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Charlie Chaplin's cell phone: A time-traveler caught on tape?
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A cell phone in 1928? Those pesky time-traveling aliens!In a brief scene from footage shot at the premiere of Charlie Chaplin's 1928 film "The Circus," a woman walks into the shot with her hand to her ear, appearing as if she is speaking on a cell phone. Of course, cell phones didn't exist in 1928. Not even the giant Zach Morris bricks.
Filmmaker George Clarke, who discovered the footage, is looking for answers, and he's drawn the most logical conclusion: she was a time-traveler. The commenters on his YouTube video, which has gotten nearly a million views, have decided that she's also an alien.
"Nobody can give me an explanation as to what it is," Clarke says.
We can. It's a crazy lady talking to herself.
Or, you know... a time-traveling alien. That works too.
Watch the video below and make your own call, Zappers. What conclusions to you come to?
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IF this was a time traveler, how would they have cell phone signal? There was no cell phone towers in the 1920's. Just a drunk lady walking around. The end.
its a walkie talkie. She is working out the steps on the shot.
Donna, you've obviously never been on a film set. Drunk extras aren't allowed to roam around a set during a shoot -- not even in 1928. (Not to mention that this was during Prohibition -- and while one could certainly get alcohol, it's one thing to drink in a speakeasy and another thing to be wandering around one's work area dead drunk.)
You also show a sad lack of imagination. Instead of latching onto the word "cell" so that you can only conceive of the device being a *cellular* telephone, try just thinking of the thing as a wireless communication device.
There is definitely something in the woman's hand. Otoh, extras don't normally run around a filming set with objects in their hands not put there by the dressers, prop master, director, extras wrangler, etc., so that's a little weird in and of itself.
I have no idea what the object is, but it's fun to speculate!
she was just ear raped and is holding her ear, swearing in pain.
How stupid that this was on the national news on NBC.
it wasnt even on the set, it was outside the manns theatre for the films premiere. if youre going to believe that its a time traveler or an alien or whatever, is it really that big of a stretch to believe that there was a working mobile phone device?
Ok, I'm no rocket scientist, but let's think about this... even if it was a time traveler, using a cell phone would be impossible as there was no technology available at that time to process the signal... much less a billing system to screw up the bill.
It is probably a radio. Did you ever think that it could be a radio?
Is it a radio? Did you ever think that it is a radio? You don't even see her mouth moving. Is that a man or a woman?
So doctor who is real!! Must be one of his companions talking on their 'super phone'!