The strange case of Enoch Soames, time travel, Teller, and a unique photo

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.

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.

"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.

Fans of (artful hoaxes of) time travel might also enjoy 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