John-Titor-Interview.. - American Antigravity
John-Titor-Interview.. - American Antigravity
John-Titor-Interview.. - American Antigravity
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AMERICAN ANTIGRAVITY PAGE 1
Judgement Day<br />
The Times & Life of <strong>John</strong> <strong>Titor</strong><br />
By Tim Ventura & Oliver Williams, March 20th, 2007<br />
Appearing in the media like an apparition, the mysterious newsgroup poster “<strong>John</strong> <strong>Titor</strong>” told a<br />
story of time-travel from a post-nuclear future that captivated the late-night airwaves and<br />
inspired deep introspection into the role of materialism & conflict in today’s world. We interview<br />
the webmaster of johntitor.com for his perspectives on what <strong>Titor</strong> said - and what may come.<br />
AAG: Let's start out with the <strong>John</strong> <strong>Titor</strong> backstory -- in this case, it's a pretty expansive<br />
tale, and I'm going to start out recommending that our audience visit your site online at<br />
johntitor.com, but I'm wondering if you could quickly bring us up to speed with a brief<br />
overview of the notable elements of this remarkable tale?<br />
Oliver: Thanks for the link reference but don't take my word for any of this. A Google<br />
search for images, blogs and even news will bring up thousands of sites with <strong>John</strong> <strong>Titor</strong><br />
information. There's even a pay-per-click video now for the devoted.<br />
In November of 2000, <strong>John</strong> <strong>Titor</strong> started posting on a forum that he was a time traveler<br />
from the year 2036 who had traveled to our time while completing a military mission. The<br />
mission involved going back to the year 1975 and getting one of the first portable<br />
computers manufactured by IBM. According to <strong>John</strong>, the computer was unique and they<br />
needed it in the future to decode or communicate with much older computer systems that<br />
were effected by Y2K. Obviously, two questions come up. Why would someone with a time<br />
machine need outdated technology? Isn't this fiction since Y2K didn't happen?<br />
Two interesting points may answer the first question. <strong>John</strong> gave very detailed information<br />
about the computer he was after that was apparently only known by a handful of IBM<br />
engineers. After reading <strong>John</strong>'s posts, an actual IBM engineer came forward and backed up<br />
what <strong>John</strong> had said. In addition, NASA scours eBay today looking for computer parts to<br />
keep the space shuttle flying. The idea of needing outdated computers to keep expensive<br />
systems running is with us now.<br />
On the second subject of Y2K, <strong>John</strong> said that time travel was actually the passing between<br />
infinite universes and it was possible to choose the different times between them. <strong>John</strong><br />
was surprised and disturbed by the fact Y2K didn't happen for us. I believe that may have<br />
been the reason he was posting in the first place.<br />
AAG: Now in terms of background, you're a lot like myself: you first heard about the<br />
<strong>John</strong> <strong>Titor</strong> story and treated it with a bit of skepticism, but like me the story haunted you<br />
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enough that you created the official <strong>John</strong> <strong>Titor</strong> website as a repository for all of the<br />
information & related news pertaining to the story. Can you tell us about your initial<br />
reactions to the <strong>Titor</strong> story -- how you first heard about it, your initial opinions, and how<br />
they changed over time to lead you to create the website?<br />
Oliver: <strong>John</strong> posted online for a period of five months between November 2000 and<br />
March 2001. He announced he was leaving, said good bye and left the Internet. I<br />
discovered the posts later in 2001 when a friend sent me a few links. After staying up all<br />
night reading, I was amazed and continued to follow the posts. One of the statements<br />
<strong>John</strong> made was that his time machine was powered by two mini-black holes that were<br />
manufactured in a particle accelerator called CERN in Geneva Switzerland. He made the<br />
statement in his posts that CERN would announce their expectations to create mini-black<br />
holes in the fall of 2001. Amazingly, that's exactly what happened six months after he left.<br />
That feeling of "oh my gosh" stuck with me. I think its the main reason people keep<br />
following the posts.<br />
As time went on, more and more of what <strong>John</strong> said about our future began to unfold and<br />
there were more "oh my gosh" moments. You would read the posts and forget them until<br />
you saw something in the news that reminded you that a time traveler spoke about it a<br />
year ago. That's what prompted me to collect the actual words <strong>John</strong> wrote online and put<br />
them into one spot that was easier to read.<br />
AAG: The <strong>John</strong> <strong>Titor</strong> story really does seem to haunt people, doesn't it? I've shown it to<br />
a number of well-respected scientists, and while they tend to agree that his technical<br />
description of the time-travel device is at least plausible, they all tend to dismiss the story<br />
as either being a hoax, political-art, or just a publicity stunt by a physics student.<br />
Nonetheless, many of them continue to follow the story regularly and chat about it with<br />
their colleagues because the story haunts them. Have you seen similar reactions from<br />
people that your acquaintances?<br />
Oliver: The physics of the posts take more criticism than anything else. However, it is<br />
interesting to see that <strong>John</strong> Cramer, a professor of physics from Washington state, wrote<br />
many things about mini black holes and alternate universes after <strong>John</strong> wrote them that<br />
could have been pulled right from the posts. In addition, professor Cramer is now looking<br />
for funding to build a working time machine model based on real science. I also saw<br />
recently that a patent has been taken out for a process based on <strong>John</strong>'s description of how<br />
his time machine worked. Maybe there's good financial reasoning behind denying <strong>John</strong>'s<br />
physics and debunking the posts?<br />
Yes, the story is haunting. <strong>John</strong> seemed like a real person who believed what he was<br />
saying and it flew in the face of what we expect a time traveler to be. He was very polite<br />
but harbored anger and resentment toward us for our political inaction and ignorance. He<br />
was angered when people asked questions for their own personal gain but happy to<br />
discuss future technology, philosophy, religion and self reliance. It's disturbing to read<br />
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something you want to believe that has so many negative aspects to it. To stay sane, you<br />
have to find a reason to discount it.<br />
AAG: Now it seems that the best way to provide validation for the <strong>Titor</strong> story comes<br />
from matching up historical facts with the original claims over a period of time. <strong>Titor</strong><br />
himself was vague about a lot of historical details, but nonetheless made a insinuations<br />
about the future, and even a few outright predictions. Can you outline a few of them for<br />
us, and tell us how they're holding up in the 5 years since this story first appeared?<br />
Oliver: I'm not sure I agree that validation of time travel should be based on the<br />
accuracy of future events. Imagine you have a time machine. At four in the afternoon,<br />
you're standing on a street corner in the rain. Your friend drives past you and has a car<br />
accident. You decide to use your time machine and go back twenty-four hours to warn<br />
him. You call your friend and tell him it will rain tomorrow and that he'll have a car accident<br />
at four. Predicting rain isn't seen as a big deal and your friend decides not to go driving<br />
thus avoiding the accident. Now your prediction is false. Is that proof you didn't travel in<br />
time? Aren't situations like this the reason we want a time machine?<br />
As far as <strong>John</strong> is concerned, yes, he did make a series of statements which could be<br />
considered predictions. Some he was very right about while others are more questionable<br />
or confusing. <strong>John</strong> talked about not finding WMDs in Iraq before the war started, trouble<br />
with the space shuttle, advances with viruses in treating cancer, the spread of Internet<br />
based entertainment and wireless technology, the arrival and danger of mad cow disease<br />
in the US, civil war in the United States, and many others.<br />
AAG: Well before the presidential election in 2000, <strong>Titor</strong> had raised some questions<br />
about how the public would feel if the results of the election were disputed. He also<br />
insinuated that civil war would begin to erupt in 2005, and that a full-out shooting-war<br />
would exist in the USA by 2008. Can you tell us about these civil unrest predictions, leading<br />
up to his claim of nuclear war in 2015? Also, would it be fair to say that he gained a boost<br />
in popularity after the disputed 2000 election?<br />
Oliver: <strong>John</strong> did strike a cord with people by discussing the election and civil war in the<br />
United States but I don't think I'm able to get in <strong>John</strong>'s head and explain what we meant.<br />
He may have been trying to warn us not to go driving at four o'clock. On the other hand, it<br />
is interesting to note that <strong>John</strong>'s posts about civil war seem remarkably accurate when you<br />
replace the words United States with Iraq.<br />
AAG: On a personal note, I had a healthy skepticism about the <strong>Titor</strong> story until 2003,<br />
when I was literally stunned to see an issue of Scientific <strong>American</strong> on the news-stand<br />
talking about the new CERN particle-collider being able to generate charge-based microsingularities<br />
(black holes) when it goes online in 2007. Is the science all coming together<br />
on-schedule to make <strong>Titor</strong>'s prediction of a time-travel device plausible?<br />
AMERICAN ANTIGRAVITY PAGE 4
Oliver: It does appear look that way or, as some have speculated, the person who<br />
wrote the posts not only worked on the IBM computer in 1975 but also works at CERN. It<br />
caught my attention a few weeks ago to see that an unknown "explosion" at CERN has set<br />
them back a little. I wonder if the system is already working and creating mini black holes?<br />
AAG: You mentioned some stunning new information to me on the phone: that Art Bell,<br />
the host of Coast to Coast AM, had received two faxes from <strong>John</strong> <strong>Titor</strong> in 1998 talking<br />
about both the Twin Towers being destroyed in New York City as well as Newt Gingrich<br />
running for president. Since Fox News was talking about Gingrich for President in 2008 on<br />
today's news, I thought it would be a good time to ask a bit more about this stunning new<br />
information. What can you tell us?<br />
Oliver: When I first heard about the faxes, I didn't pay too much attention to it because<br />
it wasn't part of the original posts he left in 2000 - 2001. Then I heard the audio with Art<br />
and I do believe this was <strong>John</strong>. Art read the faxes on the air. <strong>John</strong> told Art he remembered<br />
a New York in the future with a missing sky-scrapper as well as a future where Newt<br />
Gingrich was president. I'm not sure how likely it is for Mr. Gingrich to be president but it<br />
does sound like a cryptic warning about 911. It's also interesting to note that <strong>John</strong> said he<br />
had to go back to 1998 from 2001 before going home to 2036. So was the <strong>John</strong> who sent<br />
the faxes to Art the same <strong>John</strong> we met or another <strong>John</strong> on his way to 2000?<br />
AAG: You'd mentioned to me earlier that the <strong>Titor</strong> story might not be as easy to validate<br />
as we first might guess, since his claim of time-travel using the "Many Worlds"<br />
interpretation of Quantum Mechanics means that the timeline he claims to originate in is<br />
technically in a similar but parallel dimension to our own. This means that there are implicit<br />
minor differences between his own historical reality and ours. As I recall, you'd mentioned<br />
the 2004 Olympic Games as being one of these - can you tell us a bit more about these<br />
differences?<br />
Oliver: Yes, this is true. Many people point to the 2004 Olympics as proof <strong>John</strong> was not<br />
a time traveler. This is interesting considering <strong>John</strong> said Y2K happened for him and not for<br />
us in his very first posts. When you read what he said, he stated flatly that our future<br />
would be different that the future he lived. Maybe some people need something they<br />
consider definitive in order to disregard something else that frightens them.<br />
AAG: <strong>Titor</strong> claimed that he was able to use a "gravity-lock" in his time-travel unit to<br />
prevent massive timeline-divergence during travel - to keep him close to timelines at least<br />
similar to his own, and prevent him from ending up someplace like a timeline where the<br />
dinosaurs still existed. Here's the problem, though: none of the scientists that I've shown<br />
his story to have the first clue about how this gravity-lock unit is supposed to work. Can<br />
you tell us a bit about this gravity-lock device, and whether you've found any validation for<br />
the idea from the scientific community?<br />
AMERICAN ANTIGRAVITY PAGE 5
Oliver: My impression of the gravity-lock is something that measured changes in gravity<br />
as his time machine was activated. The Earth would have been a major gravity source that<br />
would have been easily picked up by the system. <strong>John</strong> said the time machine could alter<br />
the gravity field it was creating in order to "hold" the Earth in place. I have seen articles in<br />
the past year or so describing gravity sensors scientists plan to use on satellites so the<br />
technology does exist.<br />
AAG: I've wondered if it's possible that the gravity-lock technology might have been a<br />
hoax by the time-machine's designers to make people like <strong>Titor</strong> feel safe using the<br />
machine? After all, once he leaves their timeline he's gone forever anyways -- they'd be<br />
depending on some other <strong>Titor</strong> to show up with their IBM 5100, and with an infinite<br />
number of universes, odds are another <strong>Titor</strong> eventually would. Any thoughts on this<br />
possiblity?<br />
Oliver: That's an interesting idea. I've always wondered if <strong>John</strong> was a real time traveler<br />
and also a liar.<br />
AAG: Let's talk about the overall public response to the <strong>Titor</strong> story. As the webmaster for<br />
the official online archive, you get the brunt of public feedback & opinion on this tale, and<br />
you've mentioned having received death-threats and all sorts of negative public response<br />
about this story. Can you tell us a bit about this?<br />
Oliver: For some reason, the posts seem to really anger some people. Some are angry<br />
because they believe the posts are corrupting people and making them believe in time<br />
travel. Others are angry because they think time travel is real and we're not supposed to<br />
know what <strong>John</strong> was telling us. What ever the reason, I've been getting threats by email<br />
ever since we started the site. Usually they're in all caps and telling me what they would do<br />
if they ever found me but there have been others that were more serious and more<br />
threatening.<br />
AAG: Do you think that this negativity coming from the public might be a sort of dark<br />
admission that we agree with his assessments about our future? In other words, could this<br />
be an emotional reaction to the realization that the way we're running our society might<br />
very well lead to the events he's predicted?<br />
Oliver: I absolutely agree but <strong>John</strong> also told us we don't have to surrender to a<br />
predefined future.<br />
AAG: Now one online skeptic - a fellow calling himself 'Mr. Dark' - claims that since civil<br />
war didn't break out in 2005 the <strong>Titor</strong> story has been proven to be a hoax. However, didn't<br />
<strong>Titor</strong> himself state that civil unrest would begin "as having a Waco type event every month<br />
that steadily gets worse". Given the massive riots in France last winter, a rising insurgency<br />
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in Iraq, and steadily increasing tensions along the Mexican border, is it fair to say that<br />
maybe it's still too early to tell whether these events have begun?<br />
Oliver: The statement about Waco has been another one of those issues people center<br />
around as proving the posts false. I always thought "Waco" events referred to government<br />
intervention on private citizens that caused the death of the citizens. Maybe we didn't really<br />
understand what <strong>John</strong> meant by that. I'm beginning to wonder if Waco events doesn't<br />
mean the increasing frequency of children dying violently for pointless reasons.<br />
AAG: In your opinion, what's the bellweather event that really tells us whether the <strong>Titor</strong><br />
story accurately predicts our future? Is it this notion of a real civil-war breaking out in<br />
2008, having it engulf the entire USA by 2012, or his predicted nuclear attacks by 2015? In<br />
your eyes, what's the point of no return telling us that we're following <strong>Titor</strong>s predicted<br />
timeline?<br />
Oliver: That's an interesting question. In my opinion, we're already off the <strong>Titor</strong> timeline<br />
but <strong>John</strong> seemed more concerned about that than he did having a nuclear or civil war.<br />
I think the real proof of <strong>John</strong>'s statements will be found in the technology. I'm watching<br />
CERN very closely to see if mini black holes can really be captured the way <strong>John</strong> said.<br />
AAG: Thus far, we've talked a lot about timelines, events, and even technology, but I<br />
should mention that the majority of the <strong>Titor</strong> story is actually about our culture, and not<br />
only how it compares to what he claims exists in the United States of 2036, but also about<br />
how they view our culture of today in a historical sense. Some people have described his<br />
views as "libertarian", but to most of us his opinions seem both vaguely familiar and yet<br />
completely alien. What are your thoughts on the cultural differences that he describes<br />
between these two worlds?<br />
Oliver: It's true. Many people have tried to categorize <strong>John</strong>'s political views so they<br />
could create a profile on what kind of person they think typed the posts. In my opinion, it's<br />
very difficult to do that considering the wide range of views he had. His descriptions of<br />
society seemed a lot like communisism at the same time he was chastising us for our lack<br />
of religion. I think it's very possible that catastrophic events in the future could create a<br />
society with people like <strong>John</strong>. I also think that's another element that makes the posts so<br />
haunting.<br />
AAG: You know, most time-travel claims talk about future catastrophes and offer advice<br />
on how to avoid them, but a large part of <strong>Titor</strong>'s story seems to involve the notion that the<br />
only way his world can be born is for ours to die. In a sense, it almost creates a wall<br />
between our two worlds - an invisible barrier of catastrophe that changes our culture into<br />
something that we simply can't imagine today. <strong>Titor</strong> talked about the people of the future<br />
not really liking our culture today. Can you elaborate a bit on that?<br />
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Oliver: As a time traveler, <strong>John</strong> was probably in a unique situation he was unprepared<br />
for. Imagine being able to travel back in time and seeing the everyday activities of the<br />
German people as the Nazi's were taking over or getting to know someone who was about<br />
to board the Titanic. <strong>John</strong> seemed angry, paranoid, concerned and frustrated about the<br />
questions he was asked and the world he found in the year 2000. He even said outright<br />
that he blamed us for many of the terrible things he was forced to deal with as an adult.<br />
AAG: Now your role as the <strong>Titor</strong> webmaster really involves archiving the original <strong>Titor</strong><br />
story, but in the past couple of years others have begun adding to the original story itself --<br />
mostly notably a group claiming to be <strong>Titor</strong>'s family in our timeline, who appear in the<br />
media through their attorney, Larry Haber. What can you tell us about this recent twist to<br />
the story? Have they added any notable new information or pictures, and more<br />
importantly, have they made any contradictions to the original story that might cast doubt<br />
on their authenticity?<br />
Oliver: Larry Haber is a real attorney who lives in Florida and claims to represent the<br />
family of <strong>John</strong> <strong>Titor</strong> in the year 2007. According to Larry, the family moved to the Midwest,<br />
wrote a book for sale on Amazon, and deals with Larry on other media development. The<br />
family remains hidden due to the fact that young <strong>John</strong> in our time is only nine years old.<br />
The mother of <strong>John</strong> <strong>Titor</strong> released a document a few years ago that is supposed to prove<br />
<strong>John</strong> had something to do with changing the IBM computer in 1975. I also believe they<br />
were able to prove who they were to a group of people that spoke to <strong>John</strong> online and had<br />
information backing up their claims. There is a short film from Larry's office for sale that<br />
can be downloaded from the Internet. It is interesting and adds a twist to everything else<br />
going on.<br />
AAG: Speaking of the <strong>Titor</strong> family, one of <strong>John</strong>'s final postings talked about having them<br />
film his departure from the year 2001 to provide a bit more evidence for the authenticity of<br />
his story. If nothing else, it would be neat to see the time-travel device at work -- have you<br />
heard whether they were able to capture his departure on film, and if so, do they have<br />
plans to release it?<br />
Oliver: <strong>John</strong> stated he would allow his departure to be videotaped and put up on the<br />
Internet. Larry Haber claims to know nothing about it. Either the video was not made or<br />
never uploaded. The video up now is not of <strong>John</strong>'s departure.<br />
AAG: I've heard rumblings about a movie deal in the works to produce a feature-film on<br />
the <strong>John</strong> <strong>Titor</strong> story. Are either you or the <strong>Titor</strong> family involved with his, and have you<br />
heard any details about it?<br />
Oliver: I've heard the same thing but I don't have anymore information. I've had some<br />
success at contacting the actor who plays <strong>John</strong> <strong>Titor</strong> in the short film. His name is Michael<br />
Hartson. He's a real actor in Hollywood who's been in real movies. I hope to ask him a few<br />
questions in the next few weeks.<br />
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AAG: Let's close with a question about your own future --how do you see your role as<br />
webmaster of the <strong>John</strong> <strong>Titor</strong> website progressing over time? Will there ever be a time when<br />
you shut the website down, or will it remain online indefinitely as a morality tale about the<br />
times we live in? Also, what are your own future plans over the course of the next few<br />
years?<br />
Oliver: I'll keep the site up as long as I can. Just when you think the posts don't have<br />
any life in them, something happens in the news that sparks the whole thing all over again.<br />
I've always wondered if <strong>John</strong> was a real time traveler but told us just enough to manipulate<br />
us. Maybe <strong>John</strong> knew someone like me would do exactly what I'm doing. On the other<br />
hand, what if <strong>John</strong> knew there would be no war in our future and wanted to change that?<br />
If he gave out just enough information, someone might be able to build a bomb with a<br />
mini black hole.<br />
Oliver is the archival webmaster of the official <strong>John</strong> <strong>Titor</strong> website – a collection of postings, links, and<br />
information reference by <strong>Titor</strong> during the 2000 – 2001 timeframe. While Oliver prefers to remain semianonymous,<br />
you may contact him via email at JTEditor@johntitor.com.<br />
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