Sharp-eyed social media users are convinced they have spotted a time traveller in a 1940s beach photograph taken in Cornwall.
Positioned at the centre of the wartime image is a man dressed in a scruffy brown suit, apparently absorbed in what looks remarkably like a mobile phone.
He is surrounded by dozens of sun-seekers soaking up the last of the summer rays in September 1943, reports Cornwall Live.
The photograph was taken on Towan Beach in Newquay and shared online by Stuart Humphrys, who initially failed to notice the seemingly out-of-place figure.
Humphrys captioned the photo: "British war workers escape to the seaside - this Cornish beach was photographed in September 1943."
"(It would be lovely if one of you were able to identify which beach!)"
Yet once the coastal snap was shared, users on X were quick to flag a curious detail lurking amongst the rolled-up trousers, panama hats and deckchairs.
Mistaking the decade, South London History commented: "Er...is it just me or is this guy checking his phone.....in the 1950s?"
Dr Kevin Purcell added: "Good catch. It's clearly the man in the shot is a time travelling tourist checking his mobile device.
"Finally the evidence we need that time travel is real.
"We now see things in old photos that we missed before but now we know they're phones now that we have them."
Gerald Jackson remarked: "Shows how much beachwear has changed!
"Jacket, tie and hat? Mind they did that when I was a kid in the '50s." However, Mr Humphrys remained unconvinced, remarking: "I think that chap is rolling a cigarette!" This is not the first occasion that observant photography enthusiasts have identified oddly modern devices in historical, grainy photographs and film footage.
In 2010, someone 'using a mobile phone' was spotted in an old Charlie Chaplin film, leading viewers to declare them a time traveller.
Belfast filmmaker George Clarke noticed the peculiar moment and uploaded the footage to YouTube.
The clip shows a brief excerpt from DVD bonus content included with Chaplin's 1928 silent film The Circus. Upon closer inspection, however, a woman can be seen walking past while speaking into a device held against her ear.
Some later suggested it was a portable hearing aid, although this seems improbable.
Over 80 years ago, Umberto Romano painted 'Mr Pynchon and the Setting of Springfield', which depicts a 17th century encounter between native Americans and English colonists in Massachusetts.
Yet, it also appears to feature a bare-chested man 'holding a flip phone'. Furthermore, Apple CEO Tim Cook once confessed to spotting what resembled an iPhone in a 347-year-old painting by Pieter de Hooch, entitled Man Hands a Letter to a Woman in a Hall.
Cook came across the Dutch master's work at an Amsterdam museum and was left astonished.
In an interview, he said: "I always thought I knew when the iPhone was invented, but now I'm not so sure anymore."
