A minor mystery solved (probably)

Here's a fun thing that's started circulating on the Internet. Someone watching footage of the 1928 premiere of Charlie Chaplin's film The Circus noticed a female pedestrian caught on camera who appears to be speaking into a cell phone. Since cell phones did not exist in 1928, the footage seemed inexplicable, leading its discoverer to speculate - half seriously, I guess - that maybe the woman was a "time traveler."

You can watch the footage here. If you want to bypass the rather boring and long-winded introduction, the 1928 footage starts around the 3:00 mark.

So what's the answer to this mystery? Was a time traveler caught on film in 1928?

A commenter on the National Review website who goes by the name of ChugBug supplies a better answer. The thing in the lady's hand, which does sort of resemble a cell phone, is probably a hearing aid.

Yes, there were hearing aids in 1928, and yes, some of them were flat and large, like this object. Since the microphone was located in the flat part of the device, the woman was probably speaking into the mike as she walked along. I don't know who she was talking to. Maybe she was talking to herself.

ChugBug helpfully included a link to a Web page that shows a particular hearing aid, the Audiphone, that would match up very nicely with the mysterious object in the lady's hand.

Admittedly, the time traveler conjecture is more fun, and reminds me of a fine old science-fiction story called "Vintage Season."

Hat tip: Ace of Spades.

Comments

[Stephen Heyer]

A minor mystery solved (probably not)

Hmm… Sorry Michael, have you ever used a hearing aid? Do you know what they do?

I can well understand her holding some designs to her ear with the microphone pointed towards someone talking to her – but speaking into the mic herself and blowing her hearing away with her own voice? Why?

As for the Western Electric Model 34A "Audiphone" Carbon Hearing Aid, well, it came with an earpiece and so would not have been held to the ear at all.

Stephen Heyer

[michael duggan]

I think Occam's razor applies here!

[Aftrbrnr]

I just don't buy time travel, I think many have said this before but if it was real, how come no one from the future has come back to the past yet? I know people have said that maybe time travelers from the future that hide themselves (such as potentially in this situation here) and don't make their presence known, but there are still quite a few questions to beg. For starters, if time travel existed, why don't we use it for benevolent purposes? Why not go back in time, and prevent 9/11? Or even better, why not got back to 1939, stop World War II from happening and save around 60 millions lives? The possibilities are endless, heck with time travel we could save JFK. But, the stuff above still happened which is why I'm still skeptical about time travel. Those aren't the only issues with time travel, but there's just so many more questions.

But assuming this is a case of time travel (with this Chaplin incident), her device cannot be a cell phone even if it was the infrastructure to support a cell phone did not exist back then, let alone the fact anyone back then had one. Could it be it is a device that can communicate across time back to whatever time period she is from? And then there's another question, if she is a time traveler what is she doing in 1928? Is she just there, quietly observing like a tourist, or is she out there to change the past for better or worse?

[Sandy]

Maybe she's just a ghost. There are ghosts from the past, so why can't there be ghosts from the future? Time doesn't seem to mean all that much to them.

[Michael Prescott]

"I can well understand her holding some designs to her ear with the microphone pointed towards someone talking to her – but speaking into the mic herself and blowing her hearing away with her own voice? Why?"

Maybe she was testing the device.

Or maybe she was something of an eccentric and liked talking to herself and hearing her voice through the earpiece.

Either of these explanations seems more likely than the idea that she was a time traveling cell phone user, don't you think?

[Art]

'"Maybe she's just a ghost. There are ghosts from the past, so why can't there be ghosts from the future? Time doesn't seem to mean all that much to them." - Sandy
------------------------

Actually Sandy I find your answer to be rather satisfying. There is a story in The Holographic Universe that talks about two ladies that were in a park in France and they saw it as it was 100 years ago. It suddenly appeared as it had been in the past.

In a holographic universe, everything, past, present, and future all exists at one time. Simply by focusing one's attention or consciousness on a particular period will allow us to "see" the past or future. That is what Mark Horton said happened to him during his near death experience.

It's sort of like having a DVD of a movie and being able to fast forward to reverse to whatever part of the movie one wishes to view; only in this case the movie is "holographic" rather than being 2 dimensional.

What I found strange was that the "woman" looked like a man. The feet were absolutely bizarre, like size 14 feet. If it was a woman - I'm sorry - but it wasn't a very attractive one! I loved the surprise look on "her" face though when she realized she was being filmed. Priceless!

[MatthewX78]

Maybe she realized she was on camera and got some nervous tics.......

Thats my suggestion.

[Kathleen]

It is intriguing. But as Aftrbrnr pointed out, why haven't time travelers, if they exist, warned us about looming disasters? If there is a spiritual universe, I tend to think that warnings would defeat what might be our role to make decisions and experience. But it is an odd bit of film, and why would she be talking to a hearing aid?

[dmduncan]

Could be one of those hearing aids that was linked to. And she could be talking to herself.

I know from experience that people do that sort of thing.

[Art]

"It is intriguing. But as Aftrbrnr pointed out, why haven't time travelers, if they exist, warned us about looming disasters?" - Kathleen
-------------------------------------------

If there is no death and our soul's are here to learn lessons and this so called "physical" life is actually just a holographic projection perhaps the bad stuff needs to happen to teach our souls important lessons? Maybe when loved ones die it teaches our soul what it means and how it feels to be separate - and that the more emotional the experience the more powerful and long lasting the memory it creates? And maybe the physical pain that we experience in life imprints on the soul information about the shape and parameters of the body? Like bits of information or pixels on a TV screen and the more "pixels" and more information the clearer the "picture" that our souls will be able to conjure up in heaven, if heaven is a place where thoughts are things and consciousness creates reality?

[Andretti]

Nice story
It reminded me straight away of this one from earlier in the year

http://forgetomori.com/2010/fortean/time-traveler-caught-in-museum-photo/

[J9]

No one from the future has time travelled to the past because the future hasn't happened yet, assuming time is linear.

[Sandy]

Why would you assume that? ;)

[dmduncan]

Time isn't linear, but it hasn't happened because the past and future are not places like Bermuda that you can go to leaving everyone and thing behind to continue on with their existence.

That's the idea of time we get from watching science fiction that misconceives what time is.

[Roger Knights]

Hmm ...

Holding an ice-pack to the side of her jaw while on the way to the dentist with a toothache? (If she was a passerby roped in as an extra, why not?)

Ice packs were commoner back then, as were untreated nascent toothaches.

[Michael Prescott]

The icepack is another possibility. Hadn't thought of that.

BTW, she wasn't an extra, just a pedestrian walking past the premiere.

[Marty]

"offtopic"

Hi Michael,
You may find this interesting, here in Seattle we had a guy die in a car crash a week ago in a car crash, his car crashed into some other cars and caught fire, a bystander rescued his daughter but was to late to get to him sadley...however a few days later the guys ghost/spirit whatever visited his unknown rescuer at his bedside with a message for his family and co-workers.... I wonder why the guy visited the rescuer instead of his wife though? very interesting anyway

(snip)
"My wife is next to me in bed. She's sleeping. Everything is where it's supposed to be," says Johnson. "Then there is this man standing right by the bed. He says he needs help with a few things. I say, 'OK.'

"Now, I know it's him (Kotowicz) even though the only time I had seen him was at the accident, when he didn't look, you know, normal. He says he wants me to give a message to his wife and to his daughter. That's private so I can't tell you about that message.

"He also tells me to talk to the people at Sub Pop, he wants to let them know not to be mad at the driver that caused the accident. That's his message."

Johnson says that later that day, he went to the Sub Pop website, and there it was, a memorial photo of the man who had stood by his bed: Kotowicz.

That same Tuesday, he went to the Seattle downtown headquarters of Sub Pop and met with the staff and told them about the vision.

The staff greeted with tears the man who had saved their co-worker's daughter.

Chris Jacobs, general manager at Sub Pop, says about the vision, "We're dumbfounded and rapt."
(end snip)

http://tinyurl.com/2e5bfj3

-Marty

[Marty]

we had a guy die in a car crash a week ago in a car crash, his car crashed.....

never post while handing out Halloween candy....sigh...

[Cyrus]

http://planet-flipside.com/vboard/showthread.php?t=6064 <--- Either a time traveler on the right (pic is from the 40s) or hipsters in sunglasses transcend generations.

[Art]

Marty, thank you so much for the link about Kenny Johnson saving the little girl from the fire. Excellent story! I'm sharing it with all my online friends and friends from church. Very uplifting and positive. That is the kind of "news" that I like to read! I'm fixing to send it to our preacher at Church. Not sure what he'll make of it, but that's okay. I just like to plant the seeds in his mind!

[Lynn McIntosh]

A comment made under the footage suggested the lady was holding the brim of her hat and giving the man speedily passing by the "what for". Sounds like something I might do. ;)

[Aftrbrnr]

I read the news article to Marty's story. I find it amazing because not only do we have an ADC making the news, but a verdicial one nonetheless. The comments section is filled with people congratulating the rescuer and so far no one has gone out to call the man being too "woo-woo"-ish. I swear, I think I might've stepped into the Twilight Zone here.

[Michael Prescott]

I love Marty's story and will probably give it a post of its own on Tuesday. Great stuff!

[j9]

http://www.king5.com/news/local/Good-Samaritan-Has-A-Vision-106155359.html

Another url on the accident in Seattle. A couple of nay sayer comments there.

[j9]

Here is another link as well.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/text/2013320040.html

[Marty]

Thanks for the kind comments!

I remember reading about the accident a week or so ago and being a fan of Sub Pop I was sad however, has bad as the tragedy is for the family, the follow up story is amazing, I knew you folks would love this!

-Marty

[Mary]

Regarding the time traveller in The Circus, isn't this just a very clever promotional video for Yellow Fever Productions?

[Michael Prescott]

Could be. I'd have to look at the actual DVD to see if the woman really appears there. But as I said above, the simplest explanation is that she was using a primitive electronic hearing aid. Why she was speaking into it, I don't know, but eccentrics do things like that.