John Titor – Time Traveler: A Fake or Poor History Student

I love the idea of Time Travel. As a kid I wanted to write my name on a brick with a note that says “if there is ever time travel to come back and find me.” Why a brick, I am not sure. But as a ten year old, I am sure my science was rock solid. This brings us to John Titor.

According to http://www.johntitor.com/: "In November 2000 a person calling themselves Timetravel_0, and later John Titor, started posting on a public forum that he was a time traveler from the year 2036.

"One of the first things he did was post pictures of his time machine and its operations manual. As the weeks went by, more and more people began questioning him about why he was here, the physics of time travel and his thoughts about our time. He also posted on other forums including the now non-existent Art Bell site. In his posts John Titor entertained, angered, frightened and even belittled those who engaged him in conversation.

"On March 21, 2001, John Titor told us he would be leaving our and returning to 2036. After that, he was never heard from again. Speculation and investigation about who John Titor was and why he was online continues to this day. "

Well now here we are 8 almost nine years later and I thought we would take a look at some of his predictions and see how he did.

1. “There is a civil war in the United States that starts in 2005. That conflict flares up and down for 10 years. In 2015, Russia launches a nuclear strike against the major cities in the United States (which is the "other side" of the civil war from my perspective), China and Europe. The United States counter attacks. The US cities are destroyed along with the AFE (American Federal Empire)...thus we (in the country) won. The European Union and China were also destroyed. Russia is now our largest trading partner and the Capitol of the US was moved to Omaha Nebraska.”

Ok, this one, at least the first part, he got wrong. As far as I remember there was no civil war 4 years ago. At least not that I know of, but then again Mark Felt being revealed as Deep Throat and Prince Charles marrying Camilla were pretty big stories

2. The civil war in the United States will start in 2004. I would describe it as having a Waco type event every month that steadily gets worse. The conflict will consume everyone in the US by 2012 and end in 2015 with a very short WWIII.

Why this one contradicts the first I am not sure. And what is with the Waco reference? Too soon John Titor, too soon.

3. What exactly is "IT"? Since no one will know for sure until probably 2002 according to news reports.
I suppose this question is my own fault. As a time traveler, I am expected to know every winning horse and hot stock as well as the weather in all parts of the world at all times. I was genuinely interested in your opinion of how "IT" was being presented and advertised. Do you feel manipulated? Do you think it's really a big deal? Do you like the way the news is dealing with it?

Here is where my faith in John Titor starts to wane. Does anyone even remember what the "IT" was? It was the Segway. Remember how it changed your life? Me either.

4. Are the Olympics still being played in the future? As a result of the many conflicts, no, there were no official Olympics after 2004. However, it appears they may be revived in 2040.

I seem to remember the 2004 Olympics. It happened when I was not trying to reclaim the compound during the Civil War that was going on at the time or happened a year later.

5. The year 2008 was a general date by which time everyone will realize the world they thought they were living in was over.

This one scares me. Mostly cause it is so vague. Does he mean the big Economic downturn? Does he mean Obama being elected? Does he mean the realization after seeing Love Guru, that Mike Myers is not that funny anymore? Come on Johnny, would one "fact" have killed you?

So yeah, so far John Titor is 0 for 5, or well 0 for 4 if you count that whole CIVIL WAR thing, twice. Now I am not a student of history, but I can remember pretty big events from years back, like the Challenger explosion in 1986, or the Hostages in Iran, 1979-80, Reagan assassination in 1983. Other stuff I am fuzzy on, but I can remember with in a few years.

How about I make some predictions:
1. In 2012 there will be a Presidential Election and either a Republican or Democrat will win.
2. Someone relatively famous will die in the next 12 months.
3. The Best Picture Oscar winner of 2010 will be deemed by many to be over-rated.
4. Bret Michael and his new Rock of Love will not get married and grow old together.
5. Michael Jackson will do something freakish.

Hey I get even one right, and I am a better time traveller than John Titor.

I think it may be safe to say that John Titor, is total BS. Someone who was having a little fun on the internet, because YouTube was not around yet. Either that or John Titor WAS from the future, and was smart enough to know how to build a Time Machine, but not a very good history student.

Jason