In 2014, I read a fascinating story about a man who – while on a flight to Japan – supposedly had passed through a portal from a parallel Earth and discovered that his home country, Taured, didn’t exist in this version of reality.
The story was published in a book by Colin Wilson – a reputable author who wrote about mysticism, the occult, and the paranormal. Trish decided to email him and ask about the story. Then it occurred to her that Wilson might no longer be alive. She wasn’t certain. Had she heard that he’d died? She got up from her desk to get a glass of water and for the next couple of minutes, Colin Wilson was neither dead nor alive. When she sat back down, she Googled his name and instantly saw that he had died Dec. 5, 2013 at the age of 82.
Wilson was a prolific British author who, in addition to writing about mysticism and the paranormal, also wrote about true crime and wrote fiction.When he was still in his 20s, he published The Outsider, about rebels and their impact on society, and was recognized as a philosopher.
His best asset as a writer was also, ironically, a detriment of sorts. Colin Wilson wrote long. Not long-handed, not long-winded, just very long. Any subject he tackled was dealt with in minute detail. So much so that it was difficult to pick up one of his books and read it from cover to cover. In fact, one of his books was actually called, The Mammoth Book of the Supernatural. In that tome, Wilson combs through the entire history of the supernatural in the Western world. While he was recognized for his intellect and his willingness to probe deeply into a subject, his expansive style served to limit his popularity.
Even though I couldn’t e-mail Wilson and ask about the strange story of the man from Taured, here it is.It appeared in Wilson’s book The Directory of Possibilities. Read it and wonder.
One day in 1954, a man flew into Tokyo, but upon landing at the Tokyo International Airport, his seemingly normal trip took a very drastic turn for the weird. When he handed over his passport to be stamped, the man was interrogated as to the whereabouts of his origins. It wasn’t a case of racial profiling. While his passport looked authentic, it listed a country no one had ever heard of: Taured.
The mystery man claimed his country was located between France and Spain, but when he was asked to point it out on a map, he pointed to the Principality of Andorra. Insisting he had never heard of Andorra and that Taured had existed for 1,000 years, he claimed that he was in Japan on business, something he had been doing for the past five years. His passport seemed to back up his story, as it was covered in previous customs and visa stamps, and he also carried legal currency from several European countries. He even had a driver’s license issued by the mysterious country and a checkbook containing checks from an unknown bank.
After more interrogation and confusion for both parties, the traveler was sent to a nearby hotel until an official decision could be reached. Two immigration officials stood outside the hotel door until morning. It was then that they discovered the mystery man had vanished.
His disappearance was as mysterious as the man himself since the only possible exit was a window with no ledge that was 15 stories above a busy street. The Tokyo police department conducted an extensive search, but came up empty-handed. Hopefully, if he really was from a parallel Earth, he was able to find a way back to the comforts of his home in Taured.
It certainly would’ve been interesting to find out where Colin Wilson heard about this story, and if he was confident that it really happened. As far as I’ve been able to determine, the events have never been independently documented.
No matter how you slice it – very very weird story.
It really is!