Featured Image Credit: The Circus
Topics: Film and TV, Conspiracy Theories
Callum Jones
Online sleuths believe they've struck gold again after spotting a time traveller in a Charlie Chaplin movie.
There has been a recent increase of self-identified 'time travellers' taking to TikTok to warn us about upcoming catastrophes in the future.
These cataclysms range from mysterious creatures being discovered in the ocean to alien invasions.
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But some conspiracy theorists are convinced they have spotted a 'time traveller' in a film from 1928.
The film is question is Charlie Chaplin's The Circus, which is obviously in black and white.
In one shot, a figure dressed in a black top hat and white gloves can be seen in the background walking around with some type of device in their hand.
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This has led to many suggesting that the device could be a mobile phone.
However, mobile phones were not widely available until the 1980s, around 50 years after the film was released.
So, that has led some conspiracy theorists raising the possibility that the figure may have travelled back in time and taken their mobile phone with them.
The Sun reports that Irish filmmaker George Clarke discovered the 'time traveller' in The Circus and posted his findings to his YouTube channel back in 2010.
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In the video, Clarke said: "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.
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"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 video has been viewed almost seven million times on YouTube, with over 27,000 people getting involved with the debate in the comment section.
Some people said they thought the woman was just holding her hand up as a shield from the sun, with other suggested that she was cupping her ear.
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But while thousands speculated in the comment section, the Daily News shut down talk that the woman is a 'time traveller'.
They said: "While this fantastical theory is fun to ponder, in all likelihood the woman is actually using a hearing aid."
The outlet said that hearing aids were first invented in the 1920s, with it also available to the public when The Circus was in production.