One of the dangers that comes with any new writing project is the research. The funny thing is, that’s also one of the best parts of the job! Research gives you an ironclad excuse to disappear down a Youtube rabbit hole for hours, and it’s technically all “work-related.” That’s not laziness, it’s called being a diligent writer. And even though I thought I’d seen a few things on the Web, having trolled through hundred of different Freemason conspiracy theories while outlining “Wikipedia Jones and the Case of the All-Seeing Eye,” those results were nothing compared to when I started looking into time travel.
Science fiction readers are a unique breed, and they’re oddly passionate about stories which involve travelling through time. There are entire communities of people who love nothing more than online discussions about the theoretical physics involved, as well as the ethical and logical dilemmas such technology would bring about. Is time travel even possible? And could a person literally affect the course of their own future by going backwards in time, then taking action to alter his or her life? And perhaps most importantly– if time travel really could become possible at some point in the future, then why hasn’t anybody ever travelled backwards to make contact with us?
Well, as it turns out, maybe some people have already done just that! What’s more, instead of choosing to remain discreet, like some sort of non-interventionist historian on a mission to witness the past from their own first-hand perspective, many supposed time travelers have chosen to make their presence publicly known. Often their purpose is to warn present-day humans of disasters to come– believe it or not, there’s been a not-insignificant number of time travelers who’ve chosen to out themselves online. Out of all these personas, though, the most famous of all came from the year 2036: a man named John Titor.
John Titor was a screen name used by an unknown Internet user, back in the days when online personas were still considered anonymous. Over a period of several months, from late 2000 into early 2001, John Titor laid out his story in a series of postings, including a number of warnings about catastrophic world events which would occur in the coming years. At first, these messages only appeared on bulletin boards frequented by fans of the unexplained, such as the one founded by Art Bell, host of the Coast to Coast AM late-night radio show. Titor claimed to be an American soldier from the year 2036, who was sent back to 1975 on a mission to retrieve a specific computer system. On his way back to his own time, Titor made a “personal stop” in the year 2000 to retrieve his ancestor’s photographs and other personal effects. According to his story, these sentimental items had apparently been (or rather, would be) destroyed in an upcoming civil war.
Titor went on to write that an internal conflict would soon arise, beginning in 2004, around the time of the next presidential election. Civil unrest would break the United States into five separate provinces, leading to an all-out war. Titor warned that the deadly conflict would continue up until 2015, when it would somehow grow into a brief, nuclear, World War III. Titor also, at various points, warned about coming, protracted strife in the Middle East, as well as a global plague brought on by Mad Cow disease. These claims seemed particularly chilling at the start of an unknown millenia, with mankind having narrowly averted the much-hyped Y2K computer crisis. After only a few short months, on March 21, 2001, John Titor posted his goodbyes and left our time… but then, after the world-changing terrorist attacks on September 11, those in the know began spreading the word about John Titor’s predictions through chain emails. Within weeks, this mysterious time traveler– who remained silent forevermore– became one of the Internet’s earliest sensations.
Since then, many fans have scoured Titor’s predictions as if they were religious texts, searching the most minute details for any more clues to future events. Thanks to one particularly devoted enthusiast, you can still read all of John Titor’s missives online and decide for yourself. But most people agree that John Titor was not a real time traveler, based upon the fact that the year 2004 came and went without the United States being torn apart by a massive civil war. Whoever was responsible for the creation of John Titor is generally assumed to have some kind of a background in computer programming, though, as he accurately described specific attributes of the computer hardware Titor sought for his “mission,” as well as a little-known glitch in a programming language, one which was projected to cause problems by the year 2038. Years later, when a private investigator was hired to look into the whole affair, he came across a registered trademark related to the postings, and came to the presumption that the John Titor legend was a hoax perpetrated through an entertainment lawyer in Florida. So basically, John Titor was entirely made up. Nothing more than some eager author’s creative writing project. A work of historical fiction, one in which the history part just hasn’t occurred yet.
Or could it have been more than that?
Among time travel nerds, there’s an alternate school of thought called the “many worlds theory.” In brief, this idea states that all possible outcomes for any given situation are equally likely to occur, because they all actually do occur, albeit in an infinite number of alternate realities. Following along this line of thinking, then, it’s entirely possible that by warning us of future events during his stopover in the year 2000, John Titor was somehow able to alter the course of our timeline, effectively changing mankind’s future for the better. And I guess even if that wild idea isn’t all too probable, with an infinite variety of outcomes to choose from, it could at least be considered possible?
What it comes down to is, everyone has the freedom to choose what they want to believe. And even if the whole John Titor story was nothing more than a fraud, it’s a pretty clever one. The fake internet postings were basically harmless, and the hoax has entertained netizens for twenty years now, sparking wonder and curiosity among millions.
For that, brave time traveller, we salute you. Thank you, John Titor.
very nice.