Old Photo From Reykjavík Sparks Discussion About Time Travel

A photo taken in the centre of Reykjavík in 1943 has attracted the attention of the world press, reports Fréttablaðið.

“There is nothing strange about seeing a well-dressed man talking on the phone while standing on a busy street corner. But what if the picture was taken in the fifties of the last century?,” reads The Mirror.

In the photo, which was taken at Bankastræti, Austurstræti and Lækjargata, you can see a man who seems to be talking on the phone. As a result, some speculate or joke that the person on the photo is a time traveller.

The first mobile phones went on sale about thirty years after the photo was taken.

The New York Post suggests other possible hypotheses. For example, the man may have been checking to see if his watch was okay, or even that he was a spy.

The photo was published in the Facebook group Gamlar Ljósmyndir (Old Photos) in 2016, and received press attention in Iceland at that time.

Some members of that group have been having fun with the coverage, with one person pointing out that when the image is cleaned up and enhanced, the reality is much more mundane–that is, that the man in question has his finger in his ear.