Doing my due diligence, I found that quote
https://blog.richmond.edu/phys…en-confirmed-by-a-theory/
Quote
Never believe an experiment until it has been confirmed by a theory
Supposedly Sir Arthur Eddington said this, and supposedly he was at least partially joking. I like to think he was only half joking, though, because there’s a pretty big nugget of truth in this supposedly backwards statement.
...
In fact this sentence is popular, and there is good reason...
http://schrivers.blogspot.fr/2…ld-be-believed-until.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03…ced-einsteins-theory.html
My perception is that not only this position is a consensus, is intimately supported, but have some (exaggerated) validity.
However the key, and the reason this statement make me furious is deeper.
I agree completely that until you can integrate anomalies (LENR and EmDrive are anomalies) you cannot be 100% confident on the experimental result.
HOWEVER, and this is the key problem, when you are not sure of an experimental result you should investigate more, not less.
Problem with degenerated academic culture of 20-21th century, is that academic are more afraid to be wrong alone than desiring to find truth alone. The most funny is that today it seems that it is entrepreneurs and engineers who today have the good scientific risk taking mentality...
They just compute the huge price of missing a revolution.