In 1993 several newspapers and magazines in the U.S. and Europe reported that Maurice Ward, a former British plastics factory owner, had invented a lightweight plastic/ceramic composite material capable of astonishing resistance to super-high temperatures. The material, which he called 'Starlite', amazed researchers:
A 'Starlite'-coated egg was unaffected after 4 minutes of direct exposure to a 1200-degree blowtorch flame. A simulated 10,000-degree nuclear flash test, at White Sands missile test range in New Mexico, also had little effect on 'Starlite'. High-powered laser blasts had little visible effect on samples of 'Starlite' material.Test results were reported during 1993 in Jane's 'International Defense Review', 'Chemical and Engineering News', and 'Business Week' (see citations below), and a demonstration was shown on British television.
Mr. Ward had refused to patent the substance so as to avoid revealing his formulation process. Speculation was that 'Starlite' consists of a combination of more than 20 components, primarily organic polymers, borates, and ceramics.
Despite the obvious commercial, defense, and life-saving properties of this new material, research initially showed no further evidence of 'Starlite' or 'Maurice Ward'.
Anyone with information is invited to contribute via e-mail; UPDATES will
be posted here periodically.
(Note: see below for updates)
If you have additional information, send
to rickhower@earthlink.net.
UPDATE2:
Received a report that the U.S. Department of Energy
and NASA were near agreement with Ward in 1994 but that NASA
refused to sign a non-disclosure agreement.
UPDATE3:
In mid-1996 it was reported that a New Jersey Company would use a
"low grade version" of Starlite in the manufacture of a commercial
product. The company, Burley Products Inc., would only say that it
would be a 'household product'.
Maurice Ward, Starlite's inventor, still refuses to disclose any information about his plastic's composition. According to an article in the British newspaper "Daily Mail", Ward remains tremendously afraid that someone will steal his formula or that he'll be duped out of appropriate compensation. He has, however, revealed that Starlite requires 21 different ingredients that can be processed in a blender.
UPDATE4:
A number of unverified reports have been received indicating that
certain governments or companies have stolen or duplicated the formula
and manufacturing process for Starlite. The most interesting report
was that Starlite, or a duplicate material, is being manufactured
for the U.S. government at a secret installation in the eastern
United States. This report could not be verified.
UPDATE5:
Apparently Maurice Ward himself is now among those who have
viewed this Web page, and several reports were received in
early 1997 from an intermediary with the following information:
UPDATE6:
Received reports in early 1997 that several U.S government
agencies are still working with Maurice Ward, including the
FAA, Navy, and NASA.
UPDATE7:
Received reports in early 1997 that several large U.S. aerospace
companies are actively investigating Starlite, and that the Canadian
government had been actively working with Starlite but has ended
the project.
Other web sites with Starlite information (both of these are essentially just summaries of 1993 news reports):
Publications with articles concerning Starlite:
© 1997-2002 by Rick Hower
Last revised: March 17, 2002