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Brilio.net/en - Often belonging in the science fiction and fantasy movies, the possibility of time travelling hasnt been proven scientifically and doesnt make any sense either. But what if they turned out to be real? If the story of two women who lived in the dawn of 20th century is to be believed, then time travel is not only possible, but it can happen spontaneously.
August of 1901. The story began when Charlotte Anne Moberly and Eleanor Jourdain decided to visit the Palace of Versailles in France. These two ladies were getting bored with the tour, Moberly and Jourdain decided to separate with the group and took a walk through the gardens of the Petit Trianon.
Petit Trianon today viaawesomestories
But on the way, the two ladies found out that the palace was closed to the public that day and decided to explore the gardens some more instead. Soon, they were lost and, as they put it, they began to feel weary and oppressed.
Petit Trianon garden today via bleuherron
And then the odd, unexplained things began to unfold.
Time travelling and the ghosts of Versailles
The environment looked peculiar: they saw dignified officials in three-cornered hats, an old plough, and farmhouse. People and things around them looked as if they were in Madam Tussauds or something. Those people looked too outmoded to be belonged in the streets of 20th century Paris.
Everything suddenly looked unnatural, therefore unpleasant; even the trees seemed to become flat and lifeless like wood worked in tapestry. There were no effects of light and shade, and no wind stirred the trees, Jourdain wrote.
When they reached the edge of a wood, near Temple de l'Amour, they came across a man seated beside a garden kiosk, wearing a cloak and large shady hat. Moberly said that his appearance was repulsive... its expression odious. His complexion was dark and rough.
The man slowly turned his face, which was marked by smallpox; his complexion was very dark. The expression was evil and yet unseeing, and though I did not feel that he was looking particularly at us, I felt a repugnance to going past him, Jourdain noted.
The other man, described as tall... with large dark eyes, and crisp curling black hair under a large sombrero hat came up and showed them the way back to the Petit Trianon.
After crossing a bridge, they reached the gardens in front of the palace, and Moberly noticed a lady sketching on the grass, staring at them. She described the lady in a great detail:
She was wearing a light summer dress, a shady white hat was on her head, and her hair was rather fair.
Moberly thought she was a tourist at first, but the dress appeared to be old-fashioned. Moberly came to believe that the lady was Marie Antoinette herself. The ghost of her, to be exact. Jourdain, however, did not see the lady.
Marie Antoinette via Wikimedia
After some strange encounters, they managed to the entrance and finally joined the group of other visitors. The strange feelings and odd visions of the past had vanished.
The truth
Months later, the women brought their strange experience to the public. Visiting Versailles sometime later, the women were not able to find the landmarks that they had noticed during the incident.
These are their findings:
They saw a plough, but they learned that no ploughs had been kept in the gardens of Versailles in 1901. However, an old plough had been displayed on the grounds in 1789.
They walked through a small bridge, but on later trips, they could not locate this same bridge. However, they discovered that a bridge had existed there in 1789.
The two men in green coats they saw, as they later learned, were wearing the uniform of Marie Antoinette's Swiss Guard.
They saw a footman rush out of a building and slam a door shut behind himself. However, this door was actually barred and bolted shut when they visited, and had been kept so for many years.
After all, the sketching lady herself could have been no anyone else but Marie Antoinette herself.
However, the skepticism of the society infuriated the ladies, who later decided to begin their own research. During their research, they thought they recognized the man with the dark complexion as the Comte de Vaudreuil, an enemy of Marie Antoinette, who herself had been thought to have been seen by Moberly.
Comte de Vaudreuil via wikimedia
The two women eventually wrote a book called "An Adventure" in 1911, but their identities as the authors were not revealed until 1931 four years after Eleanor Jourdain passed away.
Did Charlotte Anne Moberly and Eleanor Jourdain really walk through a time hole and land in 16th century France? Skeptics have brought up the possibility that the two might have experienced a shared delusion or perhaps even wandered into a costume party or the rehearsal for an outdoor play. But they cant give a better explanation than that.
Unfolding the mystery
Despite the skepticism of the society, the ladies continued to be taken seriously because of their social and academic respectability: no one could quite believe that they had simply made it all up. However, several arguments continued to rise against Jourdain and Moberly.
The most damaging analysis of their claims appeared in 1950, written by W.H. Salter. He found a close review of Jourdain and Moberly's correspondence with the Society for Psychical Research, that make them able to explain many details.
Jourdain and Moberlys account was (supposedly) written in 1901 had actually been added at a much later date, in 1906, after the women had conducted extensive historical research.
This discovery cast serious doubt on their claims because their entire case had rested upon the impossibility of the two of them, in 1901, being able to give an accurate description of 1789 Versailles. It doesnt mean that the ladies made up their story. They might just have embellished it.
Petit Trianon today via insearchoflosttimes
So, what actually happened to Moberly and Jourdain? Did they slip through a glitch in time and encounter the ghosts of Versailles? Or the story is simply a fiction? Well, the mystery remains as it is, and it seems unexplainable until this day.
(brl/red)
