Guy remembers a story from his childhood when he saw a guy dressed as if he were from the 18th century disappear in front of his eyes: ‘I personally lean ghost. My friend says our revolutionary friend accidentally clipped into the other's timeline’

María Cetra • Writer

Sep 13, 2026 10:30 AM EDT

Paranormal activity or childish imagination? Ghost, time traveller, or lost performer?

I'm going to start a debate where I will convey all possibilities, their pros and cons. And then you will be in charge of deciding which of these possibilities is true. This story is about two childhood friends who, on a special historical anniversary, saw a guy dressed as if he were from the 18th century and then disappeared in front of their eyes. There are three theories: the one the writer of the story has, the one his friend has, and the most rational one. Which one do you believe?

The writer of this story argues that what they saw was a ghost or some kind of spectre. His reasoning lies in the fact that this was on the 4th of July, a really important day, especially to their town. The guy was dressed as if he was from the 18th century, which would mean that he would have already passed away in the 20th century, so making him a ghost makes sense. He believes he appeared and was frightened by the two living kids. And that his appearance is tied to the anniversary taking place. As if he had been in that place during the 1700s.

The friend isn't completely against the writer's theories. But he thinks that his theory is better. He believes that this man was a time traveller from the 18th century. He argues that he disappeared because he got scared due to not understanding whether the two kids were out of place or he was. This theory is also supported by the writer. It seems plausible for both of them. They say that a time traveller fits their story.

Lastly, we have the rational theory. This was a performer who was doing some kind of show to resemble the 18th century to celebrate the anniversary. The man went into the woods because he got lost, and then he saw the kids. He realized that it wasn't his place to be. So he turned around and left. The kids had a big imagination and made the story more interesting. To this day, they do not remember that they made up the part where the man disappeared. So what do you think? Which of these theories is the true one?

This happened to me when I was 16. It's been a couple years now, and I've told this story to a few people, but it always stands out to me as one of the most jarring encounter I've had. I grew up on a property in rural New England. My childhood home was built in the 1960's, but the land itself had originally had two houses previously stand on it, the first dating to about 1760 and the other the mid 1800's. Section of the foundation of the original house had actually been dug up when my parents fi

Children standing together, holding hands. Model image. — *Children standing together, holding hands.*
*_{Model image.}*

out a guy about 50 yards away walking through the woods. This guy was dressed like he stepped out of the 18th century. I mean a full waist coat, knee breeches and even a tri corn hat. Now, keep in mind this is New England around July 4th, we used to have a ton of people dress up and celebrate because it was also around the time my town was officially founded. Think of how in Boston they have people reenact the ride of Paul Revere in full costume. The weird thing was that this guy paid no attenti

best way I can describe it was that he looked at us like we had both had 5 heads between us. Without as much as another word he just disappeared. I don't mean he ran off, or that I turned away and looked back to find him gone. It's literally like he blipped out of reality. He saw us, looked almost scared, and just vanished while we were looking directly at him. To this day I'm not entirely sure what that was. I personally lean ghost of some sort. My friend, on the other hand, has a theory that e

Fonzee327 I love that you watched him long enough to see him disappear instead of booking it. I think it was a ghost and the look was because he realized you could see him! Both of you have pretty good takes on it too, who knows sh is crazy

dddoinyomom OP My original thought when it happened was that he thought we were the odd ones, and that's why he gave us the look. I think you're right though, that he probably went a long time without being seen and was genuinely in shock that we did. Whenever I'm home around the summer I still keep an eye out for him. I can't stress enough that I or my friend never felt scared of him, more of a " was that?" Reaction when it happened

Cherryyana How cool would it be if you read an account from a few hundred years ago, about a man seeing 2 kids who looked like they were from the future, before disappearing into thin air lol

dddoinyomom OP Lol now I might have to go look through my towns historical society. They keep a couple of old journals and documents from early town settlers

Feralogic I believe you! Out here, in AZ, was driving my old VW through the desert night with some friends in the 90's. We were slightly baked, just hanging out and having fun. Turned the corner on this winding road by one of the desert parks here, and I saw three Civil War era reenactment guys on horseback. I was baffled, because it was night, and I didn't think they had Civil War battles near Phoenix AZ? But I knew it was a thing back in Missouri for guys to dress up and do mock battles. And,

The guys were on plain bay horses, facing each other, talking. They had McClellan style saddles and Union blue uniforms. No visible weapons stuck out, if armed it would have been something small. They didn't seem to notice my car and it seemed a bit irresponsible to not be paying attention, but there weren't a lot of cars out that late, I suppose. I slowed my car to a crawl, so as to not spook the horses. My friends who had been engrossed in a conversation turned to me and asked "Why are you slo

around, they were gone. I stopped and got out because | wanted to see if I could see or hear the horses riding away. My friends laughed at me, and one of them took over driving because they thought maybe I was f ed up. But I wasn't drinking that night, and I didn't feel high. I don't like to drive impaired. I was confused for years, because of the Civil War uniforms the guys were wearing, but then a decade later was watching the news and they were at a museum in Southern AZ somewhere and there w

I wonder if I stumbled across ghosts or a time slip, or if I was simply hallucinating. If so, it was odd, because at the time, we weren't talking at all about history, ghosts, military etc. Just general lighthearted bulls and joking around. If my brain was responsible, it was completely out of nowhere.

urban_herban It's interesting what you said about his clothes: "his clothes looked dirty and lived in." I think about this once in a while when I toss everything I wore that day in the laundry basket. If you look at the clothes in the picture you provided, they would be difficult to launder on an every-day basis. Back then they didn't have permanent press, either, so the shirt would have to be ironed. Anyway, that's an aside. What I really wanted to say is that I captured a photo of a soldier wh

at the various pics I took, I noted a figure in that photo. It was of a soldier, only it was a "little" soldier, standing down in the ravine. Yeah, like about 4' tall. I did not recognize the uniform and did a significant amount of research trying to distinguish what country's uniform this might have been. I never did figure that out. Like your property, mine has houses since the Gilded Age in the 1800s. They are still standing. I've seen other ghosts, if that's what we want to call them, so I h

Wrong-Comb3409 Your buddy is Absolutely Correct! As soon as he realized where he was, when he saw you both in modern day, he got taken back to his own timeline. It's happened to me. I had seen a portal open in my childhood home and it was a forest during Autumn. I could even feel a light breeze on my face. As soon as my brain realized what I was seeing it was gone in a second.

Puzzled Telephone852 My cousins had this happen to them in a rural CT town. Young teens playing in the woods near their house when they saw a few civil war era solders, some with bandages. Again this was on private property and not part of a reenactment. They were freaked out and told their family at the time, and they believed them. We were told the story later, as adults.

mistttygreen Awesome ghost experience, thanks for sharing! I've had several paranormal experiences over the years and I love trying to figure them out.

Want More? Follow Us and Add Us as a Preferred Source on Google.

Guy remembers a story from his childhood when he saw a guy dressed as if he were from the 18th century disappear in front of his eyes: ‘I personally lean ghost. My friend says our revolutionary friend accidentally clipped into the other's timeline’

Paranormal activity or childish imagination? Ghost, time traveller, or lost performer?

Tags

Handpicked for You

{{title}}

Handpicked for You

{{title}}