Time traveler caught in 1928 video from Charlie Chaplin DVD?
Posted Thursday, October 28, 2010 at 10:29 AM Central
Last updated Friday, October 29, 2010 at 4:25 PM Central
by Tim Briscoe
I initially didn't think too much of this "news" but the story has since exploded online so I feel compelled to share it. In old film footage from 1928, there appears to be a woman walking around talking on a cell phone.
George Clarke is the man who discovered the footage while watching a DVD extra from Charlie Chaplin's film The Circus. In the video he posted on YouTube, the Belfast filmmaker breaks down the clip and shows the mysterious woman in great detail.
Clarke's only explanation is that the woman is a time traveler.
This week does mark the release of the Back to the Future trilogy on DVD and Blu-ray, but a time traveler captured on video? I think not. There has to be a much more reasonable answer.
Upon showing the clip to my colleague John, he had a great rebuttal. Why would a time traveler be at a 1928 film premiere when he/she could assassinate Hitler to stop the World War II and the Holocaust? To which I responded, how could an old lady stop Hitler when Tom Cruise couldn't even manage it?
On a more serious note, I must mention one tidbit that has been overlooked. This footage was part of the bonus items on a Charlie Chaplin DVD release -- something you wouldn't get with a digital download of the film. A time-traveling lady isn't exactly compelling content but consider the loss of bonus items the next time you want to download a movie.
Here is the 8 and a half minute video by Clarke containing all the evidence and commentary. For the Cliffs Notes version, watch the ultra short video at bottom with a different explanation.
Update: Case solved!
The folks over at The Christian Science Monitor have debunked the claim of a time traveler in the 1928 Charlie Chaplin video. (Did anyone of us seriously believe it was an actual time traveler?) They say the device the lady in the video is using is actually a small ear trumpet to aid in hearing. CSM also goes into the theory of time travel which is way too heady for my brain today.
So there you go. Proto-hearing aid, yes. Cellphone of a time traveler, no.