Although it sounds like something straight out of a Hollywood sci-fi blockbuster, claims that time travel is a reality have persisted for decades. From a 17th-century painting featuring a 'Sputnik' satellite to an eagle-eyed audience member holding a smartphone at Elvis Presley's final concert, history is littered with baffling anomalies. Here, we take a look at the most mysterious evidence that really does make us wonder if intrepid folk have mastered the fourth dimension, including a 1,500-year-old mummy rocking Adidas trainers and a Native American taking a 'selfie' in 1937. If that's not enough to make you query the space-time continuum, wait until you see the 1928 Charlie Chaplin extra on a mobile, an ancient Greek statue using a laptop and a spooky 1898 photograph of climate activist Greta Thunberg's doppelganger.
Sputnik in a 1600s Painting
In 1957, the Soviet Union made waves when it sent Sputnik 1, the first artificial Earth satellite, into orbit. So how did the craft seemingly crop up in a 1600 painting in a church in Montalcino, Italy? The work, known as the Glorification of the Eucharist by Bonaventura Salimbeni, depicts God and Jesus with what looks like Sputnik. Art experts say that the blue orb with what looks like antenna is meant to be the 'celestial sphere.'
Football Freak with a Flip Phone
In 1962, Brazil won the World Cup in Chile and skipper Mauro Ramos de Oliveira held aloft the famous Jules Rimet trophy in celebration. But in the lower half of a famous snap of the moment, another person appears to be taking a photo using a 21st Century Motorola style flip phone. Experts point out that it's probably a type of box camera, common at the time.
Elvis Incident
Singer Elvis Presley, who had a hit with It's Now Or Never, has been the subject of many conspiracy theories, with some alleging that he didn't really die in 1977. But could a time traveller have been at his last concert that very year? Eagle-eyed fans spotted something unusual in footage from the gig where, at one point, a mystery hand in the audience holds up what looks strangely like a smartphone.
Time-Travelling Hipster
In 1941, a photo was taken of a crowd witnessing the re-opening of South Fork Bridge in British Columbia, Canada. On the right hand of the image is a man who appears to be wearing modern dress. He sports wraparound sunglasses and casual clothes, including a top with a logo that appear out of step with the hats and jackets worn by the other men around him. He is also holding a small portable camera. The image is genuine and preserved in the Bralorne Pioneer Museum. Some researchers say the modern-looking attire and camera were available at the time.
Shoe Are Ya?
Could a pair of shoes prove that time travel is a genuine phenomenon? In 2016, reports emerged that a 1500-year-old mummy had been discovered high up in the Altai mountains of Mongolia. Weirdly, its well preserved red and black footwear seems to be sporting very modern looking Adidas-style stripes.
Native Selfie
In 1937, long before mobile phones hit the market, Italian artist Umberto Romano painted a work called Mr Pynchon and the Settling of Springfield. It shows Europeans arriving in the modern-day US. Bafflingly, one of the Native Americans appears to be clutching a black rectangular object that looks like a mobile phone, as if he's holding it up to take a selfie.
Victorian iPhone
An 1860 painting by Austrian Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller makes art lovers do a double take. The work, The Expected One, centres around a woman walking along a countryside path, while a boy waits to surprise her with a flower. However, she appears to be distracted by what looks uncannily like a mobile phone. Sceptics suggest the item depicted is actually a prayer book.
Historic Handset
A DVD of Charlie Chaplin's 1928 movie The Circus included bonus footage taken outside Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles at the film's premiere. At one point a woman walks past holding what looks like a mobile phone to her ear. However, researchers at Washington University in St Louis have since suggested that she may simply be holding an old-fashioned hearing aid.
Ancient Laptop
A Greek statue known as Grave Naiskos of an Enthroned Woman with an Attendant is currently housed in the J. Paul Getty Museum in California. The 37-inch marble relief dates to 100BC - and seems to show a woman using a laptop - complete with USB ports. Killjoy historians say that it is simply a box, probably holding jewellery and that the apertures are likely to have been drill holes for attaching another object.
Greta Lookalike
Swedish campaigner Greta Thunberg has become famous for her battle against climate change. But a photo unearthed from the archives of the University of Washington, dating to 1898, appears to show her exact doppelganger living in Canada's Yukon territory.
