that little engine idea, if it did what it was purported to do, was most likely purchased by a large corporation for a one time fee.
then the inventor would be made to sign a confidentiality agreement, meaning he can no longer continue inventing anything remotely similar to that idea, and may never tell anyone about his invention, or the deal.
this happens quite a lot, many times the inventions arent even finished yet, and are not even proven to work.
the companies who are buying these ideas dont really care too much.
they dont want anyone to actually get finished with something and show it to anyone, so they dont mind spending the dough to shut the mouths of those who might be getting too close.
the US spends over 300 billion dollars a year on foreign oil.
who cares about a paltry 30-50 million dollar settlement if it keeps the oil flowing?
if the story above me was referencing Stanley Meyer, then it is true; he claimed he had discovered a process for electrolysis that used very low current, and could run a car on it.
worked on it since the 70's, claimed he did it in the early 00's, went out to dinner with his family, jumped up from the table screaming, "ive been poisoned, ive been poisoned!!!", ran to the parking lot, and dropped dead right there.
it made the local paper where it happened. it did not make any larger newspapers.
LC