  The fact that the formula used by Hannay in his Comment is "from a standard
text on electrodynamics" neither warrants that it is universally applicable,
nor that it is unequivocally correct. We have explicitly shown [J. Opt. Soc.
Am. A 25, 543 (2008)] that,since it does not include the boundary contribution
toward the value of the field, the formula in question is not applicable when
the source is extended and has a distribution pattern that rotates faster than
light in vacuo. The neglected boundary term in the retarded solution to the
wave equation governing the electromagnetic field forms the basis of
diffraction theory. If this term were identically zero, for the reasons given
by Hannay, the iffraction of electromagnetic waves through apertures on a
surface enclosing a source would have been impossible. If this term were
identically zero, for the reasons given by Hannay, the diffraction of
electromagnetic waves through apertures on a surface enclosing a source would
have been impossible.
