There is just enough seemingly real substance to Newman's claims to put them in the "regrettable" category. This category is for claims which may just be real, but we will never know because the inventor is a lunatic, or dead, or both.
There are many categories of over unity machines. Here are some of the common ones, from bad to good:
Preposterous. There are hundreds of these claims.
Extremely unlikely with no evidence as far as anyone knows. Hundreds more. It is best to ignore them.
Extremely unlikely with anecdotal evidence only. There is no point to investigating or pursuing these claims.
Extremely unlikely with anecdotal evidence and lousy experiments only, that were never independently confirmed or replicated. Somewhat regrettable but mainly a farce. Correa fall in this category, in my opinion.
Extremely unlikely but for some reason a few apparently legitimate experts are convinced. Regrettable. Newman is the best example.
Unlikely with anecdotal evidence. A few experiments are reported that would be interesting if anyone had any good documentation for them.
Unlikely but interesting. A few good experiments but not enough widespread replications to be convincing. Mills fits in this category in my opinion.
Unlikely, yet reportedly replicated but not within the last 10 years. Fading away because all the people who replicated are dead or out of contact. The Griggs gadget is approaching this status. As far as I know it is real but I have no way to prove that conclusively. Unless something is done to rescue cold fusion, it will eventually enter this condition, as the researchers become incapacitated and die off. Ed Storms and some others are optimistic that it will be rescued, but I am not.
Dead certain. Only CF is in this category as far as I know. I am certain of it, but if I and all the others who know about it grow old and die, it will be lost. A person who has met with the cold fusion researchers and who understands actuarial tables will not feel confident about the outcome. People have a tendency to act as if they will live forever, but I am acutely aware that 'art is long and life is short.'
- Jed
