Time Travel

Did Time Travelers Sink the Titanic?

Time travelers. They’re everywhere, everywhen. You just don’t see them. You don’t realize that the very fabric of existence is being toyed with at every moment by inconsiderate time traveling tourists.

Oh, sure, just take your camera and hop into a time machine and go snap photos of bridges or play jokes on Stephen Hawking by not showing up at his fancy time travelers’ party. That’s just rude.

Even celebrities are in on the action, not giving a single nevermind to twisting the spacetime continuum into an infinite knot.

This guy knows what I'm talking about
This guy knows what I’m talking about

But I digress. A few days ago, I was listening to an archived episode of Neil deGrasse Tyson’s podcast Star Talk Radio. The topic was, you guessed it, Time Travel. Now, I don’t remember too much about it, but I do remember one thing: Dr. Tyson mentioned a weird “rumor” he’d heard, about how the Titanic didn’t hit an iceberg.

It was sunk by time travelers.

In fact, here’s a video from that particular episode (the relevant bit begins at 2:26):

Now, I thought, no, that can’t be a real theory. No one believes that, and time travelers wouldn’t be that stupid, anyway. So I do what I do and jump on the Internet and browse around. And there it is.

The Titanic Was Sunk By Time Travelers

im-not-saying-it-was-time-travel

Here’s how the story goes, and there are at least two variations that I know of:

1. The Titanic never hit the iceberg. In the initial timeline, of course, it did. However, when time travel was (is, will be) invented, everyone wanted to travel back in time to see the iceberg that sank the Titanic.

So many time travelers showed up that their collective weight was too much for the ship to handle, and that’s why it actually sank.

2. The second version is essentially the same, only the time travelers weren’t tourists, but covert operatives (hired by J.P. Morgan, I guess?) sent back in time to sabotage the Titanic.

Hey, I never said these theories were likely. I just said they existed. I’m voting for theory #1, though, just for the record. Because yes, time travelers really are that stupid.

Was Jack Dawson A Time Traveler?

Oh, one more thing. There’s another theory about time travel being an actual plot point in James Cameron’s movie Titanic:

I found this on Reddit. Thanks Reddit.
I found this on Reddit. Thanks Reddit.

It checks out. So from this point on, I shall forever view the film Titanic as a psychological time travel thriller, prequel to The Terminator, tie-in to Doctor Who. Why not.

Out of Time

Well, that’s about it for Titanic time travel escapades. It’s not a new idea; there are at least a handful of novels based around the concept of time travelers returning to the Titanic. Oh, and Titanic: Adventure Out Of Time, which I’d say is probably the best PC adventure game featuring a time traveling secret agent aboard the Titanic. Easily.

But this isn’t just about the Titanic. It’s about where people would want to go if/when time travel is made possible, and how badly they’d ruin the universe when they got there. Where/when would you visit?

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Rob Schwarz

Writer, blogger, and part-time peddler of mysterious tales. Editor-in-chief of Stranger Dimensions.