An important point: This demo was first and foremost Rossi's tribute event to Focardi - maybe a kind of pre-eulogy. Almost everyone agrees with that characterization now - but it was not mentioned very often in the USA at the time.
Rossi had every incentive to stage or enhance the results, not to make it look better than it usually was, but just in case something went wrong. It is probably wrong to think of this as *either* faked or honest. It could simply have been staged for effect - and it was staged in a town that is almost synonymous with opera. The following scenario is for Alan. And let me add that is NOT what I actually believe today, but it could have happened this way. If the independent results in Sweden or elsewhere come in at significantly less than the very high COP seen earlier, then the probability of this scenario being accurate goes from slim to large. We should know that soon. Rossi may have known that there was a small chance that he could not get the unit working after inviting quite a large collection of former friends and associates of Focardi out to his factory. Even if it worked fine the day before, and Celani was saying that he seemed to having trouble getting it started . he decides not to take the risk. So without doing anything dishonest or illegal - since he knew the machine was producing lots of energy normally and that was the main point (and he could not afford the occasional 'bad day') he "takes out insurance" so to speak, in the form an enhancement. He arranged to somehow pad the result, possibly with a clear combustible liquid that looked like water - and to turn what could be an "iffy" demo, one time in ten - but which could embarrass Focardi if it did not work - into a foolproof demo that Barnum and Bailey would envy. All of this was to guarantee at fitting tribute to his old mentor. He is that kind of friend. But lo and behold - he not only got his normal OU gain but much more. He could have been in an embarrassment of riches situation. A few weeks later, for whatever reason, he did even better with an even better trick. Time will tell. Jones
