I think you clued me into the Hemlo mine story. That's a great illustration of the improbable (near impossible) happening. But that's more typical in mining and oil than in most fields.

The Hemlo story ($24 billion in gold that could not possibly be there until it was):

One of the key men who made the great gold strike at Hemlo, Canada, early 80s, possible, sums it up. Watch the last few minutes of this video, starting at 54 minutes in. The entire video is instructive and enjoyable.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXDBAENrEK0&ab_channel=OntarioMiningHistory

The man shown was a financial deal maker who believed in the project when no one else did, and persevered.

This video is a great response to the question: if it’s so good why hasn’t …?

Shows that almost everyone can reject something that later seems to everyone to have been a good thing.