John Keely and "etheric" force

John Ernst Worrell Keely
September 3rd, 1827 to November 18th, 1898

Charlatan par excellence...

John Ernst Worrell Keely was a fraudulent American inventor. In 1873 he announced that he had discovered a new physical force that, if harnessed, would produce unheard-of power. He claimed, for example, to be able to produce from a quart of water enough fuel to move a 30-car train from Philadelphia to New York City. He began construction of an engine to perform this feat and by 1874 was able to give preliminary demonstrations of his machine. He made a great show of guarding the secret of the motor he was developing to obtain power "from intermolecular vibrations of ether," and scientists and engineers scoffed at his unverified claims.

John Ernst Worrell Keely [Wikipedia]
Detailed accounts.