May 24, 2006 :: News
Five years ago, Theodore Postol, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, accused the university’s Lincoln Laboratory of committing fraud in a missile defense study. He argued that MIT scientists were acting in bad faith when they used what he said was flawed data to deem “basically sound” the results from a 1997 test of an infrared missile sensor. In the subsequent investigation, the Department of Defense refused to release classified information to Postol and others. The accusations were left unanswered for three to four years, which Postol denounced as fraud. Last fall, a panel of four MIT professors began looking into the matter, and
The Boston Globe recently reported the panel’s conclusion that MIT did not make any serious mistakes. Rather, they found that Postol himself had impeded the investigation by modifying and amending his accusations over time. “The absence of a clear, concise and consistent definition of the allegation complicated the conduct of the inquiry,” the panel said. They faulted Postol further for revealing confidential information to the media and others.
(Article)» Oct. 23, 2005: The Boston Globe profiles Theodore Postol
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