The Why Files: Operation Podcast - 567: Accidental Time Travelers | The Mystery and Science of Time Slips

Episode Date: August 31, 2024

Imagine walking down a familiar street when suddenly everything changes. The asphalt beneath your feet transforms into cobblestone, cars vanish, replaced by horse-drawn carriages. The air fills with the scent of coal smoke and horse manure. People in Victorian-era clothing hurry past, glancing at you suspiciously. Panic sets in as you realize you're no longer in your own time. Then, just as quickly, you're back in the present day. You just had a Time Slip, and you're not alone. Thousands of people worldwide have reported experiencing time slips. They briefly travel through time, witnessing scenes from the past or future before returning to the present. Are these experiences vivid hallucinations, or could they be glimpses into the true nature of time and reality? Today, we cover a few famous Time Slip stories and the scientific theories that might explain them.

Everyone's got a pro. Need tires? I've got a pro. Car making a weird sound? I've got a pro. So who's that pro? The pros at Tread Experts. From tires to auto repair, Tread Experts is always there, helping you with Toyo tires you can trust. Until May 31st, save up to $100 in rebates on select Toyo tires, like Toyo's open country family of tires. Find your pro at your local Tread Experts. From tires to auto repair, we're always there. Tread Experts.ca What is time? Time is a dimension where events unfold from past to future. That's what most scientists believe. But not all scientists. Picture this. A woman walks down a street she's walked a thousand times.

Everything is familiar. The stores, the sounds, the smells. Then suddenly she feels an odd sensation of heaviness. She keeps walking, but now everything has changed. The asphalt is now cobblestone. Cars vanish, replaced by horse-drawn carriages. Nothing is familiar. The air smells of coal, smoke, and horse manure.

People wearing Victorian-era clothing hurry past, looking at her with suspicion. She starts to panic and becomes dizzy. And just like that, she's back in the present day. She's just experienced a time slip, a momentary shift of reality that put her in a different time. Was this just her imagination? Well, maybe not. Some scientists believe that time is not linear, and that the past, present, and future coexist

simultaneously in parallel dimensions. Usually these realities remain separate, but sometimes realities collide, causing a temporary tear in space-time. As you get caught in one of these tears, you'll stay in the right place, but you can end up anywhere in time. Time slips. Mysterious events that transport people across decades or centuries have been reported by thousands of people. Some last seconds.

Others stretch for hours. There's often a sense of heaviness, a strange feeling that something isn't right. Then the world shifts. You're still in the same place, but the surroundings are different. Many experiences involve multiple interactions with people and objects from another time. I know mushrooms are involved when this happens. No, it's spontaneous time travel.

It still could be fun if mushrooms were involved. Please stop. There's kids watching. Oh, right. Shittakes. I'm talking about shittakes. One of the most famous time slips happened in 1901. Charlotte Moberly and Eleanor Jardine, two Oxford academics, were touring the Palace of Versailles in France. They broke off from the tour to find the Petit Trianon, Marie Antoinette's private getaway. As they walked,

an eerie stillness surrounded them. No sound, no breeze. The world seemed flat and hazy like a faded photograph. And suddenly, they were lost. The walking paths were different. They heard voices and followed them, hoping to find someone

who can give them directions. They found two men dressed as 18th century noblemen with long grey coats and tri-cornered hats. The men politely gave them directions, speaking in archaic French that was hard to understand. Tell me another one. The masses, they claim we'll be dead. Our necks on the chopping blocks bed. But I'm far too refined to lose peace of mind. I'd rather lose face than my head.

You're really funny, you know. Yeah, I know. You should do stand-up. I'm thinking about it. Those improv classes sure paid off. Yep, worth every franc. Next, they saw a man with a dark complexion and pockmarked face sitting near a kiosk. They passed more people in 18th century clothing before spotting a woman on the lawn sketching.

She wore a large white hat and had long hair. Though they decided not to disturb her, the woman looked up as they crossed the bridge back to the main palace. When they got back, they thought it was strange that no tourists were there. Knock, knock. Who's there? Bourgeoisie. Bourgeoisie who? Bourgeoisie you later, peasants. I'm off to eat more cake.

Ha ha ha! Nailed it! I know. I'm on fire today. Afterward, Charlotte and Eleanor were convinced something paranormal had occurred. They either encountered very real-looking ghosts or traveled through time. After studying portraits of Marie Antoinette, they were sure she was the woman sketching. Their research led them to believe they'd been transported to 1792, just before the fall of the French monarchy.

All right, I have one for you. Go on. A revolutionary, a philosopher, and a nobleman walk into a bar. Yeah? The revolutionary orders liberty, the philosopher orders equality, and the nobleman says, I'll have what I've always had, everything. Nailed it. They say chicks like funny guys, so I'm working it. Charlotte and Eleanor returned to Versailles a couple of years later to retrace their steps, but they couldn't find the bridge to the chateau.

They were told there was no bridge, but they found old maps of the grounds that showed the bridge was there in 1792. In 1911, they published a book about their experience, which was a hit. was there in 1792. In 1911, they published a book about their experience, which was a hit. Skeptics claimed it was a hoax, and the world's leading psychiatrist dismissed it as a delusion.

Well, all except one, Carl Jung. He didn't mock their claims, because Carl Jung, one of the brightest minds in Europe, had a time slip. In the early 1930s, Carl Jung visited Ravenna, Italy. He went to the Baptistery of Neon, one of the city's most religious sites. Inside, he was captivated by four mosaics, the baptism of Christ and the Israelites crossing the Red Sea, and a couple of others. He vividly recalled the Blue Sea and even individual mosaic chips.

Young wanted photographs, but none were available. Later when a friend planned to visit Ravenna, Young asked him to send pictures of the mosaics. The response was shocking. The mosaics didn't exist. Confused, Young contacted the friend who had been with him in Ravenna. She also remembered the mosaics. She recalled the scenes and colors in detail. Eventually, Young learned these mosaics had existed,

but were destroyed in a fire centuries ago. Yet he described them perfectly. This experience changed Young's views on consciousness and time. His Ravenna experience remains one of the most compelling cases of a time slip, witnessed by two people, including one of the world's most respected psychiatrists. In 1979, two British couples, Jeff and Pauline Simpson, and Lennon's Cynthia Gisby, were driving through France on vacation. It was late, so they stopped at a quaint old-fashioned hotel.

Everything about the place seemed outdated. The furnishings were antiques. There was no elevator and no electricity the only light came from oil lamps the next morning the couples had a simple breakfast and were shocked at how inexpensive everything was on their return trip they decided to stay at the hotel again but couldn't find it locals had never heard of it even Even stranger, when their film was developed, there were no photographs of the hotel. The photos should have been in the middle of the roll,

but there were no blanks, not even in the negatives. It was as if the hotel and their stay never happened. Yet all four remembered it clearly. In 1999, Sebastian Rains needed a break after his divorce, so he took a trip to New York City. He did the usual tourist things. Museums, art galleries, and a Broadway show. Whoa, whoa, whoa. What show did he see? I really don't think it's important to the story.

It will help me understand the man. He saw Cats. Thank you. Now I know everything I need to know about this moron. Look, Cats the movie was terrible, but the Broadway show wasn't so bad. Eh, I just lost a little respect for you. After the show, he found... He found a bucket to throw up in. After the show, he found a small 1960s-style cafe near his hotel in the East Village.

New York had a few vintage diners, and he was excited to check it out. Every detail was perfect. Coca-Cola bottles with names molded into thick glass. The waitress in a tie-dye shirt. A man with long hair playing music from the 60s on his guitar. Oh, they even had authentic Dirty Hippies? They did. And he had a great meal.

The portions were huge, and the food was good. But the best part, his full meal cost $3.25. The next day, he spent the day exploring more of New York. But after that, he headed straight back to that diner. He'd been thinking about it all day. But when he got there, the diner was gone. There was just an old boarded-up building with fire damage. He walked around the neighborhood for almost two hours

looking for the place with no luck. Not far from the burned-out building, he met a woman in her late 60s. Sebastian asked her about the diner. She said it was right there, gesturing toward the boarded-up building. She said she used to eat there all the time. Sebastian asked what she meant by used to.

She explained that the diner had a kitchen fire in 1974 destroying the place, and the building had been empty for over 25 years. Sebastian Raines came to explore the history of New York. He had no idea he'd somehow become part of it. He had a great time at the diner that night. But most people don't enjoy time slips. They usually feel uneasy. They sense something isn't quite right. But there's one man whose time slip experience absolutely terrified him.

And his story is unusual. He didn't travel to a different time. A different time traveled to him. And his story is unusual. He didn't travel to $100 in rebates on select Toyo tires. Find a Toyo Tread Experts dealer near you at treadexperts.ca slash locations. From tires to auto repair, we're always there. TreadExperts.ca Everyone's got a pro. Need tires?

I've got a pro. Car making a weird sound? I've got a pro. Car making a weird sound? I've got a pro. So who's that pro? The pros at Tread Experts. From tires to auto repair, Tread Experts is always there, helping you with Toyo tires you can trust. Until May 31st, save up to $100 in rebates on select Toyo tires,

like Toyo's open country family of tires. Find your pro at your local Tread Experts. From tires to auto repair, we're always there. TreadExperts.ca Everyone's got a pro. Need tires? I've got a pro. Car making a weird sound?

I've got a pro. So who's that pro? The pros at Tread Experts. From tires to auto repair, Tread Experts is always there. Helping you with Michelin tires you can trust. Until May 30th, receive up to $70 by prepaid MasterCard with purchase of four new Michelin passenger or light truck tires. Find your pro at your local Tread Experts.

From tires to auto repair, we're always there. TreadExperts.ca You searched for your informant who disappeared without a trace. You knew there were witnesses, but lips were sealed. You swept the city, driving closer to the truth. While curled up on the couch with your cat.

There's more to imagine when you listen. Discover heart-pounding thrillers on Audible. In 1953, 19-year-old Harry Martindale, a plumber's apprentice, experienced something that would haunt him forever. He was working in the basement of the Treasurer's house in york england while chiseling into a stone wall he heard the faint sound of a horn it seemed to be coming from inside the wall confused harry stopped to listen the horn was getting louder suddenly a group of roman soldiers emerged from the wall, marching in formation.

They wore green tunics and carried round shields. They weren't ghostly apparitions. They appeared solid, but their lower legs weren't visible, as if they were walking on a surface beneath the basement floor. Harry stood frozen as the soldiers and even horses passed by. For twenty years, Harry kept his story to himself, afraid no one would believe him. When he finally shared it, skeptics had doubts. Roman soldiers didn't carry round shields.

They used rectangular ones. They didn't wear green tunics either. They wore red and sometimes purple. But Harry insisted he was telling the truth. He recalled every detail, even how the soldiers looked tired, miserable, and some were injured. In the 1990s, Harry's story took an unexpected turn. An excavation revealed an ancient Roman road running right beneath that basement, about 18 inches below the floor, explaining why the soldiers were only visible from the knees

up. Further research uncovered that Roman auxiliary soldiers, who were non-citizens, carried round shields and wore green tunics. Nobody knew this before. Then it was discovered that the barracks for the Roman legions were located right next to the treasurer's house. Those legions, the 9th and 6th auxiliary. When Harry ran back upstairs in a panic, the treasurer's house. Those legions, the 9th and 6th Auxiliary. When Harry ran back upstairs in a panic, the treasurer said,

Lad, by the looks of you, you saw the Roman soldiers. He knew, that sneaky son of a... Yep. A few years later, the house was sold. The new owner heard her dogs barking at something in the basement. She went to investigate and saw the soldiers walking through. In Roman times, York, then known as Iboracum, was a major military stronghold with a population of 25,000. Roads, walls, sewers, and countless Roman artifacts have been found in the area. Just a few years ago, during a hotel renovation, 60 Roman skeletons were found beneath a swimming pool.

Maybe those skeletons belonged to the soldiers, battle-weary and anxious to get home, but instead cursed to march down that ancient road forever. I don't know if this is a time-slip story or ghost story, but it's still a good one. Reports of time-slips date back centuries, occurring randomly all over the world. But some locations aren't random. They are fixed locations where barriers between realities are thin. There is a city where the past, present, and future constantly collide. It's had more time slips than any other city on Earth by far.

And that city is Liverpool. Liverpool, located on England's northwest coast, is known for more than being just the birthplace of the Beatles. It's also infamous for time slips. Specifically, Bold Street has become a hotspot where people are momentarily transported to another time. One famous case happened in 1996. Frank and his wife Carol were shopping on Bold Street. Carol wanted to visit Dylan's bookstore, but Frank was more interested in a nearby music shop.

They agreed to meet at the bookstore in about 20 minutes. After browsing records and CDs, Frank headed toward Dillon's. But something felt off. The busy street was suddenly quiet. Out of nowhere, there was the blast of a horn, and Frank jumped back. A box truck roared past with the name Cardens written on the side. Frank was a retired police officer.

He knew every business in town, and he'd never heard of Cardin's. Even stranger, the truck was from the 50s, but looked brand new. As Frank looked around, he noticed the entire street had changed. The people were dressed in 1950s clothing. Men in hats and long coats, women in headscarves and vintage dresses. The bold street he knew had vanished, replaced by something straight out of an old movie. Still shaken, Frank crossed the street, expecting to see Dylan's bookstore. Instead, he found a shop called Crips, with a window display full of women's

shoes and handbags, not a book in sight. Frank just stood there, not sure what to do, until a young woman in modern clothing approached. He opened the door for her, and they walked into the store together. Frank was relieved. It was Dylan's bookstore. But the young woman turned to Frank, looking confused. She said she thought this was a new clothing store. Over the next few weeks,

Frank couldn't shake the memory of that strange afternoon. He did some research and learned that Cripps was indeed a women's clothing shop that existed on Bold Street in the 50s, right where Dillon's was now. The van with Cardens on the side also matched a well-known company from that same time. Frank didn't know how it happened, but was absolutely sure that something happened. In 2006, a 19-year-old named Sean had a time slip. After getting caught shoplifting, Sean ran from a security guard, turned onto Hanover Street, and ducked into Brooks Alley. As he stopped to catch his breath, he felt a tightening in his chest and became dizzy. When he was confident the coast was clear, he stepped back onto Hanover Street, but everything

had changed. The buildings looked older, and the air smelled different. The street was lined with old cars that looked new. People were dressed in clothing from the 1950s or 60s, he couldn't tell, but Sean started to panic. He fumbled for his cell phone. No signal. Desperate to make sense of what was happening, he walked to a nearby newspaper stand and checked the date on one of the papers. May 18th, 1967. Now completely in shock, Sean wandered down the street in a daze, passing stores filled with vintage items that looked brand new,

and posters advertising events that happened a long time ago. As he approached Brooks Alley again, the atmosphere shifted. Suddenly the street was busy, his phone had a signal, and the familiar sights and sounds had returned. Years later, a journalist tracked down Sean and interviewed him multiple times. Sean's story never changed. The journalist even located the security guard who chased him that day. The guard confirmed chasing a shoplifter down Hanover Street. But when he got to the alley, it was empty. In May 2011, 17-year-old Imogen was shopping in Liverpool.

Her sister Abigail had recently become a new mother, and Imogen wanted to pick up a few things for the baby. She headed to Bold Street and spotted a mother care store. A mother what? A mother what now? Well, mother care was a British retail chain that sold baby clothes and things for mothers. Oh, it's like a guppy's R.S. Right. The R is backwards, you know. I know. Can I get back to this?

Sorry, I thought it was an important detail. It wasn't. Eh, I agree to disagree. Although Imogen knew Bold Street well, she'd never seen this store. It must be new. It was filled with baby clothes, toys, and everything a new mother could need. Imogen was thrilled to find the prices so low. They must have been having a huge sale, so she loaded up.

At checkout, the cashier looked confused when Imogen handed her debit card. The store manager came over and explained they didn't accept cards yet, only cash. Now it was Imogen who was confused. What store didn't take credit cards? She didn't have enough cash, so she put the items back, left the store, and went home. That night, she told her mother about the strange experience. Her mother said the mother care store closed years ago and that the building was now an HSBC bank. Imogen didn't believe it. She was sure she had been inside the store just hours earlier. She touched the clothes. She spoke to the staff, but her mother insisted that building was a bank. The next day, Imogen

returned to Bold Street, determined to find the mother care store, but it wasn't there. It was a bank, wasn't it? Yep. These stories are spooky. Please tell me more. In the 1990s, a group of urban explorers had a bizarre experience underneath Liverpool. Beneath the city is a labyrinth of passageways known as the Williamson Tunnels. They were built around 1810, though nobody knows for sure when they were built or even why. As the group navigated the dark tunnels, they heard the sound of people shouting. Lots of people. They turned a corner and they suddenly found themselves in a bustling underground market. The people were dressed in Victorian clothing, selling goods from wooden carts. They could smell the fresh produce and hear shouts of haggling.

Then, just as quickly as it appeared, the market vanished. And in its place was nothing but a large, empty cavern. The shouting stopped and slowly echoed until they were in silence once again. In the 1980s, a woman named Ellen was waiting for a train at Liverpool Central Station when she suddenly felt dizzy. In an instant, she was in the 1940s. The platform was crowded with soldiers saying their goodbyes as they boarded steam trains. Then the sound of an air raid siren brought a sudden hush over the crowd. Everyone seemed anxious. Just as she started to panic, Ellen

was back in the present day. In 1999, a young couple described how modern-day Hanover Street transformed into a scene from the 1950s. The neon lights of the shops turned into vintage signs, and people in period clothing hurried past, apparently unaware of them. Within seconds, they were back in the present, disoriented and unsettled. Liverpool time slips are so common that there are online groups where people exchange details of their experiences. The stories are very similar. They're walking on or near Bold Street,

then they feel dizzy for a second, they blink, and they're somewhere in the past. So what makes Liverpool so susceptible to time slips? Why do they happen so close to Bold Street? Well, the answer to that question has nothing to do with the street, but everything to do with what's underneath it. Researchers have proposed a theory to explain time slips.

Telluric currents. These are electrical currents that occur naturally near the Earth's surface. They're generated by magnetic field changes, solar activity, and tidal forces. This is all well documented, but their effects on time and space are controversial. In Liverpool, the concentration of time slips has led some to believe that Tlerk currents could be interacting with the city's unique geographical and manmade features.

Look at this map of Liverpool's underground rail system. Underneath the city are concentric circles of high-voltage rails centered on Bold Street. These rails might be creating time vortices. Uh, come on, call them vortices, would you? And when you say vortices, it makes you sound like a pretentious snob. Vortex comes from Latin. In Latin, the plural of vortex is vortices. You hear that? What? That's the sound of thousands of people clicking unsubscribe because you sound like a pretentious snob. I'll go with vortexes. You're learning, Padman.

Liverpool is a coastal city. All the places on Earth believed to be time vortexes are by the ocean, and all create huge amounts of hydroelectricity. It's been proven that intense electromagnetic fields can affect time. Could telluric currents be interacting with the electricity generated by Liverpool's rail system? And if so, that could potentially affect the flow of time. There are a few locations around the world known for strange phenomena

that could potentially be explained by telluric currents. The Bermuda Triangle sits over an area of intense oceanic currents where telluric activity could be generating huge amounts of energy, causing time vortexes. This would explain all the disappearances in the Bermuda Triangle. Oh, you know, twice as many people disappear in the Bermuda Hexagon. But, geometry joke.

I know, that's the kind of joke that would appeal to a pretentious snob. Eh, touche. You searched for your informant, who disappeared without a trace. You knew there were witnesses, but lips were sealed. You swept the city, driving closer to the truth. While curled up on the couch with your cat. There's more to imagine when you listen. Discover heart-pounding thrillers on Audible.

You sailed beyond the horizon in search of an island scrubbed from every map. You battled krakens and navigated through storms. Your spade struck the lid of a long-lost treasure chest. While you cooked a lasagna. There's more to imagine when you listen. Discover best-selling adventure stories on Audible. You searched for your informant, who disappeared without a trace.

You knew there were witnesses, but lips were sealed. You swept the city, driving closer to the truth. While curled up on the couch with your cat. There's more to imagine when you listen. Discover heart-pounding thrillers on Audible. You sailed beyond the horizon in search of an island scrubbed from every map. You battled krakens and navigated through storms. Your spade struck the lid of a long lost treasure chest. While you cooked a lasagna.

There's more to imagine when you listen. Discover best-selling adventure stories on Audible. To lure currents also affect the Devil's Triangle near Japan. Or how about the South Atlantic Anomaly, where the Van Allen Radiation Belt is very close to the Earth. This area causes all kinds of issues with satellites and spacecraft, but some think it could also be creating disturbances in time. Then there's the Great Pyramid of Giza. Studies have shown that the pyramid can amplify

electromagnetic energy. Maybe the ancient Egyptians' fascination with time and eternity is grounded in real science. Telluric currents are always changing, which could explain why time slips or vortexes happen randomly around the world. But another controversial theory explains why vortexes appear over and over in the same place. Ley lines. Ley lines are hypothetical energy lines circling the globe that connect sacred sites.

The theory says ancient people learned how to tap into the energy where ley lines ran through areas with high levels of telluric electricity. So, is there a correlation between ley lines and places of time slip activity? The answer is yes. Ley lines run from over 30 historic locations straight through the area of Liverpool with the most time slip activity. They converge very close to Bold Street. But invisible currents interacting with hypothetical lines connecting ancient locations? That doesn't sound like a very scientific way to explain how people are slipping through

time. For the scientific explanation, we turn to Albert Einstein. Time slips might sound like science fiction, but several theories suggest time is more complicated than we think. Einstein's theory of relativity changed our understanding of time. According to Einstein, time isn't constant. It can speed up or slow down depending on speed and gravity.

For example, time moves slower for satellites in orbit than for us on the surface. This is called time dilation, and it's a proven science. So what if time dilation could be caused by other forces, forces we don't yet understand? That could explain time slips. There's also the concept of wormholes, or Einstein rows and bridges. Imagine space-time as a sheet of paper. If you fold the paper so two points touch, you've created a shortcut, a wormhole. Theoretically, wormholes could allow instant travel between distant points in space

and maybe even different points in time. No physical wormholes have been discovered yet, but the math checks out. Maybe people experiencing time slips are stumbling through miniature wormholes. Physicists John Wheeler and others have theorized that time might not be linear. That past, present, and future are happening all at once, all the time. And we can look to quantum mechanics for proof. In 2018, Alberto Mietello published a theory that time slips could be a macroscopic quantum event. At the quantum level, the laws of physics break down.

Particles behave like waves until observed. Then they behave like particles. Nobody knows why. Quantum mechanics is all about probabilities and possibilities. These sudden shifts in probability might influence time, creating temporary overlaps between different realities. Essentially this is multiverse theory, where every decision spins off a parallel universe, meaning there are infinite universes. And maybe at the quantum level, these universes collide and people get caught in between realities.

We got a many worlds video linked down in your chatter bowl. Science fiction author Philip K. Dick believed this theory. He said his alternate history stories aren't fiction. They're alternate realities that he saw. He wrote The Man in the High Castle about a world where the Allies lost World War II. According to PKD, this wasn't fiction. It happened, and he saw it. I believe him.

Well, he made strong arguments for this theory. He also believed our alternate realities are variations of a simulation running on a computer somewhere. Now, if that's true, time slips could be glitches in the program when the code that governs our reality malfunctions, causing shifts in time. We got a simulation theory video linked down in the... Well, we cover a lot of weird s***, don't we? We do, and watch your mouth.

Let me tell you about an app that's revolutionized my finances. I recently discovered I was still paying for a streaming service I thought I'd canceled months ago. Well, thanks to Rocket Money, I caught it and saved some cash. Rocket Money is a personal finance app that helps find and cancel your unwanted subscriptions, monitors your spending, and helps lower your bills so you can grow your savings. It gives you a clear view of all your expenses across accounts, letting you create budgets and track spending trends. Their new goals feature automatically saves money for you, whether you're paying off debt or saving for a house. And get this, they'll even negotiate to lower bills for you, sometimes up to 20%.

Rocket Money has over 5 million users and has saved a total of $500 million in canceled subs, saving members up to $740 a year when using all of the app's features. Stop wasting money on things you don't use. Cancel your unwanted subscriptions by going to rocketmoney.com slash the Y-Files. That's rocketmoney.com slash the Y-Files. rocketmoney.com slash the Y-Files. We can only know a particle's properties when it's being observed. Otherwise, it acts like a wave.

How does a particle know when it's being observed? Nobody knows. Nothing can move faster than light, but entangled particles can communicate instantly, even if they're light-years apart. How do they get around the speed of light limit? Nobody knows. One theory is time symmetry. This concept says that the fundamental laws of physics remain consistent whether time moves forward or backward. That's how particles communicate instantly. They ignore the idea of time as a linear progression. In the quantum realm, past, present, and future all happen at once. The fundamental building blocks of our reality don't care about time.

Time is just a dimension we perceive to help us understand reality. This also explains retrocausality, where future events influence the past. Here's how it works. You have two particles entangled. They could be 100 million light years apart, but they still influence each other's state instantly. Retrocausality says the particle in the present reaches back through time 100 million years to communicate its state to its partner.

Again, past, present, future, all happening at once. At the quantum level, there is no concept of time. There's a quote often attributed to Einstein. It says reality is merely an illusion, albeit a persistent one. If time slips are real, they may be cracks in the illusion where the boundaries between past, present, and future blur, giving us a glimpse of something more, a peek behind the curtain at the bigger picture. What we perceive as reality might not be as solid as we think. We may only be aware of a tiny sliver

of the true nature of the universe. And we know other dimensions exist so it's possible and quantum mechanics is all about probabilities and possibilities we don't fully understand quantum mechanics which means we don't fully understand time so until we do we'll have to rely on the one thing we know to be true about the building blocks of our universe Anything is possible. Time travel is one of my favorite topics, so when someone asked me to do an episode on time slips, I jumped at the chance. And we've only scratched the surface with this episode. That's why this is volume one. We have a lot more time slips to talk about. But are they real? Well, let's take them in order. Versailles, 1901. Charlotte Moberly and Eleanor Jourdain time slipped to 1792. This story has a lot of credibility

because both women were respected academics from Oxford. Skeptics claim they accidentally stumbled into a party, specifically one of Robert de Montontescu's parties, where he and his guests would dress in 18th century costumes, and he was known to have a dark complexion and a pockmarked face, but that's probably not what happened. Others claim it was a heat hallucination, which is a real thing. They shared a delusion because it was so hot that day. I don't know if I'd buy that one either. While not officially debunked, their story has issues. They didn't mention any unusual occurrences for three months after the experience,

even when comparing notes. And when they finally compared, their notes were totally different. Charlotte saw the woman sketching. Eleanor didn't. Eleanor remembered things that Charlottelotte didn't but both women claimed to have had paranormal experiences before and after this so they were already open-minded to the supernatural what likely happened is their imaginations created false memories their book adventure has been updated many times and new details were added with each update while writing

the book the women made several trips to Versailles to take notes on landmarks and the layout of the grounds and buildings. The grounds of Versailles are over three square miles, so they had a lot of ground to cover. The year of the event changed a few times, too. Sometimes it was 1789, sometimes 1792. But the date is important. Marie Antoinette was at Versailles until October 1789, but that's it.

After that, she was forced to move to Paris, then was essentially under house arrest in Tuileries Palace until August 1792. Then she was in prison. Then she was, you know… Off with the head! Right. Charlotte and Eleanor sent their story to England's Society for Psychical Research, You know. Off with the head? Right. Charlotte and Eleanor sent their story to England's Society for Psychical Research,

who said there was nothing to it. The book is interesting. I link to it below. It's a fun read, but it doesn't ring true. I don't believe this one. Next, Carl Jung didn't time travel. His story is all secondhand. It confuses dates and locations. Young was in a

different church that had mosaics, so this one is debunked. Now, Jeff and Pauline Simpson and Len and Cynthia Gisby, the vanishing hotel in 1979. If they traveled back to the early 1900s, why wasn't anyone alarmed by their 79 Chrysler? How were they able to pay for their stay? Their cash would have been useless. The story emerged years after it happened and has been changing ever since. There's no evidence that this one is true. Sebastian Raines and the New York Diner. No such person ever existed. The sources for this story are other paranormal websites that just repeat the same time slip stories. You mean like we did? Yeah, like this. There are hundreds of places

where you can read these stories, and every version is a little different, and the stories get more elaborate over time. Now, I didn't add anything to these stories for this episode, but I will admit I had picked my favorite details to make the stories more fun. Plus, his story is just too cinematic.

He happens to run into a woman who used to be a regular at the diner. It's too convenient. Yeah, besides, nobody talks to strangers in New York City. That's true. We ignore everybody. Liverpool is definitely ground zero for time slip stories, but there's not a shred of evidence for any of them. Again, all the sources are other websites retelling the same stories. I did find the woman who claimed to be the girl who walked into Dylan's bookstore with Frank. Her name is Julie French, and she's been interviewed on podcasts and TV shows that cover the paranormal. She sounds like she believes it happened, so I can't officially

debunk a story where there's a witness. But then the veracity of the story comes down to whether or not you believe her. You have to make the call. Sean the shoplifter. The story keeps getting bigger and bigger. The latest add-on is the investigator who tracked down Sean and the security guard. There's no evidence of any of this. Imogen and the Mothercare store. Same thing. No evidence the story happened or that these people even existed. Mothercare had a large presence in Liverpool, but no store on Bold Street. The only mention of that location comes from a website. There are more Liverpool time-slip stories than I can count, but none can be verified.

I think they've just become part of the local lore, and Liverpudlians think it's cool. Liverpudlians? Yeah? Weren't those the midgets in the, uh, the Gulliver Travels? Uh, those were Lilliputians. What'd I say? Oh, Liverpudlians are the, uh, the Irish midgets with the pot, the gold, and the rainbow. Those are leprechauns.

Oh, well, then what kind of midgets are Liverpudlians? Well, that's what people from Liverpool are called. That or scousers. Oh, what midgets from Lilliput are called Scousers? I'm so lost. You really are. Let's move on. Oh, the Liverpool Underground is not actually arranged in concentric circles. They just made the map look like that so it's easier to read. The only circle in the Liverpool Underground system is the one right downtown, around Lime Street. And Brooks Alley isn't within that circle. Here's how it actually is.

Harry Martindale and the Roman soldiers is my favorite story in this episode. But there's no real evidence. It's true he knew things about the Romans that weren't known until years later. But remember, he didn't tell the story until years later. And he changed the details of the story over time i really want to believe that one though it's safe to say that most time slip experiences are made up but i can't say all of them are we just don't know enough about how our universe works to say time slips aren't real i want to believe they are i love the idea of watching the present

dissolve 50 or 100 years into the past. That reminds me, today we only talked about time slips to the past. There are a lot of stories about time slips to the future, and those are really interesting. But we'll save those for volume two. Thank you so much for hanging out today. My name is AJ. There's Hagglefish. Stay gold, pony boy. This has been The Y Files.

If you had fun or learned anything, do him a favor. Like, subscribe, comment, share. That stuff really makes him wiggle. Like most topics we cover, today's is recommended by you. So if there's a story you'd like to see, go to the Y-Files.com slash tips. And remember, the Y-Files is also a podcast. Twice a week, I post deep dives into the stories we cover here on the channel. And I also post episodes

that wouldn't be allowed on the channel. The podcast is called the Y-Files Operation Podcast. You should be able to remember that. And it's available everywhere. Now, in between episodes, you might need more Y-Files in your life. And I'm not saying everybody does. Some people get too much.

But if you do, check out our Discord. We've got over 50,000 members. So there's someone on there 24-7, always talking about the same weird stuff that we do here. It's a great community, really supportive. It's a lot of fun. And it's free to join. If you want to know what's going on with the Y-Files at any given time, check out our production calendar. It's the Y-Files.com slash Cal.

There we post our episode schedule, upcoming podcasts, live streams, everything. And special thanks to our Patreon members who make everything possible. Every episode of the Y-Files is dedicated to you. Without you, there'd be no channel. And especially thank you for your recent support. I couldn't have gotten through this without you guys. And if you'd like to support the channel and join this amazing community, consider becoming a member on Patreon.

For as little as three bucks a month, you get access to perks like the videos early with no commercials. You get access to merch only available to members. Plus you get two private live streams every week just for you. The whole Wafiles team is on the stream and you're welcome to turn on your camera, come up on stage, ask a question, suggest a topic, make fun of the way

I look, talk about anything you like. It's a way for us to connect as actual people. Another great way to support the channel is grab something from the Y-Files store. Grab yourself an Agabus t-shirt, or one of these fistful of coffee mugs that you can jam your fist in, you animal. And also enjoy a delicious beverage out of it. Or get one of these fistful of coffee mugs that you can jam your fist in, you animal. And also enjoy a delicious beverage out of it.

Or get one of these hoodies or a t-shirt with my face on it. And don't forget, we got these squeezy stuffed hecklefish toy animal fist-balls. Those are the plugs, and that's going to do it. Until next time, be safe, be kind, and know that you are appreciated. A secret code inside the Bible said I was. I love my UFOs and paranormal fun as well as music, my friends, and it never ends. No, it never ends. Stuck inside Mel's home with MKUltra Being only two of us Did Stanley Kubrick fake the moon landing alone On a film set with the shadow people there? The Roswell aliens just fought the smiling man I'm told, and his name was Cold And I can't believe I'm dancing with the fishes Heckle fish on Thursday nights, Wednesday Jays too And the wild boars have their feet all through the night

All I ever wanted was to just hear the truth So the wild boars have its feet all through the night The Mothman sightings and the solar storm still come To have got the secret city underground Mysterious number stations, planets are both two Project Stargate and where the Dark Watchers found In a simulation, don't you worry though The Black Knight said a lot, he told me I can't believe I'm dancing with the fish Headful fish on Thursday nights when they chase you

And the wild boars are repeat all through the night All I ever wanted was to just hear the truth So the wild boars are repeat all through the night All I ever wanted Was to just hear the truth So the wild birds I repeat All through the night And the fish

On Thursday night When they chase you And the wild birds I repeat All through the night All I ever wanted Was to just hear the truth So one more time repeat all through the night Gertie loves to dance

Gertie loves to dance Gertie loves to dance Gertie loves to dance Gertie loves to dance Gertie loves to dance Gertie loves to dance on the dance floor Because she is a camel And camels love to dance When the feeling is right on wasting time

Gertie loves to dance Gertie loves to dance Good luck, Ben. Good luck, Ben.