Starlite, the material that could have changed the world (and the war)
Starlite is often called the wonder or the blast-proof material. This unknown paint substance remains a mystery even today. But what was it made of?
Originally published on Atellani.com | Article image cover credits: Historic Mysteries
Have you ever heard about a substance called Starlite or Maurice Ward, the hairdresser that invented it? It is (or was) a material that claimed to be magical. It could apparently withstand and isolate from extreme heat. When we say extreme, we mean really extreme! The material resisted a 10.000ºC laser beam test during a live demonstration on an episode of the BBC’s TV program Tomorrow’s World, aired in 1990. The test was undertaken by the BBC presenter Peter Macann and consisted in painting an egg with a mysterious plastic coat that would protect the egg from the flame. When the end of this program aired, it became infamously named “The egg test”, not only did the egg resist catching fire, but it was still raw inside. To add more magic to it, Macann even held the egg with his bare hands right after he turned down the flame of the laser. The egg was just slightly warm. Hard to believe? Have a look at the episode below:
This unknown paint substance that was used in the test remains a mystery even today. Starlite is often called “the wonder material” or the “blast-proof material”. For a long time many believed it to be the coating that could have changed the world. But who invented it? Where does it come from? And why didn’t it change the world after all?
Starlite: The wonder blast-proof material created by a hairdresser
It wasn’t actually a board of scientists who discovered this amazing material called Starlite. It was in fact a British amateur inventor, former hairdresser Maurice Ward the master mind behind Starlite. The revolutionary thing about this invention is that the coating is very resistant to high temperatures. To the point it could be used to make tanks, ships and aircraft impervious to the effects of nuclear weapons at quite close range. This would have potentially become a game changer in the military industry and could change the direction of a war, for example.
A material such as that of Starlite has been the holy grail of chemical research for decades. Scientists from the world’s greatest laboratories have spent loads of money and hundreds of years in the research for such a substance. The most extraordinary part of this story is in fact how Mr. Ward created Starlite. As a hairdresser, he was familiar with maneuvering chemical substances. In his personal workshop, he would often mix different materials to create his own shampoos and hairsprays. One day, during one of his experiments, he came across a formula that would crack the heads of the most renowned scientists in the world.
Lab tests and BBC’s Tomorrow’s World: Was Starlite a hoax?
Maurice Ward tried contacting many chemical companies in order to present and test his findings with little or no success. It was after the BBC decided to feature his material on an episode of “Tomorrow’s World” that everything changed. After the episode aired almost every coating producer in the industry was puzzled and most of all curious about his discovery. Ward was contacted by renowned institutions such as the Atomic Weapons Establishment (who is responsible for the design, manufacture and support of warheads for the United Kingdom’s nuclear weapons) and the Imperial Chemical Industries (who was a British chemical company and was, for much of its history, the largest manufacturer in Britain). They tried to contact him with at least the hopes of figuring out what this secret formula was. Both of them were granted with the possibility of testing Starlite, but unfortunately other than being able to checkout the amazing results of the material, nothing else came out from these tests.
Even NASA wanted to conduct tests but Ward always kept his creation very confidential, even to the spatial agency. Needless to say, until this day no one that we know of has ever even come close. Despite the high number of offers to purchase the rites of the idea from Mr. Ward or to register the patent, Starlite remains a secret. Mr. Ward never shared his formula, not even with his own sons and there was no record or lab notebook left behind to document it. No one knows exactly what Starlite is made of and what other things it could have been used for. What could it have been? This fascinating coating that could have changed the world but has never seen the light. What a pity, that we will never discover Ward’s plan.
Starlite: An unsolved mystery
This whole story leave us with one open question: who was this man? A hairdresser that was sitting on a goldmine that concocted this mystery substance that at one point in history was one of the most sought after materials in the world. He created so much fanfare around it, tantalizing potential bidders with the secret formula and waited too long to accept an offer, as he passed away before the secret material could ever be discovered. We can only imagine the number of amateur inventors out there that may have created (or might create in the future) that one “little” thing that can change everyone’s life forever.
To learn more on this mysterious material, watch below BBC’s reel on Starlite.
Further reading: The Guardian — TechRadar — Starlite Technologies
