Time Or Dimensional Slips

[Paul_Exeter]

I admit I haven't studied this type of phenomenon in depth but, of the ones I have read, I can't recall ever reading of anyone being injured during a timeslip. I read a post a few weeks back wondering if you could find yourself in the lane of a motorway or similar and if, as in the battle of Nechtanesmere, were you to suddenly appear in a battlefield, could you be injured or worse?
Imagine a Time Team type programme digging some ancient battlefield and finding a skeleton with a wrist watch and remains of a phone.

It is a baffling and rare Fortean phenomenon, and I would recommend Jenny Randle's excellent book Time Storms if you can find a copy as she not only details many cases but also finds a link to an extreme form of 'weather event'.

You have the famous case from the 1970s of the four British people who swear they time slipped to a French hotel from the early 1900s and interacted with the proprietor and policemen, ate the food etc., and yet as you state no-one seems to get injured or bring back definitive proof e.g. pristine French money from the 1900's.

In the above case, they claim to have taken photographs and yet the camera malfunctioned:

"The four travelers were puzzled by what had happened, but they assumed there was a rational explanation. At least, that was what they assumed until the photographs they had taken on their vacation were developed. The three snapshots of the hotel were in the middle of the rolls of film used by Geoff and Len. But none of those images came back from the developers, even though each roll of film had its proper amount of photographs. The negatives of those hotel shots had not been defective. They had just disappeared as thoroughly as the hotel itself."

http://strangeco.blogspot.com/2020/06/the-phantom-hotel-extraordinary-time.html

Those four people always stuck to their story and such cases are definitely my favourite Fortean phenomenon and yet arguably the most easily hoaxed.

 

[Rappinghood]

I admit I haven't studied this type of phenomenon in depth but, of the ones I have read, I can't recall ever reading of anyone being injured during a timeslip. I read a post a few weeks back wondering if you could find yourself in the lane of a motorway or similar and if, as in the battle of Nechtanesmere, were you to suddenly appear in a battlefield, could you be injured or worse?
Imagine a Time Team type programme digging some ancient battlefield and finding a skeleton with a wrist watch and remains of a phone.

If such things occur, is it like a glitch of some kind you can't physically interact with or is it more corporeal?

If it was physical I'd imagine it would mean our reality probably is simulated as I can't think of how physics as we comprehend it could allow for such interactions.

Mind you, I can't figure out how to work a microwave so maybe I shouldn't be pondering this kinda heady stuff.

 

[Rappinghood]

It is a baffling and rare Fortean phenomenon, and I would recommend Jenny Randle's excellent book Time Storms if you can find a copy as she not only details many cases but also finds a link to an extreme form of 'weather event'.

You have the famous case from the 1970s of the four British people who swear they time slipped to a French hotel from the early 1900s and interacted with the proprietor and policemen, ate the food etc., and yet as you state no-one seems to get injured or bring back definitive proof e.g. pristine French money from the 1900's.

In the above case, they claim to have taken photographs and yet the camera malfunctioned:

"The four travelers were puzzled by what had happened, but they assumed there was a rational explanation. At least, that was what they assumed until the photographs they had taken on their vacation were developed. The three snapshots of the hotel were in the middle of the rolls of film used by Geoff and Len. But none of those images came back from the developers, even though each roll of film had its proper amount of photographs. The negatives of those hotel shots had not been defective. They had just disappeared as thoroughly as the hotel itself."

http://strangeco.blogspot.com/2020/06/the-phantom-hotel-extraordinary-time.html

Those four people always stuck to their story and such cases are definitely my favourite Fortean phenomenon and yet arguably the most easily hoaxed.

There are so many cases I love but I know deep down are hoaxes, misunderstanding or shared delusions.

I always look at misfiring cameras or fuzzy footage as a red flag, especially in this day and age but it never diminishes my enthusiasm for the subject.

 

[SimonBurchell]

There are so many cases I love but I know deep down are hoaxes, misunderstanding or shared delusions.

I always look at misfiring cameras or fuzzy footage as a red flag, especially in this day and age but it never diminishes my enthusiasm for the subject.

I think misfiring cameras are a part of the phenomenon, I don't think it's possible to get incontrovertible photos of the paranormal, which is why I pay little attention to alleged photos of ghosts and bigfoot etc.

 

[Paul_Exeter]

There are so many cases I love but I know deep down are hoaxes, misunderstanding or shared delusions.

I always look at misfiring cameras or fuzzy footage as a red flag, especially in this day and age but it never diminishes my enthusiasm for the subject.

True. Convenient that the photos simply 'disappeared'.

However, it is telling that in the forty-odd years since none of them have recanted on their story or being exposed as fantasists by people that knew them. When you watch that old footage of them retelling their experience there is a sincerity to them that is quite compelling. They have also not elaborated on their initial statements when faced with later .questions about how they paid for their stay with 1970s currency or why their car wasn't noticed by those they met.

Personally, I do feel they had a strange experience of a very dated, rural French hotel. There is always the possibility they did not leave 1979. France is a much larger country than the UK and I remember from my own visits to Normandy that rural France in the 1970s was in parts still very stuck in the past. The big question is whether or not their recollection of the uniforms of the Gendarmes was correct, or something that got exaggerated/misremembered during the remainder of their holiday, as that is essentially the main 'evidence' for a time slip

 

[Rappinghood]

I think misfiring cameras are a part of the phenomenon, I don't think it's possible to get incontrovertible photos of the paranormal, which is why I pay little attention to alleged photos of ghosts and bigfoot etc.

My daughter often comments after taking a picture that it's just not what she sees when she's actually looking at it.

For mundane things it's true, fircexteaordibary things, well, who knows!!

 

[Mythopoeika]

For mundane things it's true, fircexteaordibary things, well, who knows!!

A new word!

 

[Rappinghood]

True. Convenient that the photos simply 'disappeared'.

However, it is telling that in the forty-odd years since none of them have recanted on their story or being exposed as fantasists by people that knew them. When you watch that old footage of them retelling their experience there is a sincerity to them that is quite compelling. They have also not elaborated on their initial statements when faced with later .questions about how they paid for their stay with 1970s currency or why their car wasn't noticed by those they met.

Personally, I do feel they had a strange experience of a very dated, rural French hotel. There is always the possibility they did not leave 1979. France is a much larger country than the UK and I remember from my own visits to Normandy that rural France in the 1970s was in parts still very stuck in the past. The big question is whether or not their recollection of the uniforms of the Gendarmes was correct, or something that got exaggerated/misremembered during the remainder of their holiday, as that is essentially the main 'evidence' for a time slip

Your theory fits, especially as it was pre Internet making the world transparent days.

I once visited a small Chapel in rural Spain and some very old world type persons said my friend couldn't go in because her legs were showing.

I mentioned it to the friend I was staying with and he said

"Oh, si, there are some very strong old Catholic peoples in the valley. They don't like a modern people's."

 

[Paul_Exeter]

This was an interesting defence of the French hotel time slip in the comments to the above linked article:

"Actually, the 1-franc coins in use in 1979 had the same design as those used in 1898-1920. They were a little larger and made of nickel rather than silver, but the same colour. If they paid the 19 francs entirely in 1-franc coins (not impossible, as they were the most widely used coin at the time), the coins might have been accepted without comment. I actually know of someone who got a 1905 franc in change in 1976!

With regard to clothes, I doubt if any of the locals would ever have met British people, so they would assume that their 1970s clothes were just the strange things that English people wore!

The same thing would apply to their automobile. Motor cars were pretty rare in rural France in the early 1900s, and models varied considerably in design and appearance. The 1970s car might have been considered just an 'English' automobile.

I'm not saying I believe the story, but it does intrigue me, especially as I know this part of France and I lived in the country in 1978-9."

http://strangeco.blogspot.com/2020/06/the-phantom-hotel-extraordinary-time.html

 

[Rappinghood]

A new word!

I'll you know it's Nahuatl for "He who types too fast without wearing glasses"

 

[Carl Grove]

I admit I haven't studied this type of phenomenon in depth but, of the ones I have read, I can't recall ever reading of anyone being injured during a timeslip. I read a post a few weeks back wondering if you could find yourself in the lane of a motorway or similar and if, as in the battle of Nechtanesmere, were you to suddenly appear in a battlefield, could you be injured or worse?
Imagine a Time Team type programme digging some ancient battlefield and finding a skeleton with a wrist watch and remains of a phone.

Haven't seen any cases where someone has been physically injured by a time slip -- traumatised occasionally, and at risk in a few cases, but no actual damage done.

 

[Carl Grove]

Haven't seen any cases where someone has been physically injured by a time slip -- traumatised occasionally, and at risk in a few cases, but no actual damage done.

The only relevant case -- where there is a strange and bizarre set of happenings involving two sisters getting lost in a small field and being unable to get out -- ended with a time slip experience. The injuries were minor -- they had scratched their legs on nettles or something. It defies classification!

http://www.assap.ac.uk/newsite/articles/Time slip.html

 

[Sabresonic]

This was an interesting defence of the French hotel time slip in the comments to the above linked article:

"Actually, the 1-franc coins in use in 1979 had the same design as those used in 1898-1920. They were a little larger and made of nickel rather than silver, but the same colour. If they paid the 19 francs entirely in 1-franc coins (not impossible, as they were the most widely used coin at the time), the coins might have been accepted without comment. I actually know of someone who got a 1905 franc in change in 1976!

With regard to clothes, I doubt if any of the locals would ever have met British people, so they would assume that their 1970s clothes were just the strange things that English people wore!

The same thing would apply to their automobile. Motor cars were pretty rare in rural France in the early 1900s, and models varied considerably in design and appearance. The 1970s car might have been considered just an 'English' automobile.

I'm not saying I believe the story, but it does intrigue me, especially as I know this part of France and I lived in the country in 1978-9."

http://strangeco.blogspot.com/2020/06/the-phantom-hotel-extraordinary-time.html

The coin thing always puzzled me and I thought the couples were faking it but you comment above made me think...yeah they are telling the truth.

 

[Paul_Exeter]

The Francs in question below with 1979 1 Franc on the left and its 1905 counterpart on the right

There are indeed similar, and it is not unreasonable to question if the French hotel owner had great eyesight, after all no Specsavers in 1905.

What then happened to these 1979 coins after being passed to a 1905(wish) hotel owner is an interesting question to ponder...

 

[Giant R]

Another thing that has always interested me about these accounts is that, if the witnesses stayed at the location would they keep 'in the loop' forever and what sort of operating radius do they have. In the French account, they were obviously able to move about the hotel at least and from the car to the building but if one of them had walked a little further outside would they have vanished to the (then) present. Following on from that, if one of the other witnesses were just behind, would they see them vanish?

 

[Paul_Exeter]

Update:

I wondered what a 1 franc coin was 1879 would look like. This is as close as I got, one from 1888 and it is very similar to the 1979 1 franc coin next to it. So in a time slip scenario did the hotel owner mistake 1979 for 1879...?

 

[Paul_Exeter]

Another thing that has always interested me about these accounts is that, if the witnesses stayed at the location would they keep 'in the loop' forever and what sort of operating radius do they have. In the French account, they were obviously able to move about the hotel at least and from the car to the building but if one of them had walked a little further outside would they have vanished to the (then) present. Following on from that, if one of the other witnesses were just behind, would they see them vanish?

Indeed. Or have they slipped into an alternative universe and the entire planet is in 1905, and therefore they do not move away geographically from 1905 but at some point in time they leave 1979 and then return, with the fact they were travelling being coincidental...?

 

[Giant R]

Indeed. Or have they slipped into an alternative universe and the entire planet is in 1905, and therefore they do not move away geographically from 1905 but at some point in time they leave 1979 and then return, with the fact they were travelling being coincidental...?

Quite an un-nerving thought If it is based on time rather than travel though, could they have been asleep when the transition back occured and wake up to find themselves either in the beds of the owners in 1979 or out in the open if the house no longer existed?

 

[Carl Grove]

Another thing that has always interested me about these accounts is that, if the witnesses stayed at the location would they keep 'in the loop' forever and what sort of operating radius do they have. In the French account, they were obviously able to move about the hotel at least and from the car to the building but if one of them had walked a little further outside would they have vanished to the (then) present. Following on from that, if one of the other witnesses were just behind, would they see them vanish?

That's a good question. In that very complex Leeds case involving the two sisters entering a newsagents shop, and the first not seeing a customer near the door and walking right through her as they entered the time or dimensional slip, they later exited the then empty shop and then re-entered to find it full again. The shop assistant's reaction to them (of sheer terror) suggests that she had seen them come in and the first one pass through the customer then both vanish. Alas there seems to be no way of contacting her, and the surviving sister very abruptly ceased communication.

 

[catseye]

Update:

I wondered what a 1 franc coin was 1879 would look like. This is as close as I got, one from 1888 and it is very similar to the 1979 1 franc coin next to it. So in a time slip scenario did the hotel owner mistake 1979 for 1879...?

My argument against this (not the coins but the timeslip) is that fashion was VERY different from 1900 to 1979. Rural France being very determinedly conservative, I'd have thought that mention would at least have been made of why the females were showing so much flesh (unless they were covered to the ankle), and maybe refused service, on the grounds that the proprietor may have thought them prostitutes.

I remember travelling by train through Belgium in the mid 1970's and watching the hay harvest being thrown up onto horse drawn waggons by women in long skirts and wearing headscarves. If I hadn't known how backward the agricultural processes were back then, I would have thought I had fallen backwards in time.

 

[Paul_Exeter]

My argument against this (not the coins but the timeslip) is that fashion was VERY different from 1900 to 1979. Rural France being very determinedly conservative, I'd have thought that mention would at least have been made of why the females were showing so much flesh (unless they were covered to the ankle), and maybe refused service, on the grounds that the proprietor may have thought them prostitutes.

I remember travelling by train through Belgium in the mid 1970's and watching the hay harvest being thrown up onto horse drawn waggons by women in long skirts and wearing headscarves. If I hadn't known how backward the agricultural processes were back then, I would have thought I had fallen backwards in time.

It is a very good point you make, although you might argue that 1970s middle-aged British women were mostly small 'c' conservative and perhaps didn't show much flesh at all. That said, the Gendarmes would surely have been alert to the women's appearance, rather than seeingingly ignoring them.

I imagine at least one of these couples will have had children, has anyone ever tried to track them down? If it was an outright hoax then I imagine they would have eventually confided in their children

Some 1970s female fashion. The event happened in 1974, not 1979 as I have written elsewhere:

 

[Carl Grove]

It is a very good point you make, although you might argue that 1970s middle-aged British women were mostly small 'c' conservative and perhaps didn't show much flesh at all. That said, the Gendarmes would surely have been alert to the women's appearance, rather than seeingingly ignoring them.

I imagine at least one of these couples will have had children, has anyone ever tried to track them down? If it was an outright hoax then I imagine they would have eventually confided in their children

Some 1970s female fashion. The event happened in 1974, not 1979 as I have written elsewhere:

Good idea! I'll do a bit of genealogical searching.

 

[Paul_Exeter]

And some French women from 1905. It is clearly another stumbling block:

 

[Paul_Exeter]

Good idea! I'll do a bit of genealogical searching.

Geoff and Pauline Simpson and Len and Cynthia Gisby were their names. I've found a record of the Gisbys being in Dover in 2002/3. There are a lot of other Gisbys in Dover. Len lived into his 90s, passing away in 2013;

https://funeral-notices.co.uk/notice/GISBY/3006846

Cynthia passed away in 2015:

https://funeral-notices.co.uk/notice/gisby/4235252

 

[Paul_Exeter]

According to this link Geoffrey Simpson underwent hypnosis in 1985 but nothing new was added to the story. Have to say that slightly strengthens their claim:

https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=i1aWDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT54&lpg=PT54&dq=geoffrey+simpson+dover&source=bl&ots=Ibmk8sVg04&sig=ACfU3U2YX4_nmkjgNu7w19g9dJie9c5l_A&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi8lvOM35D2AhXIa8AKHX4SBvwQ6AF6BAgLEAM#v=onepage&q=geoffrey simpson dover&f=false

Both couples show up on 192.com but unfortunately neither record points to any relatives/children. This may be intentional as I'm sure they will have had a lot of people contact and possibly pester them over the years

 

[catseye]

It is a very good point you make, although you might argue that 1970s middle-aged British women were mostly small 'c' conservative and perhaps didn't show much flesh at all. That said, the Gendarmes would surely have been alert to the women's appearance, rather than seeingingly ignoring them.

I imagine at least one of these couples will have had children, has anyone ever tried to track them down? If it was an outright hoax then I imagine they would have eventually confided in their children

Some 1970s female fashion. The event happened in 1974, not 1979 as I have written elsewhere:

They will have been showing their legs, was my point. Unless they were all wearing trousers (and THAT would have been remarked on), then the fashions of the 70's were for dresses that came not much past the knee. And, in France, in summer, it;s likely they were wearing summer dresses. Not full length dresses, and hats, as would have been appropriate for women travelling in the early years of the century.

 

[Floyd]

The event happened in 1974, not 1979 as I have written elsewhere:

I was always under the impression that it was in 1979?

 

[Paul_Exeter]

They will have been showing their legs, was my point. Unless they were all wearing trousers (and THAT would have been remarked on), then the fashions of the 70's were for dresses that came not much past the knee. And, in France, in summer, it;s likely they were wearing summer dresses. Not full length dresses, and hats, as would have been appropriate for women travelling in the early years of the century.

Any Forteans in Dover who could go and knock on the doors of everyone called Gisby...?

Well if it was a hoax then you have to wonder what was in it for them apart from some fleeting attention/fame...? To the best of my knowledge they did not profit from their experience and continued to live in Dover. thus putting themselves at risk of ridicule. For example, their respective employers may not have been amused.

Does anyone know how news of their experience first came to public attention...?

 

[Paul_Exeter]

I was always under the impression that it was in 1979?

Yes, you are correct. It has been wrongly attributed to 1974 online.

 

[catseye]

Any Forteans in Dover who could go and knock on the doors of everyone called Gisby...?

Well if it was a hoax then you have to wonder what was in it for them apart from some fleeting attention/fame...? To the best of my knowledge they did not profit from their experience and continued to live in Dover. thus putting themselves at risk of ridicule. For example, their respective employers may not have been amused.

Does anyone know how news of their experience first came to public attention...?

It wouldn't necessarily have to have been an intentional hoax. As with many supposedly paranormal occurrences, there's quite a lot of ground between hoax and really supernatural. Misunderstandings, misperceptions, things that seemed 'mildly odd' at the time being discussed and 'talked up' into being odder than they were.