On the nature of light and relativity.

Concepts from the special theory of relativity are widely held, including time dilation theory, perceived to have experimental confirmation, and believed to have no disproof from wellcontrolled prospective experiments. Demonstrated here is that although relativity for light is special, in being an entity always traveling at fixed speed in the propagation direction from its source coordinate, the notion that time "dilates" for objects in motion was an unfortunate extrapolation: (1) An element is derived, missing from the original analysis, which demonstrates that for bodies in motion, the time required to be illuminated differs compared with that in the absence of motion, but absolute time itself does not "dilate." The times required for a moving rod and for a stationary rod are identically calculated by both an observer in motion and one stationary. (2) Experiments with laser light sources, observed while the earth revolves and orbits and produces variable lateral source velocity, demonstrated that light pulses shift laterally along with the source and target while propagating at speed c to intercept the target. Pulses have a lateral velocity imparted by the orbiting earth, a necessary finding to understand special relativity. Examples are provided that clarify thought experiments commonly presented in Physics texts, and (3) intrinsic properties of light photons, such as self propagation, intrinsic speed, and relative velocity, are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]