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John Titor and TimeTravel_0 are pseudonyms used in communications and on Internet forums between 1998 and 2001 by an individual claiming to be an American military time traveler from the year 2036.

The communications appeared most prominently on the Time Travel Institute, an Internet forum dedicated to discussing time travel and fringe science since 1998. His posts discussed various aspects of time travel and described future calamitous events, including a global nuclear war that he predicted would take place in 2015. The story fascinated Internet communities, but the increasing inaccuracy of the predictions and other inconsistencies led many to view it with skepticism and try to discover who created it. A 2009 investigation suggested that the affair was a hoax started by Larry Haber, a Florida entertainment lawyer, or one of his brothers, John Rick Haber or Morey Haber, both of whom have careers in computers and information technology. However, the Habers and other suspects have denied these reports, and no one has publicly claimed to be the originator of the Titor posts.

The earliest known communications attributed to the Titor persona were two faxes sent to Art Bell, the host of the paranormal-focused radio show Coast to Coast AM.

John Titor's military insignia appeared on the Time Travel Institute forums on November 2, 2000, under the username TimeTravel_0. The name "John Titor" was not used on these posts. In January 2001, TimeTravel_0 began referring to himself as "John Titor" and also started posting at the Art Bell Post-2-Post BBS Forums.

According to Titor, this civil war would end in 2015 with a brief but intense World War III, in which nuclear weapons were deployed against major cities — an event Titor referred to as "N Day".

He did, however, identify the John Titor Foundation, which was a for-profit company formed on September 16, 2003, and had no office or address other than a rented mail box in Kissimmee, Florida. Lynch concluded that Larry Haber and his brother Richard, a computer scientist, were very likely the men behind John Titor, whom they actually introduced in 1998, accompanied by different predictions, including chaos due to the Y2K "bug". John Hughston also reported that John Titor is a trademark registered with the United States Patent and Trademark Office; the Titor trademark is now classified as "Abandoned". John Titor "is a story that was created as a literary experiment by people who were observing what I was doing with Ong's Hat and these people wanted to do something like that.

In 2003, the John Titor Foundation published a book, John Titor: A Time Traveler's Tale (ISBN 1-59196-436-9), which compiled and annotated the posts; the book is now out of print.

The 2009 visual novel Steins;Gate, which was adapted into an anime in 2011, heavily features time travel and incorporates the John Titor legend as a major plot element, including references to the original forum posts and the IBM 5100 mission. Japanese rock band Sōtaisei Riron's third studio album, TOWN AGE, featured a song, John Q, which references John Titor. In an issue of The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, John Titor is listed in the Deadpool's Guide to Super Villains card set as an alias of Kang the Conqueror. In the video game Reverse: 1999, John Titor is a senior computer engineer from IBM claiming to be a time traveler who speaks in Hexadecimal code and was also behind the development of the IBM 5100. John Titor's first thread on Time Travel Institute — original posts from November 2, 2000 John Titor's second thread on Time Travel Institute — continued discussion from January 2001 John Titor's third thread on Time Travel Institute — parallel universe discussion from December 2000 John Titor Fax 2 — second fax to Art Bell, 1998

Quick Facts

• John Hughston also reported that John Titor is a trademark registered with the United States Patent and Trademark Office; the Titor trademark is now classified as "Abandoned".
• In 2003, the John Titor Foundation published a book, John Titor: A Time Traveler's Tale (ISBN 1-59196-436-9), which compiled and annotated the posts; the book is now out of print.
• John Titor Fax 2 — second fax to Art Bell, 1998
• The communications appeared most prominently on the Time Travel Institute, an Internet forum dedicated to discussing time travel and fringe science since 1998.
• A 2009 investigation suggested that the affair was a hoax started by Larry Haber, a Florida entertainment lawyer, or one of his brothers, John Rick Haber or Morey Haber, both of whom have careers in computers and information technology.

Source material: Wikipedia - "John Titor". Adapted and summarized for DiscoverScroll. Original contributors are credited through the linked Wikipedia article. Read original on Wikipedia. CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes were made from the original.