People convinced they've spotted 'time traveller' in 1940s beach photo
A photo taken in the 1940s has convinced people that ‘time travellers’ exist.
A vintage photo taken on a beach in Cornwall in 1943 has resurfaced and caused quite the stir online.
The snap, which features people on Towan Beach, Newquay, includes a man in a suit who looks slightly out of place, holding something that has sent some people into a frenzy.
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The photo, which first went viral a few years ago when a guy called Stuart Humphryes shared it to Twitter, is of 'British war workers [escaping] to the seaside.'
But, if you zoom in to the man in the brown suit standing slap bang in the middle of the photo, you might see something a little unusual.
It looks like this guy is peering down at something in his hands - and a lot of people think that 'something' is a phone.
His hunched over position does look an awful lot like most of us modern day people when we're sending a quick text or scrolling through Insta.
Considering the handheld mobile phone wasn't invented until 1973, it has no business showing up on a beach in Cornwall 30 years earlier.
Ever since it was first shared online, people have been analysing the photo to try and see what this man is holding in his hand - and if this one pic is the proof we needed that time travel is real after all.
"This man seems to be texting. Is he a time traveller?" asked one Twitter user after inspecting the photo.
Another joked: "Good catch. It's clearly the man in the shot is a time travelling tourist checking his mobile device."
But others had some much more logical suggestions.
"Maybe he's winding his watch," one person commented.
"It looks like the Time Traveler in question is a man simply rolling a cigarette," pointed out a second.
And a third suggested: "I'm guessing he is checking his pocket watch."
Ruin all the fun, why don't you?
A few people were less focused on the possibility of a mobile phone being used in the 1940s, and more concerned with the time traveller's outfit choice.
"Forget the call phone," wrote one Twitter user. "This guy is on the beach in a suit!!"
That's just another cause for suspicion, if you ask me.
Mia Williams