The price of oil briefly hit $135 a barrel today, causing the International Energy Agency, a Paris-based policy advisory group for industrialized nations, to start revising its longterm estimate of world oil supplies. A consensus is now building worldwide that the recent upward spike in the price of oil is not being driven by speculation or recalcitrant OPEC nations, but rather by increased worldwide demand in the face of genuinely shrinking oil reserves.

For a moment, the ghost of Stan Meyer hovered in the air as the market and lots of other worried people all held their collective breath and believed with all their collective hearts and minds that Tinkerbelle is still alive. All we have to do is believe!

Well, she isn’t. And neither is Stan Meyer. And, um, we have to do a little more than that…

Stan Meyer, the rogue Midwestern inventor who claimed to have invented a device that could convert an automobile to run on ordinary tap water, died in 1998. He was either poisoned by dark underworld multi-national government operatives, or he died of a cerebral aneurysm caused by his chronic high blood pressure shortly after eating a meal in an Ohio restaurant. In the 1990s, Meyer claimed he had converted an ordinary Dune Buggy to run on tap water and had sold contracts to various individuals (for $25,000 a piece) that gave them the exclusive rights to sell the vehicles once they went into mass production. Stan Meyer was found guilty of “gross and egregious” fraud in a lawsuit filed by the investors in 1996, and was ordered to pay them back their $25,000 each and every one.

The water-powered car either absolutely did work, or was never witnessed as having worked by anyone with any knowledge of the topic who could confirm Meyer’s claims. Meyer’s brother now holds the many patents and plans for Meyer’s work and refuses to share them with anyone.

Did OPEC murder Meyer and his water-powered car? Did NASA or the US military murder him? Both were said to have approached Meyer repeatedly and to have offered him large sums of money to use or not use his knowledge, and/or to threaten his life. It all makes for a great story, especially if Gillian Anderson could be in it in some role (she’s so pretty), but I just have one question:

Where is this water-powered car?

Habeus watercar-us, you know?

Run Your Car On Water Today

I think what gives the Stan Meyer story ‘legs’ is that we see elements of truth in it, and just enough uncertainty to allow our imaginations to run wild. It is true without a doubt that a car that runs on anything besides petrochemicals is a real threat to the oil and energy industry, and viable cars have already been pulled from the US market at least once in recent years. (See “Who Killed the Electric Car” by Sony Pictures.)

It is also true, however, that if a viable, cheap means of extracting hydrogen from water had already been invented, some geek would be driving one around Southern California at this very moment, showing it off to his friends. Lots of people do create their own electric car conversions and even sell then on E-Bay (they’re getting pretty hot too, so if you want one, don’t dawdle and bid high), but where are all the kit-version hydrocars?

Right, I haven’t seen any either.

It’s likely that the coming months will get uglier and uglier due to the oil situation. That’s not all bad: We probably won’t change until we have to, so now we will have to. But it’s also likely that anyone who can put their money where there mouth is will get very rich very quick, and OPEC and Dick Cheney will not be able to shoot ALL those people in the face before they get their products to market.

Right now, governor Jennifer Granholm is busy making my home state of Michigan the mecca for green energy and innovation. When water-powered vehicles are available, we will almost certainly have them first right here. I’ll take a photo. I’ll drive one around. I’ll post a video of me doing that.

Until then, I’m looking forward to the next X-Files movie. God I miss those guys.