Let $M^m$ be an $m$-dimensional, closed and smooth manifold, equipped with a smooth involution $T\colon M^m \to M^m$ whose fixed point set has the form $F^n \cup F^j$, where $F^n$ and $F^j$ are submanifolds with dimensions $n$ and $j$, $F^j$ is indecomposable and $ n >j$. Write $n-j=2^pq$, where $q \ge 1$ is odd and $p \geq 0$, and set $m(n-j) = 2n+p-q+1$ if $p \leq q + 1$ and $m(n-j)= 2n + 2^{p-q}$ if $p \geq q$. In this paper we show that $m \le m(n-j) + 2j+1$. Further, we show that this bound is \emph{almost} best possible, by exhibiting examples $(M^{m(n-j) +2j},T)$ where the fixed point set of $T$ has the form $F^n \cup F^j$ described above, for every $2 \le j
Keywords:involution, projective space bundle, indecomposable manifold, splitting principle, Stiefel-Whitney class, characteristic number
Category:57R85