Traveling through time presents all kinds of interesting possibilities and problems. The problems arise when, by traveling to the past, we alter it. One classic time-travel paradox poses the dilemma: What would happen if you traveled back in time and accidentally killed your parents before you were born? And if you weren't born, how could you exist to travel back in time? Some of these problems are discussed in Plausibility of Time Travel, which also offers some ways around this paradox - including alternate universes.

But these apparent paradoxes don't seem to bother people like Steven Gibbs, who says he's already had the pleasure of traveling through time.

Riding the HDR

In an interview with Strange magazine, Steven Gibbs relates how he became interested in time travel when, back in 1981, he received a letter from his future self. Gibbs is the inventor of a device he calls the Hyper Dimensional Resonator (HDR), which he says can be used to transport anyone through time. In fact, he's received reports from several of his customers:

• Excerpt: "There are so doggoned many grids up in the California area that anybody who activates one of my HDR units in California is pretty much going to travel physically through time whether they like it or not. And some of them haven't even gotten back, from what I've heard. And that's kind of the danger involved in physical time travel. And usually people who travel physically to the fifth dimension generally don't come back alive. Because there are some beings in the fifth dimension that are really headstrong about somebody setting foot in their realm up there."

The message is clear: When time traveling, stay away from the fifth dimension. Gibbs goes on to relate how he used his HDR to jump from a positive universe to a negative one. And somehow, the "grey" aliens and Men In Black are also involved in all this.

Slippages in Time

Sometimes people travel back in time without intending to - through time slips, a perceived fold or bridge in time that brings the present in contact with another time. Such time slippages can bring a person in contact with the past or the future. The incidents seem to be brief in duration and occur and dissipate without warning or explanation.

• "In 1982, Lorraine Parry was walking in a suburban road in Wembley, North of London, when she felt a distinct change of surroundings. She describes seeing it as desert-like, though she perceived herself as standing in a lake. She could "feel" the wetness against her skin. While looking at the desert she saw, '...a craft going through the air. It was like an oblong shape. I think it must have been some kind of metal, it was silvery in colour and it had some windows... I had the distinct feeling it was like a bus.' She could see faces staring back at her, reminiscent of descriptions of aliens in several UFO reports. 'They were all excited, and pointing, and I thought, they are pointing at me.'"

In another anecdote, a woman sees "ancient people" erecting a stone monument, much like Stonehenge. Are these really experiences of time slips or some kind of delusion or fantasy?

Drive Through Time

Another instance of time slippage that took place in 1969 is claimed by a man only identified as L.C. Time Traveler tells how in October of that year, L.C. and an associate were driving along Highway 167 when they passed what would be considered to be an antique car in mint condition. Oddly, however, the car's license plate was dated 1940. And that was just the beginning.

• Excerpt: "As they passed the car slowly to its left, L.C. noticed the driver of the car was a young woman dressed in what appeared to be 1940 vintage clothing. The windows of her car were rolled up, a fact which puzzled L.C. because, though the temperature was nippy, it was quite pleasant and a light sweater was sufficient to keep you comfortable. As they pulled up next to the car, their study turned to alarm as their attention was riveted to the animated expressions of fear and panic on the woman's face. Driving alongside of her at a near crawl, they could see her frantically looking back and forth as if lost or in need of help. She appeared on the verge of tears. L.C. called out to her and asked if she needed help. To this she nodded 'yes,' all the while with a very puzzled look at their vehicle."

After L.C. motioned to the young woman to pull off to the side of the road, L.C. and his friend drove ahead of the old car and pulled off themselves. They got out and looked back for the car... and it had simply vanished. This episode was supposedly witnessed by another driver who was behind both cars. Time slippage? A ghost car? Or just a little too much gin on the road trip? If true, the story is one more for the time-travel folder of the unexplained.