Skip to main content

story identification - Time traveling astronaut appearing frozen to observers in time travel accident



So I was recently watching the series seven episode of Doctor Who titled "Hide" and it struck me that I had read a short story that was remarkably similar to the astronaut woman of the episode.


Here's what I remember definitively of the story:


The story is told from two perspectives: that of the traveler and that of the observers throughout time. The traveler is running but to the outward observers he/she appears frozen like a statue. As the story progresses the 'statue' moves slowly through the millenia but to the everyday people its imperceptible, he/she is just an anomalous statue.


What I think I remember:


The time traveler is dressed in some type of space suit looking thing. I think the time traveler is the test pilot for the new time travel device/ship. The traveler may possibly be crossing dimensions (really not sure about that). They are either running towards a light or away from the crashed ship. I vaguely remember something like the traveler was trying to send a message or something to a loved one but the distortion made it unintelligible to the receiver but by the end of the story someone had cracked it and it may have been something like "i love you, goodbye." or something to that effect.


I'm also assuming that, from my vague recollections of the story compounded with what has now been years of studying SF, that this story fits into the 50's or 60's. While I think it could easily have been written as early as the 40's I don't think it would have been written in the 70's.


Thanks in advance for the help, because this is driving me insane that I can't remember more about this story.



Answer



It's not an exact match, but it sounds a bit like "The Man Who Walked Home" by James Tiptree, Jr as found here.




The Man Who Walked Home • (1972)


Caught in a time travel experiment gone wrong, John Delgado walks home from the unimaginably distant future. To him, it takes only seconds, but on Earth years, decades and centuries see him walk in reverse, appearing once a year at the same spot, myths, legends and religions growing up around him.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

futurama - How much time is lost in 'Time Keeps on Slippin''

In time Keeps on Slippin' , Farnsworth creates a basketball team which he matures by abusing Chronitons. This leads to time skipping forward by random, but ever increasing amounts. How much time was skipped in this way? Answer Unfortunately, I don't think a good estimate can be made for this, for two reasons: Many of the time skips move forward by an indeterminate amount of time. At one point, the Professor mentions localized regions of space skipping forward much more than others. We then see two young boys on the street below complaining about having to pay social security, only to suddenly become senior citizens and start complaining about wanting their money. Thus, each individual could have experienced a different amount of time skippage.
Post a Comment
Read more

harry potter - How could Expelliarmus beat Avada Kedavra?

I want to be very careful about how I ask this question – I am not asking How did Voldemort die? [CLOSED] Below the text is the relevant passages from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows if anyone wants to review them (I'm sorry for the amount of text). How did Expelliarmus beat Avada Kedavra and kill Voldemort? I feel the reason Harry's Expelliarmus overpowered Voldemort's Avada Kedavra curse has to do with who was master of the Elder Wand and how the Elder Wand works. I've always had trouble understanding fully how the Elder Wand works, though. How much did the fact that Voldemort never truly won or mastered the Elder Wand factor into how Expelliarmus reacted to Avada Kedavra and caused Avada Kedavra to rebound and kill Voldemort? An answer based in book canon would be especially welcome, but any canon source really is fine. Harry heard the high voice shriek as he, too, yelled his best hope to the heavens, pointing Draco’s wand: ‘ Avada Kedavra !’ ‘ Expelliarmus !...
Post a Comment
Read more

game of thrones - Is Syrio Forel dead?

In the episode 'The Pointy End' (Season 1 Episode 8) when Arya runs from the Lannister guards you hear the sound of a sword being dropped (around 4:56): [embedded content] After that neither Syrio or Ser Meryn Trant is never mentioned or seen in the show again, except when Arya mentions to the Hound that Ser Meryn Trant killed Syrio. Is there any mention in the books that Syrio actually dies?
Post a Comment
Read more

tolkiens legendarium - Difference between elves and dwarves blacksmithing in the Lord of the Rings

Both the elves and the dwarves were famous for their metal work in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, but what is the difference between what they made, and which one had the better skill of making amours and swords? Answer James Christopher's answer sums up the second part of your question well, but as to the difference in what they made, a little more detail is needed. Once the Elves learned to forge with steel, the shape of the sword changed, now being able to take on the form of a great broadsword or a light and agile curved sword. Additionally, they took great pride in decorating their swords. As we see in the Lord of the Rings , some swords like Sting had magical properties such as glowing blue when orcs are near. As far as the use of Mithril, lotr.wikia has two contradictory passages: Thus, Elven blades became renowned as great weapons, capable of performing deeds beyond the skill of their handlers and were even more glorious when the use of Mithril was allowed to the Elves. ...
Post a Comment
Read more