Several visitors to the site have argued that Figure C must be wrong in showing the wave front from each flash reaching each detector simultaneously. The general argument has been that relativity theory proves that events which are simultaneous in one inertial reference frame could not also be simultaneous in a second inertial frame moving with respect to the first, and since realtivity theory has been proven correct, the conclusion in Figure C must be wrong. (Please see comments below.)

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Comments on Solution #1:

Figure C simply reports what has actually been found to happen in the laboratory. If those reports contradict an existing theory, that would call for a careful review, but it would not be a valid reason to reject empirical findings from the laboratory. This is an important point in science. Theories are theories because there is no way to prove that a theory is correct. Theories can be tested in laboratories, and the tests can either uphold the theory or prove the theory wrong, but for a theory to be proven correct, it would need to be shown that every possible test of that theory had been run, and that could never be known. Please see FAQ #3 and #5.

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Comments on Solution #2:

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Comments on Solution #3