John Titor

[Nickj47]

Recently, I have come upon a story of a man named John Titor. For those of you not familiar with this particular individual, Mr Titor (supposedly not his real name), was an alleged visitor from the future, the year 2036 to be exact. His story goes like this -

Although there is debate over the exact date it started, on November 02, 2000, a person calling themselves Timetravel_0, and later John Titor, started posting on a public forum that he was a time traveler from the year 2036.

One of the first things he did was post pictures of his time machine and its operations manual. As the weeks went by, more and more people began questioning him about why he was here, the physics of time travel and his thoughts about our time. He also posted on other forums including the now non-existent Art Bell site. In his posts John Titor entertained, angered, frightened and even belittled those who engaged him in conversation.

On March 21, 2001, John Titor told us he would be leaving our and returning to 2036. After that, he was never heard from again. Speculation and investigation about who John Titor was and why he was online continues to this day.

Although it may be easy to dismiss all this as science fiction, most people who read his posts agree that there is something very haunting about John Titor and what he said. In addition, and open to more debate, he also made a series of predictions and comments that eerily seem to be coming true.

So, to get straight to the point of this topic, I want to know what UM thinks. Was 'Mr Titor' really a visitor from the future, or a fraud? I'll allow you to come to your own conclusion.

You can find a comprehensive list of all posts made by 'Mr Titor' HERE.

I have asked for the opinion of UM due to the fact that this story has intrigued me, and relinguished my interest in Time Travel. Some may ask why I have not previously heard of Mr Titor, well, seeing as though I was only 6 at the time Mr Titor first appeared on the internet in 2000, I really wasn't that interetsed in this man's claims (go figure).

Thank You for taking the time to read this, and hopefully you're interested in sharing your opinion.

[Odds]

I think it's a great story. But that being said, it seems to me to be nothing more than that. A fraud who did nothing more than entertain us all for a while. He's probably sitting in his chair, where ever he is, and wondering how nearly 10 years later, people are still talking about him.. Could make a good movie though.

[Fitter]

I think it's a great story. But that being said, it seems to me to be nothing more than that. A fraud who did nothing more than entertain us all for a while. He's probably sitting in his chair, where ever he is, and wondering how nearly 10 years later, people are still talking about him.. Could make a good movie though.

The story of John Titor has been made into a movie.. Stars Alder Sherwood. The problem for me over the John Titor story is that it's an urban legend within an urban legend. It's true he did post, and he did exist on the forums, but it's purely legend that his predictions (or his recollections, if you prefer) came true. The predictions of his that people tend to hang on were, as usual for soothsayers and seers, too vague to not be interpreted as coming true.

It was a scam, someone playing a joke that went better than he could have ever believed, and now the perpretrator is mad as hell that someone else is making royalties on a movie that he can't claim !!

F

[BurnSide]

The man who published and played the John Titor story online came out and publicly admitted he made up the entire thing, for merchandising.

And he made a killing with T-shirts and the like off the gullible who believed it.

The amount of times i've said this on this site is uncanny.

[digitalartist]

I find it amazing that he got away with it as long as he did. Never heard of him before so I read some and the first thing that jumped out at me was he was supposedly sent back in time 60 years to get an antequated computer system.

[BurnSide]

I'm not all that amazed. Never underestimate what people are blindly willing to believe, especially on the internet.

This site is a magnificent example of that.

[seax]

I am a member of a site that went banana's over Mr. Titor. I never got in the groove on it because...while I believe time travel is possible...I don't think someone traveling in time would post his information on an internet talk forum. Like I said...I never got involved because I thought it was a scam..but in reading some of the groupies post on other sites...his predictions were not accurate at all. If you traveled back in time...and knew everything that happened in the past...you could name precise dates..time...and other specifics...it would not be 'approximately' it would be 'exactly'. I came to the internet forums after the fact myself...so my knowledge is limited and I'm going by 'he said' 'she said'.

In my opinion it is a scam...and someone is getting a good laugh out of it now. But...in saying that...if time travel is possible...then why not have visitors visiting us now?

seax

[supervike]

It's a very fun story.

[Sir Wearer of Hats]

IF you want to prove you're a Time Traveller, you don't speak in riddles or vagaries.

You say "on September the 11th, 2001 two planes will hit the WTC" - noone will believe you, but it did happen, or "Micheal Jackson will die days before beginning a world tour".

[stevemagegod]

I have heard about John Titor before interesting story. I Believe in Time Travel but ya why would you post on a internet discussion form?

[BlitzKrieg]

I was reading his wiki page and first thing that came to my mind was Trunks story from Dragonball Z. It sounds a lot like it

[Fitter]

The man who published and played the John Titor story online came out and publicly admitted he made up the entire thing, for merchandising.

And he made a killing with T-shirts and the like off the gullible who believed it.

The amount of times i've said this on this site is uncanny.

I'd not hear this. Do you have a link to a site with the full story of the admission ?

I am a member of a site that went banana's over Mr. Titor. I never got in the groove on it because...while I believe time travel is possible...I don't think someone traveling in time would post his information on an internet talk forum. Like I said...I never got involved because I thought it was a scam..but in reading some of the groupies post on other sites...his predictions were not accurate at all. If you traveled back in time...and knew everything that happened in the past...you could name precise dates..time...and other specifics...it would not be 'approximately' it would be 'exactly'. I came to the internet forums after the fact myself...so my knowledge is limited and I'm going by 'he said' 'she said'.

In my opinion it is a scam...and someone is getting a good laugh out of it now. But...in saying that...if time travel is possible...then why not have visitors visiting us now?

This is mostly the reason that lots of people believed his posts. As I said earlier, most of his predictions were too vague to be either provable or disprovable, because he insisted that moving in time alters the "timeline" a little like the butterfly effect. A brilliant way of making anything he said about time travel unprovable and un-disprovable...

F

[shaka5]

well, i don't believe in time travel at all...but what were the predictions that came true?

[seax]

I'd not hear this. Do you have a link to a site with the full story of the admission ?

This is mostly the reason that lots of people believed his posts. As I said earlier, most of his predictions were too vague to be either provable or disprovable, because he insisted that moving in time alters the "timeline" a little like the butterfly effect. A brilliant way of making anything he said about time travel unprovable and un-disprovable...

F

that is a good point...scammers thrive off willing minds.

best regards,

seax

[maximaldecimal]

I have also just heard of this story and find it lighthearted in intent. I would have asked him how he had a time machine from GM that few people believed in. Wouldn't they advertize. I think the main problem with this whole scenario, if it were true, would be paradox. I read a post from John Titor that indicated the strings of time were manipulated 2.5% by his travels to the 70s. If this were true and people could do it than it could be very dangerous to a potential future. He could cause an upcoming war to become the cause of a planetwide extinction. Or an outbreak that was contained to spread far beyond the original quarintine. Thats why in movies like Back To The Future they end up screwing up the future when they change the past. Basically if it didn't happen it shouldn't and no one who doesn't understand that should be time traveling in the first place. It's a logistical nightmare to say the least. That being said I think the post given by Mr. Titor were made with good intentions. If slightly flawed science. Posts of this nature would cause a variance of far more than 2.5% although they still carry the weight of plausible deniability.

[Fitter]

There is another school of thought that believes there is only one line of time, or one line of history/present/future that runs along for all of existence. This belief denies the possibility or even the ability to change any past events by 2.5% or indeed by any percentage. This idea also goes to explain the grandfather paradox, or at least describe a scenario whereby it can be circumvented and in it's extreme theorizing goes on to argue that all of time, existence and life is mapped out and inevitable.

I'm kind of a proponent of this vision. To my way of thinking, Titor was wrong to say that travel back in time would alter past events, by whatever small margin. I believe the truth of the matter is that events in the past would not be changed, simply because the events must have happened in that way in order for circumstances to allow the series of events that lead to the traveler actually going back.

In other words, whatever a traveler did in the past, would be the events that happened in the past anyway. I for one, cannot envisage a situation whereby a traveler could go back in time and actually change so little that it did not cause enough changes down the 'timeline' to cause massive disruption to his 'present.' Even crushing a butterfly by mistake in the past may lead to the end of the world. So for that reason alone, I do not think that time travel to the past would change any of history's events.

And also for that reason, makes me think Titor was not just a hoaxer, but a bad hoaxer.

F

[Wookietim]

On the internet anyone can claim to be anything. And if they are willing to put the time in to Google searches and have a little creativity, they can get away with it.

[Thomas Dialante]

It's pretty obvious he's fake. I once convinced an entire forum that I was David Bowie. It is very, very easy.

[MetallicBlood]

It's so obvious he was a fraud. If he had in fact traveled back in time, then he could have easily proven it with dates, facts, and events that would have happened later on throughout the decade.

Not to mention the fact that he was posting his "claims" on a message board, instead of informing the media that he was from the future, made it even more clear that he was full of s***.

[MetallicBlood]

On the internet anyone can claim to be anything.

This is a very true statement. It's too bad a lot of people don't realize this.

[hoosier girl]

I do not know any of his predictions that came true but I read a little on his site and saw some obvious failures in his ability to tell us of future events. According to johntitor dot com a civil war was supposed to start in the U.S. sometime in the year 2005. To me this is one of many facts that point to this as a hoax.

While I am a skeptic I would be interested to hear any theories you all have.

[drpaxton]

It's all still there. The predictions, the chat log and pictures.

John Titor official site

[Billyf]

I do not know any of his predictions that came true but I read a little on his site and saw some obvious failures in his ability to tell us of future events. According to johntitor dot com a civil war was supposed to start in the U.S. sometime in the year 2005. To me this is one of many facts that point to this as a hoax.

While I am a skeptic I would be interested to hear any theories you all have.

he also said there would be no olimpics after 2004.

[Blackwhite]

I read John Titor's posts and I remember him saying that there will be no Beijing Olympics in 2008 because of, I think, a huge war.

Edited March 24, 2010 by Blackwhite

[SlimJim22]

I read John Titor's posts and I remember him saying that there will be no Beijing Olympics in 2008 because of, I think, a huge war.

What's his problem with the Olympics? Sure historically it has been a contreversial time as in Munich and is even recently getting targetted by CT's. Check one of the threads on Rik Clay.

I suppose it has significance in being a pagan based event and all that but you don't get the chrisitans complaining about it. In fact noone complains about it, it s only the odd crazy CT that jumps on the idea. Personally I love seeing people running really fast and jumping as high as they can but an alien landing would be cool at the next one. Even if it is fake.