JFK Assassination Forum
JFK Assassination Plus General Discussion & Debate => JFK Assassination Plus General Discussion And Debate => Topic started by: Fred Litwin on March 13, 2026, 12:21:49 PM
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Life Magazine's Interview with George Davis
George Davis was another one of the railroad men who watched the motorcade on November 22nd from the triple overpass.
Here is his FBI report:
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In 1966, Life Magazine briefly started investigating the JFK assassination and they looked into the issue of smoke on the grassy knoll. As part of their investigation, Holland McCombs, one of their reporters, interviewed George Davis:
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Davis says that "one of the policemen that was riding in the rear of the President's car on the motorcycle took off up the embankment -- headed north right up the slope and as I remember he went almost to the top of it -- and the motorcycle was putting out blue smoke as it was going us this embankment. He got off of it and kinda laid the motorcycle on its side still puffing, blue smoke still coming up."
Now, this did not happen but Officer Haygood did stop his motorcycle at the edge of the embankment. This must have been what Davis saw -- and I should add that both S. M. Holland and Lee Bowers also say they saw a motorcycle go up the embankment. They were all wrong.
Officer Haygood said he tried to jump the curb, but had trouble -- and this maneuver may have contributed to excessive throttle and might have caused smoke. And blue smoke from a Harley-Davidson motorcycle in 1963 was not uncommon.
In addition, as the motorcade began to accelerate toward the Triple Underpass after the shots were fired, officers gunned their engines to catch up. A sharp twist of the throttle on a 1963 Panhead frequently caused a "burp" of blue-white oil smoke.
On November 22, the wind was quite strong and was blowing generally from the southwest/west. This could carry the exhaust smoke from the motorcycles on Elm Street toward the very trees on the Grassy Knoll where witnesses reported seeing "puffs."
I don't want to make the claim the railroad men saw exhaust smoke, but it's a possibility. Holland, Bowers and Davis all thought they saw Haygood's motorcycle go up the embankment, and so, while they were all wrong, they were still watching what was going on on Elm Street. The exhaust smoke could have melded in Holland's memory about what he had just witnessed.
Testimony of S. M. Holland
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From Mark Lane's interview with S.M. Holland. The Secret Service agent with a sub-machine gun was not in the Presidential limousine. George Hickey, in the follow-up car, drew his AR-15.
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Davis says that "Mr. Bowers would have seen a man with gun of any kind standing there. He said there was no human being on the north side of the fence. I think that pretty well clears that thing up."
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Davis says the smoke lasted a "minute, minute and a half at most." Smoke from a rifle wouldn't linger for that period of time.
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The railroad workers came up with a variety of explanations for the smoke -- some thought it was steam; some thought it was motorcycle exhaust; and some thought it might have been from cigarettes.
There is no reason to believe it came from a rifle shot.
One last word about memory, and this comes from Stephen White's book, Should We Now Believe the Warren Report?: (pages 61 - 62)
The fact is that it is never simple to tell where shots have come from. A person directly in line with a shot, or very nearly in line, will usually have a reasonably good notion; a person off to either side will be forced to guess, and only a trained observer is likely to guess accurately. Echoes and reverberations make it especially difficult, and Dealey Plaza, a small bowl surrounded by building and by concrete structures, might have been designed to create echoes and reverberations.
It is a further fact that no one in Dealey Plaza was ever able to report what he had heard, at least in a certain sense of the word, but was forced instead to fall back upon what he thought he heard. To some extend, one hears what one wishes to hear, as anyone who commonly conducts conversations in crowded rooms. The unexpected noise takes some time to make a conscious impression, particularly upon those whose attention is fixed elsewhere. It is probably that most of those in the Plaza were never conscious of gunshots while the gunshots themselves were reverberating, that only after the gunshots faded away was there any general realization that gunshots had been heard. Recollections even after a few seconds, is subject to gross error, for it is almost always affected by the whole environment. Those who, upon their realization that they heard gunshots, saw officers rushing up the grassy knoll, would instinctively couple the two events. Completely outside any conscious interference -- indeed, beyond the possibility of conscious interference -- recollection would do the rest by merging the two perceptions: They would honestly and sincerely recall that they had "heard" gunshots from the grassy knoll. It is remarkable how many witnesses who report hearing shots from that direction couple their account with the memory of policemen rushing in that direction. They believe that in that manner they reinforce the validity of their recollection; in point of fact, they cast grave doubt upon it.
Among those in the best position to know -- the occupants of the Presidential car, at whom the shotes were directed and who were therefore directly in the trajectory -- the recollection is unambiguous. The Governor, his wife, the driver, and the accompanying Secret Service man recollect clearly that the shots came from the direction of the Texas School Book Depository. So do the occupants of the following car.
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The claim above is that "excessive throttle" to a Harley-Davidson will commonly cause bluish smoke to be emitted. We do Not see any DPD motorcycle rapidly accelerating his motorcycle on the Zapruder Film. And Officer Haygood was filmed to be "looping" his motorcycle before dumping it at the curb. Haygood goes from the (N) gutter/curb toward the center of the street and then back toward the (N) gutter/curb. Haygood is Not accelerating as he approaches that curb, he is slowing down prior to dumping his motorcycle. Officer Haygood can be seen to be lowering his (R) leg toward the ground as his motorcycle loops back toward the (N) gutter/curb. ASAIC Kellerman gave WC Testimony that the JFK Limo accelerated so suddenly that it almost, "...jumped out of the god damned street....". We also do Not see this sudden acceleration from the JFK Limo on the Zapruder Film. This rapid acceleration stuff is MIA on the Current Zapruder Film.
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After 62 years of futility, do the conspiracy hobbyists still believe they are going to uncover credible evidence of a second gunman and/or a conspiracy?
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Life Magazine's Interview with George Davis
Davis was standing on the triple overpass during the assassination, and he saw blue smoke from the knoll area. He was adamant it came from a motorcycle.
Hi Fred.
Thanks for sharing this.
The one thing that sticks out (besides Mr. Davis mentioning the piece of skull) in the article regarding the smoke-Mr. Davis said the smoke hung around for a minute-minute and a half is totally impossible. The wind was gusting up to 25 MPH that day, which can clearly be seen in the Zapruder film as Zapruder pans toward the underpass. The tree leaves on the yaupon trees in front of the stockade fence are moving noticeably, caused by the wind blowing. Any smoke on the knoll would have disperssed quickly because of the wind.
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I have proven the "No Glove Cop" filmed by Darnell back inside the railroad yard is Not Officer Haygood. The documented timelines of Haygood and Officer Harkness make it impossible for them to be filmed together by Darnell prior to 12:35. 12:35 is when Haygood made a police radio transmission from his motorcycle parked at the Elm St Curb down by the Triple Underpass. Harkness made a 12:36 police radio transmission that he had an eyewitness/Euins and was bringing him to the TSBD. These 2 documented police timelines are irrefutable. Nobody has been able to ID the above "No Glove Cop", or even attach a vacant motorcycle to him. That's because he has No motorcycle. He Never did. He is an impostor. He is part of a conspiracy.
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Steve: Unless the motorcycle emitting smoke was still running.
I should add that, as you now, people's estimates of time doesn't account for much. It could have been much shorter.
Like Holland, Davis saw things that did not happen -- the motorcycle going up the embankment.
We can certainly dismiss Davis, just as we can dismiss Holland.
My personal view is that a few witnesses might have seen steam from the steam pipe, a few might have noticed exhaust fumes, and few
might have noticed cigarette smoke.
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Those reporting a motorcycle going up the Knoll, ALL had an elevated/high ground view. They were looking DOWN into Dealey Plaza. They were viewing Dealey Plaza along the lines of taking the roof off of a doll house and viewing everything from that perspective. Dealey Plaza eyewitnesses at Ground Level were restricted to a ground level/Eye Level view. When you stand in your front yard, how often do you look UP at a neighbor's roof? What's the condition of the local "In-N-Out" restaurant roof? People in general simply do not look upward.
I believe the reported motorcycle on the knoll is interesting. This is due to this being the same area that 2 bicycles were filmed on the (N) Elm St sidewalk between the Ft Worth Sign and the Triple Underpass. 1 bicycle standing up and 1 bicycle dumped at the base of the Ft Worth Sign. These bicycles were filmed about 4-5 minutes after the kill shot.