In a nation thirsting for energy, he loomed like a messiah: a small-town engineer who claimed he could run a car on water. The assertion—based on the premise that he had discovered a way to easily split the oxygen and hydrogen atoms in water molecules with almost no energy—would, if proven, represent a stunning breakthrough for physics and a near-magical solution to Pakistan’s desperate power crisis. Established scientists have debunked his spectacular claims, first made one month ago, saying they violate ironclad laws of physics. But across Pakistan, where crippling electricity cuts have left millions drenched in the sweat of a powerless summer, and where there is hunger for tales of homegrown glory, the shimmering mirage of a “water car” received a broad and serious embrace.

(Dr. Benny Peiser)