567: Accidental Time Travelers | The Mystery and Science of Time Slips

The Why Files: Operation Podcast

Science, Life Sciences, Fiction, Society & Culture, Documentary, Science Fiction

4.8 • 5.9K Ratings

🗓️ 31 August 2024

⏱️ 48 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

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.

Transcript

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0:00.0	What is time?
0:02.0	Time is a dimension where events unfold from past to future.
0:07.0	That's what most scientists believe.
0:09.0	But not all scientists.
0:11.0	Picture this. A woman walks down a street she's walked a thousand times.
0:18.3	Everything is familiar. The stores, the sounds, the smells.
0:28.0	Then suddenly she feels an odd sensation of heaviness. She keeps walking, but now everything has changed.
0:32.0	The asphalt is now cobblestone.
0:34.4	Cars vanish, replaced by horse-drawn carriages.
0:38.1	Nothing is familiar.
0:39.9	The air smells of coal, smoke, and horse manure.
0:43.2	People wearing Victorian-era clothing hurry past,
0:46.2	looking at her with suspicion.
0:48.3	She starts to panic and becomes dizzy,
0:50.7	and just like that, she's back in the present day.
0:54.0	She's just experienced a time slip, a momentary shift of reality that put her in a different time.
1:00.6	Was this just her imagination? Well, maybe not.
1:04.0	Some scientists believe the time is not linear,
1:06.0	and that the past, present, and future coexist
1:10.0	simultaneously in parallel dimensions.
1:19.1	Usually these realities remain separate, but sometimes realities collide
1:24.6	causing a temporary tear in space time. As you get caught in one of these tears, you'll stay in the right place,
	...

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