A man claiming to be a ‘time traveller’ stirred international interest in 2006 when he appeared in Kyiv dressed in old-fashioned attire and holding an antique camera, asserting he was from 1958 and had visited 2050, offering ‘evidence’ for his extraordinary tale.
Named Sergei Ponomarenko, he baffled the global audience with his assertions. Upon his arrival in the Ukrainian capital, he mystified local law enforcement by asking for directions to a non-existent street in present-day Kyiv.
Ponomarenko stated he was born in 1932, and his appearance was peculiar for someone in 2006.
His old-style clothing and camera alone weren’t convincing enough for authorities to accept his time-traveling story.
Following his arrest and subsequent interrogation, Ponomarenko presented ‘evidence’ to back his unbelievable claims.
He showed a Soviet-era document indicating he was 25 years old at the time.
Additionally, photographs from his vintage camera depicted scenes of Kyiv reminiscent of the 1950s era.
Among these images was Ponomarenko himself, wearing the same clothes as during his arrest, alongside a woman he identified as his fiancée.
One of the images, purportedly showing a UFO near a building, seemed less credible and likely undermined his attempts to substantiate his story.
But there was more to this tale.
When authorities searched for missing persons records, they found that someone named Sergei Ponomarenko had been reported missing in 1958.
The woman in the photographs confirmed her fiancé vanished for two years before returning.
She also mentioned receiving a photo seemingly taken in 2050, showing an older Ponomarenko amidst what was supposed to be a futuristic view of Kyiv.
Before he could be further interrogated, Ponomarenko disappeared, leaving open the possibility he might have used a time machine to journey to another era.
This bizarre narrative prompted YouTuber Joe Scott to investigate and debunk Ponomarenko’s claims in a video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yH3lkiq4WqI
Scott discovered that images developed from Ponomarenko’s camera appeared to be ‘cloned’ from those used in an episode of the Ukrainian TV show Aliens.
The show itself involves a time-travel storyline.
Although Scott was unable to locate the original images from the TV program, the reenacted content bore an uncanny resemblance to Ponomarenko’s claims.