Josiah Thompson - Who Was the Umbrella Man?

[Duncan MacRae]

Josiah Thompson - Who Was the Umbrella Man?

[Dan O'meara]

I Like Thompson's point about how the closer you look at things the more a weird world of connections and coincidences emerges.
And though I don't think the UM was signalling anyone or shooting anything at anyone, I do have a massive problem with his testimony.
He insists that as the limo approached he stood up and was trying to get his umbrella open and missed the shots hitting JFK.
This is absolutely not true.
I don't know if it's a bad memory or what but he seems to be remembering a set of events that didn't happen.
In the Bronson pic below the UM can be seen with his umbrella held high in the air as the limo approaches (ignore the red arrow):



He is not fiddling with it or struggling to open it.
In the Willis pic below, taken slightly earlier than the Bronson pic, UM can be seen with his umbrella in place but it is lower down. As the limo gets closer he lifts his umbrella into the air. This movement can be seen in the Zapruder film:



Like I say, I don't believe he was involved in the assassination in any way but he most certainly got it wrong when he testified to what happened.

[Royell Storing]

   The overwhelming majority of us Know where we were when JFK was assassinated. We Know what was going on around us during this same time period. And we were young during this time period. Here we have Witt, a grown man that witnessed the JFK assassination, and his HSCA Testimony regarding his actions during the JFK assassination are totally contrary to the Willis/Bronson Photos. NOBODY other than Witt has Ever ID'd Witt as being the Umbrella Man on 11/22/63. Witt worked only a few blocks from Elm St. He walked to-and-from the assassination. Yet, somehow the FBI and Secret Service were unable to locate him/ID him following the assassination. Witt actually stepped forward just before the HSCA Hearings with his alleged umbrella in tow claiming to be the Umbrella Man. Taking for granted that Witt was actually the Umbrella Man is why this case remains unresolved after 60+ years. Far too many assumptions were made and then echoed over the course of time. This was repeatedly done until said assumptions somehow became accepted as being Fact. It is Not a fact that Witt was the Umbrella Man. The Witt ID is No different than Beverly Oliver claiming to be The Babushka Lady. The Witt ID, the Emmitt Hudson ID, and my recent Discovery of the erroneous ID of DPD Motorcycle Officer Haygood on the Darnell/Martin Films are uncorroborated ID's that dog this case. 

[Jerry Organ]

The brief view in the Zapruder film shows, to me, the umbrella being lifted by the wind and twisting involuntarily about the staff.

The umbrella is still raised in the Bronson film, suggesting Witt also meant the symbolism for the pols in the cars behind. In previous years, an umbrella was mailed to the Kennedy White House and another left on a desk in Congress as a protest. LBJ said he was not a Chamberlain umbrella man, referring to Joseph Kennedy.

A book on the bestseller list in November 1963 was "JFK Man or Myth" which explained the umbrella symbolism, and I assume there was some mention of it in Trump-type alt-right newsletters and GOP-hate meetings. The umbrella protest fizzled out in the wake of JFK's canonization.

[Sean Kneringer]

https://www.jfkassassinationforum.com/index.php/topic,3454.msg127623.html#msg127623

[Royell Storing]

The brief view in the Zapruder film shows, to me, the umbrella being lifted by the wind and twisting involuntarily about the staff.

The umbrella is still raised in the Bronson film, suggesting Witt also meant the symbolism for the pols in the cars behind. In previous years, an umbrella was mailed to the Kennedy White House and another left on a desk in Congress as a protest. LBJ said he was not a Chamberlain umbrella man, referring to Joseph Kennedy.

A book on the bestseller list in November 1963 was "JFK Man or Myth" which explained the umbrella symbolism, and I assume there was some mention of it in Trump-type alt-right newsletters and GOP-hate meetings. The umbrella protest fizzled out in the wake of JFK's canonization.

     Witt was Not shown Bronson Stills or the Willis/Black Dog Man pic during his HSCA Hearing/Testimony. Witt only verified it being him on a photo that showed him Sitting Down on the Elm Curb.
      The Umbrella Man being ID'd as being Witt is as ridiculous as that vaudeville collapsing umbrella routine they also did at the HSCA hearing. It is another Banana Peel that the JFK Assassination Research Community has Fallen prey to. Just like the Boner ID they pulled by assigning Officer Haygood as the motorcycle cop on the Darnell/Martin Films. This is why this case remains Unsolved. Joe 6 Packs consistently demonstrating exactly why they are Joe 6 Packs. No Disciplined Examination of the "Facts".
       

[Richard Smith]

There will always be a small minority of folks who believe that any apparent oddity in this case must be the product of something nefarious or evidence of such when not every detail can be known.   I doubt even most fringe CTers, however, believe that UM had anything to do with the assassination.  No person who applies an ounce of common sense to this situation would conclude that there was any reason for an assassin to need a "signal" to commit the act.  The motorcade and JFK were clearly visible to anyone in DP with eyes and ears.  What value would any signal add for the assassin?  There would be obvious risks.  Like someone finding it suspicious and continuing to discuss for 60 years.  And imagine finding a volunteer to hold the open umbrella while standing out like a sore thumb as rifle shots are being fired in his vicinity. 

[Royell Storing]

There will always be a small minority of folks who believe that any apparent oddity in this case must be the product of something nefarious or evidence of such when not every detail can be known.   I doubt even most fringe CTers, however, believe that UM had anything to do with the assassination.  No person who applies an ounce of common sense to this situation would conclude that there was any reason for an assassin to need a "signal" to commit the act.  The motorcade and JFK were clearly visible to anyone in DP with eyes and ears.  What value would any signal add for the assassin?  There would be obvious risks.  Like someone finding it suspicious and continuing to discuss for 60 years.  And imagine finding a volunteer to hold the open umbrella while standing out like a sore thumb as rifle shots are being fired in his vicinity.

   You miss the Major Point. The ID of the "Umbrella Man" remains Unknown. Based on Witt's HSCA Testimony vs the Bronson and Willis images, Witt is NOT the person we see on those images.