An image taken in the 1940s has resurfaced online, sparking wild time-travel theories over an apparent impossibility hidden in plain sight.
The photograph, captured on a busy street in Reykjavik, Iceland, in 1943 during World War II, appears to show a smartly dressed man among a crowd of soldiers holding an object to his ear.
The strange detail has fueled speculation that the unidentified figure was using a cellphone decades before the technology was invented.
The first mobile phone, the Motorola DynaTAC 8000X, went on sale in 1983, 40 years after the photo was taken.
Kristjan Hoffman, whose family has had the photo for decades, previously shared the picture on Facebook, writing: ‘The American army is taking over Icelandic splendor, as you can see.
‘One thing that draws attention to this beautiful picture is that above the window, in the corner in the middle of the picture, a man is leaning and is on a cell phone.
The post has sparked a debate, with some Facebook users agreeing with Hoffman, while others suggested the man was scratching his ear or holding a watch to his ear to make sure it was working.
Hoffman, however, pushed the time-traveler idea even further, noting: ‘He’s in a stupor, standing alone and wearing a different headdress than the others and a scarf and acting like we would do today.’
The photograph, captured on a busy street in Reykjavik, Iceland, in 1943 during World War II, appears to show a smartly dressed man among a crowd of soldiers holding an object to his ear
The image was shared by Hoffman in 2016 but has resurfaced this week, captivating the internet with the possibility of time travel.
The photo was also shared on X, where users speculated the man could be holding a little radio.
However, the first small transistor radio was not released until the 1950s.
One user joked: ‘Guy scratches ear 83 years later gets accused of being a time traveler.’
‘Unless there were “secret” cell phone towers, a cell phone would be useless back then,’ another X user pointed out.
Another theory was that the man may have been operating as a spy for the Axis powers.
Iceland officially remained neutral throughout World War II, but was occupied by Allied forces.
Because of its crucial strategic location, the island was taken over by the British in 1940 to prevent a German invasion, and the defense was later handed over to the US.
The strange detail has fueled speculation that the unidentified figure was using a cellphone decades before the technology was invented
A similar theory emerged from footage of a Mike Tyson boxing match in 1995.
The clip appears to show a spectator in the front row using a smartphone to record Mike Tyson battling it out with Peter McNeeley in the ring.
Conspiracy theorists say it could only be a human time traveler from the future or an alien from an advanced technological civilization enjoying a holiday on Earth.
However, detractors said it could actually be an early digital camera.
The match took place in Las Vegas, Nevada, and was the first time in four years that Tyson had taken the ring.
It was the highest-grossing fight in history at the time and gained international headlines, but now some believe it might have received universal attention.
The video was first published on YouTube in September 2015 and has since resurfaced among other conspiracy theorists searching for answers.
A similar theory emerged from footage of a Mike Tyson boxing match in 1995. The clip appears to show a spectator in the front row using a smartphone to record
JammyBantam, the first YouTuber to release this bizarre sighting, explains the object has a lens in the center, just like a smartphone, and makes it clear that no cameras in the 1990s were designed to look like the device in the clip.
‘It even flashes red ffs,’ the user said.
‘I dunno if it’s a time traveler or not, but no one can explain what camera it is; a QV-100 doesn’t have a silver bit on the right, and this camera doesn’t seem to have a black line under the lens,’ JammyBantam wrote in the video description.
Others, baffled by this sighting, have been passing the video around, hoping someone has more information about the mysterious device.
Some aren’t completely sold and brought up the idea that although it looks ‘very slim, small, portable and has just a center camera’, there were camcorders in the 1990s that looked just like it.
