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1. Do your own research on the information provided and then come up with your own conclusions.

2. This article contains many names and other information that can be researched.

3. Trust your gut feeling on information provided as this post may contain slanted information.

The identification happened through this chain:

1. In July 1978, the HSCA supplied Dallas newspapers with photographs of the unidentified Umbrella Man and asked the public for help.

2. An unidentified man reportedly contacted Texas journalist and assassination researcher Penn Jones Jr.

3. The caller said the man in the photograph was his former coworker, Louie Steven Witt, who still lived and worked in Dallas.

4. That information reached investigators, who located Witt.

5. Witt admitted that he was the man holding the umbrella and testified publicly before the HSCA on September 25, 1978.

Therefore, the most precise answer is: an unnamed former coworker initially gave Louie Steven Witt’s name to Penn Jones Jr.; Witt himself subsequently confirmed the identification to the House committee.

Witt testified that he first realized investigators were seeking him when the committee’s pictures appeared in Dallas newspapers. He recognized himself but initially remained silent because he did not want publicity. According to Witt:

“When the committee sent these things to the newspapers, and it was printed in the local papers…”

When asked whether he recognized the photograph as himself, Witt answered, “After I read it, yes.” He also acknowledged that he would have preferred never to have been found.

Witt brought what he claimed was the original umbrella to the hearing. He said he had raised it to heckle Kennedy—a reference to British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain’s umbrella and Joseph P. Kennedy Sr.’s support for appeasement while serving as ambassador to Britain. Witt denied signaling gunmen or participating in the assassination. The committee examined the umbrella but found nothing unusual in it.

The important distinction is that Penn Jones did not independently identify Witt from the assassination photographs. According to the historical account, an unnamed person who knew Witt supplied the name to Jones. The committee then located Witt, and Witt identified himself under oath. HSCA testimony excerpts and hearing citations Sixth Floor Museum collection description