Abstract
By using a fixed-pole sum rule, it is established that there is a fixed pole at J=12 in the πN partial wave amplitude containing the nucleon trajectory. Whether the dip at u=0.13 GeV2 in backward π+p scattering is due to a nucleon wrong-signature nonsense zero then depends on how this fixed pole and the nucleon pole combine. A class of meson-baryon amplitudes expected to be free of nonsense fixed poles is identified.