  We report a re-analysis of the old results from the Michelson-Morley
interferometer experiments that were designed to detect absolute motion. We
build upon a recent (1998) re-analysis of the original data by Munera, which
revealed small but significant effects after allowing for several systematic
errors in the original analyses. The further re-analysis here reveals that a
genuine effect of absolute motion is expected, in what is essentially a quantum
interference experiment, but only if the photons travel in the interferometer
at speeds V < c. This is the case if the interferometer operates in a
dielectric, such as air, or helium as was the case of the Illingworth (1927)
Michelson-Morley experiment. The re-analysis here of the Illingworth
experimental data correcting for the refractive index effect of the helium,
reveals an absolute speed of the Earth of v=369+/-123 km/s, which is in
agreement with the speed of v=365+/-18 km/s determined from the dipole fit, in
1991, to the NASA COBE satellite Cosmic Background Radiation (CBR)
observations. These experimental results refute Einstein's assertion that
absolute motion through space has no meaning, and require a re-assessment of
the interpretation of General Relativity.
