Discovery Networks Explains Chaplin’s Time Traveler Video

Dan Koelsch,

Last week we brought you the story of the “Charlie Chaplin Time Traveler“. Footage from 1928 showed a woman who was holding something up to her ear, and filmmaker George Clarke layed out his case for why he thinks she’s a time traveler with a cell phone. Discovery Networks decided to take it on in the latest video in their YouTube “…Explained” series. Watch after the break.




We mentioned in our original article that one of the most common explanation for the object was that it was a hearing aid, and a few blogs followed up their coverage of the video by “confirming” that was the case. While it was fun to speculate, I’m sure no one (probably even Clarke) really believed any sci-fi occurrence was behind the interesting video.

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Comments (5)

  1. Heres a thought
    http://www.ehow.com/about_5420667_history-twoway-radios.html.
    Two Way Radios!!?

    Who’s to say that a smaller version wasn’t made around the same time, and perhaps for whatever reason kept secret.

    People need to give a little more consideration for inventions of the past. Armillary Sphere, Astrolabe, Clock Towers, the pyramids all THOUSANDS OF YEARS OLD…. but all absolutely ingenious and so far ahead of there time. We all think modern inventions are the end all and be all. Stealth Bomber = German HORTON JET some 50 years earlier.
    Just another secret of out past.

  2. Ok, yes there was an abundance of hidden technology of the past, some even still kept secret. If this person was any part of any secret operations using this technology, then why would they roam about the public searching for a good signal when that technology is ignorant to the public of the era? I have a few theories but I’m still researching and not quite sure how to put them yet…

  3. The person is talking into the device. You can see this at the very end of the clip. Why would someone talk into their own hearing aid?

  5. Many folks, including yourself, talking about this snippet keep repeating that it takes place on a set of Chaplin’s “The Circus.” Looking at the poster, it’s obvious that the film is being shown at a theatre, and not being filmed. But always good to see folks getting interested in silent films and science.

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