Take a close look at the photo. The always mysterious Peter Levenda, author of the Sinister Forces trilogy, alerted us to this peculiar snapshot, which was part of a Canadian historical exhibit. The photo was taken in 1940 or ’41 at a ceremony for a bridge opening.
Look closely at the man in the right foreground. He looks quite modern, wearing designer-type sunglasses, a sweater with a pattern printed on it, and most telling, he appears to be holding a compact camera.
Notice that the lower right corner of the photo says topstrange.com. That’s apparently where the photo is located on the Internet, but we can’t access it.
Of course, with Adobe Photoshop, it’s possible to slip a modern person into an old photo. However, what was this photo doing in a history exhibit?
You might also wonder why a time traveler would show up at a mundane bridge dedication. Who knows? Wasn’t that the same way the time traveler arrived in Kate & Leopold, starring Hugh Jackman and Meg Ryan?
Maybe bridges are symbolic representations for ‘bridging time.’
anon- I hadn't noticed that girl, but you're right. She does seem to be looking right at him.
Someone mentioned, wouldn't people be staring at him. If you notice today if someone looks "different"we usually check them out but after a good look, we usually just ignore them.
Also, did anyone notice the girl in the 'row' he is in appears to be looking right at him?
have been doing rewrites all day, but just looked at that footage. It's amazing. We've got an update on the time traveler stuff, with this footage, going up tomorrow. Thanks, Gypsy!
trish – this chaplin video is the one i mentioned to you this morn – had a chance to see it yet??
I found a podcast of Peter Levenda being interviewed on "Thelema Now" and found it quite interesting.
Here is the blurb:
Thelema Now! Guest: Peter Levenda (70 minutes) mp3
Ever wonder what the New York City occult scene was like in the 70's? The Bells of Hell? The Warlock Shop? The Necronomicon? Wonder no more! Acclaimed author Peter Levenda explains it all for you! In this interview, Peter also discusses looking for Nazis in Chile and the secret life of John McCain.
https://oto-usa.org/podcast.html
I think I'll have to read his books after listening to this.
Interesting chap by the sounds.
Here's a link to a Chaplin tribute that I probably couldn't express better myself.There's even a picture of him and Gandhi together and a version of his song "Smile" sung by Michael Jackson.
https://its-all-for-love.blogspot.com/2010/04/charlie-chaplin-16-april-1889-25.html
"I remain just one thing, and one thing only – and that is a clown.
It places me on a far higher plane than any politician."
Charlie Chaplin
So for Mike, the chaplin repetitions could be a message about lightening up, laughing more, finding the comedic in everything.
Mike,
I love Charlie Chaplin.He is/was one of my all time favourite actors/directors.He was a great social commentator and you can learn a lot from this man.
If you haven't seen the movie "Chaplin" starring Robert Downey Jr.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0103939/
then I urge you to,and then maybe you will see his movies in a different light.
Sure he had his faults (womanizing etc.),but he had the guts to make great social commentary films like "Modern Times" and "The Great Dictator"(1939) which still have relevant messages for us today.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Dictator
I personally believe he was a messenger,through the medium of the movie camera.
"A day without laughter is a day wasted". – Charlie Chaplin
"It takes courage to make a fool of yourself". – Charlie Chaplin
Michael – thanks for the link. We'll check it out. And the chaplin link. Hmm, Chaplin as a messenger. Interesting. That will take some thought, about what he represented.
The website forgetomori tries to debunk these kinds of things. I for one keep everything in the maybe category but they do have a lot of info on the photo you are talking about. https://forgetomori.com/2010/fortean/time-traveler-caught-in-museum-photo/
There is also another interesting time traveler movie going about the internet. Its an old film from a making of a Charlie Chaplin film.
Here is the forgetomori link. But keep in mind they will then try to debunk what you are seeing, so read with an open mind.
https://forgetomori.com/2010/fortean/time-traveller-in-charlie-chaplin-movie/
On a side note. Charlie Chaplin has been 'popping' up a lot since I have watched this video. Not sure what the world is trying to tell me other than maybe to keep an open mind on this sort of thing…
thanks for having a great blog.
mike
well, that makes another of us – who blew it up as much as possible – and i thought it was a 35mm too – neat just to think of!!!
Ok now it is just creepy weird.
Good point, Cole. But since it's in a national archive in a canadian museum, a photoshop seems unlikely.
Ray – I did the same thing, blowing it up. It sure does resemble a 35 mm.
The picture real or not would be great in a trailer for a Time Travel novel.
I blew up the picture as much as I could w/o losing focus. The camera looks to be a professional 35mm with zoom lens to me.
The traveler also doesn't appear to be all that excited about the bridge.
Ray
WV subconst (repeated three times in Construction Management and Economics link)
I don't know guys, is it my perception or is this man (yes I know he is younger than the other people standing around him) but isn't he a little larger in scale than the rest of the people anyway? Almost purposely so to stand out, look at the width of his shoulders, compared to everyone else and height. I'm just saying, deliciously fascinating for sure, to even suppose it is someone from another time. Even weirder that you say this is in a historical exhibit? That is curious.
Something to ponder.
yes, it absolutely would be great to track down the original owner – gee, what stories might they have!
wv here is comsmsch? commish? commission? 😉
Vicki – weird WV. Like, UN-memory?
Ive seen this before but i can't remember where.
Interesting.
wv- unmem
Even more interesting than finding the owner of the photograph would be to get an ID on the 'time traveler.'
Whether it's real or not, it's a fascinating mystery. Is it someone alive now in our time, someone from the future, someone from the past?
Daz – I saw that video awhile back. He seems to be talking about the self-organization of the universe at a quantum level, without ever using that word. No argument with that!
I like this guys theory on synchronicity,although I think there's a little bit more to it than that.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VkuqDABTMo
What do you think ?
WV=tedgingi
-sorry that one is a dud I'm afraid.
Time Travel, or "dimension shifts"?
A compelling concept that involves myriad dynamics. Look at this WV, friends: "gazat" (gaze at?) If THIS isn't sychronistic with the subject, nothing is! Phenomenal how these WVs are getting more and more aligned with whatever is being discussed. cj
Some of us would notice. But aren't our observations/perceptions influenced by what we believe? These folks were just as a bridge event. They probably weren't looking for weirdness.
Wouldn't the people around him have noticed he was oddly dressed? You would think someone would have been looking at him in the picture. But then, I guess you just never know…
Good points, Lee.
I looked at just about every one of the photos in the Canadian historical exhibit, and this was the only one that with an unusual player.
It would be very interesting to trace the history of this photo. How did it get in the exhibit? Who donated it? If it came from an older person, especially one who doesn't own a computer. Then, WOW!
Now you've hit upon one of my favorite topics–I love time travel stories.
As to why a time traveler would show up to a seeming mundane event, here's one of my theories:
If time travel were possible the travellers may not be able to go precisely to a specific time in history. Perhaps this traveller was trying to get to this era and this was the event he randomly happened upon.
To me, a frequent weakness in time travel stories that travellers manage to go to some major event in history in order to change it or witness it. I like to think that if someone could time travel, they would be just tossed into a time and be unable to specify with any exactitude of when that time would be–thus a mundane everyday event.
Really enjoyed this topic.
Lee
Tossing It Out
This guy also is wearing his sweater in the modern way as opposed to the way men wore their sweaters then, and more importantly, he is wearing a "today" haircut style, definitely not popular or even seen in photos of my parents and their families from that time frame. The sunshades are curiously shaped, huh! And oh, I lOVED KATE AND LEOPOLD movie! cj
I like Daz's theory. Mothman checking out the bridge! Here's the link to the archive in Canada:
https://www.virtualmuseum.ca/pm_v2.php?id=record_detail&fl=0&lg=English&ex=00000470&rd=117666
hmmmm…..more than a little interesting – the who and what of this – but i am particularly fond of the time traveler theory, no matter! 😉
That is totally strange! I noticed him in the picture before I even read your post! Like, hello- those sunglasses TOTALLY stick out! If he's a deliberate time traveler you would wonder why he didn't make a better attempt to blend in?
that is truly totally weird. I think he's a real traveler. Spooky!
He might be the Mothman,checking out how safe that bridge is.-)