Even if either one or both were also a principle engineer for Intel, that'd still be a spurious, appeal-to-authority because they weren't a modern enterprise sysadmin, IT manager, or equivalent with visibility into what works and what doesn't in the real-world at scale.
Lionization in one or two domains for a limited time doesn't breed domain expertise across other areas for longer times. For anyone to be called, or call themselves, a polymath within the past 100 years is absolutely absurd. There are too many bifurcating domains splitting and branching too quickly for anyone of integrity to claim to "master" and stay in mastery of them.
I don't really care who they are: if they don't have sufficiently-current experience with enterprise-class gear, then random people have absolutely no place making claims about UPSes with supposed endorsements from dead dudes.
What claims have been made? I have owned, and dealt with, dozens of UPSs in both personal and commercial settings (animation studios, mostly) and Pournelle's article led me to research, and eventually buy, a Falcon. I have been much happier with it than any other.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Pournelle