Again, not a good example. Apart from the minor fact that Galileo didn't invent anything that conflicted with the Church, the heliocentric concept was already well known and widely accepted in academic circles at that time. It was just that nobody said it out loud, because it conflicted with Church doctrine (the fact that Joshua had told the Sun to stand still, so that he could do in all the Amorites (Joshua 10:12)).
Off-hand, I can't think of any examples of lone inventors going against current perceived thinking - I presume that you mean lone scientists with novel concepts. This also is exaggerated, because the peer review system of science makes sure that ideas have wide circulation and thorough debate - and humbug is very quickly debunked. It's true that revolutionary ideas can meet resistance, but science is not monolithic, and these ideas find their supporters as well.
This is the centenary of the Annus Mirabilis of an Experte 2er Klasse in the Swiss Patent Office, name of Einstein. In 1905, Albert produced four papers that set the scientific world on its ear. In a world used to thinking in terms of Newton's laws of motion, Special Relativity came as a shock, but the scientific world took on board this revolutionary idea and Albert, whose application to study at Zürich's prestigious ETH had been rejected, was invited to go there - as a professor. Science isn't as closed as you think.
That there are things that are unknown to current science is beyond dispute, and no scientist would dispute that. However, that there are also things that are obvious hogwash is also beyond dispute, and this is clearly one of them. Some things are such utter drivel that there is no need to try them to know. And if they do "work", this merely illustrates the most awesome power of all, the power of people to believe what they want to believe. I know, I've done it to myself - I once believed that cables made a difference. I felt I was an "audiophile" and that I could hear more than what mere mortals could hear. But then I realised what I was doing, and the differences disappeared. So, here I am, a mere mortal and a non-audiophile, and I tell it the way it is, not the way I would like it to be.
My mind is open too, but not to utter, potentially wallet-emptying hogwash.