http://www.martinezwritings.com/m/Relativity.html
"Does the speed of light depend on the speed of its source? Before formulating his theory of special relativity, Albert Einstein spent a few years trying to formulate a theory in which the speed of light depends on its source, just like all material projectiles. Likewise, Walter Ritz outlined such a theory, where none of the peculiar effects of Einstein's relativity would hold. By 1913 most physicists abandoned such efforts, accepting the postulate of the constancy of the speed of light. Yet five decades later all the evidence that had been said to prove that the speed of light is independent of its source had been found to be defective."

Why did physicists abandon Ritz's theory in 1913? Because a fraudster convinced them to do so:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Sitt...tar_experiment
"The de Sitter effect was described by de Sitter in 1913 and used to support the special theory of relativity against a competing 1908 emission theory by Walter Ritz that postulated a variable speed of light. De Sitter showed that Ritz's theory predicted that the orbits of binary stars would appear more eccentric than consistent with experiment and with the laws of mechanics, however, the experimental result was negative. This was confirmed by Brecher in 1977 by observing the x-rays spectrum."

Here is Brecher's paper:

http://www.ekkehard-friebe.de/Brecher-K-1977.pdf
K. Brecher, "Is the Speed of Light Independent of the Velocity of the Source?"

Brecher (originally de Sitter) applies the emission theory to a system with unknown parameters but informs the gullible world that, if the emission theory is correct, the system would produce "peculiar effects". So Brecher has no idea how the gravitational field of the system affects the emitted light, and accordingly calculates the "peculiar effects" by implicitly assuming that the gravitational field can be ignored. The fraud is of the highest order - Brecher calculates "peculiar effects" produced by a system of which he knows almost nothing.

Needless to say, the system does not produce the strawman "peculiar effects". Brecher's conclusion: Ritz's emission theory (more precisely, the assumption that the speed of light depends on the speed of the emitter) is unequivocally refuted.

A refutation of this kind can only be valid in Einstein's schizophrenic world. Note that it cannot be criticized - the fact that the parameters of the double star system are unknown prevents critics from showing why exactly the "peculiar effects" are absent.

Pentcho Valev