Lots of science is or at least was accidental.
Someday someone is going to come up with something way out of the box.

It's worth repeating what Zawodny wrote in this comments section:

"While I personally find sufficient demonstration that LENR effects warrant further investigation, I remain skeptical. Furthermore, I am unaware of any clear and convincing demonstrations of any viable commercial device producing useful amounts of net energy. Joe Zawodny"

I would go further and state that Rossi and Defkalion *clearly* appear to be scams to cheat investors and distributors (for many reasons which I have detailed elsewhere) and that neither one has ever properly demonstrated any cold fusion or given any information about the identity of customers. Both promise independent test results by certain dates and either the dates come and go without results or the few tests they report are not done by reliable and credible sources and in appropriate ways.

The field is full of non-credible contributors. Nanospire's claims are simply crazy and unsubstantiated. Brillouin's replication by SRI is missing in action. Soon maybe? And McKubre gave credence to something as idiotic as Papp's engine so he's not credible anyway. Hagelstein and Swartz seem to be mis-measuring tiny amounts of energy. Miley made huge claims, as Krivit notes, and produced no credible data and has done no demonstrations. Who is there left to believe? Meanwhile Mills has been making promises for what now ... 20 years? Where are the kilowatts he said he could make a decade ago?

Widom-Larsen theory seems to be the current fashion but what experimental proof is there? None that I know of.

And what do typical internet believers do? They rave on about things they clearly do not understand and they obsess over non-issues such as the identity and financial support sources of skeptics.

Unfortunately, while there may be something to it, as Dr. Bushnell notes, the evidence favoring any near term (if ever) practical use for LENR phenomena is sadly lacking.