There is a most incredible story in The JFK Assassination Chokeholds:
Air Force Sergeant Robert G. Vinson claims to have a front seat to what became of the alleged Oswald lookalike after the assassination. Vinson was stationed in Colorado, but had business in Washington, at Andrews Air Force Base and was looking to catch a ride back to Colorado on a military plane on November 22, 1963. Vinson was notified to board a C54 cargo plane that was headed to Lowry Air Force Base in Denver. The plane was unmarked, except for a logo of an egg-shaped earth crossed by white grid marks, which Vinson later learned was a logo for the CIA.
Vinson boarded the empty plane without signing a flight log, which was typically required. Two men with coveralls boarded the plane and walked to the front without speaking to Vinson. At 12:29, the pilot announced that the president had been shot. Immediately after that announcement, the plane banked left and changed course to go to Dallas.
In Dallas, the plane landed in a rough, sandy area alongside the Trinity River. It was not a runway. Vinson thought it looked like a road that was under construction. The plane did a U-turn and kept the engines running. Then, the cargo door opened. Vinson saw two men running toward the plane from a jeep. One of the plane’s pilots opened the passenger door. The two men boarded the plane, passing Vinson’s seat without looking at or speaking to him. The men carried nothing and sat right behind the cockpit. They did not speak to each other or the other pilots. The taller of the two men was 6 to 6’1′, weighing 180 to 190 pounds and looked Latino. Vinson thought he was Cuban.
The shorter man was Caucasian between 5′7″ to 5′9″ and weighing 150 to 160 pounds. When Vinson later saw the video of Lee Harvey Oswald under arrest, he identified the man as being identical to Oswald. The passengers quickly exited the plane when it landed. Vinson did not recognize where he was and was later told that he had landed at Roswell Air Force Base. He was not allowed to leave the base because it was on alert. Vinson was finally allowed to leave and returned to Colorado, where he told his wife about the incident. He didn’t tell anyone else because he didn’t believe it was safe after Oswald was killed by Ruby.
Chokeholds took this story from the 2003 book, Flight from Dallas: New Evidence of CIA Involvement in the Murder of President John Kennedy, by James P. Johnston and Jon Roe
In 1964, Vinson claims, he signed a secrecy agreement and was then sent to Washington for psychological and physical tests at CIA headquarters. They offered him a job, but he turned it down. Three months later, he was ordered to go work at the CIA project at Area 51. Supposedly, they gave him this job so that they could monitor him.
The authors of Chokeholds believe this is another example of the impersonation of Lee Harvey Oswald. But even they are unsure as to why this was happening:
There are many instances of someone saying that they saw Oswald when we know that Lee Harvey Oswald was elsewhere. The fact of these observations, combined with the details of what the impersonator was saying in each respective instance, demonstrate by clear and convincing evidence that Oswald was impersonated. The fact of impersonation reinforces the conclusion that Oswald alone did not kill President Kennedy. There is no plausible reason why a lone gunman would be impersonated so many times. The frequency of these instances clearly increased in the days, weeks and months before the assassination, and also on the day of the assassination, which clearly shows a designed plot to lay the blame on Oswald within hours of the assassination.
As they write: "There is no plausible reason why a lone gunman would be impersonated so many times."
Of course, the authors never consider that these so-called sightings are actually quite normal given the immense nature of the JFK assassination.
For instance, Oswald was supposedly seen in Montreal Canada, in 1963 at a pro-Cuba rally. There is no evidence that Oswald ever traveled to Canada, and when the RCMP published photographs of the rally, it was clear that Oswald was not there.
Oswald was also "seen" in Alice, Texas in early October of 1963. But we know that he was in Dallas.
Any high-publicity crime will attract people with stories. Police information lines become clogged with all sorts of stories -- just have a look at this one:
John McAdams' book JFK Assassination Logic lists several examples of false sightings in recent crimes:
So it's not surprising that there were a lot of Oswald "sightings." You can find a number of them in the 26 volumes and the Warren Commission took note of the issue.
Being mistaken for Oswald is not the same as impersonating Oswald.
Here is an excerpt: (JPJ - James P. Johnston, a lawyer who helped Vinson with this story; RGV = Robert Griel Vinson)
JPJ: Alright, now, Mr. Vinson, did you believe that you may have recognized one of these men that got on the plane for this flight that stopped in Dallas and picked them up and then went on to Roswell?
RGV: At the time they got on, no I didn’t recognize either one. But later on after I saw all the pictures and everything coming out on Oswald, this gentleman that got on the plane resembled him an awful lot and I can’t say it was him, but he sure looked like him.
"He sure looked like him."
This story has gotten very little traction on the conspiracy bulletin boards.
OK, I'm going to do it again.....this has been discussed many times earlier here and in other venues. I was there when Vinson's lawyer first presented his story at a Lancer conference - he showed up unannounced, asked for time and the only thing we could do was let him go on during the lunch break. I listened, took copious notes, and tried to talk to him afterwards however he literally ran (well walked very quickly at least) out of the area, refusing to stay or take questions. Over several years I exchanged letters and made phone calls to him, trying to approach Vinson directly - which he never would allow. I submitted a number of questions and issues which he also failed to address. Ultimately when his book was published it asked readers to respond and I went back again with questions - and received no response. It should be noted that his lawyer has some pretty strong general conspiratorial views on his own, whether that influenced Vinson or not I can't say.
There are a number of issues with this story:
First, is it conceivable that a C-54 would land in and take off from the Trinity River riverbed? It's a pretty large plane with a wingspan of 118 feet. And nobody noticed this plane landing or taking off?
According to Vinson's story, the plane landed in Dallas at 12:30 PM but took off somewhere between 3:00 PM and 3:30 PM. Would it not have been easier for an Oswald impersonator to just leave by car, rather than wait around for a few hours for a flight? Was it really necessary to send a pretty big plane to Dallas to spirit the Oswald impersonator to Roswell?
Second, it took Vinson over thirty years to tell his story. He claims this is because he signed a secrecy agreement, but it beggars belief that he would keep such a hot story to himself -- and not even contact the HSCA when they were reinvestigating the JFK assassination.
Third, there are no supporting witnesses to this story.
Fourth, Larry Hancock points out that it would have been unlikely that a plane landing at a SAC base operating at Defcon3 would just allow all its passengers to deplane and walk over to the terminal building.
Fourth: Vinson spins this very unlikely story: (from his affidavit)
JPJ: So on November 21, 1963, you were in Col. Chapman’s office and talking with him personally?
RGV: Yes, I was talking with him and he was going to make arrangements for me to go to the Pentagon from there.
JPJ: You were to se [sic] someone at the Pentagon?
RGV: Yes, I was to go to the Personnel Office in the Pentagon.
JPJ: Do you recall Col Chapman’s first name?
RGV: No, I don’t.
JPJ: Alright, but he was a full colonel?
RGV: Full colonel.
JPJ: Alright, and as you were . . . That’s a yes I take it, that he was a full colonel?
RGV: Come to think about it, I can’t remember.
JPJ: Alright, it may not be that important.
RGV: I just called him Col. Chapman.
JPJ: Sure. Alright. Then, what took place while you were there in Col. Chapman’s office that you overheard that you thought was a little unusual.
RGV: I only heard one side of the conversation, but I did hear him say that he would highly recommend that the President not go to Dallas, Texas, on Friday, because there had been something reported, which I didn’t hear what it was.
JPJ: Alright, was this a telephone conversation that you overheard?
RGV: Yes, this was a telephone conversation. I only heard his voice and his side of it.
JPJ: Alright, do you recall whether he had called someone in your presence or whether a call came in while you were there?
RGV: No, the call came in while I was there.
JPJ: Alright, and is that the substance of what you remember?
RGV: Yes, pretty much the substance of it. I do remember that part of it because he was pretty pronounced in saying that he would highly recommend that the President not go over there.
JPJ: To Dallas?
RGV: To Dallas.
JPJ: Alright. Where did you go then from ...
RGV: There was one other conversation. . . something about the advance group of congressmen have already left.
JPJ: Who said that?
RGV: He did.
JPJ: Chapman?
What a coincidence that Vinson hears this conversation one day before November 22nd.
James Douglass' book JFK and the Unspeakable includes this story and gives Vinson 6 1/2 pages. And James DiEugenio includes it in his review of Douglass's book:
He then wraps this up by saying that this double was ultimately flown out of Dallas on a military transport plane. This is based on the testimony of retired Air Force officer Robert Vinson. It is contained in a 52-page affidavit given to his attorney James P. Johnston of Wichita, Kansas.
I'll give the last word to John McAdams with an excerpt from his book, JFK Assassination Logic: (page 42 in the Kindle edition)
This theory originated with a philosophy professor named Richard Popkin who wrote a book titled The Second Oswald in 1966, but it has echoed through the years and even appeared in Oliver Stone’s 1991 movie JFK. Obviously, the theory has logical problems. It would be an incompetent conspiracy indeed that would have a fake Oswald running around when the real one was someplace where multiple reliable witnesses—in some cases, his own wife—could provide an alibi for him. In fact, to account for all the Oswald sightings, a second Oswald alone would not suffice. A whole crew would be necessary account for them all. Douglass, fully aware of the problem, admits that there were “too many Oswalds in view, with too many smuggled rifles, retelling a familiar story to too many witnesses.” He attributes this predicament to “the bungling redundancy of cover stories” and explains that “in an overambitious plot, the scapegoat wound up being in too many places at the same time.” So these otherwise brilliant plotters sent out way too many Oswalds to do way too many things that were designed to frame the real Oswald. That assumption is entirely ad hoc on Douglass’s part. And pursuing such a tactic would be monumentally stupid on the conspirators’ part.
Previous Relevant Blog Posts
Here is a simple solution to the incident at Bolton Ford.
A tape of Jim Garrison being interviewed by the HSCA.
Thornley misjudged Oswald's height. So what?
Jim Garrison believed it was important to find the man with a scar.
Oswald was not in New Orleans in 1962.
Add one part crazy, one part ridiculous, and what do you get?
He looked like Lee Harvey Oswald but he was someone else.
At a meeting with his investigators, Garrison discusses the two-Oswald theory.
Wade claimed to have seen Oswald at the Carousel Club. Which Oswald was it?
Yet more proof that Thornley was the second Oswald.
Garrison writes the HSCA about his theory.
Ashworth met an "Oswald" in a couple of locations.
A really ridiculous Garrison memo on the height of Lee Harvey Oswald.
Previous Relevant Blog Posts on Chokeholds:
The book treats a Mort Sahl quote as if it was correct.
Chokeholds leaves out a lot of information about Aloysius Habighorst.
Bleau doesn't tell his readers about Roger Craig's credibility problems.
Bleau believes the Rose Cherami story.
Bleau claims the Shaw jury believed there was a conspiracy in the JFK assassination. This is just not true.
Bleau doesn't tell you everything about Lyndon Johnson's feelings towards the Warren Report.
Bleau leaves out some important details about the beliefs of Burt Griffin.
Bleau leaves out an important paragraph from Alfredda Scobey's article on the Warren Commission.
Bleau misleads readers on the testimony of John Moss Whitten.
Bleau gets it all wrong on Dr. George Burkley.
Bleau doesn't tell the whole story about John Sherman Cooper.
Bleau claims that J. Lee Rankin questioned the findings of the Warren Report. This is just not true.
Bleau tries to make it appear that Dallas policeman James Leavelle had doubts that Oswald could be found guilty at a trial.
Bleau gets it all wrong on the FBI Summary Report.
Bleau discusses the conclusions of the HSCA but leaves out it most important finding.
Bleau leaves out some important details about a Warren Commission staffer.
Was Oswald a loner? Bleau says no, and then says yes.
Bleau leaves out some important details about Malcolm Kilduff.
An introduction to Paul Bleau's new book, Chokeholds.