Time Travel Listening Fluency #105

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Weve all seen movies and TV shows where the characters have traveled through time,
or used a time machine. These are usually science fiction movies, but some scientists
say time travel is possible in theory. There are also some people who claim to have
actually done it.
In 1935, a British Royal Air Force pilot named Victor Goddard was attempting to land
his plane in Andover, England. During his attempted landing, a storm broke out, and he
almost crashed. He managed to take control of the plane and flew back over a different
landing strip, which was abandoned. Except it wasnt abandoned anymore it was full
of people and planes. The planes were a color and model he had never seen before. The
people were also wearing different uniforms than they should have been. He eventually
landed at his original destination and didnt tell anyone of his strange experience. Then
in 1939, the Royal Air Force introduced planes of the same model and color he had seen
that day. They also started wearing uniforms just like he saw on that landing strip,
which was now in operation again. Goddard believes he traveled ahead in time to 1939,
and then back to 1935 on that day his plane almost crashed.
Then there is Professor Ronald Mallet, a scientist at the University of Connecticut, who
is actually working on a time machine as we speak. Mallet has been attempting to build
time machines since he was a child. At the age of 10 his father died, sending him into a
deep depression. At the age of 12 he read the The Time Machine, by H.G. Wells, which
gave him hope that one day he could travel back in time and see his father again.
In 2002, he presented a breakthrough theory about how time travel could be possible
using lasers and mirrors. He presented his theory at Howard University, where it was
accepted as the real deal by his peers. He is currently raising money to build his time
travel machine. The only problem is, even if he is correct and the machine works, hell
never see his father again. It will only be able to transport a person back to the time the
machine was turned on, and not a second before. While our descendants may be able to
travel back in time to meet us, his theory does not allow for time travel to any time
before the day the machine was first built. It is still is an amazing theory though, and his
colleagues told him his father would be so proud of him.
Do you think well ever be able to travel through time? And if we could, what kind of
effect might that have on the future, past, and present?
Dr. Ronald Mallett Talks About Time Travel
Vocabulary and Phrases
broke out: burst forth suddenly.
abandoned: left behind, deserted.
the real deal: true, not fake, trustworthy.