Starlite: The Miracle That Never Was

Podcast Transcript

In the 1980s, an Englishman named Maurice Ward developed a material that he claimed could withstand temperatures of thousands of degrees Celsius.

Not only could the material withstand high temperatures, but it could also protect anything in proximity from high temperatures.

This product didn’t result in a revolution in material science. In fact, it was never produced at all, and in the end, the secret to its creation died with its inventor.

Learn more about Maurice Ward and the creation of Starlite and why it was never developed on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.

There have been many people who have made claims about breakthrough technologies, but could never back up their claims.

If you remember back to my episode on perpetual motion, there have been countless people who have come forward saying they have discovered the secret to unlimited energy.

These people usually have no background in science, engineering, or mathematics, and are incredibly secretive about their “discovery,” fearing that some nefarious force is going to steal it from them.

These sorts of things happen far more than you might think. Almost every notable scientist who is a public figure has received rambling manifestos from people who think that they have discovered a new type of science.

Almost always, they make very basic mistakes in science or mathematics, but are unwilling to acknowledge their errors. Think Terrance Howard, who thought he had developed a new form of mathematics because he confused addition and multiplication.

Other times, these claims are outright fraud.

Take Stanley Meyer, an American inventor, who became famous in the 1980s and 1990s for claiming he had developed a “water fuel cell” that could split water into hydrogen and oxygen using minimal energy, allowing a car to run entirely on water.

He fitted a dune buggy with his device and claimed to have driven across the U.S. on 22 gallons of water. His invention was supposedly a revolutionary breakthrough in energy: simple, clean, and cheap.

However, scientists pointed out that Meyer’s claims violated the first and second laws of thermodynamics, which govern the conservation and conversion of energy. In 1996, he was sued by investors for fraud. An Ohio court found that his technology was not viable and ruled that Meyer had committed “gross and egregious fraud.”

You may be familiar with the recent example of Elizabeth Holmes and her company, Theranos, which claimed it could diagnose diseases from a single drop of blood. It couldn’t despite having raised millions of dollars from investors.

This brings me to Maurice Ward.

If you didn’t know any better, Ward would seem like one of the crazies or fraudsters.

Born in 1933, Maurice Ward was a hairdresser from Hartlepool, England. To be fair, Ward wasn’t a normal hairdresser.

He often experimented and created his own hair care products. Ward took pride in his innovative hair dye formulations, once claiming, “What L’Oréal and Garnier are doing today, I was doing 50 years ago. And they still haven’t got it right”.

Ward didn’t have any sort of scientific understanding of what he was making; he was just someone who developed things through trial and error.

Ward’s journey toward inventing Starlite began with his hobby of experimenting with various materials. During the early 1980s, he purchased an extruding machine and began experimenting with material manufacturing. His initial attempt was to create a material for French auto manufacturer Citroën’s car bonnets, but the results were disappointing, and he discarded the samples.

The pivotal moment came in 1985 when Ward learned about the Manchester Airport disaster involving British Airtours Flight 28M. In this tragic incident, 55 people died within 40 seconds, not from the fire itself, but from toxic smoke inhalation.

Ward was deeply affected by this tragedy and became determined to create a material that could prevent such deaths. As he explained in interviews, “It interested me because it was an air disaster on the ground, and because it was the smoke and toxicity that killed people, not the fire”.

Inspired by this tragedy, Ward retrieved his discarded car experiments and began mixing them with solvents using a kitchen blender. After processing the mixture through his extruder, he discovered that the resulting sheets could withstand blowtorch flames. The material was later named “Starlite” by Ward’s granddaughter, Kimberly.

Ward developed Starlite into an intumescent material with extraordinary heat-resistant properties.

An intumescent material is a substance that swells and forms an insulating, charred layer when exposed to heat, protecting underlying surfaces from fire or extreme temperatures.

When subjected to extreme heat, the Starlite would char and create an expanding low-density carbon foam that provided exceptional thermal resistance.

Ward’s confidence in his invention was demonstrated when he placed some Starlite on his own hand and aimed a blowtorch at it, discovering he couldn’t feel any heat. The material exhibited remarkable properties that defied conventional understanding of thermodynamics.

Most materials vaporize beyond 2,000°C, and pure carbon, which has one of the highest melting points of all elements, melts at 3,500°C, yet Starlite was withstanding temperatures that physics dictated it shouldn’t.

He even claimed that Starline could withstand temperatures of up to 10,000°C, based on high-energy laser tests. The accuracy of those tests is debatable, as the laser may not have been functioning properly.

According to Ward, Starlite contained up to 21 ingredients, was up to 90% organic, and included organic polymers, co-polymers with both organic and inorganic additives, borates, small quantities of ceramics, and other special barrier ingredients.

Starlite gained worldwide attention when it was featured on the BBC’s science and technology show “Tomorrow’s World” in March 1990. The demonstration was simple yet extraordinary: presenter Peter McCann subjected a raw egg coated in Starlite to a blowtorch flame for several minutes.

When the flame was removed, the egg could be picked up with bare hands and when it was cracked open, revealed a completely raw, uncooked yolk.

This video can easily be found online. It might seem like a trick, but it wasn’t. The torch was producing a flame that was at least 2000°C.

Out of sheer curiosity, I wondered what would happen if a torch were pointed at an egg without any shielding. Because the internet has videos of pretty much everything, I actually found such a video.

The egg explodes after about 10 seconds of direct heat.

This is why I’m doing an episode on Starlite. Unlike the many amateurs before him who made incredible claims about something they developed, Maurice Ward produced something that actually worked.

This television appearance was a watershed moment that transformed Ward’s life. The demonstration immediately captured the imagination of scientists, military personnel, and aerospace companies worldwide. The material’s potential applications seemed limitless, from fire protection in buildings and aircraft to heat shields for spacecraft.

The scientific establishment’s response to Ward’s claims was mixed, combining genuine curiosity with healthy skepticism. Several reputable organizations, including NASA and the British Ministry of Defence, reportedly conducted tests on Starlite samples.

These tests appeared to confirm many of Ward’s claims about the material’s extraordinary heat resistance. NASA scientists were particularly interested because such a material could revolutionize spacecraft heat shield design, potentially making space travel safer and more efficient.

It would seem that Ward found himself in a fortunate position. He had developed a product that was extremely useful, served a very particular niche, and was potentially very lucrative.

Yet, there are no Starlite products in the world today, and none were ever made.

What happened?

The problem was Maurice Ward himself. He was extremely possessive of his discovery and was paranoid that someone would try to take it from him.

Ward’s primary fear was reverse engineering. He refused to patent Starlite because doing so would require revealing its composition. He would only allow organizations to test samples under strict conditions, never permitting them to retain samples for extended periods.

He had to be in the immediate presence of any sample that was being tested, lest someone take a sample while he wasn’t watching.

He even required anyone who handled Starlite to thoroughly wash their hands in case they had any underneath their fingernails, which could later be tested.

Ward’s negotiating demands were often unrealistic and constantly changing. He believed Starlite was worth billions and maintained that he should retain 51% ownership of any joint venture. His asking prices fluctuated wildly, and he proved extremely difficult to work with during negotiations.

In addition to 51% ownership, he insisted that the recipe for the material be kept with him and that no one ever know the secret…yet somehow he expected his business partners to invest millions into something they couldn’t ever own, control, or even know what it was made of.

Various governmental agencies and industries that initially rushed to acquire the rights ultimately walked away from discussions due to Ward’s intransigence.

Maurice Ward died in 2011, having never successfully commercialized Starlite. The formulation for this potentially revolutionary technology appeared to die with him, representing a significant loss to materials science and safety technology.

Before his death, Ward hinted during radio interviews that his family might possess information relating to the invention. However, according to a 2016 BBC broadcast, Ward had taken his secrets to the grave.

The exact chemical composition and manufacturing process for authentic Starlite remained unknown.

In 2013, an American company called Thermashield, LLC, claimed to have acquired the rights to Starlite from Ward’s family. The company stated that it had purchased all of Ward’s samples and handwritten notes, but didn’t have the actual recipe.

Maurice Ward held on to his secret so tightly in fear of others making money off of it that, in the end, he wound up earning nothing from it.

Normally, this would be the end of the story. A tale of how secrecy and paranoia can be self-defeating, but there’s more to it.

Maurice Ward never released the actual formula; however, he did say several times that Starlite was made from common ingredients. In fact, there might not have been a single formula, as he claimed to mix special batches with slightly different properties for testing purposes.

I heard about Starlite years ago, but forgot about it like many other people.

Then several weeks ago, I stumbled across a YouTube video by the popular channel NightHawkInLight.

Five years ago, he created a series of videos on Starline where he made his own version of a product and tested it. Following the hints left by Ward, he developed a recipe out of common ingredients.

The end product, which was similar to Starlite but almost certainly not the exact same recipe, performed similarly when tested. He was able to hold a piece in his hand and shoot a blowtorch at it without his hand getting hot.

Unlike Ward, he was more than willing to share his recipe with the world.

And what was the recipe that created this heat-resistant material?

2 parts flour, 1 part corn starch, 1 part powdered sugar, and 1 part baking soda.

If this sounds like a bad recipe for making baked goods, you are not wrong. Using off-the-shelf ingredients that many people have in their homes, he was able to make a highly heat-resistant substance.

Again, this was almost certainly not the recipe used by Maurice Ward. Ward’s recipe likely contained borax and other chemicals to enhance strength and stability.

However, it is probably in the ballpark of what Ward originally created.

Research on intumescent materials continues, and it is entirely possible that Ward’s original recipe will be replicated or even improved upon.

Maurice Ward wanted to make money off of his discovery, which is perfectly reasonable. However, he clung to his creation so tightly that neither he nor the world was ever able to benefit from his invention.