
The strange case of Enoch Soames, time travel, Teller, and a unique photo - kevinmchugh
http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread911402/pg1
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snikeris
I believe it was staged by Teller, and he gives you enough context in his
article to figure it out:

> "I wonder," he said, "how many Enoch Soameses will show up." At the time, I
> thought he was merely musing. Later I understood. He was giving me a
> homework assignment.

And then he closes the article:

> D. G. "Rosey" Rosenbaum didn't come to the Reading Room; he no longer
> corrects homework assignments. He was buried seven years ago, dressed in a
> smart charcoal suit, with a blood-red vest and his pince-nez, a rose in his
> lapel. The mourners said there was a sly smile on his face.

Teller's homework assignment was to stage Enoch's appearance and thus close
the literary loop that Max Beerbohm left open. Teller's teacher was wondering
how many other people would show up to do the same thing.

By closing his article by mentioning his teacher's death, Teller is letting us
know that this performance was an homage to someone he greatly respected.

~~~
keithpeter
As Beerbohm's short story might be quite well-known in some circles, one
imagines that a local literary fan may have been up for making an appearance
in appropriate costume, possibly without the illusionist's knowledge.

Nice story though.

------
api
Fans of (artful hoaxes of) time travel might also enjoy John Titor:

[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Titor](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Titor)

Later it was revealed that a rather well known "transmedia" artist had a role
in that one:

[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Matheny](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Matheny)

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michaelmrose
Becomes less entertaining when you realize the people there actually believe
it or even disbelieve it based on different theories about how time travel
"actually" works.

~~~
joemi
Not sure I understand why that changes the entertainment value. I personally
think it was an elaborate obscure hoax, but I would have loved to have been
there.

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Gys
Time travel is possible ? Maybe. But more importantly, if the story is true it
means the Devil and the Hell actually exist... And therefore...

~~~
joemi
I disagree. Even if Soames were indeed transported into the future for a bit,
it hardly proves anything about the Devil. Merely that someone _claiming_ to
be the Devil did this.

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cafard
I just want to say that _Seven Men_ is still in print, and for that matter
some of it downloadable from the Gutenberg Project.

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anotheryou
can't find the photo, should it be somewhere?

~~~
snikeris
[https://www.flickr.com/photos/allhails/8124880282](https://www.flickr.com/photos/allhails/8124880282)

~~~
anotheryou
thanks, took the link for a headline

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ablation
"The incident remains a true time travel mystery" \- er, really? It's a nice
story, but that's about it. It would have been better to post the Teller
article than the link above, too. Above Top Secret is a pretty awful website.

~~~
kevinmchugh
I don't know anything about that site. I just liked the additional context it
provided, including the picture.

