Back to the future? 120-year-old photo of Greta Thunberg doppelganger sparks jokes about ‘time traveling’ climate activist
A 19th-century photograph of a young girl with an uncanny resemblance to Greta Thunberg has led to joking accusations that the climate activist is a time traveler. Surprisingly, no one asked if her time machine is eco-friendly.
Taken from the picture archives of the University of Washington, the black-and-white snapshot shows three children hard at work in the Yukon Territory in Canada, circa 1898. A girl standing in the foreground of the photo shares a remarkable similarity to the 16-year-old Swede, who is currently making a carbon-free sea voyage from North America back to Europe.
This can mean only one thing, according to facetious social media users: Greta Thunberg is a time traveler.
Is that Greta Thunberg? https://t.co/u1VEh5YcQQ
— You Had One Job (@_youhadonejob1) November 19, 2019
So, ‘Greta Thunberg’ is in a photo from 120 years ago, and it’s my new favourite conspiracy. Greta’s a time traveller, from the future, and she’s here to save us. pic.twitter.com/5ObTjPFXvk
— Jack - J.S. Strange (@JackSamStrange) November 18, 2019
In other news, Greta Thunberg is a time traveller.(Three children operating rocker at a gold mine on Dominion Creek, Yukon Territory, ca. 1898).https://t.co/dshFRD8hI2pic.twitter.com/19tkXkLH9e
— Paul Joseph Watson (@PrisonPlanet) November 19, 2019
The photograph inspired a number of sensational headlines alleging that theories were spreading on the internet about Thunberg being an extra-terrestrial time traveler.
Can't believe that the Express has published this and then taken it down: "‘Greta Thunberg’ spotted on 120-year-old photo triggering bizarre alien claims on web" pic.twitter.com/lxK9xrRVd2
— Martin Belam (@MartinBelam) November 18, 2019
The girl in the old photograph looks so similar to Thunberg that the picture must surely be photoshopped, others theorized.
That has to be photoshopped surely, they’re identical 😂😂
— Galar Champion Jack (@JackBwin) November 18, 2019
While the archived print is in fact genuine, Thunberg has been not-so-subtly edited into photographs in the past.
Last week, the Swedish activist was cropped into a photo showing floods in Venice, Italy. The provocative caption read: “I told you so,” suggesting that climate change was to blame for the natural disaster. The meme was slammed by many on social media as tasteless.
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