One of the staple stories of science fiction has involved time travel. Is it really possible? Has someone in the recent past, present or future managed to invent or design the real-life Flux Capacitor? According to a Charlie Chaplin fan, we may have video proof of a Time Traveler on a cell phone during a premiere of a Charlie Chaplin film.
A Charlie Chaplin Fan Discovers Something Strange
In November 2009, Belfast film buff and devout Charlie Chaplin fan George Clarke noticed something strange on a DVD from his box-set of Charlie Chaplin movies. It appeared to be an elderly woman attending a premiere of Chaplin’s film The Circus in 1928. The reason this spinster stood out so much was due to what she appeared to be doing whilst strolling to the cinema. In modern-day parlance, she looked as though she was talking to someone on a cell phone. A mobile phone in 1928?
A screenshot of the Charlie Chaplin “Circus” movie appears to depict a time traveler talking on a cell phone.
YouTube Clip Goes Viral
The clip found its way onto YouTube in 2010 and became an overnight sensation. The whole world apparently had something they wanted to say about the clip; from the likes of chat show host Jay Leno to the comedian Russell Howard to the average man in the street. Other YouTubers decided to have some fun at the expense of the clip, taking other Charlie Chaplin film scenes and inserting the likes of David Tennant, Christopher Lloyd, and Michael J. Fox into them.
Theories
Various explanations of what is being seen have been suggested ever since the footage was uploaded. These range from discreet ear trumpets to pocket transistor radios. Each explanation does have its merits and could even be the truth. The main problem with each explanation is the behavior of the woman herself. At one point in the clip, she slows down to a stop and can be seen chatting in a casual manner to no-one in particular. This is the basis for the argument that a time-traveling person has been caught on camera. Other people shown in the clip seem a little nonplussed at the woman herself.
Why Charlie Chaplin’s Circus Premiere?
Another popular question often raised is: Why the premiere of a film? Of all the things to see, events to experience, why not visit a more significant event in history? Good question. Who is to say that other potential travelers in time haven’t gone back to witness a more ground-breaking moment in history? The Babushka Lady never came forward despite numerous calls for her to do so. Maybe she just went back to her own time.
Problems With This Theory
There is one single overriding argument against this woman actually coming from a time in that future. In order to be able to use a cell-phone, one would require the use of a tower to facilitate reception or service. The cell tower is a modern-day feature of telecommunications technology that was obviously not available back in 1920s Los Angeles. Science does tend to have a way of making the impossible become possible.
Related: John Titor
It is easy to dismiss this as just another urban legend but in these days of ultra high definition digital television and 3D picture-in-picture technology, an 87-year-old black-and-white silent film excerpt still has the ability to make us think: What if time travel is actually possible?
Charlie Chaplin Time Traveler Movie Video Loop
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