Webster knew a lot about the technology that the Soviets wanted for
their military and space programs, in order to fabricate their missiles
and engines. I think what the US wanted was the inside baseball on the
state of development of Soviet missiles and military hardware - Webster
learned during his stay that "Soviet plastics technologies on a
commercial and application basis are about ten years behind those of the US".
FBI counterintelligence chief Bill Branigan discussed the Webster affair with Hoover aide Alan Belmont: "Subject does not have access to any classified data, but the Rand Development Corporation has expressed interest in his welfare because of his peculiar knowledge of the plastics and fiberglass industry. The U.S. is ahead of the Russians in the
plastic and fiberglass field, and, therefore, the Soviets would have a
logical interest in the subject's remaining in the Soviet Union.  We also know that the Soviets have requested information concerning fiberglass and plastics through our double agents."
Oswald entered the Soviet Union while the Soviets were distracted by Webster. Oswald may have been considered as a possible "double" for Webster, and he certainly played a role as a dangle to test Soviet knowledge of the U-2 program
During
this period of time, Lee Harvey Oswald received a dependency discharge
based on his claim that he was going to take care of his mother, who was
supposedly injured months earlier by a falling candy box, and arrived
in Fort Worth on September 12, 1959.  After visiting his mother for three days,
he abruptly left her and arrived in New Orleans by the 16th. As
mentioned above, his brother's story was that Lee was going to resume
work at an import-export business.
On September 16th, instead of returning to a day job, Oswald had obtained a ticket to go to Le Havre, France by freighter for the next day. Taking a slow boat was a good idea, as Webster's whereabouts were not yet known. Travel by freighter was also a good way to avoid foreign intelligence from knowing that an American Marine had left American soil on a civilian airliner in an era where air travel was not as pervasive as it is now; Oswald's immigration questionnaire says that he was a shipping export agent. Freeport Sulfur was one of the major corporations with Cuban interests that was ready to go to war with Castro.  Was it coincidental that Oswald's freighter left from Galveston, known for some of the largest sulfur terminals in the world with Freeport right next door, and was packed with sulfur in all hatches?
On September 18, at Rand's request, Frederick Merrill of the East West Contacts, State Department sought information on Webster. Merrill had approved the work of Ruth Paine and her Quaker group to organize East-West exchanges in 1957-1958.Â
This was the same week that the Paine family moved to the suburban Dallas town of Irving and transferred their bank accounts , while Legend Maker #12 Michael Paine settled into his new job at the Bell Aircraft Company, soon to be better known as Bell Helicopter .Â
The Paine family also became better known after the assassination, as Michael and Ruth Paine took the Oswalds under their care in the
months before November 22.
On
September 30, as the visa was about to expire, Webster wrote the
American embassy and told them that he was staying in the USSR. On
10/6, Edward Freers at the embassy sent a memo to the State Department that Webster was defecting. This Freers report may have been ripped right out of the files of the National Archives - only two pages
are contained in the document that is described by the National
Archives as a six-page document. The missing four pages appears to be
the Freers report itself.
Oswald disembarked in France on October 8 - Oswald was keeping his cards close to his chest.Â
By October 8, a memo from the Soviet Union division revealed that all components involved with the Webster affair were swearing up and down that he was not their agent.
By October 11, Rand flew to the USSR to visit Webster, who was in the hospital for reasons that are still unclear. "Jim" Rand could not get any information, and was so frustrated that he referred to Legend Maker #4, consul Richard Snyder, as a "jerk".
Rand is now labeling Webster's defection as "industrial espionage".  A memo of Rand's describes how The Big M - Mikoyan - allowed Rand, his assistant George Bookbinder, and consul Snyder to meet with Webster on 10/17 and asked him a lot of questions. I don't see anything in the record about the reason for Webster's hospital stay. At any rate, Webster filled out an affidavit renouncing his American citizenship, but Snyder refused to accept it.
On October 17, the New York Times runs a story on Webster's defection on October 17 with Webster's friend Ted "Korkycki" piously exclaiming that Webster is of no use to the Soviets. However, other memos refer to Webster as having the alias "Guide 223" and Ted "Korycki" using the alias "Lincoln Leeds".
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