The inventor of the water-powered car, Stanley Meyer, left a legacy shrouded in mystery and controversy. In 1975, the American developed a “water fuel cell” that, he claimed, allowed vehicles to run on only water as a source of energy. His device supposedly split water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen, using hydrogen as fuel, resulting in a clean emissions system and a sustainable solution to the energy crisis of the time.

Despite great interest from the media and investors, the scientific community received his invention with skepticism, claiming that it violated fundamental laws of thermodynamics. In 1996, Meyer was charged with fraud for marketing his technology as something revolutionary, and the court ordered him to return the investments he had received. In 1998, during a dinner with Belgian investors, he suddenly became ill and claimed to have been poisoned, but the official report indicated a brain aneurysm as the cause of the incident. This discrepancy has fueled several conspiracy theories about his career and his invention. To this day, the viability of his “water engine” has not been proven, but his patent has expired, allowing other researchers to continue exploring new possibilities in the search for alternative energy.