Versailles Time Slip

The following story is about one of the first and most famous Time Slip encounters recorded.

Palace at Versailles

Two English ladies Charlotte Anne Moberly and Eleanor Jourdain in August of 1901, visited the Palace of Versailles in France. As they toured the palace, they became bored and went outside to explore the gardens and see the Petit Trianon—a small chateau on the grounds.

Petit Trianon

But they were informed that the Petit Trianon was closed for the day, so the two women decided to continue exploring the grounds. At one point, they became turned around and discovered they were lost.

It was at this point, a feeling of weariness and oppression overtook both women. They noticed the pleasant sunny day took on a fuzzy appearance. Things now seemed out of place.

They watched a woman shake a white sheet out one farmhouse window, and noticed there was an old fashioned plow in front of this structure.

They observed the people around them were all dressed in funny old- fashioned clothing. Several of the men wore three-cornered hats. Jourdain commented later that these figures reminded her of the wax figures in Madame Tussauds.

Eleanor Jourdain

Jourdain also noted that everything around them all of a sudden looked unreal . . . unpleasant.

The trees even appeared flat and lifeless. She stated there was no play of light and shadow, you usually see on a sunny day.

One man the pair spotted was so rough in appearance--pockmarked face, dark expression, wearing a floppy hat and large cloak-- that Jourdain admitted he repulsed her. The two women decided they didn’t even want to walk past him.

A more pleasant tall man with curly hair approached them and showed them the way to the Petit Trianon.

Charlotte Moberly

After they crossed one bridge, Moberly spotted a stately woman with fair hair wearing a large white hat sketching on the grass. This woman wore a pale summer frock and looked directly at her without interest. Moberly afterward came to believe that this woman was Marie Antoinette. 

Once the two women reached the entrance, they were joined by a group of modern-day tourists. They stated that the strange feelings that had overtaken them vanished at this point.

When what both women saw and experienced, that day in early August, was made public, they were ridiculed. 

But they both were reliable sources. Moberly and Jourdain were not young girls, they both were well educated, and had met while they were principals of a women’s residence hall at Hugh’s College in Oxford. Jourdain also ran her own school.

Portrait of Marie Antoinette
that reminded Moberly of
women she saw.

It wasn’t until years after their encounter they wrote about it and published it in a book entitled, An Adventure in 1911. They used pin names. It wasn’t until four months after Jourdain died, in 1931, that their real names came out.

The two women were firmly convinced that the grounds at Versailles were haunted, and what they saw that day were ghosts. 

Their experience of walking out of the 20^th century directly into the 16^th century was later labeled a Time Slip experience.

I talk about what Time Slips are, and share several modern-day encounters here.

Thetford Priory

Thetford Priory as it once was.

Founded by Roger Bigold the 1^st Earl of Norfolk in the 1100s this priory today is in ruins. On this site, several witnesses have seen what appears to be the ghosts of black-robed cluni monks.

In 1937, terrified witnesses heard the sounds of monks reading, chanting and singing in Latin.

In 1992, scared teenagers hanging out at this old priory heard the clinking of keys before they watched an apparition of a monk run straight past them.

However, the most famous sighting occurred in 1987. Christian Jensen-Romer and three of his friends watched through an archway as a monk descended some stairs. When they approached, the monk and the stairs they were no longer there.

Christian Jensen-Romer

This group of male teens, Jensen-Romer was 18 at the time, were driving through the town of Thetford in Norfolk on their way to a wargames meeting.

The call of nature interrupted their trip. As they looked for a loo or restroom they stumbled upon the ruins at the end of one lane. A sign informed them that they were at “Thetford Priory, a victim of Henry Vllls’ “Dissolution of the Monasteries” in the mid 16^th century.

It was a warm August night around 8:30 p.m. They found a secluded spot behind a bush to relieve themselves, as they turned to leave they looked at the ruins one last time.

Archway in ruins.

All four spotted a figure that at first, they thought was playing a joke. This figure was peering at them from an upper window. Then the group saw this figure through an archway below. It was wearing a black sheet that billowed behind it as it walked down a staircase.

The group charged forward toward the figure. Jensen-Romer remembers running up a few steps only to then slam his head against the side flint wall. In the dark, the teens quickly realized there was no staircase in the archway. The dark figure had disappeared as well.

A feeling of coldness enveloped the group and two of the teens became nauseous and threw-up. As they left the priory, they eerily got the sense the stone walls were somehow rebuilding themselves around them.

Thetford Priory

As they ran to their car it felt as if the ground beneath their feet turned to wet sand and they all stated their legs became unsteady. All four afterward wrote down what they saw in the archway.

Their accounts differed in the description of the figure, but they all agreed it appeared to be a “black-robed figure that appeared to be a monk.” They also agreed that what they saw was more than just a product of their fear.

Christian Jensen-Romer who later became a writer and Parapsychologist states this experience changed how he looks at the world. He understands why people claim to see ghosts.

He is not certain what they saw that night—but all four men today state they did see something that was “real.”

In a program entitled, Ripples in Time met with these four witnesses 10 years later at the priory. Three are scientists, and one is a psychologist today. They recount what they saw in detail on this video.

Another witness to this phenomenon, Margaret and her daughter are residents of Thetford. One warm summer’s day as they sat on a bench near the ruins they saw a monk.

He had his head bent and his arms were tucked in his habit. He glided by oblivious to their presence. Margaret followed this figure around one wall only to find no one.

She admits she has never gone near the ruins since.

One pamphlet in the town tells stories of people trying to speak to this monk only to see the figure vanish in front of their eyes instead.

Several of these encounters point to the fact that this might be a Residual haunting but the four male teen’s experience seems to be more a time slip.

August Belmont’s Subway Car

August Belmont, Jr.

August Belmont, Jr. was a New York banker, bon vivant, financier, and owner/ breeder of the famous thoroughbred Man o’ War. 

He put the money up for the first New York City subway line.

This line, the IRT was built between 1902 and 1904. It ran from City Hall to 14^th street. Belmont loved this project, and it is said he sometimes worked alongside various construction crews as this railroad was being built.

Even today along this line witnesses report hearing Belmont’s voice shout, “work harder” along this original track.

Once this subway was complete, Belmont had the Wason Manufacturing Company out of Brightwood, Massachusetts, build him a private railroad car—this was to avoid riding in the inevitable overcrowded subway cars.

He arranged for a direct line from the Grand Central Terminal to Belmont Park racetrack on Long Island—Queens. This famous racetrack was named after him * for his passion in life was breeding thoroughbreds.

* Various sources cite August Belmont, Jr. as the inspiration for the name for this track others state it actually was named after his father--Belmont. Sr.

The Mineola

He called his private car the Mineola. He and his guests rode in luxury. The train car contained a galley, with a stove that served steaks. Drinks were also served-- notably chilled Champagne. He often conducted business on his roll-top desk in a Mahoney lined study.

The Mineola was also adorned with silk drapes and a reclining couch.

His wife once noted with humor that, “A private railroad car is not an acquired taste . . . One takes to it immediately.”

This car was in use until 1919. The Mineola now resides at the Shoreline Trolley Museum in East Haven, Connecticut.

It still contains the roll-top desk, the steal 600-volt coffee urn, the unbroken Tiffany glass that adorns the Empire ceiling and the sand used to flush the car’s toilet facility.

There is an effort underway to restore the Mineola to its original beauty.

Witnesses report seeing this car in the spring months—when the ponies run—still making its way down New York’s original subway track.

According to Tom Ogden in his book, Haunted Greenwich Village: Bohemian Banshees, Spooky Sites, and Gonzo Ghost Walks, one witness even entered this car as it stopped at Astor Place. Ogden states this was most likely a time slip as opposed to a traditional haunting.

In another post here, several other time slip encounters are described.

Confused Ghosts

Not all ghosts seem to realize they are dead. Several friends and acquaintances have told me stories that indicate that the spirit they encountered didn’t know they were dead. 

In Corrales, a small village located in the north valley near Albuquerque this type of encounter has happened more than once.

One confused ghost that appears in Corrales is a Civil War soldier. 

A resident of this village told me that as he walked along the back fence of his property--he spotted a young man dressed in an old fashioned Civil War uniform come out of his neighbor's old shed. This soldier then approached him.

This young man who appeared to be dazed asked the man, “Where am I?” The property owner then discovered this young man didn’t seem to know the date or even the year. 

Before he could offer his assistance, this soldier just walked off and then disappeared.

Months later, one of his neighbors told him that he most likely encountered this same soldier-- who didn’t seem to know he was out of place and time. He then discovered his daughter had talked to this ghost as well. 

All three of these encounters happened in broad daylight.

Seeing a Civil War soldier was startling but not surprising to these two men because there were battles fought in Albuquerque and the surrounding areas during this war.

This type of ghost encounter is frustrating. One has to wonder why this poor soul seemed to be stuck in a state of limbo. 

A similar story, to these two encounters, happened to two sisters when they went to visit their mother’s grave.

As they were leaving, they noticed a man walking between the gravestones. When they reached the road where their car was parked, the man caught up to them. 

The cemeteries’ groundskeeper drove past and waved to the two women. He didn’t seem to notice the man.

The man then turned to them and asked for help. He explained to them, “people all day had been acting like they didn’t even see him.” He stated that he had woken up in the graveyard that morning and that his friend must have left him there.

The man became more and more agitated as he talked to the two sisters. Now nervous, they moved quickly toward their car. 

They both looked back briefly and were stunned to see the man was nowhere in sight. Now scared, they wondered how he could just disappear so quickly in such a vast open space.

As they drove off, they both realized they had just seen a ghost. To this day, they still wonder about his confusion.