debor008

"What we need is not the will to believe but the will to find out." - Bertrand Russell                     "Only a fool of a scientist would dismiss the evidence and reports                      in front of him and substitute his own beliefs in their place."                                                  - Paul Kurtz     The cover of Boys' Life magazine Sept., 1914  Historians and the public, who want to believe the Wrights were first to fly, have many excuses for  inconsistencies in witness's descriptions of` what happened at Kill Devil Hills, N.C.,  Dec.14-17, 1903--and indeed, later.  For examples: "Witnesses couldn't remember," or, "Their statements were made years after the facts." This, of course, implies that the only statements we can rely on, according to these historians, are the statements of the Wrights, themselves. But what if the Wrights contradict themselves? Then even the

  "The fact that an opinion has been widely held is no evidence whatever that it is not utterly absurd; indeed in view of the silliness of the majority of mankind, a widespread belief is more likely to be foolish than sensible." - Bertrand Russell "All great truths begin as blasphemies." - George Bernard Shaw   A good many historians today base their version of early aviation history on the statements of the Wright Brothers. But a critical thinker has to establish that we can depend on the Wrights' honesty and consistency, especially since we have already established that their descriptions of the first claimed flights are not consistent with those of two of their five witnesses. The Wrights say they took off from level ground on December 17, 1903. Witnesses Daniels and Etheridge state that they placed the plane on the side of the hill for the claimed flights that day. What do later publications, documents and letters tell us about truth in the Wrigh