John Plaice discovers that the evidence supporting Einstein’s theory of relativity has either gone missing or never existed in the first place.
The Principe team was led by Eddington, in his capacity as director of the Cambridge Observatory. Eddington’s role was largely personal. He understood the theory being tested and was experienced in the type of astrometry required to measure the predicted effect. But his observatory was not known for its expertise in eclipses, and the equipment he used was largely borrowed from the Oxford Observatory. He was accompanied not by one of his own staff but by Cottingham, who was familiar with the equipment to be used, as he counted both the Oxford and Cambridge Observatories among his clients. Cottingham’s role was largely to maintain the equipment in working order at the site. It is probable that Eddington alone handled the data analysis of the Principe expedition. We cannot determine how this was done because none of the data analysis sheets or photographic plates have survived. We do know that Eddington began the data analysis on Principe by himself, so it is almost certain that he continued on his own when back in England.
Wait, what? Neither Eddington’s data analysis sheets nor his photographic plates have survived?
The obscurity of Principe extended further than just the day itself. Eddington began his data reduction alone while still on the island. It is probable that he never enlisted anyone’s help after his return to Cambridge. If he kept any notes or records, they were later lost. Even the plates he took have long since disappeared. They may have been disposed of when the observatory was cleared out after the Second World War. Eddington had passed away, and the university was anxious to remove Winifred, his sister, from the premises in order to rehouse needy academics in the postwar housing shortage. A fellow astronomer called Chubby Stratton was sent in to go through Eddington’s papers and seems to have thrown out a great deal of material, judging by the relatively small amount deposited at the Trinity College Library. Apparently, no one thought the eclipse plates were worth keeping. No one now can examine what Stratton did and second-guess his methods and decisions. In this sense, it is not surprising that doubts have been expressed about Eddington’s results. Apart from what he published, we have nothing else to go on. To be fair, he published in some detail, but it would be nice to have the plates. Apart from the fabulous published images of the prominence, which show no stars because of the clouds, we have no record of the eclipse at Principe other than the data and tables of calculations given in the report.
This is for the observations that proved without a doubt that classical physics was wrong, and made Eddington a star and Einstein a superstar! So today we have no physical evidence that Eddington actually observed what he claimed to have observed.
Based on what we already know about the core falsehoods upon which Clown World has been constructed, I think it is fairly safe to conclude that the theory of relativity will eventually be shown to be not only intrinsically false, but completely impossible, given the way in which the evidence that originally supported it and helped it become established now cannot be produced or reproduced.
But I will defer to the physicists in the community rather than formulating an actual opinion on the subject, since on this topic I have not done the math and I know they have.