The Dodleston Messages: Proof of Time Travel?
Were the Dodleston messages really from a time traveler? Photo: How Stuff Works.
In 1985, Ken Webster began receiving strange messages on his computer that seemed to be from a man in the 1500s. The man claimed he had been given a “light box” that allowed him to communicate with people from the future.
The Story of the Dodleston Messages
The first sign of strange activity in Ken Webster’s house was the appearance of six-toed footprints in the dust that appeared to be walking up the wall of his old cottage in Dodleston, England. Ken lived in the cottage with his girlfriend Debbie and their friend Nic. They had been slowly renovating the cottage and there was a lot of extra dust laying around.
They decided the footprints must have been a prank by visiting friends and Nic took to them with a paintbrush and a gallon of paint. They thought that was the end of that, until the next morning. They awoke to find the footprints had reappeared.
Over the next few days paranormal activity seemed to ramp up around the cottage. The strange footprints began to appear on the floor as well as the walls. Cans of cat food were found neatly stacked in a pyramid shape. Cold gusts of wind appeared out of no where and the house seemed to be filled with shadows and an eerie presence.
Ken was a computer enthusiast and had borrowed a BBC Micro computer from the local school, where he was a teacher, to do some writing. This was long before the days of the internet and most people had barely even used a computer.
One day when he returned home from work he found a cryptic message left on his computer screen. It read:
“True are the nightmares of a person that fears.
Safe are the bodies of the silent world.
Turn pretty flower, turn towards the sun for you shall grow and sow.
But the flower reaches too high and withers in the burning light.
Get out your bricks —
Pussy Cat, Pussy Cat went to London to seek fame and fortune.
Faith must not be lost for this shall be your redeemer.”
A few days later another message appeared, written in what seemed to be an archaic version of English. It read:
I write on behalf of many — What strange words you speak — You are a worthy (good) man who has a fanciful woman, and you live in my house (who dwell in my home) — with lights which (the) devil makes — It was a great crime to have stolen (bribed) my house. — L.W.
After this messages began appearing almost every day. The messages claimed that they written by a man from 1546, named Lukas, who had built the cottage. Lukas was angry that there were other people (Ken, Debbie and Nic) who seemed to be living in his house.
Over the next 18 months Ken wrote back and forth to Lukas, asking him many questions about who he was and the time that he lived in. Lukas appeared to be suspicious of Ken and his motives.
Eventually Lukas revealed that his name was actually Thomas Harden. He had lied about his name initially to protect his identity.
Thomas claimed to be able to see what was going on in his future cottage by looking through a “lightbox” that was given to him by a man who claimed to be from the year 2109. It was through this lightbox that Thomas was able to send the messages to Ken.
Ken was intrigued by this development and attempted to contact the man from 2109 by writing messages addressed to him on his computer.
2109 replied to Ken saying:
“Try to understand that you three have a purpose that shall in your life time change the face of history, we, 2109, must not affect your thoughts directly but give you some sort of guidance that will allow room for your own destiny. All we can say is that we are all part of the same god, what ever, he is (?), is.”
2109 continued to communicate with Ken and Debbie claiming that the fact that they had discovered Thomas’ real name may put the experiment in jeopardy.
Eventually, Thomas wrote claiming that he was being forced to leave his land. He said he would write his version of the events as a book and leave it somewhere that it could be found in the future so that Ken and Debbie could know he was telling the truth.
Thomas’ book has never been found.
Were the Dodleston Messages a Hoax?
The story of the Dodleston messages seems almost too farfetched to be true. It could have been a well perpetrated hoax by someone with good knowledge of 1980’s computer technology and English history.
Nick Poyntz, a history enthusiast with a master's degree in early modern history from Birkbeck, University of London, was fascinated by the Dodleston messages and wrote a detailed blog post about them.
In it he claims that Thomas’s messages are written in a way that is consistent with the dialect and old-fashioned spellings of the time and region.
It seems there was in fact a Thomas Harden living in Dodleston in 1546 according to local church records.
Much of the story is impossible to verify but provides great food for thought nonetheless.
Do you think the Dodleston messages are proof of time travel? Let us know in the comments.
If you enjoyed this article you may also enjoy learning about a mysterious voice haunting American Airlines flights or Langville, Montana: the town that disappeared.
Check out some other articles featuring time travel:
Noah the Time Traveler
Mike Marcum’s Time Machine
Vasile Gorgos disappears then reappears 30 years later wearing the same clothes.
Further Reading
The Vertical Plane by Ken Webster
Ken Webster wrote a book about his experience called The Vertical Plane. You can purchase it here.
