If I remember correctly, the impedance of free space is ~377Ω. Assuming I'm remembering that correctly, that's enough of a difference to pretty much throw that claim out the window.For me, the classic example of rote learning is the "I must remember all the formulae to pass" mentality or "this is what I was taught in 1960" concept. There are probably several others.
With respect to the latter, I was informed some time ago that that all RF antennas are designed to match the 300 ohm impedance of free space. So a 300 ohm folded dipole was the best antenna. When I challenged the statement, I was told that they (the person) were taught this truth way back when they were a student and that was a sufficient argument to justify their claim.
Aside - I once explained to a fellow student that 60Hz was the best frequency for AC power because the frequency of 377 r/s matched the 377Ω impedance of free space and, therefore, you got no reflections and could transmit power at 60Hz without radiated loss while any other frequency, such as 50Hz, suffered from power losses due to improper impedance matching. They bought it.