Did This Computer Prove Time Travel Is Real? | Unveiled

Did This Computer Prove Time Travel Is Real?

It’s a puzzle of our times. From a purely scientific perspective, time travel is theoretically possible… but we don’t yet have anywhere close to the technology required to survive (or even attempt) it. Perhaps the great Albert Einstein summarized it best, when he described the distinction between past, present, and future as “only a stubbornly persistent illusion”. Nevertheless, there are still claims that that illusion has occasionally slipped. And there are still stories that demand attention.

So, this is Unveiled, and today we’re answering the extraordinary question; Did this computer prove that time travel is real?

Despite its prominence in science fiction, time travel nowadays isn’t too far outside the realm of science fact. The leading theories as to how our universe works, Einstein’s theories of relativity, allow for time travel in their equations. And, technically, we already time travel in some ways. Astronauts who’ve spent time on the International Space Station have been found to have traveled a few milliseconds into the future, for example. And, when looking at distant objects through their telescopes, astronomers are known to be looking into the past because light takes time to travel across the vast reaches of space. In general, traveling to the past is considered a far more difficult prospect than to the future… but even it might be possible, if we could simply bypass the speed of light, perhaps by creating wormholes.

Not all time travel requires physical movement (by a human) between here and there, however. You might also send messages back in time – a seemingly easier task. As with so many heady, hypothesized technologies, the key could lie with quantum mechanics… which broadly says that an atom can split into two parts, that those two parts can then go their separate ways, but that they will also remain connected. Whatever happens to one part affects the other, and almost instantaneously, in what’s called quantum nonlocality. And, if that could be harnessed for messaging between two points that are sufficiently far enough away from one another, then it may (theoretically) be possible to send a message back in time (or receive it from the future). So far, there are no confirmed instances where this has happened. If there were it would be a sea change for science. But there is one debated story that could be linked, involving an ordinary computer apparently conveying genuine messages through time.

In 1984, one Ken Webster was a teacher living in the village of Dodleston, in the UK. One day, he decided to borrow a computer from his school and, after a night out during which he’d left that computer running, he reportedly came home to find that a poem had been written on it in his absence. Made out to Ken (plus Deb, and Nic, his friends who were also living in the house and also returning home) the poem is said to have covered a strange collection of topics, including faith, fear, nightmares, flowers, and cats. An unusual event, but Ken reportedly didn’t dwell on it, and returned the computer shortly afterwards. The following year, though, he borrowed another one… and something decidedly similar took place. Another message appeared to him, but this time written in a different tone and style – apparently in archaic English, dating from around the sixteenth or seventeenth centuries.

The new, even stranger note is said to have suggested that Ken (plus Deb and Nic) were living in the home of whoever was behind the message… with the writer, identifying themselves as “Lukas”. There allegedly followed a series of back-and-forth messages between Ken and Lukas, to determine that Lukas had once (centuries ago) owned the land that Ken’s house was now built on. The story is said to have taken a final twist, however, when Ken revealed to Lukas that he was from the year 1985… only for Lukas to claim that he had previously believed Ken to be from the year 2109. As it turns out, then, there was another person (or group of people) communicating via the computer, this time from the future. Ken Webster claims to have messaged them too, and to have a received a startling reply. The person (or people) in 2109 said to Ken – so the story goes – that he had some kind of higher purpose that would change the fate of the world, at a later date. The details of that higher purpose were unfortunately quite vague, though.

At the time, it’s said that Ken became so concerned that he hired a paranormal investigation team to canvas his house on multiple occasions – but nothing was found. And, to this day, there is no confirmed explanation. So, what was going on? One possibility is, of course, that it was all a hoax. Ken, Deb and Nic have stood by the story for decades, but skeptics point toward a book that Ken wrote afterwards, inspired by the experience – called “The Vertical Plane”. Might the entire thing have been just one big publicity ploy?

There have been question marks raised about the authenticity of Lukas’ language, too, with some argument that it was a modern copy of a sixteenth century tongue rather than the real thing. As such, attempts have been made to show Lukas’ messages to be a contemporary creation, although nothing conclusive has ever been found. And, again, Ken and his friends have always maintained that Lukas replied of his own accord. With no global internet back then, nor network connections to potentially explain it away, the claim that these messages were just appearing on the screen is certainly unusual.

What’s your verdict on this case? Was this a genuine window into not only the past but the future as well? Ken’s apparent “higher purpose” hasn’t been made public knowledge as of yet, but should we be surprised by that? In another recent video, we took a closer look at the reasons why the majority of people might never know were time travel ever to be invented, such is the nature of the technology. So, could this story be a rare glitch in the system, when we are afforded a glimpse of the truth? Or… was it all just a hoax from the beginning, designed to get people talking even decades after the event?

Unfortunately, there’s no hard proof that this was ever actually a case of time travel. Or time messaging. Toward the end of his connection with Ken, Lukas is said to have revealed that he is (or was) really known as Thomas Harden, back in his day… and a Thomas Harden is reported to have lived during the 1550s, serving as a vicar, but not particularly nearby the village of Dodleston. Placing Lukas with any kind of accuracy, then, has proven impossible. And the alleged figure from 2109 has remained similarly mysterious, too, with no further leads.

Skeptics further argue that this situation only works if all three parties involved – Ken, Lukas, and the person from 2109 – all had access to the same computer at different times. And so, while its survival to the future is possible, how did it get to the 1500s? How could Lukas have operated it back then without electricity? And why was its past existence not much bigger news? Perhaps it’s a real-world example of the bootstrap paradox at play? If the computer was created in the 1980s, for instance, and sent back in time… it would then exist before it was created, meaning it would have no true point of origin. It’s just there because it is… and that’s the paradox. The story of the so-called Dodleston Messages never really clarifies how any of it might’ve been possible. In their conversations, Ken apparently never learned from Lukas exactly the mechanics at play. And the person from 2109 never revealed anything further, to the presumably very confused schoolteacher positioned 124 years before their time.

Many scientists, including Stephen Hawking, have argued that maybe the best proof that time travel isn’t possible is the noticeable lack of time tourists today. There’s also a lack of reported messages in time, though, with this story providing a rare commodity. Naturally, in a reality where time travel is possible, there might be any number of explanations for this – including potential laws and regulations in the future, or secret protocols in the here-and-now. But, still, it’s perhaps unsurprising that stories like this are so often met with raised eyebrows.

Could it really be true that a three-pronged, fourth-dimensional, seemingly spontaneous digital chat sprung up back in the 1980s? Between someone of then, someone of the past, and someone of the future? One thing’s for sure… if it were proven, it would be an unrivaled revelation. Because that’s how a computer might have shown that time travel is real. Maybe.