# Could UFO's really be time machines from our future? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 25, 2014, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-ufos-really-be-time-machines-from-our-future/705562 "2014-11-25T06:16:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2014, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-ufos-really-be-time-machines-from-our-future/705562/21 "2014-11-26T16:42:25Z")
Per-VECTS. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2014, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-ufos-really-be-time-machines-from-our-future/705562/22 "2014-11-26T18:23:06Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > Miller, Bud says to bring him an Oly. You otto run… Much subtler reference than I was going to contribute. Well done. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Penfeather](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penfeather/32/384_2.png) [@Penfeather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Penfeather)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2014, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-ufos-really-be-time-machines-from-our-future/705562/23 "2014-11-26T18:59:39Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > Nah, the only workable model (which replaced the DL3 after the Pompeii incident) don’t make that whiny noise. That’s just the handbrake being left on. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2014, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-ufos-really-be-time-machines-from-our-future/705562/24 "2014-11-26T20:40:21Z")
> [@Martian Bigfoot](#): > > Time travel into the past is almost certainly impossible according to the laws of physics. Aliens isn’t. Who would want to time travel into aliens, though? ---
**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2014, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-ufos-really-be-time-machines-from-our-future/705562/25 "2014-11-26T20:43:07Z")
> [@zoid](#): > > Close. > > UFOs are from an alternate future where cell phone cameras were never invented. Stop right there. If their history didn’t have cellphones, then they couldn’t have traveled back in time to a past when they did. Maybe they “jumped universes”, but that’s not time travel. Also note that, according to one of the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy books (IIRC), time travel was “invented” in the distant past, as someone who invented it and went back in time taught the people who were already there how to do it. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2014, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-ufos-really-be-time-machines-from-our-future/705562/26 "2014-11-26T20:44:48Z")
There ain’t no difference between a flying saucer and a time machine. People get so hung up on specifics they miss out on seeing the whole thing. Take South America for example. In South America, thousands of people go missing every year. Nobody knows where they go, they just, like, disappear. But if you think about it for a minute, you realize something. There had to be a time when there was no people, right? Well where did all these people come from, huh? I’ll tell you where. The future. And where did all these people disappear to? The past? That’s right! And how did they get there? Flying saucers. Which are really…? Yeah, you got it, time machines. I think a lot about this kind of stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2014, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-ufos-really-be-time-machines-from-our-future/705562/27 "2014-11-26T20:50:41Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > Who would want to time travel into aliens, though? Outside of an alien, a book is a man’s best friend. Inside an alien, it’s too dark to read. – attr. Mark Twain ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2014, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-ufos-really-be-time-machines-from-our-future/705562/28 "2014-11-26T20:54:17Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > There ain’t no difference between a flying saucer and a time machine. People get so hung up on specifics they miss out on seeing the whole thing. Take South America for example. In South America, thousands of people go missing every year. Nobody knows where they go, they just, like, disappear. But if you think about it for a minute, you realize something. There had to be a time when there was no people, right? Well where did all these people come from, huh? I’ll tell you where. The future. And where did all these people disappear to? The past? That’s right! And how did they get there? Flying saucers. Which are really…? Yeah, you got it, time machines. **I think a lot about this kind of stuff.** I think we just got a glimpse into the moderator selection process. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2014, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-ufos-really-be-time-machines-from-our-future/705562/29 "2014-11-26T21:00:57Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > I think we just got a glimpse into the moderator selection process. 😃 A lot of people don’t realize what’s really going on. They view life as a bunch of unconnected incidents and things. They don’t realize that there’s this, like, lattice of coincidence that lays on top of everything. Give you an example, show you what I mean: suppose you’re thinkin’ about a plate of shrimp. Suddenly someone’ll say, like, “plate,” or “shrimp,” or “plate of shrimp” out of the blue, no explanation. No point in lookin’ for one, either. It’s all part of a cosmic unconsciousness. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2014, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-ufos-really-be-time-machines-from-our-future/705562/30 "2014-11-26T21:03:04Z")
> [@DrFidelius](#): > > That depends on how the time machine in question works. A chrono-cabinet will be able to transfer its contents to any fourspace point during its subjective existence. You cannot use a chrono-cabinet to reach a fourspace point prior to its construction or after its destruction. > > However, most time machines are either a tethered push cage which can be extended either forward or backward from zero-state NOW, subject of course to the amount of energy available, and the mass available to balance it off on the otherwhen side, or free devices which autorotate to fifth or sixth dimensional pseudospace and re-enter at a pre-programmed fourspace point. These types can translocate to a historical locus subjectively before its invention. > > I hope this helps. And anyone with half a brain cell would invent the latter model. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2014, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-ufos-really-be-time-machines-from-our-future/705562/31 "2014-11-26T21:14:28Z")
If future civilizations have time machines, they’re probably too busy going ahead in time to get answers to their problems to bother with the nitwits of our era. Who wants to hang out around a bunch of people texting and blowing things up? ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2014, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-ufos-really-be-time-machines-from-our-future/705562/32 "2014-11-26T21:32:34Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > A lot of people don’t realize what’s really going on. They view life as a bunch of unconnected incidents and things. They don’t realize that there’s this, like, lattice of coincidence that lays on top of everything. Give you an example, show you what I mean: suppose you’re thinkin’ about a plate of shrimp. Suddenly someone’ll say, like, “plate,” or “shrimp,” or “plate of shrimp” out of the blue, no explanation. No point in lookin’ for one, either. It’s all part of a cosmic unconsciousness. You eat a lot of acid, Loach, back in the hippie days? ---
**Author:** ![Atomic\_Alex](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atomic_alex/32/175_2.png) [@Atomic\_Alex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atomic_Alex)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2014, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-ufos-really-be-time-machines-from-our-future/705562/33 "2014-11-26T21:34:39Z")
[Indiana Jones] “Time travellers, I hate these guys…” [/Indiana Jones] ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2014, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-ufos-really-be-time-machines-from-our-future/705562/34 "2014-11-26T21:57:40Z")
> [@Shakes](#): > > Any time machine that actually worked would have to already exist today, because the time traveler wouldn’t be able to go further back in time than before the time machine was built. . . . That only applies to some models of time travel. Other models permit an “extension vehicle” that is projected back to times before the projecting base exists. Yet other models permit a free-moving vehicle that can travel to any era. ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2014, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-ufos-really-be-time-machines-from-our-future/705562/35 "2014-11-26T22:00:50Z")
Occam’s razor in two steps: First, we start with “Eyewitness testimony has been scientifically proven to be unreliable” People both see and remember things incorrectly, even without an intent to deceive anyone. Some are just plain old-fashioned liars. After that eliminates 99% of sightings, we move onto “We know that top secret military research is ongoing.” Interesting, in fact, that so many UFO theories actually center around known military research. Almost as if there was a connection… Pretty sure Occam’s razor has now satisfactorily wrapped up the argument. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2014, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-ufos-really-be-time-machines-from-our-future/705562/36 "2014-11-26T23:07:42Z")
> [@The Great Sun Jester](#): > > You eat a lot of acid, Loach, back in the hippie days? Too young to be a hippie. But I am the perfect age to think that the OP isn’t asking a serious question but is instead a reference to Repo Man. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2014, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-ufos-really-be-time-machines-from-our-future/705562/37 "2014-11-26T23:18:25Z")
You are not alone. You are not a loan. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2014, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-ufos-really-be-time-machines-from-our-future/705562/38 "2014-11-26T23:27:18Z")
Yes, UFO’s are indeed time machines from our future. They were invented by the Illuminati on the Dark Side of the Moon (which is why the USA was not allowed to have Moon landings) and are piloted by Yetis. Their purpose is to use Feng Shui to improve our lives. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-ufos-really-be-time-machines-from-our-future/705562.md?page=1)