Photo of beachgoers in 1940s shows 'time traveller with mobile phone'
Social media users are convinced a man in a scruffy brown suit can be seen peering into what appears to be a mobile phone in the wartime photograph from Towan Beach
Sharp-eyed social media observers are adamant that a time traveller has appeared in a 1940s seaside photograph.
The man in a dishevelled brown suit is clearly visible at the centre of the wartime image, seemingly gazing at what looks like a mobile phone.
Surrounding him are scores of sun-seeking holidaymakers enjoying the final summer sunshine in September 1943.
The photograph was captured on Towan Beach, Cornwall, and shared online by Stuart Humphrys, who originally failed to notice the apparent time-hopping figure.
He wrote: "British war workers escape to the seaside - this Cornish beach was photographed in September 1943.
"(It would be lovely if one of you were able to identify which beach!)"
However, once he published the coastal snapshot, X users immediately highlighted a particularly peculiar detail among the rolled-up trousers, panama hats and deckchairs.
Mistaking the date, South London History replied: "Er...is it just me or is this guy checking his phone.....in the 1950s?"
Dr Kevin Purcell added: "Good catch. It's clearly the man in the shot is a time travelling tourist checking his mobile device.
"Finally the evidence we need that time travel is real.
"We now see things in old photos that we missed before but now we know they're phones now that we have them."
Gerald Jackson added: "Shows how much beachwear has changed!
"Jacket, tie and hat? Mind they did that when I was a kid in the 50s."
Yet Mr Humphrys remained unconvinced, saying: "I think that chap is rolling a cigarette!" It's not the first instance that sharp-eyed photography enthusiasts have identified eerily modern gadgets in old, grainy photographs and film footage.
In 2010, a mobile phone user was spotted in an old Charlie Chaplin film, leading viewers to label them a time traveller.
George Clarke, a filmmaker from Belfast, noticed the uncanny sight and uploaded the clip to YouTube.
The footage shows a brief snippet from DVD extras included with Chaplin's 1928 silent film The Circus. However, upon closer inspection, it seems a woman walks past chatting into a phone held to her ear.
Some later suggested it was a portable hearing aid, although this seems improbable.
Over 80 years ago, Umberto Romano painted 'Mr Pynchon and the Setting of Springfield', which depicts a 17th century gathering between native Americans and English settlers in Massachusetts.
Yet it also appears to feature a man, bare from the waist up, holding a flip phone.
Furthermore, Apple CEO Tim Cook once confessed to spotting an iPhone in a 347 year old artwork by Pieter de Hooch titled "Man Hands a Letter to a Woman in a Hall."
Cook viewed the Dutch master's piece at a museum in Amsterdam and was taken aback.
He stated in an interview, "I always thought I knew when the iPhone was invented, but now I'm not so sure anymore."
