The identification cards with the name ALEK JAMES HIDELL found on Oswald at the time of his arrest have generated as much interest and controversy as any artifact of the assassination.

The name is a fiction created by Oswald. Alek was Lee's nickname in Russia. Hidell was the nickname of his Marine buddy in Japan, John Rene Heindell. Perhaps the middle name was inspired by 007.

The documents are not government-issued and should not be considered evidence of Oswald's involvement with intelligence agencies – in fact, they are very poor counterfeits made by Oswald himself during his time at Jaggars-Chiles-Stovall as a photographic technician.

The cards were made from photographs of Oswald's own identification documents with modifications to the negative and re-photographed. The documents themselves are photopaper, not the ink-printed card stock typical of official documents, which is why the typewriter ink is smudged and faded; it did not adhere well to the glossy photopaper.

The Selective Service classification card is a modified version of the official document. These cards not contain a photograph. Oswald reduced the block of text on the lower right of the card and inserted a photograph of himself. Compare the HIDELL card to Oswald's actual Selective Service Card.

It is likely that Lee completed the type-written portion of these documents at the Typing Class he attended during early 1963.