Did Austin Miller just see Steam?
- Fred Litwin
- 10 hours ago
- 3 min read
Austin Miller was another one of Mark Lane's witnesses who claimed to have seen smoke on the grassy knoll: (page 40 in Rush to Judgment)
Austin L. Miller stated in an affidavit on November 22, 'I saw something which I thought was smoke or steam coming from a group of trees north of Elm off the railroad tracks.' He was questioned for the first time by counsel for the Commission four and a half months after the assassination. The interview was a brief one; it lasted but a few minutes. Counsel did not ask about the smoke, and Miller was dismissed before he could mention the crucial observation contained in his affidavit.
The smoke that Austin Miller saw came from the westernmost part of the grassy knoll which is not where conspiracy theorists claim the shots came from. And there was a steam pipe right in that vicinity -- notice that Miller said it could have been steam.
Gary Mack told Vincent Bugliosi that the steam pipe "started at the north end of the Triple Underpass and extended about thirty feet parallel to the railroad tracks”
No mention of smoke or steam, but Miller does mention "powder dust spray" which might either have been brain/blood/scalp/skull matter from the head shot, or dust from a missed shot on the pavement.
Update
Robert Wagner, in his excellent book, JFK Assassinated, references this piece of testimony from Austin Miller:
"I don't recall exactly what all did happen for sure."
Previous Relevant Blog Posts on Smoke on the Grassy Knoll
Simmons thought the shots came from the TSBD.
He saw smoke but was it from a rifle?
Walter Winborn saw smoke on the grassy knoll, but was it from a rifle?
Previous Relevant Blog Posts on Mark Lane
Mark Lane and the HSCA.
An interesting anecdote from Mort Sahl's book, Heartland.
Some ads for Lane's film Rush to Judgment.
A Garry Wills opinion piece on Mark Lane.
Navasky tests Lane's book and finds it wanting.
A New York Times profile of Lane and his involvement with Jonestown.
An apt profile.
An opinion piece by Anthony Lewis in the New York Times on Mark Lane and Jonestown.
An opinion piece from the Washington Post
A good opinion piece from the Philadelphia Bulletin.
Meagher tells Labro a story about Mark Lane.
Even a left-wing magazine like The Progressive found Mark Lane hard to take.
Mark Lane's addition to the 1992 edition of Rush to Judgment is eye opening.
Lane tells Dolan about Garrison's amazing evidence.
Lane makes a startling allegation.
A profile from Mother Jones magazine.
Lane and Meagher feuded about a blurb for her book.
A profile from Esquire Magazine.
An article from the Tampa Bay Times.
An Anthony Lewis column on Mark Lane from 1978.
Howard Roffman finds that Mark Lane's scholarship is lacking.
A profile of Mark Lane in Newsweek.
Mark Lane offers to introduce Jim Garrison to a witness that, for $25,000, would tie Jack Ruby with Clay Shaw.
This post has a good case study of how Mark Lane exploited a redaction in a document.
Lane tells the Danish press he knows who killed JFK.
Lane speaks at the Louisiana State Bar Association.
