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‘Stepped into a portal’: TikTok is fascinated by an alleged ‘time traveler’ discovered in a man’s shed

Real estate investor Alec Schall’s Airbnb may or may not be the site of a time portal

Photo of Mike Hadge

Mike Hadge

Man talking(l+r), Man from footage(c)

We all pass by parts of our homes every day without a thought. Closets, drawers, sheds—all seem relatively normal, right? But what if…WHAT IF…one of them just so happened to be a secret time machine? That’s the predicament Real Estate investment TikTokker Alec Schall has found himself in recently. 

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On April 28, Schall caught some suspicious activity at an Airbnb he owns in Florida, with a Ring camera picking up video of a man evidently attempting to rob the property. The white-t-shirted, bespeckled, backpack-wielding man then heads to the backyard as though he’s being chased and gets cozy inside a white shed. Makes sense so far. If I were a robber attempting to rob in broad daylight, a shed feels like a cozy place to stake out.

However, Schall’s camera reveals a passage of time with no movement, followed by an investigation by police, who enter the shed and find nothing. The man never comes out in the initial video and Schall has no idea where he would’ve gone. “Perplexed! Flabbergasted!” he describes. 

@alecschaal

I’ve literally watched this 1 million times and he never leaves. Where did he go? 😭👀

♬ Spooky, quiet, scary atmosphere piano songs – Skittlegirl Sound
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Living five hours away from the property, Schall was unable to visit the site himself, in a situation some might call (not us) convenient. 

Naturally, this saga caught the attention of TikTok at large, where there is actually plenty of ‘Time Traveler’-type content already. Some viewers immediately on board, saying, “more like stepped into a portal to a diff realm or dimension.”

Another TikTok user compared the man to the book ‘The Time Travelers Wife,’ stating, ‘The way he’s looking around, almost frantic, is what the time traveler would do, because he couldn’t always control when he traveled.’

The majority of viewers instantly stated their theories, such as “there’s a tunnel under the shed” or that Schall’s camera merely glitched when the guy left.

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However, then came this update from Schall: 

@alecschaal Replying to @Dmonynet ♬ Spooky, quiet, scary atmosphere piano songs – Skittlegirl Sound

The next day, a man leaves the shed. He has the same facial features and glasses, but he has aged significantly. “I don’t know what to think,” says Schall. 

Needless to say, the story has blown up, with many TikTokers posting their own theories, reactions and even general time travel exploration videos in support or denial of the so-called shed time traveler.  

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@mikebrigandi “Time travelers” debunked! Orginal: @Alec Schaal #timetravelers #debunked #ring ♬ Spooky, quiet, scary atmosphere piano songs – Skittlegirl Sound
@bossbabebritt IS TIME TRAVEL REAL? 😱 #timetraveler #timetravel #fyp ♬ Spooky, quiet, scary atmosphere piano songs – Skittlegirl Sound
@wicked_twitchcraft #timetravel #timetraveler #hoax #con #fake #belief #timeshed #timetravelshed #evidence #iwanttobelieve ♬ original sound – wicked_twitchcraft

However, Schall isn’t letting the haters get him down, choosing to look toward the true believers for support.

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One amateur investigator even managed to track down a Harvard professor who resembles the time traveler (sort of), who happened to be obsessed with time travel…before his death in 2018.

@alecschaal Replying to @LolaBarcelona ♬ Spooky, Quiet, Scary Atmosphere Piano – Bucyrus Audio

Though Schall seems to suffer from a condition in which he sees all older white guys with white hair and glasses as completely identical, he continues his search for the truth.

To attempt to further convince skeptics, Schall posted front-of-house footage of the older “time traveler,” which includes an odd interaction with a parked car (a disguised Delorean?).  

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@alecschaal Replying to @Rebecca Stoner879 ♬ Spooky, quiet, scary atmosphere piano songs – Skittlegirl Sound

Schall even discovered an odd connection with a recent Stephen King novel, but some still aren’t convinced. (Raises hand ever-so-slightly.) Thus, Schall will be heading to the shed this weekend, even doing a livestream. You can check that out at his TikTok.  

What do you think? Is this a Marty McFly or a Fakey McLie? We’ll update the story with new developments.


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