A time traveller on the set of a Charlie Chaplin film has blown their cover by using a mobile phone, although the devices hadn’t yet been invented in 1928 when the silent movie was made. Or so says filmmaker George Clark.
The clip, which is behind-the-scenes of the Chaplin film The Circus has been posted on Youtube and received 1.4 million hits in a week. In the grainy, black and white footage a woman can be seen talking into what undeniably looks like a mobile phone.
According to Clark, the only explanation can be that the Charlie Chaplin invading woman is a time traveller.
“If you look carefully, she’s talking on a thin, black device that is held to her ear. If you notice also that the knuckles are bent in the flat shape… of a phone. The phone is to the ear. It’s not an ear trumpet. It is not an AM/FM radio, obviously because it’s 1928,” said Clark.
“Technically, there’s nothing that can explain [what] is in her hand… It’s clear she’s talking. She’s on her own. She’s talking into the device.”
The filmmaker said he was “completely” stumped by the scene, which features “possibly a time traveller, possibly some lunatic with a black piece of something.”
Of course, alternative explanations have been offered, including that he Chaplin footage just happens to have cropped up on the same week that marks the 25th anniversary of cult time-travel movie, Back To The Future and also that it’s a pretty amazing PR stunt for Clark.
But don’t let that spoil your fun!
Watch the Charlie Chaplin time traveller here.
