Mark LeClair, former Lockheed scientist, has a diamond (the size of a postage stamp) that he claims was transmuted out of ordinary water.
Mark claims his device costs just $250 to make, that it can be figured out just by reading his patents, and that he has had serious radiation poisoning from it twice.
Claim, claim, claim, claim. You can claim whatever you like, it's easy.
The other-worldly, postage stamp sized diamond has been tested, along with 90 other "transmuted" elements. Even though the validity of the story as to how the samples came about has not been proven, shouldn't people at least be curious to look at the numerous physical artifacts: In addition to all those elements detected in large amounts (grams), he has a dish that originally held some transmuted elements that is etched with nuclear tracks, the device, and lab reports from the testing of samples.
Claims, claims, claims, claims. Why should I
have to investigate "anomalies"? This isn't a Sherlock Holmes story, in which "a dish with nuclear tracks" is the only clue Moriarty left behind. If this guy has a device that actually does something, the appropriate thing to investigate is
the device that does the thing, not mysterious secondary clues.
Compare to a real-world inventor. Dyson didn't put out a years' worth of "claims" regarding a purported bagless vacuum. They just started
selling bagless vacuums to the public, whereupon it was obvious that they worked.
I've been trying to get mainstream media to do a show about it. The series could culminate with a live demonstration. A well known skeptic could be asked to choose five scientists as observers. A $1 million prize could be awarded to the inventor, if a threshold amount of new elements are created, and excess energy created exceeds a certain ratio. This type of show would be a commercial success whether or not validity was proven (even with the media providing full funding); an important consideration in an area of investment where total loss is the norm.
That doesn't stand up to two seconds of thought; if Le Clair's device were for real, he doesn't need $1M from a reality show---he'd have all the money he needs from his
huge supply of diamonds, rare transmutation products, and free energy, and all the publicity/validation he needs from
producing an selling a device that actually works. (If, as is likely, Le Clair's device is fake, why would he agree to be unmasked on television?)
The whole "million dollar challenge" rigamarole is appropriate for people who claim
personal abilities. If you claim your brain can do something weird, well, I can only test that claim with your participation and cooperation. Hence the *personal* challenge, where you set up incentives for the person to participate.
Dyson didn't withhold their vacuums from testing until lured in with a "challenge". They just sold working vacuums, and gave them to reviewers, and
because they worked more people bought them.
