On April 23, 2006, a 25 year old man, Sergei Ponomarenko, stood in a street of Kiev, Ukraine. He wore an old-fashioned clothes commonly seen during the USSR. In his hand was an old-fashioned camera. Sergei walked down the street with a bewildering expression.
The police noticed the young man who appeared to be out of place. They stopped him an asked for his identification. When the police saw his ID, they were shocked by what it said.
Sergei's ID was from the 1950s and it was issued by the USSR. Under his name "Sergei Ponomarenko" his place of birth was Kiev, and the year of his birth was 1932! But Sergei only looked only in his twenties.
Sergei tried to explain who he was. But the more he explained, the more confused the police were. They believed Sergei had a mental problem. So they took him to a psychiatric hospital in Kiev. The police asked a psychiatrist named Dr. Pablo Kutrikov to help figure out this strange case.
Sergei walked into Dr. Kutrikov's office. He observed his surroundings carefully. Sergey noticed the clock on the wall had stopped. He asked Dr. Kutrikov the time. Dr. Kutrikov checked his Swiss watch but realized that the watch too had stopped. Both the clock and th watch stopped at 12:32 pm.
Sergei told Dr. Kutrikov he was born in 1932. in Kiev, and he was 25 years old. In the year 2006, Sergey still appeared as a young man in his twenties.
Dr. Kutrikov asked Sergei to recall how did he came to 2006. Sergei said that he took a walk and wanted to take some pictures since it was his day off. Sergei took his camera with him. Shortly after he went home, he saw a strange flying object in the sky, and it looked like a giant bell.
Sergei had never seen anything like it before, so he took a photo of the object. Sergey asked Dr. Kutrikov to inspect the film in his camera. and he'd know whether Sergei was telling the truth. Dr. Kutrikov asked a professional photographer ,Vadim Pozner, to checked the film.
Vadim said the type of film in Sergei's camera stopped being produced in the 1970s. ergey's camera was ma nufactured by Yashimaflex, a Japanese company.
Yashimaflex cameras had become collectors' items by 2006. But none could compare the condition to Sergey's camera, because his was in a brand new condition. Since the film of the camera was out dated, it took some time to developed the photos.
Just like Sergei had said, one of the photos showed there really was a huge flying object or UFO. Dr. Kutrikov showed the photo to Sergei. It proved that Sergei had been telling the truth. Sergey said he was shocked to see the stranged object, so he snapped a photo of it. When he turned around, he noticed that his surroundings had completely changed. He didn't recognize anything around him. And he couldn't find his way back home.
Dr. Kutrikov and other experts checked the other photos developed from Sergei's film. The streets in the photos looked quite different from those in 2006. The year "1958" could be seen on the lower right corners of the pictures.
Films usually can preserve well for two to three years. If films are frozen, they can be preserved for twenty years. In order to extend the life of a roll of film, it has to be placed in an airtight container and stored in a dry and cool place. But the photos from Sergei's 1958 film, however were perfectly new and not damaged at all.
If Sergei were not a time traveler from the past, then it was just incredible that his film could be so well preserved. Upon inspecting the pictures further, Dr, Kutrikov and others spotted a young couple.
The man was Sergei himself, and the woman was his girlfriend Valentina Kulik. In the picture, Sergey wore exactly the same clothes as he was wearing in 2006. Dr. Kutrikov believed the pictures were authentic, and the flying object was a UFO.
In April 25,2006, Sergei returned to his room after finishing a conversation with Dr. Kutrikov. This was their last conversation. Because Sergey's story was so incredible, Dr. Kutrikov needed some time to organize his thoughts. He was not sure whether to believe Sergey was time traveler from 1958.
Shortly after Sergei went back to his room, hospital staff noticed that he disappeared. When the police checked the surveillance video, they only saw footage of Sergey entering the room. There was no footage of him leaving the room. The windows were barred by iron railings on the outside. So it was impossible that Sergey escaped through the windows. Yet Sergey disappeared just like that.
People believed there was only one possible explaination, Sergei had returned to the year he had come from.
The woman in one of the pictures was Sergei's girlfriend. If she was alive, she would be the only clue and witness to this strange episode in history. Fortunately, the police were able to find Valentina Kulik. She was 74 years old in 2006. Valentina flipped through her photo album and ffound a photo she took with Sergey in 1958. It was exactly the same photo that was found in Sergei's camera in 2006. When Dr. Kutrikov showed her the same photo, Valentina was very surprised and asked where he had gotten it. Valentina confirmed that it was authentic.
Valentina recalled that Sergei once told her some very strange and extraordinary things. Sergey had described to her what the future was like. He told her about the microwave and how easily it could cook a meal in a few minutes using electricity.
A Ukrainian television program,"1+1 Discovery-- Time travelers" looked into the matter. A team of experts for the TV program located an old audio recording from 1960 in the TV station's archive. The recording was an interview the TV conducted on Sergey. In the interview, Sergey talked about what technology would be like in 40 years. He mentioned the microwave, the wireless telephone(cellphone), and the artificial heart.
Sergei described that man would be able to make an artificial heart that runs on batteries. The interviewer was shocked and said to Sergey, "If you did not provide so much detail, I'd surely think you lost your mind."
Sergei's description of the artificial heart amazed experts too because he used modern medical terminologies which were unheard of in the 1960s in the USSR.
Back in 2006, the surveillance video showed that before Sergei entered Dr. Kutrikov's office, he was observing hospital staff using a microwave. One of the staff member was reading a magazine which talked about an artificial heart. The surveillance video also showed Sergei asking the staff about their cellular phones.
Thus, investigator believed that Sergei shared what he saw in 2006 with the USSR in the 1960s. The team of experts for the "1+1 Discovery" documentary included a psychiatrist, a physicist, a photographer expert, a policeman, and other eyewitnesses.
There were videos, audio recordings, and pictures to support Sergey's account.
How much still remains unknown in our universe, which consists of time and spaces? Today, scientist are still looking for an answers. Will Science fiction become reality? We believe that one day, the mystery of time will be unveiled.
photo and information source: Google and Youtube
