Time travel urban legends
Encyclopedia
Time travel
urban legends are accounts of persons who allegedly traveled through time, reported by the press or circulated on the Internet. All of these reports have turned out either to be hoaxes or to be based on incorrect assumptions, incomplete information, or interpretation of fiction as fact.
The Philadelphia Experiment is the name given to a naval military experiment which was supposedly carried out at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard
in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
, USA, sometime around October 28, 1943. It is alleged that the U.S. Navy destroyer escort
USS Eldridge
was to be rendered invisible
(or "cloaked
") to enemy devices. The experiment is also referred to as Project Rainbow. Some reports allege that the warship travelled back in time for about 10 seconds; however, popular culture has represented far bigger time jumps.
The story is widely regarded as a hoax
. The U.S. Navy maintains that no such experiment occurred, and details of the story contradict well-established facts about the Eldridge as well as the known laws of physics. Nonetheless, the story has captured imaginations in conspiracy theory
circles, and elements of the Philadelphia Experiment are featured in other government conspiracy theories.
The Montauk Project was alleged to be a series of secret United States
government projects conducted at Camp Hero or Montauk Air Force Station
on Montauk
, Long Island
, for the purpose of exotic research, including time travel
. Jacques Vallée
describes allegations of the Montauk Project as an outgrowth of stories about the Philadelphia Experiment
.
, author of several books on paranormal phenomena and religion. In his book The Vatican’s New Mystery he claimed that the device had been built by the Italian priest and scientist Father Pellegrino Maria Ernetti
(1925–1994). While Father Ernetti was a real person, the existence (much less the functionality) of the chronovisor has never been confirmed.
. The essence of legend is that in New York in 1950 a man wearing 19th century clothes was hit by a car and killed. The subsequent investigation revealed that the man had disappeared without trace in 1876. The items in his possession revealed that the man had traveled through time from 1876 to 1950 directly.
The folklorist Chris Aubeck investigated the story and found it originated in a science fiction book of the 1950s, 'A Voice from the Gallery' by Ralph M. Holland, which had copied the tale from "I'm Scared," a short story by Jack Finney (1911–1995), from which the Fentz tale originated.
s during 2000 and 2001 by a poster claiming to be a time travel
er from the year 2036. In these posts he made numerous predictions (a number of them vague, some quite specific)) about events in the near future, starting with events in 2004. However, as of 2011 these events appear not to have taken place; he described a drastically changed future in which the United States
had broken into five smaller regions, the environment and infrastructure had been devastated by a nuclear attack, and most other world powers had been destroyed.
To date, the story has been retold on numerous web sites, in a book, and in a play. He has also been discussed occasionally on the radio show Coast to Coast AM
. In this respect, the Titor story may be unique in terms of broad appeal from an originally limited medium, an Internet discussion board.
emails onto the internet between 2001 and 2003. The subject of the emails was always the same, that the individual was seeking to find someone who could supply a "Dimensional Warp Generator." In some instances he claimed to be a time traveler stuck in 2003, and in others he claimed to be seeking the parts only from other time travelers. Several recipients began to respond in kind, claiming to have equipment such as the requested dimensional warp generator. One recipient, Dave Hill, set up an online shop from which the time traveler purchased the warp generator (formerly a Hard Drive Motor).
Soon afterward, the time traveler was identified as professional spammer James R. Todino (known as "Robby"). Todino's attempts to travel in time were a serious belief, and while he believed he was "perfectly mentally stable," his father was concerned that those replying to his mails had been preying on Todino's psychological problems. In his book "Spam Kings", the journalist Brian S. McWilliams, who had originally uncovered Todino's identity for Wired magazine
, revealed that Todino had been previously diagnosed with dissociative disorder and schizophrenia
, explaining the psychological problems his father had spoken of. Todino's time traveller was immortalised in the song "Rewind" by Jazz Trio Groovelily
on their 2003 album "Are we there yet?" The song used phrases taken from Todino's emails within its lyrics.
violations for making 126 high-risk stock trades and being successful on every one. As reported, Carlssin started with an initial investment of $800 and ended with over $350,000,000, which drew the attention of the SEC. Later reports suggest that after his arrest, he submitted a four-hour confession wherein he claimed to be a time traveler from 200 years in the future. He offered to tell investigators such things as the whereabouts of Osama bin Laden and the cure for AIDS in return for a lesser punishment and to be allowed to return to his time craft, although he refused to tell investigators the location or workings of his craft.
The Carlssin story originated as a fictional piece in Weekly World News
a satirical newspaper, and was later repeated by Yahoo! News, where its fictitious nature became less apparent. It was soon reported by other newspapers and magazines as fact. This in turn drove word-of-mouth spread through email inboxes and internet forums, leading to far more detailed descriptions of events.
(VMC).
Further research suggests that the modern appearance of the man may not have been so modern. The style of sunglasses first appeared in the 1920s, and in fact Barbara Stanwyck
can be seen wearing a similar pair in the film Double Indemnity three years later. On first glance the man is taken by many to be wearing a modern printed T-shirt, but on closer inspection it seems to be a sweater with a sewn-on emblem, the kind of clothing often worn by sports teams of the period. The remainder of his clothing would appear to have been available at the time, though his clothes are far more casual than those worn by the other individuals in the photograph.
Debate centers on whether the image genuinely shows a time traveler, has been photomanipulated, or is simply being mistaken as anachronistic. The “Time Traveling Hipster” became a case study in viral Internet phenomena in museums which was presented at the Museums and the Web
2011 conference in Philadelphia.
uploaded a video clip
entitled "Chaplin's Time Traveler" to YouTube
. The clip analyzes bonus material in a DVD of the Charlie Chaplin
film The Circus. Included in the DVD is footage from the film's Los Angeles premier at Grauman's Chinese Theatre
in 1928. At one point, a woman is seen walking by, holding up an object to her ear. Clarke said that, on closer examination, she was talking into a thin, black device that had appeared to be a "phone." Clarke concluded that the woman was possibly a time traveler. The clip received millions of hits and was the subject of televised news stories.
Nicholas Jackson, associate editor for The Atlantic, says the most likely answer is that she's using a portable new hearing aid (either a Siemens
or Western Electric
brand hearing aid), technology that was just being developed at the time. Philip Skroska, an archivist at the Bernard Becker Medical Library of Washington University in St. Louis, thought that the woman might have been holding a rectangular-shaped ear trumpet
. New York Daily News
writer Michael Sheridan said the device was probably an early hearing aid, perhaps manufactured by Acousticon.
at the Statens Museum in the Kunst in Copenhagen was noted to look very similar to actor John Krasinski
. John Krasinski responded to the story by saying, "Wow! Seems a little highbrow for NBC marketing.... But I like it!"
The Painting actually depicts Carl Adolf Feilberg a soap manufacturer. The similarity of Krasinski and Feilberg led to a viral campaign debating whether Krasinski had posed for the picture in 1835.
Time travel
Time travel is the concept of moving between different points in time in a manner analogous to moving between different points in space. Time travel could hypothetically involve moving backward in time to a moment earlier than the starting point, or forward to the future of that point without the...
urban legends are accounts of persons who allegedly traveled through time, reported by the press or circulated on the Internet. All of these reports have turned out either to be hoaxes or to be based on incorrect assumptions, incomplete information, or interpretation of fiction as fact.
Philadelphia Experiment and Montauk Project
Philadelphia Naval Shipyard
The Philadelphia Naval Business Center, formerly known as the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard and Philadelphia Navy Yard, was the first naval shipyard of the United States. The U.S. Navy reduced its activities there in the 1990s, and ended most of them on September 30, 1995...
in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
, USA, sometime around October 28, 1943. It is alleged that the U.S. Navy destroyer escort
Destroyer escort
A destroyer escort is the classification for a smaller, lightly armed warship designed to be used to escort convoys of merchant marine ships, primarily of the United States Merchant Marine in World War II. It is employed primarily for anti-submarine warfare, but also provides some protection...
USS Eldridge
USS Eldridge (DE-173)
USS Eldridge , a , was a ship of the United States Navy named for Lieutenant Commander John Eldridge, Jr., a hero of the invasion of the Solomon Islands. Its keel was laid down by the Federal Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company in Newark, New Jersey. Eldridge was launched on 25 July 1943, sponsored...
was to be rendered invisible
Invisibility
Invisibility is the state of an object that cannot be seen. An object in this state is said to be invisible . The term is usually used as a fantasy/science fiction term, where objects are literally made unseeable by magical or technological means; however, its effects can also be seen in the real...
(or "cloaked
Cloaking device
Cloaking devices are advanced stealth technologies still in development that will cause objects, such as spaceships or individuals, to be partially or wholly invisible to parts of the electromagnetic spectrum...
") to enemy devices. The experiment is also referred to as Project Rainbow. Some reports allege that the warship travelled back in time for about 10 seconds; however, popular culture has represented far bigger time jumps.
The story is widely regarded as a hoax
Hoax
A hoax is a deliberately fabricated falsehood made to masquerade as truth. It is distinguishable from errors in observation or judgment, or rumors, urban legends, pseudosciences or April Fools' Day events that are passed along in good faith by believers or as jokes.-Definition:The British...
. The U.S. Navy maintains that no such experiment occurred, and details of the story contradict well-established facts about the Eldridge as well as the known laws of physics. Nonetheless, the story has captured imaginations in conspiracy theory
Conspiracy theory
A conspiracy theory explains an event as being the result of an alleged plot by a covert group or organization or, more broadly, the idea that important political, social or economic events are the products of secret plots that are largely unknown to the general public.-Usage:The term "conspiracy...
circles, and elements of the Philadelphia Experiment are featured in other government conspiracy theories.
The Montauk Project was alleged to be a series of secret United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
government projects conducted at Camp Hero or Montauk Air Force Station
Montauk Air Force Station
Montauk Air Force Station was a military base at Montauk Point on the eastern tip of Long Island, New York. It was decommissioned in 1981 and is now owned by the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation as Camp Hero State Park....
on Montauk
Montauk, New York
Montauk [ˈmɒntɒk] is a census-designated place that roughly corresponds to the hamlet with the same name located in the town of East Hampton in Suffolk County, New York, United States on the South Shore of Long Island. As of the United States 2000 Census, the CDP population was 3,851 as of 2000...
, Long Island
Long Island
Long Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...
, for the purpose of exotic research, including time travel
Time travel
Time travel is the concept of moving between different points in time in a manner analogous to moving between different points in space. Time travel could hypothetically involve moving backward in time to a moment earlier than the starting point, or forward to the future of that point without the...
. Jacques Vallée
Jacques Vallée
Jacques Fabrice Vallée is a venture capitalist, computer scientist, author, ufologist and former astronomer currently residing in San Francisco, California....
describes allegations of the Montauk Project as an outgrowth of stories about the Philadelphia Experiment
Philadelphia Experiment
The Philadelphia Experiment is the name of an alleged naval military experiment said to have been carried out at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA sometime around October 28, 1943. It is alleged that the U.S. Navy destroyer escort USS Eldridge was to be rendered...
.
Chronovisor
Chronovisor was the name given to a machine that was said to be capable of viewing past and future events. Its existence was alleged by Father François BruneFather François Brune
Father François Brune is a French catholic priest and writer.Fellow priest Pellegrino Ernetti once told Brune that he had created a machine that could see back in time called a Chronovisor.- References :...
, author of several books on paranormal phenomena and religion. In his book The Vatican’s New Mystery he claimed that the device had been built by the Italian priest and scientist Father Pellegrino Maria Ernetti
Pellegrino Ernetti
Father Marcello Pellegrino Ernetti was an Italian Roman Catholic Benedictine priest and is the most famous exorcist who worked in the Venice area.- Early life :...
(1925–1994). While Father Ernetti was a real person, the existence (much less the functionality) of the chronovisor has never been confirmed.
Hit and run victim from the past
Rudolph Fentz is an urban legend from the 1970s and has been repeated since as a reproduction of facts and presented as evidence for the existence of time travelTime travel
Time travel is the concept of moving between different points in time in a manner analogous to moving between different points in space. Time travel could hypothetically involve moving backward in time to a moment earlier than the starting point, or forward to the future of that point without the...
. The essence of legend is that in New York in 1950 a man wearing 19th century clothes was hit by a car and killed. The subsequent investigation revealed that the man had disappeared without trace in 1876. The items in his possession revealed that the man had traveled through time from 1876 to 1950 directly.
The folklorist Chris Aubeck investigated the story and found it originated in a science fiction book of the 1950s, 'A Voice from the Gallery' by Ralph M. Holland, which had copied the tale from "I'm Scared," a short story by Jack Finney (1911–1995), from which the Fentz tale originated.
Bulletin board time traveler
John Titor is the name used on several bulletin boardBulletin board system
A Bulletin Board System, or BBS, is a computer system running software that allows users to connect and log in to the system using a terminal program. Once logged in, a user can perform functions such as uploading and downloading software and data, reading news and bulletins, and exchanging...
s during 2000 and 2001 by a poster claiming to be a time travel
Time travel
Time travel is the concept of moving between different points in time in a manner analogous to moving between different points in space. Time travel could hypothetically involve moving backward in time to a moment earlier than the starting point, or forward to the future of that point without the...
er from the year 2036. In these posts he made numerous predictions (a number of them vague, some quite specific)) about events in the near future, starting with events in 2004. However, as of 2011 these events appear not to have taken place; he described a drastically changed future in which the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
had broken into five smaller regions, the environment and infrastructure had been devastated by a nuclear attack, and most other world powers had been destroyed.
To date, the story has been retold on numerous web sites, in a book, and in a play. He has also been discussed occasionally on the radio show Coast to Coast AM
Coast to Coast AM
Coast to Coast AM is a North American late-night syndicated radio talk show that deals with a variety of topics, but most frequently ones that relate to either the paranormal or conspiracy theories. It was created by Art Bell and is distributed by Premiere Radio Networks. The program currently...
. In this respect, the Titor story may be unique in terms of broad appeal from an originally limited medium, an Internet discussion board.
Time travelling spammer
Similar to John Titor, Bob White or Tim Jones sent an unknown number of spamSpam
Spam may refer to:* Spam , a canned pork meat product* Spam , unsolicited or undesired electronic messages* E-mail spam, unsolicited or undesired email messages* "Spam" , a comedy sketch...
emails onto the internet between 2001 and 2003. The subject of the emails was always the same, that the individual was seeking to find someone who could supply a "Dimensional Warp Generator." In some instances he claimed to be a time traveler stuck in 2003, and in others he claimed to be seeking the parts only from other time travelers. Several recipients began to respond in kind, claiming to have equipment such as the requested dimensional warp generator. One recipient, Dave Hill, set up an online shop from which the time traveler purchased the warp generator (formerly a Hard Drive Motor).
Soon afterward, the time traveler was identified as professional spammer James R. Todino (known as "Robby"). Todino's attempts to travel in time were a serious belief, and while he believed he was "perfectly mentally stable," his father was concerned that those replying to his mails had been preying on Todino's psychological problems. In his book "Spam Kings", the journalist Brian S. McWilliams, who had originally uncovered Todino's identity for Wired magazine
Wired (magazine)
Wired is a full-color monthly American magazine and on-line periodical, published since January 1993, that reports on how new and developing technology affects culture, the economy, and politics...
, revealed that Todino had been previously diagnosed with dissociative disorder and schizophrenia
Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by a disintegration of thought processes and of emotional responsiveness. It most commonly manifests itself as auditory hallucinations, paranoid or bizarre delusions, or disorganized speech and thinking, and it is accompanied by significant social...
, explaining the psychological problems his father had spoken of. Todino's time traveller was immortalised in the song "Rewind" by Jazz Trio Groovelily
GrooveLily
Groovelily is a trio, a pop band made up of Valerie Vigoda , Brendan Milburn , and Gene Lewin . The band was originally formed in 1994 as "The Valerie Vigoda Band." Groovelily's music combines classical music, musical theatre, jazz and rock...
on their 2003 album "Are we there yet?" The song used phrases taken from Todino's emails within its lyrics.
Stock-trading time traveler
Andrew Carlssin is a fictitious person who was reportedly arrested in January 2002 for SECUnited States Securities and Exchange Commission
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is a federal agency which holds primary responsibility for enforcing the federal securities laws and regulating the securities industry, the nation's stock and options exchanges, and other electronic securities markets in the United States...
violations for making 126 high-risk stock trades and being successful on every one. As reported, Carlssin started with an initial investment of $800 and ended with over $350,000,000, which drew the attention of the SEC. Later reports suggest that after his arrest, he submitted a four-hour confession wherein he claimed to be a time traveler from 200 years in the future. He offered to tell investigators such things as the whereabouts of Osama bin Laden and the cure for AIDS in return for a lesser punishment and to be allowed to return to his time craft, although he refused to tell investigators the location or workings of his craft.
The Carlssin story originated as a fictional piece in Weekly World News
Weekly World News
The Weekly World News was a supermarket tabloid published in the United States from 1979 to 2007, renowned for its outlandish cover stories often based on supernatural or paranormal themes and an approach to news that verged on the satirical. Its characteristic black-and-white covers have become...
a satirical newspaper, and was later repeated by Yahoo! News, where its fictitious nature became less apparent. It was soon reported by other newspapers and magazines as fact. This in turn drove word-of-mouth spread through email inboxes and internet forums, leading to far more detailed descriptions of events.
Modern man at 1941 bridge opening
A photograph from 1941 of the re-opening of the South Forks Bridge in Gold Bridge, British Columbia, Canada, was alleged to show a time traveler. It was claimed that his clothing and sunglasses were modern and not of the styles worn in the 1940s. The photo originated from the Bralorne Pioneer Museum, and was featured in their virtual exhibit Their Past Lives Here, produced and hosted through investment by the Virtual Museum of CanadaVirtual Museum of Canada
The Virtual Museum of Canada is Canada's national virtual museum. With a directory of over 3,000 Canadian heritage institutions and a database of over 600 virtual exhibits, the VMC brings together Canada's museums regardless of size or geographical location.The VMC includes virtual exhibits,...
(VMC).
Further research suggests that the modern appearance of the man may not have been so modern. The style of sunglasses first appeared in the 1920s, and in fact Barbara Stanwyck
Barbara Stanwyck
Barbara Stanwyck was an American actress. She was a film and television star, known during her 60-year career as a consummate and versatile professional with a strong screen presence, and a favorite of directors including Cecil B. DeMille, Fritz Lang and Frank Capra...
can be seen wearing a similar pair in the film Double Indemnity three years later. On first glance the man is taken by many to be wearing a modern printed T-shirt, but on closer inspection it seems to be a sweater with a sewn-on emblem, the kind of clothing often worn by sports teams of the period. The remainder of his clothing would appear to have been available at the time, though his clothes are far more casual than those worn by the other individuals in the photograph.
Debate centers on whether the image genuinely shows a time traveler, has been photomanipulated, or is simply being mistaken as anachronistic. The “Time Traveling Hipster” became a case study in viral Internet phenomena in museums which was presented at the Museums and the Web
Museums and the Web
The annual Museums and the Web conference is the leading international conference in the field of museums and their websites. It has been organized by Archives & Museum Informatics each Spring in North America since 1997.- Overview :...
2011 conference in Philadelphia.
1928 cell phone user
In October 2010, Northern Irish filmmaker George ClarkeBattle of the Bone
Battle of the Bone is an 2008 British independent zombie film written and directed by George Clarke, and is claimed as Northern Ireland's "first ever" kung-fu zombie movie.-Background:...
uploaded a video clip
Video clip
Video clips are short clips of video, usually part of a longer recording. The term is also more loosely used to mean any short video less than the length of a traditional television program.- On the Internet :...
entitled "Chaplin's Time Traveler" to YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
. The clip analyzes bonus material in a DVD of the Charlie Chaplin
Charlie Chaplin
Sir Charles Spencer "Charlie" Chaplin, KBE was an English comic actor, film director and composer best known for his work during the silent film era. He became the most famous film star in the world before the end of World War I...
film The Circus. Included in the DVD is footage from the film's Los Angeles premier at Grauman's Chinese Theatre
Grauman's Chinese Theatre
Grauman's Chinese Theatre is a movie theater at 6925 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood. It is on the historic Hollywood Walk of Fame.The Chinese Theatre was commissioned following the success of the nearby Grauman's Egyptian Theatre which opened in 1922...
in 1928. At one point, a woman is seen walking by, holding up an object to her ear. Clarke said that, on closer examination, she was talking into a thin, black device that had appeared to be a "phone." Clarke concluded that the woman was possibly a time traveler. The clip received millions of hits and was the subject of televised news stories.
Nicholas Jackson, associate editor for The Atlantic, says the most likely answer is that she's using a portable new hearing aid (either a Siemens
Siemens
Siemens may refer toSiemens, a German family name carried by generations of telecommunications industrialists, including:* Werner von Siemens , inventor, founder of Siemens AG...
or Western Electric
Western Electric
Western Electric Company was an American electrical engineering company, the manufacturing arm of AT&T from 1881 to 1995. It was the scene of a number of technological innovations and also some seminal developments in industrial management...
brand hearing aid), technology that was just being developed at the time. Philip Skroska, an archivist at the Bernard Becker Medical Library of Washington University in St. Louis, thought that the woman might have been holding a rectangular-shaped ear trumpet
Ear trumpet
Ear trumpets are tubular or funnel-shaped devices which collect sound waves and lead them into the ear. This results in a strengthening of the sound energy impact to the eardrum and thus a better hearing for a reduced or decreased hearing individual....
. New York Daily News
New York Daily News
The Daily News of New York City is the fourth most widely circulated daily newspaper in the United States with a daily circulation of 605,677, as of November 1, 2011....
writer Michael Sheridan said the device was probably an early hearing aid, perhaps manufactured by Acousticon.
John Krasinski
An 1835 portrait painting by Christen KøbkeChristen Købke
Christen Schiellerup Købke , Danish painter, was born in Copenhagen to Peter Berendt Købke, a baker, and his wife Cecilie Margrete. He was one of 11 children...
at the Statens Museum in the Kunst in Copenhagen was noted to look very similar to actor John Krasinski
John Krasinski
John Burke Krasinski is an American actor, film director, and writer. He is most widely known for playing Jim Halpert on the NBC sitcom The Office...
. John Krasinski responded to the story by saying, "Wow! Seems a little highbrow for NBC marketing.... But I like it!"
The Painting actually depicts Carl Adolf Feilberg a soap manufacturer. The similarity of Krasinski and Feilberg led to a viral campaign debating whether Krasinski had posed for the picture in 1835.
External links
- snopes.com article describing Andrew Carlssin hoax
- http://www.metatech.org/Yahoo!%20TV%20Entertainment%20News%20&%20Gossip%20-%20'TIME-TRAVELER'%20BUSTED%20FOR%20INSIDER%20TRADING.htm the original Andrew Carlssin article