A photo of a man with a "cell phone" in 1943 gave rise to theories about time travel

An archival footage taken during World War II in the Icelandic capital Reykjavik has been circulating online. The picture shows an ordinary street, shops, and soldiers, but there is one nuance that gave rise to theories about time travel.

Netizens noticed that one of the characters in the picture seems to be talking on the phone, which simply cannot be true. The photo, which sparked conspiracy theories about time travel, was shared by its owner Christian Hoffman in the Facebook group Gamlar ljósmyndir, Indy100 reports.

The first-ever mobile phone, the Motorola DynaTAC 8000X, was sold in 1973, 30 years after the photo was taken. However, the photo shows a man in a coat leaning against a storefront window holding something to his ear.

If the photo was taken in our time, talking on the phone would be the first explanation that would come to mind. However, mobile devices did not exist at the time, and so the image gave rise to various theories.

Some netizens suggested that the man in the photo was scratching his ear, while another suggested that he had picked up his watch to check if it was working. However, there were also theories about time travel, as the man's pose and facial expression are similar to that of a person talking on the phone.