Umbrella Man: Suspicious

[Jerry Freeman]

  Was the Coke issue even a thing in September 1964?

I concede that Burnett wrote the [Baker] note. I still don't understand the purpose of the note.
But aside from the fact that this is the Umbrella Man thread and the Coke thing should actually be in the Baker/Truly thread...
The actual final Report states---

Gun in hand, he [Baker] rushed to the door and saw a man about 20 feet away walking toward the other end of the lunchroom. The man was empty handed. Within about 1 minute after his encounter with Baker and Truly, Oswald was seen passing through the second-floor offices. In his hand was a full "Coke" bottle which he had purchased from a vending machine in the lunchroom. He was walking toward the front of the building where a passenger elevator and a short flight of stairs provided access to the main entrance of the building on the first floor. Approximately 7 minutes later, at about 12:40 p.m, Oswald boarded a bus at a point on Elm Street seven short blocks east of the Depository Building.

Who actually witnessed the encounter between Baker and Truly that establishes this "within 1 minute"?
Is it likely that a desperate assassin would casually spin some coins in the soda machine after such an encounter?
Maybe? Then what did he do...chug it? He would have had to [if he was going to catch a bus in 7 minutes] If he did or didn't... How does anyone know that Oswald had obtained the Coke and that the bottle was full? Furthermore ... I'm not sure of the old layout of the 2nd floor lunchroom but if the Coke and candy machines were at the entry where the super and the cop came in...and Oswald was walking away from that entry [20 ft toward the end of the lunchroom] Why would Oswald have made himself walk beyond the machine and then back again to buy the soda that he seemed to want anyway?
Emphasis was placed on the part that stated that "the man was empty handed". This would certainly negate the time spent on activating a soda machine.
Yet there was some ascribed certainty that Lee did indeed possess a soda...to wit...Coca Cola after the encounter. Why? It should have been moot at that point because he had nothing in his hands [it is declared] during the encounter.
So...was the Coke issue even a thing back in Sept 1964? Well---maybe it was and then again maybe it wasn't

[Jerry Freeman]

PROBLEMS WITH THE "ORGAN BUFFETING THEORY"

In his HSCA testimony, Witt is crystal clear - when he first became aware of the motorcade coming down Elm he was sat on the grass. He stood up, began to move forward whilst opening his umbrella. As he was trying to open the umbrella it was in front of him obscuring his view.
Witt testifies that, as the umbrella was obscuring his view whilst he was opening it, at least three shots were fired. Because his view was obscured by the umbrella, Witt never saw JFK get shot. The very first thing he was aware of once the umbrella was up, was the limo slowing down and Clint Hill jumping from one vehicle to the next.
The problem with this testimony is that it is completely refuted by the film/photo record.

I recently noticed that there was an ever so slight leaning of the Stemmons Freeway sign towards the east....the wind?
      [Click images for the full screen size]

Also... there is a camera man on the sidewalk just a few feet west of TUM and his buddy. Where are his pictures?
About a year later, the sign was gone. Did it blow away?----

[Bill Brown]

[Michael T. Griffith]

In another forum, a fellow researcher pointed out that in his testimony, Witt said that the limousine came to a screeching halt, and that he heard tires screech from the stop. He mentions these things in passing, and I must admit that I had overlooked this part of his testimony!

Given Witt's mentioning of the limo stop and the screeching of tires, I am inclined to believe that his explanation for his actions with the umbrella, as odd and unbelievable as it seems, may in fact be true.

[Jonathan Nolan]

I guess the only thing left in your view for Witt to explain is how his umbrella changed the number of spines and its diameter between when he was filmed in 1963 and when he was surfaced for the HSCA.

[Walt Cakebread]

In another forum, a fellow researcher pointed out that in his testimony, Witt said that the limousine came to a screeching halt, and that he heard tires screech from the stop. He mentions these things in passing, and I must admit that I had overlooked this part of his testimony!

Given Witt's mentioning of the limo stop and the screeching of tires, I am inclined to believe that his explanation for his actions with the umbrella, as odd and unbelievable as it seems, may in fact be true.

a fellow researcher pointed out that in his testimony, Witt said that the limousine came to a screeching halt, and that he heard tires screech from the stop.

There were no skid marks on the street..... and nobody else said anything about the screeching of tires, so it would appear that Mr Witt is full of s.....

[Sean Kneringer]

Witt has passed away, so what happened to the umbrella? Sixth Floor Museum?