Lee, Dennis: An Examination of His Claims
http://www.voicenet.com/~eric/dennis.html
with some formatting changes added by me, 10/5/96, PB.]
created 9/23/96, last updated 10/5/96
Eric's Page examining the amazing claims of Dennis Lee of Better World Technology -declaration of energy independence:
I'm an engineer who has long studied fantastic claims. I saw Dennis Lee's full page add for energy independence and apparently paranormal devices. He has made very significant claims; if true, he'll be bigger than Bill Gates. For the sake of the world I wish he would succeed, but I'm concerned for his many investors if this will go the way of most similar claims I've studied. On September 23 1996, 3 friends and I went to hear him speak at the Philly Corestates Center. My investigation showed he spent somewhere around $100,000 to put on that show. I found the style intriguing - it caused me to think of shoppers home network, professional wrestling, Jim Bakker and Uri Gellor, Among the many things we think deserve further skepticism are:
* He seems to think the entire government and american industry at large has a conspiracy to suppress his truth. much of his rhetoric was very similar to right wing extremist militia nonsense I've heard (he has sympathy for ruby ridge and refers to states as republics. He doesn't explain how fierce competition among businesses fighting for survival would ignore something due to some good old boy network.
* He didn't explain the big orange boxes which appeared to be conventional hydrogen generators
* He implied that one machine ran on water, with out explaining the quantity of energy needed for hydrolysis. He also referred to a machine running on air without making it obvious that the air was compressed from another source.
* he made the absurd claim that a 30lb heat storage device could hold enough energy to be harnessed to run a car for a while. He mentioned Sterling engine technology which has been known for many years with out mentioning its severe efficiency problems.
* His scientific references frequently confused units of measure to derive unbased conclusions.
* at one point he compare static torque with dynamic torque to imply that his week air powered engine would have more power output than a regular engine by comparing it's stalled torque to that of a running engine.
* His biggest claim was an briefly described device that could harness latent heat from the air ultimately into electricity. He failed to mention science involving enthalpy which would prove such a claim impossible. I would have been more convinced if he had left such a machine running while lighting light bulbs with no wires attached through the whole show.
* He said a court of law proved his devices. Courts of law do not prove engineering claims, laboratories do. I'd be more impressed if a team from the publication "scientific american" "consumers reports" or even "car and driver "would investigate his claims than lawyers.
* One of his machines with just little wheels rotating was claimed to put out more energy than put in - it quickly stopped after a getting rolling
* He said a 8 cylinder engine always has half it's cylinders working - this is true of 2 cycle engines not 4 cycle.
* He constantly interchanged units of power ,force and energy - but what I can't explain is his claim that he already made a lot of money selling the worlds most significant heat pump.
* Many of his devices just ran a short time on a charge of compressed air and stopped. most didn't seem to rely on aberrations to the generally accepted laws of physics.
* It didn't make sense to me why he claimed he was not allowed to demonstrate technology which could neutralize radioactivity. There are plenty of perfectly legal sources of radiation that could have been used. I hope Dennis doesn't live up to his vow to neutralize all isotopes in the country since there are many positive medical applications for nuclear energy (not to mention smacking those Japanese in line).
* He told us he had a brick battery which put out a volt of power. Power is not measured in volts (only in volts times amps) - besides you can get a volt out of a potato too, but the power level would be less than a watch battery.
* He showed a poor quality video of a new low vibration air hammer - but it looked like it just didn't work as well. the average person is not in a position to be able to judge the quality of a jack hammer, incinerator or welding equipment - I saw it as a needless distraction in an already too long presentation.
* I felt concerned when Dennis said that 'Nicky Tesla invented all this stuff 90 years ago. The world does owe Tesla a debt of gratitude for some fine inventions' - but it's my understanding from a number of books that Tesla failed to demonstrate many fantastic claims -Tesla gathered a lot of investment money for claims that were never proven. If such claims were true, I'd think that in the mean time someone would be able to demonstrate them to the scientific community - I can't envision them all world wide being part of some conspiracy to deprive the world of technology.
* As a rule of thumb, warning lights go on for me when I hear people say stuff like: God revealed this to me personally, this invention needs a little more work to be demonstrated, I want people to invest with no business plan or formal contract. Also, most deals that 'are only good for today' are really about not giving you a chance to think it over. One should be especially skeptical of a deal offered way past midnight when you are not alert.
Dennis should be open to my offer to personally test his devices in the presence of main stream press people he has not responded to me. I'd love to see a chance for 3rd party engineers (like me) and scientists to do a hands on examination of his machines. We will see if he responds. And for many years there have been many people with claims like Dennis's that have turned out to be groundless - they constantly hide behind claims of secrecy and the excuse that evil forces are trying to stop them. I think most people of science are like me - they love their countries, humanity and the environment and would love to see a machine which could make cheaper safer nonpolluting energy.
I encourage anyone looking at any fantastic claims to first be aware of critical thinking . - this group of people act as public servants despite personal risk and with no hope of getting rich. Our single greatest rule is:
EXTRAORDINARY CLAIMS REQUIRE EXTRAORDINARY EVIDENCE!
. The scientific people who joined me at Dennis's show did not see Extraordinary evidence for Dennis's claims - but we are open to any Evidence which may arrive.
I intend to gather much more information concerning the amazing claims offered to the world by dennis and present it on this page. Maybe, someone can help me get together a history of free energy claims of the past 100 years(I've read about a lot of them - I don't know of any that have really worked) I hope I don't get sued or harassed for offering this information - if I do, oh well -it's the cost of being a patriot for truth.
Other pages skeptical of Dennis's claims:
* Tom Napier's excellent page examining Dennis Lee's amazing claims
* Is there a government conspiracy to suppress wonderful inventions?
* Eric's guide how to spot a CULT LEADER
* Eric's history of perpetual motion machines and the investors scamed by them
* Why Dennis Lee should welcome Eric's offer to take a closer look.
* testimony of someone who worked with Dennis before
* Eric's experience with an amazing claim in 1986
Future skeptical Dennis pages I'd like to create (they don't work yet) :
* more statements by people who worked with Dennis
* Dennis's response to Eric's skepticism -that's up to Dennis whether to address my concerns
* Ways that this whole thing could possibly play out
* An examination of legal recourse open to Dennis's investors I'll need some private donations to create this
* A closer examination of the governments justificaation for tossing Dennis in Jail it could take considerable time to examine the case
* Efforts to get the mainstream press to examine Dennis's amazing claims
* Mainstream press coverage of Dennis to dateI'm sure there must be some - I just haven't been able to find it some one help me out, here
* Responses to these skeptical web pages - note: anyone responding should TELL me if they want to be anonymous
* Mistakes that have appeared in these pages -none that I'm aware of yet
* Other pages SUPPORTING Dennis's claims:
* Pro-free energy page
* This site promotes Dennis Lee's Better World Technology -I nicely asked them to reciprocate a link to this page, they sounded open but - we'll see
* another pro report of Dennis Lee being in jail
* An excellent discussion of Dennis's legal tangles (obviously pro) -but it may be old
* please send mail to eric@voicenet.com -unlike Dennis, I'm happy to publish critical responses to my claims. [Image]
www.padrak.com/ine/LEE.html
Oct. 5, 1996.