Special Investigation Group (SIG) on the assassination of Congressman Leo Ryan from their viewing of NBC\u2019s footage of the trip at FBI Headquarters in May of 1979. The notes consisted of summaries of 10 videotapes that NBC furnished to the FBI as part of the SIG\u2019s investigation.<\/p>\n

A pdf of the NBC tape notes as they appear in the SIG files appears here. A transcript of the notes, with the pages arranged into the numerical order of the tapes, appears here.<\/p>\n

The notes provided definitive proof of the existence of unseen footage from the lead-up to and during the group\u2019s trip to Jonestown. Most importantly, the notes detailed most of the missing clips from the NBC footage, and maybe all <\/em>of the missing footage. For example, prior to the group\u2019s departure for Guyana, NBC correspondent Don Harris extensively interviewed<\/a> the Concerned Relatives, Peoples Temple representative Jean Brown, attorney Charles Garry, and Jim Jones\u2019 personal physician, Dr. Carlton Goodlett, among others. The notes also referenced additional b-roll footage from the delegation\u2019s travel into Guyana from the United States. Although some of the footage referenced in the notes has appeared in documentaries such as National Geographic\u2019s Cult Massacre: One Day in Jonestown<\/em>, NBC Dateline\u2019s Jonestown: An American Tragedy<\/em>, and A&E\u2019s Jim Jones: Journey Into Madness<\/em>, much of it has never publicly surfaced in full.<\/p>\n

While the SIG\u2019s notes clarified the total contents of the NBC footage, they also sparked more questions. The notes did not include summaries of videotapes #1 and #2. With the omission of summaries for the first two tapes \u2013 whether it was unintentional or not \u2013 it is, as previously noted, possible that even more footage from the trip exists that was not explicitly referenced in the notes. Perhaps the greatest question is over the existence of additional footage from Don Harris\u2019 \u201c25-minute<\/a>\u201d interview with Jim Jones. In the SIG\u2019s notes of Harris\u2019 interview with Jones, all of the notes make reference to Jones\u2019 quotes that have already been featured in available footage; there is no mention or reference to additional details from the interview.<\/p>\n

The complete Harris interview with Jim Jones is perhaps the most sought-after portion of the NBC footage \u2013 and one of the most contentious. According to eyewitnesses who watched the final interview unfold, Harris confronted Jones about automatic weapons shipments, the settlement’s violent disciplinary methods, and rumors that Jones used armed security guards to intimidate Jonestown residents into compliance during the congressman’s visit. Considering the alleged provocative nature of Harris\u2019 questioning of Jones, it does not seem far-fetched that NBC could have potentially omitted unflattering portions of the complete footage to the SIG \u2013 and by extension, much of the public to protect their reputation.<\/p>\n

Of course, the biggest question remains: where is the complete NBC footage? While the contributors to this project have yet to compile every second of the footage, it is still reasonable to believe that a complete copy of the footage exists in either (or perhaps both) NBC\u2019s and the FBI\u2019s possession. Considering that the documentarians behind productions like Cult Massacre<\/em> managed to obtain footage from NBC not publicly released or seen before, NBC is possibly quietly holding onto the entire tape. Although the FBI has been unable to locate their copy of the tape at their DC Headquarters and at their San Francisco Field Office, the contributors to this project theorize that the complete tape could potentially be sitting in a records \u201cpurgatory<\/a>.\u201d Possible locations include the National Records and Record\u2019s Administration\u2019s (NARA) Washington National Records Center (WNRC) in Suitland, MD, a warehouse holding millions of historically significant records that are pending complete accession by NARA, a process that can last multiple decades. All records at the WNRC are still owned by their respective federal agencies \u2013 and thus, are subject to FOIA law \u2013 and indexed in publicly accessible SF-135 forms. However, attempts to view the public SF-135 indices in search of records that may be possibly pertinent to Jonestown at the WNRC have been unsuccessful, although this is more likely to the lack of an articulated policy on the public status of the indices.<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, as for the footage that was available to the creators of the NBC footage guide, and until anything else is found, the contributors have done their best to identify people, buildings, and approximate times for the footage that is available. It is hoped that this document will prove beneficial to researchers and families.<\/p>\n

Those able to make additional identifications and\/or corrections are strongly encouraged to contact Shannon Howard at radiojonestown@gmail.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Notes\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

[1]<\/sup><\/a> The NBC \u201cfootage\u201d or \u201ctape(s)\u201d discussed in this article refers specifically to any and all footage filmed by NBC cameraman Bob Brown and audio technician Steve Sung during Congressman Ryan\u2019s preparation for the visit in the United States and Georgetown, Guyana, in Jonestown, and during the Port Kaituma airstrip shooting. It does not ascertain any footage filmed and\/or acquired by NBC in the aftermath of the events of November 18.<\/p>\n

(<\/em>Aliah Mohmand<\/em><\/strong> is a student with an interest in Peoples Temple. Her research has resulted in multiple projects regarding the aftermath of the Jonestown tragedy. Aliah attends Kalamazoo College, pursuing studies in History and Finance. <\/em>Her full collection of articles for this site may be found here<\/a>. She may be reached at\u00a0aliahmohmand@gmail.com<\/a>.)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[Editor\u2019s note: This article is part of a special report by the November 18 Project. The table of contents for the report is here.] NBC\u2019s footage from Congressman Ryan\u2019s trip to Jonestown has provided great context and insight into the final days of Peoples Temple. It has also been the subject of debate and speculation […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":132428,"menu_order":5,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-132296","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/132296","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=132296"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/132296\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":133168,"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/132296\/revisions\/133168"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/132428"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=132296"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}