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Weird IHTM Tales From Reddit & Other Sites

‘A small collection of odd, time-slippy anecdotes found elsewhere on Reddit

These aren't mine, and I'm not saying they're necessarily timeslips, but they're collected here for your digest. All quite new so do click on the original post links to give them some love or to ask any follow up questions.

​

First from u/caprimum (original post [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/1apgn7u/comment/kq7j29y/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3)):

"Driving through Wales near to lake Bala. Quite a warm day so the traffic was slower than usual. All of a sudden I see a huge bomber type plane fly over our car (ww2 type). Very low. Weird. No markings. Weird. The weirdest thing about it? Not a sound made by it. Silent."

​

From u/shirt_ninja (original post [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/1apgn7u/comment/kq782qz/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3)):

"So this isn’t necessarily a see more like a hear. I was about 22-23 at home alone, no classes that day. I was playing an mmo when suddenly I begin to hear planes flying pretty close to the house. Not your regular jet planes, these sounded like those WW2 airplanes. There was an airport within 10 miles so I didn’t think anything of it.

Then I started to hear what sounded like bombs or explosions in the distance. Shortly after machine gun fire. Small bursts. Then it got louder and louder. Everything all at once, like I was in the middle of some war. Then I started to hear shouting and yelling. I jumped up and turned the TV on ready to see some report that the US was under attack or something. I call my parents but no one picked up, so I ran to the windows to see I could see where this was coming from. I didn’t have a good view so I ran to the front door and braced myself because I was expecting to see some invasion. As soon as I swung the door opened everything went quiet.

This was about 20 years ago and to this day I still can’t figure out what the hell that was. I didn’t share a wall with another house, I have no home theater sound system or anything like that."

​

From u/manhatim (original post [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/1apgn7u/comment/kqpqvy7/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3)):

"I'm sitting in the car with my girlfriend at the time about midnight.. there was ruins of an old Silk Mill across the road which formed a triangle... could turn 45° to the right 45° to the left.. out of the ruins of the silk Mill and passing us on both sides was a group of bagpipers... like an entire marching band of them... they passed us on both sides of the car.. they even made sound as they went by... it was a small Old Town in Pennsylvania and I could have presumed they were part of a bigger celebration but there wasn't anything going on at the time.

I've talked to her over the years and have reminisced that she saw it as well.. never really told anybody else."

​

From u/sek2260 (original post [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/1apgn7u/comment/kq7xfz1/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3)):

"I saw very clearly a Native American woman standing alone in the middle of a field in a small Michigan community. I watched her a moment and then she disappeared. I walked into the field, which was sandy, and there were no footprints or sign of her at all. My family thought I was nuts. But she was there!"

​

From u/tsmom16811 (original post [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/1apgn7u/comment/kq6wuwo/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3)):

"I saw a house. So long story.... I was driving this road every day to work for months. It was a back road thru rural residential areas and some farms. It's a growing area, so it's well traveled by many. My ex in-laws lived in the area for 50 yrs, so I have been traveling this area long before it became a shortcut to my new store.

One day, I'm coming home. It's a winding road thru corn fields, and I look to the left and see a house. It's small, nondescript, big front porch, red siding, old. It didn't click at first what I was seeing, having never seen it before. My only thought was how the heck do these people get into this house, as it was in the middle of a field. As I go around a bend, I'm looking at another person's house to see if there is a driveway to this house... but nothing.

The next day, I'm coming home... the only way I would see it. It was not there.... I asked some old-timers in the area if there was a house there at one time, but no one ever confirmed it. My ex made me feel like I was crazy. But I know what I saw.

Did I see a blip in time...‍♀️... no one ever believed me. But I know what i saw."

Hmm...’

https://www.reddit.com/r/timeslip/s/Q8aZzuf7DV
 
Driving through Wales near to lake Bala. Quite a warm day so the traffic was slower than usual. All of a sudden I see a huge bomber type plane fly over our car (ww2 type). Very low. Weird. No markings. Weird. The weirdest thing about it? Not a sound made by it. Silent.
Click to expand...

I'd be willing to bet this was a Hercules - often low over North Wales on training flights in the past.
 
BS3 said:
I'd be willing to bet this was a Hercules - often low over North Wales on training flights in the past.
Click to expand...
And there are two possibilities with the 'not making a sound' thing. My friend and I watched a large plane fly over the Vale of Pickering the other day, not all that far from where we were standing, following the river. We couldn't hear a THING. Presumably the wind and direction of travel were incompatible with us hearing it.

Or. If the viewers are...how shall I put this.... of a certain age. When the plane flying alongside us banked, I could hear a very low thrum from the engines, but my friend - who is older and is losing hearing at the upper and lower tones - couldn't hear a thing. So there is always the possibility of hearing loss in the exact range of the plane's engines.

I can't be too smug about her not hearing it though. I can't hear grasshoppers any more. Was bemoaning to my daughter how you don't hear grasshoppers these days and she looked at me as though I were mad, apparently the grass was, well, hopping with them. I just couldn't hear.
 
catseye said:
And there are two possibilities with the 'not making a sound' thing. My friend and I watched a large plane fly over the Vale of Pickering the other day, not all that far from where we were standing, following the river. We couldn't hear a THING. Presumably the wind and direction of travel were incompatible with us hearing it.

Or. If the viewers are...how shall I put this.... of a certain age. When the plane flying alongside us banked, I could hear a very low thrum from the engines, but my friend - who is older and is losing hearing at the upper and lower tones - couldn't hear a thing. So there is always the possibility of hearing loss in the exact range of the plane's engines.

I can't be too smug about her not hearing it though. I can't hear grasshoppers any more. Was bemoaning to my daughter how you don't hear grasshoppers these days and she looked at me as though I were mad, apparently the grass was, well, hopping with them. I just couldn't hear.
Click to expand...

Let's also not forget the witnesses were in a car with the engine running!

I used to see Hercules aircraft flying low over my particular bit of North Wales in childhood and my own memory is that there wasn't necessarily a huge amount of noise (compared to a low flying jet anyway; those things were terrifying). I particularly remember times when I saw the plane before hearing it - seeing a large, low plane in the sky without an auditory 'cue' is quite startling.
 
BS3 said:
Let's also not forget the witnesses were in a car with the engine running!

I used to see Hercules aircraft flying low over my particular bit of North Wales in childhood and my own memory is that there wasn't necessarily a huge amount of noise (compared to a low flying jet anyway; those things were terrifying). I particularly remember times when I saw the plane before hearing it - seeing a large, low plane in the sky without an auditory 'cue' is quite startling.
Click to expand...
I agree! There's an eery 'otherworld' sort of feeling when you suddenly see this enormous flying 'thing' with no noise. Almost an Oz-effect in fact, which makes me wonder whether it's an artifact of the brain on two senses misagreeing?
 
A comment below a Youtube called "Rambling about Deleuze". I have this feeling when trying to read Deleuze-Guattari. I've given up on that.

BTW: Fortean experts >>> is this a real story?

Comment >>> Lol I remember my dad ranting to me in the car while he'd be driving me back up to Buffalo and he'd be telling me I'm a lunatic, akin to the guy who thought God was getting him pregnant via light rays up his bum. I was like 5 or 6 years old when he began giving me this stuff.
 
I’ve heard of the first one before. I love it.
"IN November 1974, a 76-year-old Bidston woman named Alma tried to telephone her youngest sister Gloria in Frodsham.

Gloria had recently lost her husband and Alma wanted to invite her down for dinner and a chat to try and cheer her up.

Alma always had difficulty dialling numbers on the old analogue telephones because she had painful arthritis in her fingers.

For those too young to remember these vintage telephones, they had a dial with 10 numbered holes in (0 to 9), and you inserted the tip of your index finger into the hole corresponding to each of the digits of the number you were calling and you turned the dial with a downward pulling motion. Today, of course, you merely tap buttons on a landline phone or gently poke the virtual keys on a smartphone’s touch screen to make a call.

Back in 1975, Alma dialled the number on her rotary telephone and waited – but she never got through to her sister. She had evidently misdialled and she heard a man's well spoken voice answer. 'You don’t sound like Gloria,' quipped Alma, smiling, 'I must have dialled the wrong number.'

'Who the Devil is this?' the man suddenly snapped. 'May I inquire as to the identity of this caller?'

‘Alma;’ laughed the pensioner, ‘you’re not George, Gloria’s brother-in-law, are you?’

‘This is not a civilian number. Now tell me who you are!’ the man yelled down the telephone, giving Alma quite a start.

‘There’s no need to shout,’ protested Alma, ‘it was an innocent mistake. Who are you anyway? You sound too bloody pompous for my liking.’

‘How dare you insult me,’ gasped the man, ‘you’re talking to Lieutenant-Colonel Roberts, the commanding officer of the Wirral battalion of the Home Guard. Now, for the last time – who are you and how did you obtain this number?’

Alma supplied the stuck-up man with her full name, and as she did, she heard a sound at the other end of the phone that she hadn't heard for thirty years: an air raid siren kicking off. ‘Sounds like World War Two there,’ Alma joked.

There was a pause, and then the Lieutenant-Colonel asked, ‘What are you talking about?’

‘The air-raid siren. Sounds like the war's still on.’ Alma said, about to hang up.

‘Of course the war's still on,’ said the military man, ‘is this supposed to be some practical joke?’

‘The war ended years ago,’ said Alma, wondering if she was a victim of the Candid Camera show – a highly popular reality television show where the public were secretly filmed by hidden cameras as they were duped into believing in bizarre staged incidents.

The Lieutenant-Colonel was heard to whisper to someone and the resumed the surreal conversation. ‘If we trace you, you could be thrown into prison for this lark you know? You're wasting my valuable time woman.’

‘Eh? It's 1974. The war's been over for years.’ Alma retorted, then she heard the unmistakable rumble of bombing coming over the phone.

'We'll deal with you later, you idiot!’ ranted Lieutenant-Colonel Roberts, and he slammed the phone down.

Alma listened eagerly for the officer to pick up the handset of his telephone, but he never did.

Alma never knew if she had been the victim of an elaborate hoax, or whether she had really had talked with someone in wartime Britain.

It so happens that in March 1941, a Mr Joseph Roberts, the Coroner of Birkenhead, was gazetted as the commanding officer of a Home Guard battalion in Wirral with the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel.

This information does not, or course, prove that Alma somehow managed to telephone a person back in the 1940s, but how would such a prank be staged and what purpose would the joke serve?

If it was a case of a phone call across time, something similar happened in 1988, except this was a case of a telephone call from the future.

In late March 1988, a lady in her twenties named Sue received a frantic telephone call from her mother, saying there had been a blaze in a pet food factory very close to the place where Sue worked in Wallasey.

Sue was off work on this day because she was ill. Her mother said she was relieved to hear her voice because she thought she might have been injured - or worse.

The giant industrial oven used to bake dog biscuits at the factory in Wallasey had caught fire and five fire engines were tackling the blaze, Sue’s mother told her.

The police had warned the public to stay away from the scene of the blaze in case an explosion occurred because of a chain reaction with the effects of the intense heat on the dust-filled atmosphere at the factory.

When Sue went to work on the following day, she talked to a friend who worked at the pet food factory and was told there had been no fire there. Sue visited her mother and angrily asked, ‘Where do you get your information from? There was no fire at the pet food factory.’

The mystery then deepened because Sue’s mother denied making the telephone call.

A year later, on March 14, 1989, a blaze broke out at the pet food factory in Wallasey when the industrial oven used to bake dog biscuits caught fire.

Five fire engines tackled the blaze and police told the public to stay well away from the fire because of possible chain reaction caused by the dust-filled atmosphere at the factory.

Sue was not in work that day because she had a stomach bug, but her mother telephoned her home and when she answered the call, her mum said, 'Am I glad to hear your voice, love. There’s a big fire at the pet food factory on top of your works.'

Sue experienced déjà vu – she had heard all of this from her mother a year back.

So there we have two cases where a telephone call seems to have been made to a different time period – but how? It’s ironic how the clock rules all our lives, yet we know virtually nothing about the workings of time.

Our ignorance regarding the nature of time reminds me of a thought-provoking remark Einstein once made. He said: ‘What does a fish know about the water in which he swims all his life?’"

https://www.reddit.com/r/timeslip/s/LW1Us8uYoW
 
MorningAngel said:
I’ve heard of the first one before. I love it.
"IN November 1974, a 76-year-old Bidston woman named Alma tried to telephone her youngest sister Gloria in Frodsham.

Gloria had recently lost her husband and Alma wanted to invite her down for dinner and a chat to try and cheer her up.

Alma always had difficulty dialling numbers on the old analogue telephones because she had painful arthritis in her fingers.

For those too young to remember these vintage telephones, they had a dial with 10 numbered holes in (0 to 9), and you inserted the tip of your index finger into the hole corresponding to each of the digits of the number you were calling and you turned the dial with a downward pulling motion. Today, of course, you merely tap buttons on a landline phone or gently poke the virtual keys on a smartphone’s touch screen to make a call.

Back in 1975, Alma dialled the number on her rotary telephone and waited – but she never got through to her sister. She had evidently misdialled and she heard a man's well spoken voice answer. 'You don’t sound like Gloria,' quipped Alma, smiling, 'I must have dialled the wrong number.'

'Who the Devil is this?' the man suddenly snapped. 'May I inquire as to the identity of this caller?'

‘Alma;’ laughed the pensioner, ‘you’re not George, Gloria’s brother-in-law, are you?’

‘This is not a civilian number. Now tell me who you are!’ the man yelled down the telephone, giving Alma quite a start.

‘There’s no need to shout,’ protested Alma, ‘it was an innocent mistake. Who are you anyway? You sound too bloody pompous for my liking.’

‘How dare you insult me,’ gasped the man, ‘you’re talking to Lieutenant-Colonel Roberts, the commanding officer of the Wirral battalion of the Home Guard. Now, for the last time – who are you and how did you obtain this number?’

Alma supplied the stuck-up man with her full name, and as she did, she heard a sound at the other end of the phone that she hadn't heard for thirty years: an air raid siren kicking off. ‘Sounds like World War Two there,’ Alma joked.

There was a pause, and then the Lieutenant-Colonel asked, ‘What are you talking about?’

‘The air-raid siren. Sounds like the war's still on.’ Alma said, about to hang up.

‘Of course the war's still on,’ said the military man, ‘is this supposed to be some practical joke?’

‘The war ended years ago,’ said Alma, wondering if she was a victim of the Candid Camera show – a highly popular reality television show where the public were secretly filmed by hidden cameras as they were duped into believing in bizarre staged incidents.

The Lieutenant-Colonel was heard to whisper to someone and the resumed the surreal conversation. ‘If we trace you, you could be thrown into prison for this lark you know? You're wasting my valuable time woman.’

‘Eh? It's 1974. The war's been over for years.’ Alma retorted, then she heard the unmistakable rumble of bombing coming over the phone.

'We'll deal with you later, you idiot!’ ranted Lieutenant-Colonel Roberts, and he slammed the phone down.

Alma listened eagerly for the officer to pick up the handset of his telephone, but he never did.

Alma never knew if she had been the victim of an elaborate hoax, or whether she had really had talked with someone in wartime Britain.

It so happens that in March 1941, a Mr Joseph Roberts, the Coroner of Birkenhead, was gazetted as the commanding officer of a Home Guard battalion in Wirral with the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel.

This information does not, or course, prove that Alma somehow managed to telephone a person back in the 1940s, but how would such a prank be staged and what purpose would the joke serve?

If it was a case of a phone call across time, something similar happened in 1988, except this was a case of a telephone call from the future.

In late March 1988, a lady in her twenties named Sue received a frantic telephone call from her mother, saying there had been a blaze in a pet food factory very close to the place where Sue worked in Wallasey.

Sue was off work on this day because she was ill. Her mother said she was relieved to hear her voice because she thought she might have been injured - or worse.

The giant industrial oven used to bake dog biscuits at the factory in Wallasey had caught fire and five fire engines were tackling the blaze, Sue’s mother told her.

The police had warned the public to stay away from the scene of the blaze in case an explosion occurred because of a chain reaction with the effects of the intense heat on the dust-filled atmosphere at the factory.

When Sue went to work on the following day, she talked to a friend who worked at the pet food factory and was told there had been no fire there. Sue visited her mother and angrily asked, ‘Where do you get your information from? There was no fire at the pet food factory.’

The mystery then deepened because Sue’s mother denied making the telephone call.

A year later, on March 14, 1989, a blaze broke out at the pet food factory in Wallasey when the industrial oven used to bake dog biscuits caught fire.

Five fire engines tackled the blaze and police told the public to stay well away from the fire because of possible chain reaction caused by the dust-filled atmosphere at the factory.

Sue was not in work that day because she had a stomach bug, but her mother telephoned her home and when she answered the call, her mum said, 'Am I glad to hear your voice, love. There’s a big fire at the pet food factory on top of your works.'

Sue experienced déjà vu – she had heard all of this from her mother a year back.

So there we have two cases where a telephone call seems to have been made to a different time period – but how? It’s ironic how the clock rules all our lives, yet we know virtually nothing about the workings of time.

Our ignorance regarding the nature of time reminds me of a thought-provoking remark Einstein once made. He said: ‘What does a fish know about the water in which he swims all his life?’"

https://www.reddit.com/r/timeslip/s/LW1Us8uYoW
Click to expand...
Oh no it’s our old friend TS again. That’s a shame. I thought it was quite elaborate. The man’s changed name and rank.

Number, please: Bad connection, Good War

>..
>
>A Radio City listener named Emma Black sent me a fascinating cutting from a 1970s magazine concerning a timeslip which apparently allowed a telephone conversation to take place between two people spaced thirty years apart. The following summary of this strange story may seem like an episode of The Twilight Zone, but I have heard of three other similar cases. An old woman named Alma Bristow of Bidston, Birkenhead, tried to phone her sister (who had recently lost her husband) in Frodsham, Cheshire. Alma always had difficulty dialling numbers on the old British Telecom analogue telephone because she had stabbing arthritis in her fingers. Alma had evidently misdialled her sister's number, as a man's voice answered. The man said "Captain Hamilton."
>
>Alma asked if her sister was there, but 'Captain' Hamilton replied haughtily, "This is not a civilian number. Who are you?"
>
>Alma gave her name, and as she did, she heard a sound at the other end of the phone that she hadn't heard since she was a young woman: an air raid siren kicking. "Sound like World War Two there." Alma joked.
>
>There was a pause, then Captain Hamilton replied, "What are you talking about?"
>
>"The air-raid siren. Sounds like the war's still on." Alma said, about to hang up.
>
>"Of course the war's still on. Where did you get my number from?" said Hamilton.
>
>"The war ended years ago, in 1945." said Alma, suspecting she was a victim of the *Candid Camera Show*.
>
>Captain Hamilton was heard to whisper to an associate, then resumed the surreal conversation. "It isn't 1945 yet. If we trace you you'll be thrown into prison for this lark you know? You're wasting valuable time woman."
>
>"Eh? It's 1974. The war's been over for years." Alma retorted, and then she heard the unmistakable rumble of bombing coming over the phone.
>
>"We'll deal with you later don't worry." said Captain Hamilton, and he slammed the phone down. Alma listened eagerly for him to pick up the handset of his telephone, but Hamilton never did. Alma never knew if she had been the victim of an elaborate hoax, or whether she had really had talked with someone in wartime Britain.
>
>The (previous story) about timeslips suggest that the events of the past are still going on somewhere along the fourth dimension. Isn't it ironic how the clock rules all our lives, yet we know virtually nothing about time? Our ignorance regarding the nature of time reminds me of a thought-provoking remark Einstein once made. He said: "What does a fish know about the water in which he swims all his life?"

[https://www.qsl.net/w5www/timeslips.html](https://www.qsl.net/w5www/timeslips.html)
 
MorningAngel said:
Oh no it’s our old friend TS again. That’s a shame. I thought it was quite elaborate. The man’s changed name and rank.

Number, please: Bad connection, Good War

>..
>
>A Radio City listener named Emma Black sent me a fascinating cutting from a 1970s magazine concerning a timeslip which apparently allowed a telephone conversation to take place between two people spaced thirty years apart. The following summary of this strange story may seem like an episode of The Twilight Zone, but I have heard of three other similar cases. An old woman named Alma Bristow of Bidston, Birkenhead, tried to phone her sister (who had recently lost her husband) in Frodsham, Cheshire. Alma always had difficulty dialling numbers on the old British Telecom analogue telephone because she had stabbing arthritis in her fingers. Alma had evidently misdialled her sister's number, as a man's voice answered. The man said "Captain Hamilton."
>
>Alma asked if her sister was there, but 'Captain' Hamilton replied haughtily, "This is not a civilian number. Who are you?"
>
>Alma gave her name, and as she did, she heard a sound at the other end of the phone that she hadn't heard since she was a young woman: an air raid siren kicking. "Sound like World War Two there." Alma joked.
>
>There was a pause, then Captain Hamilton replied, "What are you talking about?"
>
>"The air-raid siren. Sounds like the war's still on." Alma said, about to hang up.
>
>"Of course the war's still on. Where did you get my number from?" said Hamilton.
>
>"The war ended years ago, in 1945." said Alma, suspecting she was a victim of the *Candid Camera Show*.
>
>Captain Hamilton was heard to whisper to an associate, then resumed the surreal conversation. "It isn't 1945 yet. If we trace you you'll be thrown into prison for this lark you know? You're wasting valuable time woman."
>
>"Eh? It's 1974. The war's been over for years." Alma retorted, and then she heard the unmistakable rumble of bombing coming over the phone.
>
>"We'll deal with you later don't worry." said Captain Hamilton, and he slammed the phone down. Alma listened eagerly for him to pick up the handset of his telephone, but Hamilton never did. Alma never knew if she had been the victim of an elaborate hoax, or whether she had really had talked with someone in wartime Britain.
>
>The (previous story) about timeslips suggest that the events of the past are still going on somewhere along the fourth dimension. Isn't it ironic how the clock rules all our lives, yet we know virtually nothing about time? Our ignorance regarding the nature of time reminds me of a thought-provoking remark Einstein once made. He said: "What does a fish know about the water in which he swims all his life?"

[https://www.qsl.net/w5www/timeslips.html](https://www.qsl.net/w5www/timeslips.html)
Click to expand...

Great story but I don't believe a word of it.
 
MorningAngel said:
I’ve heard of the first one before. I love it.
"IN November 1974, a 76-year-old Bidston woman named Alma tried to telephone her youngest sister Gloria in Frodsham.

Gloria had recently lost her husband and Alma wanted to invite her down for dinner and a chat to try and cheer her up.

Alma always had difficulty dialling numbers on the old analogue telephones because she had painful arthritis in her fingers.

For those too young to remember these vintage telephones, they had a dial with 10 numbered holes in (0 to 9), and you inserted the tip of your index finger into the hole corresponding to each of the digits of the number you were calling and you turned the dial with a downward pulling motion. Today, of course, you merely tap buttons on a landline phone or gently poke the virtual keys on a smartphone’s touch screen to make a call.

Back in 1975, Alma dialled the number on her rotary telephone and waited – but she never got through to her sister. She had evidently misdialled and she heard a man's well spoken voice answer. 'You don’t sound like Gloria,' quipped Alma, smiling, 'I must have dialled the wrong number.'

'Who the Devil is this?' the man suddenly snapped. 'May I inquire as to the identity of this caller?'

‘Alma;’ laughed the pensioner, ‘you’re not George, Gloria’s brother-in-law, are you?’

‘This is not a civilian number. Now tell me who you are!’ the man yelled down the telephone, giving Alma quite a start.

‘There’s no need to shout,’ protested Alma, ‘it was an innocent mistake. Who are you anyway? You sound too bloody pompous for my liking.’

‘How dare you insult me,’ gasped the man, ‘you’re talking to Lieutenant-Colonel Roberts, the commanding officer of the Wirral battalion of the Home Guard. Now, for the last time – who are you and how did you obtain this number?’

Alma supplied the stuck-up man with her full name, and as she did, she heard a sound at the other end of the phone that she hadn't heard for thirty years: an air raid siren kicking off. ‘Sounds like World War Two there,’ Alma joked.

There was a pause, and then the Lieutenant-Colonel asked, ‘What are you talking about?’

‘The air-raid siren. Sounds like the war's still on.’ Alma said, about to hang up.

‘Of course the war's still on,’ said the military man, ‘is this supposed to be some practical joke?’

‘The war ended years ago,’ said Alma, wondering if she was a victim of the Candid Camera show – a highly popular reality television show where the public were secretly filmed by hidden cameras as they were duped into believing in bizarre staged incidents.

The Lieutenant-Colonel was heard to whisper to someone and the resumed the surreal conversation. ‘If we trace you, you could be thrown into prison for this lark you know? You're wasting my valuable time woman.’

‘Eh? It's 1974. The war's been over for years.’ Alma retorted, then she heard the unmistakable rumble of bombing coming over the phone.

'We'll deal with you later, you idiot!’ ranted Lieutenant-Colonel Roberts, and he slammed the phone down.

Alma listened eagerly for the officer to pick up the handset of his telephone, but he never did.

Alma never knew if she had been the victim of an elaborate hoax, or whether she had really had talked with someone in wartime Britain.

It so happens that in March 1941, a Mr Joseph Roberts, the Coroner of Birkenhead, was gazetted as the commanding officer of a Home Guard battalion in Wirral with the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel.

This information does not, or course, prove that Alma somehow managed to telephone a person back in the 1940s, but how would such a prank be staged and what purpose would the joke serve?

If it was a case of a phone call across time, something similar happened in 1988, except this was a case of a telephone call from the future.

In late March 1988, a lady in her twenties named Sue received a frantic telephone call from her mother, saying there had been a blaze in a pet food factory very close to the place where Sue worked in Wallasey.

Sue was off work on this day because she was ill. Her mother said she was relieved to hear her voice because she thought she might have been injured - or worse.

The giant industrial oven used to bake dog biscuits at the factory in Wallasey had caught fire and five fire engines were tackling the blaze, Sue’s mother told her.

The police had warned the public to stay away from the scene of the blaze in case an explosion occurred because of a chain reaction with the effects of the intense heat on the dust-filled atmosphere at the factory.

When Sue went to work on the following day, she talked to a friend who worked at the pet food factory and was told there had been no fire there. Sue visited her mother and angrily asked, ‘Where do you get your information from? There was no fire at the pet food factory.’

The mystery then deepened because Sue’s mother denied making the telephone call.

A year later, on March 14, 1989, a blaze broke out at the pet food factory in Wallasey when the industrial oven used to bake dog biscuits caught fire.

Five fire engines tackled the blaze and police told the public to stay well away from the fire because of possible chain reaction caused by the dust-filled atmosphere at the factory.

Sue was not in work that day because she had a stomach bug, but her mother telephoned her home and when she answered the call, her mum said, 'Am I glad to hear your voice, love. There’s a big fire at the pet food factory on top of your works.'

Sue experienced déjà vu – she had heard all of this from her mother a year back.

So there we have two cases where a telephone call seems to have been made to a different time period – but how? It’s ironic how the clock rules all our lives, yet we know virtually nothing about the workings of time.

Our ignorance regarding the nature of time reminds me of a thought-provoking remark Einstein once made. He said: ‘What does a fish know about the water in which he swims all his life?’"

https://www.reddit.com/r/timeslip/s/LW1Us8uYoW
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This case featured in his 'Haunted :Liverpool 2' book:

https://amzn.eu/d/1C4Sr5q

Seems this book was first released back in 1999-2001 but has been republished since.
 
MorningAngel said:
I’ve heard of the first one before. I love it.
"IN November 1974, a 76-year-old Bidston woman named Alma tried to telephone her youngest sister Gloria in Frodsham.

Gloria had recently lost her husband and Alma wanted to invite her down for dinner and a chat to try and cheer her up.

Alma always had difficulty dialling numbers on the old analogue telephones because she had painful arthritis in her fingers.

For those too young to remember these vintage telephones, they had a dial with 10 numbered holes in (0 to 9), and you inserted the tip of your index finger into the hole corresponding to each of the digits of the number you were calling and you turned the dial with a downward pulling motion. Today, of course, you merely tap buttons on a landline phone or gently poke the virtual keys on a smartphone’s touch screen to make a call.

Back in 1975, Alma dialled the number on her rotary telephone and waited – but she never got through to her sister. She had evidently misdialled and she heard a man's well spoken voice answer. 'You don’t sound like Gloria,' quipped Alma, smiling, 'I must have dialled the wrong number.'

'Who the Devil is this?' the man suddenly snapped. 'May I inquire as to the identity of this caller?'

‘Alma;’ laughed the pensioner, ‘you’re not George, Gloria’s brother-in-law, are you?’

‘This is not a civilian number. Now tell me who you are!’ the man yelled down the telephone, giving Alma quite a start.

‘There’s no need to shout,’ protested Alma, ‘it was an innocent mistake. Who are you anyway? You sound too bloody pompous for my liking.’

‘How dare you insult me,’ gasped the man, ‘you’re talking to Lieutenant-Colonel Roberts, the commanding officer of the Wirral battalion of the Home Guard. Now, for the last time – who are you and how did you obtain this number?’

Alma supplied the stuck-up man with her full name, and as she did, she heard a sound at the other end of the phone that she hadn't heard for thirty years: an air raid siren kicking off. ‘Sounds like World War Two there,’ Alma joked.

There was a pause, and then the Lieutenant-Colonel asked, ‘What are you talking about?’

‘The air-raid siren. Sounds like the war's still on.’ Alma said, about to hang up.

‘Of course the war's still on,’ said the military man, ‘is this supposed to be some practical joke?’

‘The war ended years ago,’ said Alma, wondering if she was a victim of the Candid Camera show – a highly popular reality television show where the public were secretly filmed by hidden cameras as they were duped into believing in bizarre staged incidents.

The Lieutenant-Colonel was heard to whisper to someone and the resumed the surreal conversation. ‘If we trace you, you could be thrown into prison for this lark you know? You're wasting my valuable time woman.’

‘Eh? It's 1974. The war's been over for years.’ Alma retorted, then she heard the unmistakable rumble of bombing coming over the phone.

'We'll deal with you later, you idiot!’ ranted Lieutenant-Colonel Roberts, and he slammed the phone down.

Alma listened eagerly for the officer to pick up the handset of his telephone, but he never did.

Alma never knew if she had been the victim of an elaborate hoax, or whether she had really had talked with someone in wartime Britain.

It so happens that in March 1941, a Mr Joseph Roberts, the Coroner of Birkenhead, was gazetted as the commanding officer of a Home Guard battalion in Wirral with the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel.

This information does not, or course, prove that Alma somehow managed to telephone a person back in the 1940s, but how would such a prank be staged and what purpose would the joke serve?

If it was a case of a phone call across time, something similar happened in 1988, except this was a case of a telephone call from the future.

In late March 1988, a lady in her twenties named Sue received a frantic telephone call from her mother, saying there had been a blaze in a pet food factory very close to the place where Sue worked in Wallasey.

Sue was off work on this day because she was ill. Her mother said she was relieved to hear her voice because she thought she might have been injured - or worse.

The giant industrial oven used to bake dog biscuits at the factory in Wallasey had caught fire and five fire engines were tackling the blaze, Sue’s mother told her.

The police had warned the public to stay away from the scene of the blaze in case an explosion occurred because of a chain reaction with the effects of the intense heat on the dust-filled atmosphere at the factory.

When Sue went to work on the following day, she talked to a friend who worked at the pet food factory and was told there had been no fire there. Sue visited her mother and angrily asked, ‘Where do you get your information from? There was no fire at the pet food factory.’

The mystery then deepened because Sue’s mother denied making the telephone call.

A year later, on March 14, 1989, a blaze broke out at the pet food factory in Wallasey when the industrial oven used to bake dog biscuits caught fire.

Five fire engines tackled the blaze and police told the public to stay well away from the fire because of possible chain reaction caused by the dust-filled atmosphere at the factory.

Sue was not in work that day because she had a stomach bug, but her mother telephoned her home and when she answered the call, her mum said, 'Am I glad to hear your voice, love. There’s a big fire at the pet food factory on top of your works.'

Sue experienced déjà vu – she had heard all of this from her mother a year back.

So there we have two cases where a telephone call seems to have been made to a different time period – but how? It’s ironic how the clock rules all our lives, yet we know virtually nothing about the workings of time.

Our ignorance regarding the nature of time reminds me of a thought-provoking remark Einstein once made. He said: ‘What does a fish know about the water in which he swims all his life?’"

https://www.reddit.com/r/timeslip/s/LW1Us8uYoW
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It's a Sleman story, and I am afraid that's all it ever will be just made up nonsense to fill column inches, it's another one of his that has escaped into the wild and is quoted as a true story all over the place
 
Robbrent said:
It's a Sleman story, and I am afraid that's all it ever will be just made up nonsense to fill column inches, it's another one of his that has escaped into the wild and is quoted as a true story all over the place
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It’s sad but not even consistent the two I quoted were nearly word for word apart from the name a rank. I hate that he’s polluted potentially true stories so we don’t know what’s his creation and what might actually have happened.
 
MorningAngel said:
It’s sad but not even consistent the two I quoted were nearly word for word apart from the name a rank. I hate that he’s polluted potentially true stories so we don’t know what’s his creation and what might actually have happened.
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I don't have anything against the man, he's a great story teller and he must be very proud that quite a few of his stories have escaped into the wilds of the Fortean World and are believed as genuine accounts but his name must be nowhere near serious research
 
Robbrent said:
I don't have anything against the man, he's a great story teller and he must be very proud that quite a few of his stories have escaped into the wilds of the Fortean World and are believed as genuine accounts but his name must be nowhere near serious research
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If only his stories were advertised as fiction rather than fact.
 
MorningAngel said:
If only his stories were advertised as fiction rather than fact.
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I don't think it would help. People will hear a story and regurgitate it as fact, however dodgy the provenance.

I had a work mate confidently tell me the 'story of how Pickering got its name' (ancient ruler, lost ring, given fish for dinner, guess what was in its stomach?). She was Pickering born and bred and firmly believed it, so was very taken aback when I told her it was a retconning of the name, which actually came from (most likely) the name of a group of people devolved from the landowner. She was so wedded to her story that I had to Google the origins and show her the article before she would believe me. Even though her version was so dubious that anyone with an ounce of critical thinking ought to have seen through it.

After all, who serves a fish with its stomach still in, for a start?
 
catseye said:
I don't think it would help. People will hear a story and regurgitate it as fact, however dodgy the provenance.

I had a work mate confidently tell me the 'story of how Pickering got its name' (ancient ruler, lost ring, given fish for dinner, guess what was in its stomach?). She was Pickering born and bred and firmly believed it, so was very taken aback when I told her it was a retconning of the name, which actually came from (most likely) the name of a group of people devolved from the landowner. She was so wedded to her story that I had to Google the origins and show her the article before she would believe me. Even though her version was so dubious that anyone with an ounce of critical thinking ought to have seen through it.

After all, who serves a fish with its stomach still in, for a start?
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Every fairytale involving magical fish :)
 
catseye said:
I don't think it would help. People will hear a story and regurgitate it as fact, however dodgy the provenance.

I had a work mate confidently tell me the 'story of how Pickering got its name' (ancient ruler, lost ring, given fish for dinner, guess what was in its stomach?). She was Pickering born and bred and firmly believed it, so was very taken aback when I told her it was a retconning of the name, which actually came from (most likely) the name of a group of people devolved from the landowner. She was so wedded to her story that I had to Google the origins and show her the article before she would believe me. Even though her version was so dubious that anyone with an ounce of critical thinking ought to have seen through it.

After all, who serves a fish with its stomach still in, for a start?
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Yeah but her story is so much better! It's the folklore version.
 
Lieutenant-Colonel Roberts' conversational style reads like something an amateur writer might concoct from children's war comics and old Doctor Who episodes. Rather like, say, creating a High Middle Ages character and having them say "Odds bodkins, fair maiden!" and other kinds of clichéd speech.
 
MorningAngel said:
It’s sad but not even consistent the two I quoted were nearly word for word apart from the name a rank. I hate that he’s polluted potentially true stories so we don’t know what’s his creation and what might actually have happened.
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The way someone tells a story is often an indication of its truth. I work with a committee that includes a very experienced commercial lawyer and her advice is always the more details someone gives you, the more likely it is that the story is untrue. The supposed Home Guard Captain sounds just like Arthur Lowe playing Captain Mainwaring, and the idea that the air raid would happen in the background, confirming the idea that it's WW2 is still on is just a bit too convenient. It would be great to hear the original story without the elaboration.
 
Sogna said:
The way someone tells a story is often an indication of its truth. I work with a committee that includes a very experienced commercial lawyer and her advice is always the more details someone gives you, the more likely it is that the story is untrue. The supposed Home Guard Captain sounds just like Arthur Lowe playing Captain Mainwaring, and the idea that the air raid would happen in the background, confirming the idea that it's WW2 is still on is just a bit too convenient. It would be great to hear the original story without the elaboration.
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I did find myself thinking 'if there was an air raid on, would they even answer the phone? Wouldn't they be too busy watching out for incendiary devices and making sure that everyone was in a shelter?'
 
MorningAngel said:
I suppose they might, in case HQ have something important to tell you.
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Now I've starting pondering the whole thing - did Home Guard have access to telephones? Was there a designated 'phone operator' who would monitor the lines during enemy activity to ensure that calls from HQ were answered? I'd have thought this would be a fairly 'junior' person, or someone with reduced mobility, rather than the Captain. And where were the phones located? Most homes didn't have a phone during WW2, so would it be a business?
 
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