Time travel has long been a topic of fascination in both science fiction and scientific theory. The idea of travelling through time, whether to the past or future, has sparked the imagination of millions and raised countless questions about its possibility. While most associate time travel with fictional stories or theoretical physics, history is full of individuals who claim to have had real-life experiences with it.
Though their claims are often met with scepticism, these historical figures have left behind strange and compelling stories that have puzzled historians, scientists, and the public alike. Whether their experiences were the result of vivid imagination, psychological phenomena, or something beyond explanation, these figures believed that they had broken the boundaries of time.
Here are 10 historical figures who claimed to time travel, and the strange stories behind their experiences.
Saint Patrick’s Time Slip
Ireland’s patron saint, Saint Patrick, is best known for bringing Christianity to Ireland in the 5th century and for his legendary act of banishing all the snakes from the island. However, one lesser-known story about Saint Patrick involves a claim of time travel.
According to some early Irish accounts, Saint Patrick once experienced what is now described as a “time slip.” While praying in a cave, Patrick was said to have fallen into a deep spiritual state. When he emerged, he believed only a few moments had passed, but in reality, an entire day had gone by. This experience was interpreted by some as proof that Patrick had entered a different realm or dimension, where time flowed differently than in the physical world.
Though this may not be considered “time travel” in the modern sense, Saint Patrick’s experience aligns with historical tales of individuals who claimed to have experienced lost time or entered an altered state of reality where time did not behave as expected.
Sir Victor Goddard’s Glimpse into the Future
One of the most famous and compelling time travel stories comes from Sir Victor Goddard, a British Royal Air Force officer. In 1935, Goddard claimed to have flown through a time slip while piloting his biplane over an abandoned airfield in Drem, Scotland.
According to Goddard, as he flew over the airfield, he was suddenly caught in a strange storm with yellow clouds. As he emerged from the storm, he looked down at the airfield and was shocked to see it transformed. What had previously been a dilapidated and unused facility was now bustling with modern planes and ground crew members in blue uniforms (which weren’t used by the RAF at the time). The planes on the ground were yellow, which was also an unfamiliar colour for RAF aircraft in 1935.
Four years later, in 1939, the airfield was refurbished, and RAF planes were painted yellow, while personnel began wearing blue uniforms—just as Goddard had seen during his flight. Goddard firmly believed that he had seen a glimpse of the future, and his experience has become one of the most famous examples of a time slip.
Jophar Vorin: The Man from a Different Time
In 1851, a man calling himself Jophar Vorin appeared in a small German village, claiming to be from a country no one had ever heard of, called Laxaria. Vorin spoke in a language unfamiliar to anyone in the village, though he could also speak broken German. He explained that he was searching for his lost brother and had come from a land on the other side of the world that did not exist on any maps.
What made Vorin’s story even stranger was his claim that in Laxaria, people had different concepts of time, suggesting that he may have come not only from a different place but also a different time. Though some believed him to be a hoaxer, others were convinced that he was a time traveller who had somehow become lost in a world that was not his own.
The case of Jophar Vorin has fascinated historians and conspiracy theorists alike. To this day, no one has been able to definitively prove or disprove his story, leaving it as one of history’s strangest time travel mysteries.
Al Bielek’s Philadelphia Experiment Testimony
One of the most controversial and bizarre time travel claims comes from Al Bielek, who said he participated in the Philadelphia Experiment, a top-secret US Navy project during World War II. According to Bielek, the Philadelphia Experiment was designed to make naval ships invisible to enemy radar, but it inadvertently led to time travel.
Bielek claimed that in 1943, he was aboard the USS Eldridge when the ship was enveloped in a strange field of energy that transported him and his brother through time. He said they travelled to the year 2137 and spent six weeks in a futuristic hospital, where they learned about future events, including drastic changes to Earth’s climate and society.
Bielek’s story has been widely discredited by scientists and historians, and many believe it to be a fabrication. However, the legend of the Philadelphia Experiment has endured, inspiring books, documentaries, and films about government experiments with time travel.
John Titor: The Internet Time Traveller
In 2000, a man calling himself John Titor began posting on online forums, claiming to be a time traveller from the year 2036. Titor said he had been sent back in time to retrieve an IBM 5100 computer, which was needed to fix a computer bug that would cause problems in his future. Titor shared details about his time, which he claimed was ravaged by civil war in the United States, followed by nuclear war.
Titor’s posts included predictions about the future, some of which have since been proven false, while others remain open to interpretation. He described a bleak, dystopian future where governments had collapsed, and communities had reverted to more primitive ways of life. After several months of posting, Titor disappeared from the forums, leaving behind a lasting mystery.
Many believe that John Titor was a hoax, but his story has continued to capture the imagination of conspiracy theorists and time travel enthusiasts. Despite the dubious nature of his claims, Titor’s story remains one of the most famous modern-day examples of a supposed time traveller.
Charlotte Anne Moberly and Eleanor Jourdain’s Versailles Time Slip
In 1901, Charlotte Anne Moberly and Eleanor Jourdain, two academics from Oxford, claimed to have experienced a time slip while visiting the Palace of Versailles in France. The women were walking through the gardens when they reportedly began to notice strange changes in their surroundings. They saw people in old-fashioned clothing, heard strange sounds, and felt a sudden sense of heaviness in the air.
The women later came to believe that they had somehow travelled back in time to the period of the French Revolution, and that the people they had seen were historical figures, including Marie Antoinette herself. Their account, known as the Moberly-Jourdain Incident, was published in a book called An Adventure in 1911, where they detailed their strange experiences.
Though sceptics dismissed their claims as a case of shared hallucination or imaginative storytelling, the Versailles time slip has become one of the most famous and enduring time travel stories of the 20th century.
Andrew Carlssin: The Time-Travelling Stock Trader
In 2003, news outlets reported the strange story of Andrew Carlssin, a man who had been arrested for insider trading after making an astonishing $350 million on the stock market with just $800. When questioned by authorities, Carlssin allegedly claimed to be a time traveller from the year 2256, who had used knowledge of future stock prices to make his fortune.
Carlssin’s story quickly spread, with some people speculating that his knowledge of future events allowed him to manipulate the market. However, no hard evidence was ever found to prove his claims, and the story was later debunked as a hoax by Weekly World News, a tabloid known for publishing fantastical stories.
Despite the hoax, Carlssin’s tale of using time travel for financial gain has become a part of internet folklore, reminding us of the age-old question: If you could travel through time, would you use it to get rich?
Rudolf Fentz: The Man Who Walked Out of the Past
In 1950, a man dressed in 19th-century clothing was reportedly found wandering aimlessly in the middle of Times Square, New York City. Witnesses said the man appeared confused and disoriented, and he was soon struck and killed by a car. When police examined his belongings, they found items that appeared to be from the 1800s, including old coins, a letter dated 1876, and a business card for a salon that no longer existed.
The man was identified as Rudolf Fentz, and upon further investigation, police discovered that a man by the same name had disappeared without a trace in 1876. Some speculated that Fentz had somehow travelled through time and ended up in 1950, only to meet his untimely death.
Although this story has been debunked as a piece of urban legend that originated in a short story from the 1950s, the mystery of Rudolf Fentz has endured, with many continuing to wonder if time travel could explain his sudden appearance.
Father Pellegrino Ernetti’s Chronovisor
Father Pellegrino Ernetti, a Benedictine monk and scientist, claimed to have invented a device in the 1950s that could view events from the past, known as the Chronovisor. According to Ernetti, the Chronovisor allowed him to witness key moments in history, including the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, ancient Roman theatre performances, and even the destruction of Pompeii.
Ernetti’s claims were met with widespread scepticism, but he insisted that the Chronovisor was real, describing it as a form of time travel that allowed users to see, but not interact with, historical events. He claimed that the Vatican had confiscated the device to prevent it from being misused.
Although no physical evidence of the Chronovisor has ever been produced, Ernetti’s story has inspired speculation about whether such a device could ever exist. His claim remains one of the more intriguing—and bizarre—time travel stories to emerge from the 20th century.
Paul Amadeus Dienach: The Man Who Lived in the Future
Paul Amadeus Dienach, a Swiss-Austrian teacher, claimed to have experienced one of the most extraordinary forms of time travel: not through a machine or time slip, but through a coma. In 1921, Dienach fell into a year-long coma due to complications from an illness. When he awoke, he claimed to have spent that entire year living in the future—specifically the year 3906.
According to Dienach, while in the coma, his consciousness inhabited the body of a man named Andrew Northam, who lived in a utopian future society. During his time in the future, Dienach said he learned about humanity’s progress, advancements in science and technology, and the spiritual evolution of mankind.
Dienach wrote down his experiences in a diary, which was later published as The Valley of the Roses. Although his story was met with scepticism, it has developed a cult following among those interested in time travel, reincarnation, and utopian futures.
Time travel has fascinated people for centuries, and these historical figures, whether they were sincere in their beliefs or simply part of strange myths, have left behind stories that continue to captivate the imagination. Their claims remind us of the enduring allure of time travel, the unknown, and the mysteries that still surround our understanding of time itself.
