N-Rays - real, illusory, or deliberate cover-up?

In the 18th hundreds French physicist Prosper-René Blondlot together with 7 other scientists discovered what they called "N-Rays" - a new form of light or new form of X-Rays. All eight physicists were members of the very credible French Academy of Science. At that time, Prosper-René Blondlot was a famous scientist; much because he in 1891 was the first to measure the speed of radio waves,

Their experiments were confirmed by over a hundred other scientists. N-Rays acted somewhat like light does but could be refracted through metals, and had other peculiar features like being emitted by certain metals.

The American physicist Robert W. Wood thoroughly "debunked" their findings in a scientific journal after having visited Prosper-René Blondlot at his lab in France. So much were they ridiculed that no serious scientist dared to work on N-Rays afterwards.

My questions are; did Prosper-René Blondlot and his team stumble onto something so fantastic that their findings had to be suppressed by "the powers that be"? Could this new science exist today inside secret military research programs? Could there really be something to "N-Rays"? Should todays aspiring scientists have a new look into this dark corner of science history?

Edit: Links by request:

-Prosper-René Blondlot
-N-Rays

A little deeper explanation is nessessary to form any serious opinion......
got a link or two?
Thanks in advance.....s

reply to post by stirling

Here are some links:

-Prosper-René Blondlot
-N-Rays

They are a classic example of why scientific method and peer reviews are essential to any credible theory, scientific or not. No, they are well and truly proven to not exist, even a century on.