Preface
The book A Time Traveler’s Tale, written from the perspective of John Titor’s mother, contains transcripts from his original posts on Time Travel Institute between 2000 and 2001. Alongside these posts, she shares her reflections—memories of particular discussions and moments spent with the future version of her son.
For instance, she recalls: “I’ve seen John cry two times. The first time was when we walked into a large grocery store for the first time. The second time was when he took us to the location where our alternative universe future home was near the river.”
The Promise
- John made a promise to protect his family from the devastation that would take place due to the Y2K bug. In case you may not be aware of what that was:
The Y2K bug, also known as the Millennium Bug, was a computer programming issue that arose because many older systems stored years as two-digit numbers (e.g., "99" for 1999). When the year 2000 arrived, computers risked misinterpreting "00" as 1900 instead of 2000, potentially causing widespread errors in banking, utilities, government records, and other critical systems.
"He told us he had made a promise to my husband's father in 1975 that involved preparing us for Y2K. On January 1st 2000, the world did not end as John said it would. Strangely, this did not seem to surprise him and instead this seemed to be a burden as a deep sense of sadness overtook him." - A Time Traveler's Tale
My Theory
Had that seemingly minor detail been overlooked, we would have found ourselves in serious trouble. A couple of misplaced digits in a program—just a tiny glitch. Yet with enough neglect, it had the potential to snowball into a catastrophic failure. Imagine, just for a moment, that the bug remained undetected until it was too late.
According to my research, billions of dollars were spent on addressing the issue before the New Year. But back then, without social media to spread awareness, warnings had to travel peer-to-peer. If only a handful of people raised the alarm, they might have been dismissed as conspiracy theorists. Had those billions not been invested in fixing the bug, the consequences would have been disastrous.
According to both John’s posts and his mother’s accounts, he warned his grandfather—an IBM employee—about the Y2K issue as early as 1975, ensuring the problem wouldn't go unnoticed. Fast-forward to 1998, John halted his journey for "personal" reasons and took the time to warn his parents about the impending crisis. He even went as far as sending a fax to Coast to Coast in 1998, telling Art Bell that Y2K would be a disaster. In the end, John was fulfilling his promise to protect his family. After all, what better way to safeguard them than through prevention?
"I am here for personal reasons. For a few months now, I have bee (sic) trying to alert anyone that would listen to the possibility of a civil war in the United States in 2005. Does that seem more likely now? Actually it’s quite amazing to see what’s happening. I have been trying to get people to pay attention for the last few months but to see it unfold is very interesting. Before I leave, I’ll try and post my report." - John Titor, Time Travel Institute
John’s mother confirmed that he had been present since 1998. Based on this timeline, it appears he spent approximately two years monitoring the impact of his actions after alerting professionals to the Y2K bug—right up until New Year’s Eve 2000. Additionally, we must consider the role his grandfather played, starting from John’s visit in 1975 and continuing throughout the rest of his life.
To be perfectly clear, I believe that our world-line deviated from what it was originally meant to be, and that shift is a direct result of John’s intervention. The implications of this—and my personal perspective on its significance—are a discussion for another time, for anyone who wishes to explore it further.
This is why...
The Evidence
We can look back at some of John's posts that alluded to this.
"You assume I am here to start a war? "Consider this: You are a time traveler who wishes to go back in time to 1941 because your 'grandparents' live close to Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. You realize you can’t stop the war but you may be able to help them prepare for it. Strangely, December 7th comes and goes with no sneak attack. As the war in Europe rages on, Japan fails to join the axis power, there is no war in the Pacific and the United States remains neutral. Then, you watch as Germany begins to develop the atomic bomb… all by themselves." - John Titor, Time Travel Institute
He did more than infer with subtext. He gave a play-by-play replica of his "personal" mission. He is literally a time-traveler that realizes he can't stop the civil war but may be able to help people prepare. If his past was a world in which people did not foresee Y2K, that would have been extremely bad for the financial system, and the power grid as well as other essential industries.
The importance of his so-called; "wrong" predictions
The most interesting dynamic of the John Titor saga is not if he got it right or wrong, instead, it is arguably more important to see the difference between what he got RIGHT and what he got WRONG.
Social Evolution vs. Technological Progress
Social changes depend on endless variables, making those kinds of predictions much harder to predict than technology, because the discoveries waiting to be turned into tech is finite.
Case in point: His analogy of Pearl Harbor not being attacked and what would happen as a sociologically global outcome is a guess based on possibilities.
However, his conclusion still emphasized that the bomb was going to be built regardless. In other words, if Steve Jobs is never born, the iPhone, or something similar, perhaps called by another name is still invented.
Similarly, he seemed to believe that the sociological outcome of preventing Y2K, the modern American Civil War would still occur.
Technologically, there are only so-many discoveries man can utilize for survival, convenience, and financial gain. In other words, the needs of the people drive the markets, and the markets drive innovation. For instance, John mentions a friend of his that maintained "mobile wireless internet nodes. " In a world-line at war may not have use for massive stationary cell towers like the ones we have now. They would be extremely easy targets to knock out the web. So they kept them mobile.
Another macro-example would be to imagine a world that overlooked Y2K and then was about to run into the 2038 problem with no practical solution in sight, I am certain that investing in tech that could return to the past and grab a solution would be priority rather than for fun or curiosity.
The Honor System: Actual Inconsistencies in John's Story
At the start of the conversation, John casually entertains two or three random users, gradually unfolding his story. But when he describes his mission, he claims he traveled back to 1975 to retrieve an IBM 5110.
Wait… a 5110? Isn’t it supposed to be the 5100? The IBM 5110 wasn’t introduced until 1978-79. So how could he retrieve something that hadn’t even been invented yet?
John was kind of a dope.
Yes, you heard me right—a dope.
Now, let’s be clear—I don’t mean stupid. But he was definitely dopey—a bit forgetful, occasionally ignorant, and sometimes out of his depth in discussions with sharp and well-informed users on this growing forum.
John was not omniscient, and that’s worth remembering as we evaluate his claims.
Question: You said something was wrong with UNIX in your time...what is wrong?
John: Yes…and with your’s (sic) too. I have to believe there must be a UNIX expert out there someplace that can confirm that. I’m not exactly sure what the technical issue is but I believe some sort of UNIX system registry stops in 2038.
However, this doesn’t necessarily invalidate his claims. John never claimed to be an expert—in fact, he actively sought verification from those who were. His lack of technical knowledge was apparent when he struggled to share images of his unit online, requiring Pamela’s assistance to do so.
So what does all of this mean? Does it mean anything at all?
- J.
References:
Y2K Bug
A Time Traveler's Tale
TTI Posts
Other Posts
The 2038 Problem
The book A Time Traveler’s Tale, written from the perspective of John Titor’s mother, contains transcripts from his original posts on Time Travel Institute between 2000 and 2001. Alongside these posts, she shares her reflections—memories of particular discussions and moments spent with the future version of her son.
For instance, she recalls: “I’ve seen John cry two times. The first time was when we walked into a large grocery store for the first time. The second time was when he took us to the location where our alternative universe future home was near the river.”
The Promise
- John made a promise to protect his family from the devastation that would take place due to the Y2K bug. In case you may not be aware of what that was:
The Y2K bug, also known as the Millennium Bug, was a computer programming issue that arose because many older systems stored years as two-digit numbers (e.g., "99" for 1999). When the year 2000 arrived, computers risked misinterpreting "00" as 1900 instead of 2000, potentially causing widespread errors in banking, utilities, government records, and other critical systems.
"He told us he had made a promise to my husband's father in 1975 that involved preparing us for Y2K. On January 1st 2000, the world did not end as John said it would. Strangely, this did not seem to surprise him and instead this seemed to be a burden as a deep sense of sadness overtook him." - A Time Traveler's Tale
My Theory
Had that seemingly minor detail been overlooked, we would have found ourselves in serious trouble. A couple of misplaced digits in a program—just a tiny glitch. Yet with enough neglect, it had the potential to snowball into a catastrophic failure. Imagine, just for a moment, that the bug remained undetected until it was too late.
According to my research, billions of dollars were spent on addressing the issue before the New Year. But back then, without social media to spread awareness, warnings had to travel peer-to-peer. If only a handful of people raised the alarm, they might have been dismissed as conspiracy theorists. Had those billions not been invested in fixing the bug, the consequences would have been disastrous.
According to both John’s posts and his mother’s accounts, he warned his grandfather—an IBM employee—about the Y2K issue as early as 1975, ensuring the problem wouldn't go unnoticed. Fast-forward to 1998, John halted his journey for "personal" reasons and took the time to warn his parents about the impending crisis. He even went as far as sending a fax to Coast to Coast in 1998, telling Art Bell that Y2K would be a disaster. In the end, John was fulfilling his promise to protect his family. After all, what better way to safeguard them than through prevention?
"I am here for personal reasons. For a few months now, I have bee (sic) trying to alert anyone that would listen to the possibility of a civil war in the United States in 2005. Does that seem more likely now? Actually it’s quite amazing to see what’s happening. I have been trying to get people to pay attention for the last few months but to see it unfold is very interesting. Before I leave, I’ll try and post my report." - John Titor, Time Travel Institute
John’s mother confirmed that he had been present since 1998. Based on this timeline, it appears he spent approximately two years monitoring the impact of his actions after alerting professionals to the Y2K bug—right up until New Year’s Eve 2000. Additionally, we must consider the role his grandfather played, starting from John’s visit in 1975 and continuing throughout the rest of his life.
To be perfectly clear, I believe that our world-line deviated from what it was originally meant to be, and that shift is a direct result of John’s intervention. The implications of this—and my personal perspective on its significance—are a discussion for another time, for anyone who wishes to explore it further.
This is why...
The Evidence
We can look back at some of John's posts that alluded to this.
"You assume I am here to start a war? "Consider this: You are a time traveler who wishes to go back in time to 1941 because your 'grandparents' live close to Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. You realize you can’t stop the war but you may be able to help them prepare for it. Strangely, December 7th comes and goes with no sneak attack. As the war in Europe rages on, Japan fails to join the axis power, there is no war in the Pacific and the United States remains neutral. Then, you watch as Germany begins to develop the atomic bomb… all by themselves." - John Titor, Time Travel Institute
He did more than infer with subtext. He gave a play-by-play replica of his "personal" mission. He is literally a time-traveler that realizes he can't stop the civil war but may be able to help people prepare. If his past was a world in which people did not foresee Y2K, that would have been extremely bad for the financial system, and the power grid as well as other essential industries.
The importance of his so-called; "wrong" predictions
The most interesting dynamic of the John Titor saga is not if he got it right or wrong, instead, it is arguably more important to see the difference between what he got RIGHT and what he got WRONG.
Social Evolution vs. Technological Progress
Social changes depend on endless variables, making those kinds of predictions much harder to predict than technology, because the discoveries waiting to be turned into tech is finite.
Case in point: His analogy of Pearl Harbor not being attacked and what would happen as a sociologically global outcome is a guess based on possibilities.
However, his conclusion still emphasized that the bomb was going to be built regardless. In other words, if Steve Jobs is never born, the iPhone, or something similar, perhaps called by another name is still invented.
Similarly, he seemed to believe that the sociological outcome of preventing Y2K, the modern American Civil War would still occur.
Technologically, there are only so-many discoveries man can utilize for survival, convenience, and financial gain. In other words, the needs of the people drive the markets, and the markets drive innovation. For instance, John mentions a friend of his that maintained "mobile wireless internet nodes. " In a world-line at war may not have use for massive stationary cell towers like the ones we have now. They would be extremely easy targets to knock out the web. So they kept them mobile.
Another macro-example would be to imagine a world that overlooked Y2K and then was about to run into the 2038 problem with no practical solution in sight, I am certain that investing in tech that could return to the past and grab a solution would be priority rather than for fun or curiosity.
The Honor System: Actual Inconsistencies in John's Story
To Those Who’ve Made It This Far
If you’re still reading, I have to be honest—there are inconsistencies in this saga that have troubled me, especially given the effort I’ve put into researching it.1. The Curious Case of John’s Early Posts
There’s another site that contains John’s posts from before he began writing on Time Travel Institute (TTI). I’m unsure of the exact site, but the transcript exists. The thread starts on October 14, 2000, and while the differences aren’t damning, they are inconsistent.At the start of the conversation, John casually entertains two or three random users, gradually unfolding his story. But when he describes his mission, he claims he traveled back to 1975 to retrieve an IBM 5110.
Wait… a 5110? Isn’t it supposed to be the 5100? The IBM 5110 wasn’t introduced until 1978-79. So how could he retrieve something that hadn’t even been invented yet?
2. Enter John—the Dope
That realization led me to my next point.John was kind of a dope.
Yes, you heard me right—a dope.
Now, let’s be clear—I don’t mean stupid. But he was definitely dopey—a bit forgetful, occasionally ignorant, and sometimes out of his depth in discussions with sharp and well-informed users on this growing forum.
John was not omniscient, and that’s worth remembering as we evaluate his claims.
Question: You said something was wrong with UNIX in your time...what is wrong?
John: Yes…and with your’s (sic) too. I have to believe there must be a UNIX expert out there someplace that can confirm that. I’m not exactly sure what the technical issue is but I believe some sort of UNIX system registry stops in 2038.
Registry? A Major Detail That Can’t Be Overlooked
Anyone familiar with UNIX knows it does not use a registry—that’s a Windows-specific feature. This isn’t just a minor mistake; it’s a fundamental error that undermines the theory that John’s hoaxer was the Computer Scientist and UNIX enthusiast Haber brother. Instead, it suggests John was human—flawed, uninformed on certain technical aspects, and possibly misremembering details.However, this doesn’t necessarily invalidate his claims. John never claimed to be an expert—in fact, he actively sought verification from those who were. His lack of technical knowledge was apparent when he struggled to share images of his unit online, requiring Pamela’s assistance to do so.
John: A "Nepo-Baby" Time Traveler?
To accurately assess the inconsistencies in John’s story, we must recognize a crucial factor: he got the time travel assignment because of who he was related to—not his expertise or education. If his claims were true, then nepotism, driven by desperation, was the deciding factor behind his selection. Don't get me wrong, I think highly of John and absolutely believe he had more to offer than just happen-stance. He must have been a great soldier and a great man to survive such a life and still come out of it relatively sane. *Aside from his religious beliefs. **JK!Reasonable Doubt & Open Questions
There are inconsistencies, and everyone has their reasons for skepticism. However, if nothing else, this explanation should at least introduce reasonable doubt into any lingering skepticism you might have.So what does all of this mean? Does it mean anything at all?
- J.
References:
Y2K Bug
A Time Traveler's Tale
TTI Posts
Other Posts
The 2038 Problem
