Proving you're a time-traveler may be difficult

After a recent rash of time-travel hoaxing by a repetedly banned person, I did some thinking on the topic.

How would one really prove that they are a time traveller? Now let's say that you went back in time from today, 10 June 2008, to say, the same date in 1986. (Let's also pretend that ATS was up and running back then in the dinosaur age of computing.) How could you prove to everyone here that you were from the future?

Easy, right? Just tell everyone something that is going to happen. So what happened on 10 June 1986? Do you remember? (And don't cheat by going to look something up. You obviously would be solely reliant on your own memory if you were stuck in 1986.) It would have to be something big enough that we would all recognize too, and certainly not an anniversary event of any sort.

So, you wouldn't be able to convince anyone that day maybe. What about that week, or even within a month? Can you remember anything that happened in June of 86 that we would all recognize when it happened? Even with this, it would take a month before you had any possible proof. Think the thread would still be alive by then, or would people have already written you off as a hoax, and moved on?

And that's not even going into the possibility of paradoxes. That your predictions, your very presence, might alter any number of events.



[edit on 6/10/0808 by jackinthebox]

Anyone...anyone...Bueller?



Didn't seem like a dud when I wrote it.

I think everyone (myself included) is trying to figure out what happened in 1986 in general, lol. I think I would've been 11 years old, so I was living the summer with my mom in Laramie.

I suck.

I think my prediction would've had to been that Led Zeppelin's deceased drummer's kid was going to come out with a hit song, and then fizzle back out to oblivion again, but I believe that was 2 years after? Ok, I'm gonna go look it up... definitly not a year that stood out... for me, at least.

I think you are looking at it backwards. It would be extremely easy to prove you time traveled back, when you return.
Simply take out an advertisement in a newspaper. Post some facts which you recall as happening just prior to your time travel. State that you are a time traveler, include a current photo. When you get back, there is your photo, "predictions" which have all come true. And of course your statement.

Of course you could do all this and wait ten years, but the predictions would not be accurate. For this to work you need details which are indesputable. Like the death of Bo Diddly, Obama beating Hillary Clinton for the nomination. Hillary's inexplicable hanging on for months after she had extremely little chance of winning. McCain running against Obama.
The massive earthquake in China killing about 75000 people. Fear over an h5n1 pandemic. The Apple IPhone. The price of gas.

I was in 5th grade and the only thing I could come up with was the challenger crash. Unfortunately, I would've been torn to shreds because that happened in January. The only other thing reasonably close I could do would be to predict the new President and VP a year+ down the road.

I would predict that the NY Mets would win the World Series against Boston Red Sox after being down in the series three games to one. I think that would surely get everyone's attention, being that Boston was in the midst of a very long championship drought at the time. Then I would mention the name Bill Buckner, and everyone would know for sure, once it happened in October.

[edit on 10-6-2008 by TheComte]

Originally posted by jackinthebox
After a recent rash of time-travel hoaxing by a repetedly banned person, I did some thinking on the topic.

How would one really prove that they are a time traveller? Now let's say that you went back in time from today, 10 June 2008, to say, the same date in 1986. (Let's also pretend that ATS was up and running back then in the dinosaur age of computing.) How could you prove to everyone here that you were from the future?

Easy, right? Just tell everyone something that is going to happen. So what happened on 10 June 1986? Do you remember? (And don't cheat by going to look something up. You obviously would be solely reliant on your own memory if you were stuck in 1986.) It would have to be something big enough that we would all recognize too, and certainly not an anniversary event of any sort.

So, you wouldn't be able to convince anyone that day maybe. What about that week, or even within a month? Can you remember anything that happened in June of 86 that we would all recognize when it happened? Even with this, it would take a month before you had any possible proof. Think the thread would still be alive by then, or would people have already written you off as a hoax, and moved on?

And that's not even going into the possibility of paradoxes. That your predictions, your very presence, might alter any number of events.

[edit on 6/10/0808 by jackinthebox]

I was 15 for most of '86. The only thing I can remember around that general time frame is the fall of the berlin wall, the space shuttle blowing up, Microsoft wasn't really known, PC's didn't really exist as such (i.e., they were still for businesses and schools). Invasion of Panama to get Noriega. Iran-Contra.

I'm not even sure some of those are in the same YEAR, let alone during the month of June. So yeah, without taking tons of notes before traveling back in time, it would be awfully tough to prove that you were an actual time traveler back to a regular person. Now, with your family and close friends, I think you could make a case, citing things only the family and friends would know. You know the old "remember when we did X with Y?" type stories.

A time traveler, isn't going to tell anyone that they are a time traveler. A time traveler job, is to study the events of the pass. Not to change it. But of course, they will win every bets, of every sports events.

Originally posted by kennethmd
A time traveler, isn't going to tell anyone that they are a time traveler. A time traveler job, is to study the events of the pass. Not to change it. But of course, they will win every bets, of every sports events.

Really? Which teams won the sports played that week in 1986?

reply to post by jackinthebox


Gee you are tough on us! Okay, first I wouldn't post anything online about being from the future ... as that would draw the Feds in on me. I wouldn't want to live out the rest of my life, strapped to a chair and prodded.

June 10, 1986? Heck, I'd be doing good to get the exact year spot on! I'll have to back the memory recorder up a bit to remember.

Okay, without cheating here ...
76-79 Carter gave away the Panama Canal.
Made the Sunshine Act to try to get rid of beaurocracy ... but the Republican dominated??? Congress added even more beaurocracy so in the end, we ended up with MORE beaurocrats. (No spell check here - beaurocrats is not spelled right though.)
Israel and Egypt Peace agreement with Begin and Sadat, handled by Carter.
Is this when Phillipine Marcos and his shoe-collecting wife were arrested?
Iranian hostage crisis and a failed rescue attempt because of out-dated helicopters which ended the day of Reagan's inauguration in Jan. 1980.
1979 - Reagan and Bush (HW) ran against each other for Republican nominee and people chose Reagan because he was against abortion. HW Bush was pro-choice. (Later, during the Rep convention - HWBush told reporter he was still pro-choice. Reporter reminded him that it was the new Republican platform to be against abortion. THEN, it was HW Bush'es turn to go talk to Reagan behind closed doors. They came out and had made a decision that HW Bush would be Reagan's VP. That's the five minutes in history where HW Bush SUDDENLY went from pro-choice to anti-abortion. Reporters questioned him and he proclaimed he was NOW anti-abortion.
Earlier in 1979 - HW Bush was embroiled in a scandal in Houston where he owned Kincaide Subdivision and the public roads paid for with taxpayer money were blocked off with huge manned security gates to the subdivision.
Iran Contra goes here?
1980-1983 - hmmm Reagan and Bush VP, Phil Graham Rudman Act which made the richest people and corporation taxes DROP from 78% to 23% or so. Poor people's taxes went UP almost double to make up for the tax break for the rich.
Sadat was murdered in a military coup. (Begin too? Can't remember.)
We went to Panama and bombed and killed thousands of civilians to arrest Manuel Noreiga. Civilian's deaths were "colateral damage".
1984-1987 Gee who was President? HW Bush? Hmmm. I can remember events in personal life but nothing for politics. Must have been a boring humdrum time. June 10, 1986? HAR! NO WAY! Can't remember at all!

Originally posted by sir_chancealot

Originally posted by kennethmd
A time traveler, isn't going to tell anyone that they are a time traveler. A time traveler job, is to study the events of the pass. Not to change it. But of course, they will win every bets, of every sports events.

Really? Which teams won the sports played that week in 1986?

Boston beat Houston 114-97, in the NBA, of the week of June 8, 1986. What the matter with you? You have a blind belief, that time travelers have prefect memories? Well they don't. They carry the information, on a small hand held computer. If one of us, went back in time. We too, would also brought a notebook back with us, with the information. That we need on it.

i traveled here from june 21st, 1984

it just took me 23 years...and let me tell you time travel sucks, at least until you get to college.

[edit on 11-6-2008 by TheRepublic]

reply to post by Cyberbian


What I think you are referring to is if you went back in time, how would you prove it to the people in YOUR time. What JitB is asking is, as in the case of Titor, how would you prove to the people of the past that you are from the future.

reply to post by BlueTriangle


What you posted is exactly the problem... by the time anything came to pass to prove your validity, the common consensus would have already "proven" that you are a hoaxer.


reply to post by kennethmd



I think the problem, though, is that a time traveler isn't coming back to make fame for himself. I really can't say I understand the motivation to post on public forums, though... unless you are trying to warn that particular timeline of their self-inflicted demise in hopes to create a timeline that goes in a more positive direction (If I remember right, this was Titor's purpose in posting). On this line of thought, though... I suppose if your alternative motive is to do just that, you would need some history research. It seems to me, though, that these supposed 'time travelers' never thought that they would have to prove themselves, thus they didn't go look up facts in history to post predictions for proof.

Honestly, I'd probably approach the situation much like Titor did... "you don't have to believe me, I'm just posting because..." and let it ride from there.

Another point I'd like to add... say you ran into this situation as a time traveler... but you happen to have currency or a paper or official note with a future date on it. Imagine the rash of skepticism regarding that kind of 'proof'... "Anyone can make a fake (item) from the future! That proves nothing!"

[edit on 11-6-2008 by Earthscum]

Originally posted by kennethmd

Originally posted by sir_chancealot

Originally posted by kennethmd
A time traveler, isn't going to tell anyone that they are a time traveler. A time traveler job, is to study the events of the pass. Not to change it. But of course, they will win every bets, of every sports events.

Really? Which teams won the sports played that week in 1986?

Boston beat Houston 114-97, in the NBA, of the week of June 8, 1986. What the matter with you? You have a blind belief, that time travelers have prefect memories? Well they don't. They carry the information, on a small hand held computer. If one of us, went back in time. We too, would also brought a notebook back with us, with the information. That we need on it.

I believe I made that abundantly clear! That it couldn't be done without notes of some sort.

Heck, I've forgotten my grocery list about 50 times now. It's happened so often I quit making lists, because I always forgot them. It wouldn't come as a surprise that if I were a time traveler, I would have forgotten my "hand help computer" back at the office.

Could you prove it by making a documentary of yourself while time traveling ?
In such a way the camera shows the whole thing trough the perspective of the time traveler
including any events happening as they happen.
And then release the film before everyting took place and let others connect the dots.

Would this prove it ?

I can remember something that happened on June 1986, I was born.....

But I can't really remember anything else haha.

Am I missing something here?

What is preventing you from buying a sports/farmers/wall street almanac for the year you're going to and taking it with you?

I think the last thing a time traveller (TT) wants to do is prove himself to others. If I were a TT I wouldnt let anyone know it. There are probably some protocals about such a thing as well. Proving my status as a TT would definately be the last thing in the world i would want to do.

I think Titor (if real) was an exception only because he fully believed that we were on a different timeline than he and that whatever he did or said wouldnt affect his timeline, so he really didnt care about 'coming out'.

Well I don't know about proof, but I think I'd travel back in time and tell myself not to read this thread. Because I am evidently depressingly old.

As for proof, how about taking back a copy of a 1987 Encyclopedia Britanica or Guiness book of world reacords...or an item like careface mentioned.

Though honestly if it were me and I were traveling back through time...if I didn't have an agenda I would just live a very quiet life betting on events I already knew the outcome of.

Though this becomes a bit of a problem because if I travel back in time to bet on sporting events that would make me a ton of a money I should already have the money in the future when I travel back in time..which may be why I can afford to travel back in the first place.

This leads us into the whole paradox/time loop/alternate reality/copenhagen collapse rigermoral.

That's right, rigermoral, I said it.

Fun thread.

Spiderj