Spoil The Well: 120-Year-Old Photo of Greta Thunberg Look-alike Inspires Conspiracy Theories
Is 16-year-old Swedish activist Greta Thunberg a time traveler “here to save us” from the global climate emergency?
That is the absurd conspiracy theory going around twitter this weekend after a photo taken during the 1898 Klondike Gold Rush in Yukon, Canada features a child that resembles the world renowned climate campaigner.
These old photo look-alikes are pretty cool, but too often create stupid time travel conspiracies to go along with them. No, Greta is not from the past, there are only so many face variations to go around, and we all have at least one doppelganger out there right now, and hundreds throughout history.
The 120-year-old photo was sourced to the University of Washington’s Special Collections archive, leading many to jokingly conclude that Thunberg is a time traveler who arrived in 2019 to warn the world about the planetary climate crisis.
120-year-old photo sparks theories that climate activist & environmental heroine, @GretaThunberg , is, in fact, a 'time-travel' who has traveled thru time to save our planet! Wishing her all the best and success in her mission to save the Earth. We can use the help we can get! https://t.co/YCJ35l4irh
— Dean Friedman (@DeanFriedman) November 21, 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
greta being a time traveler sent to save us from ourselves is the only conspiracy theory i want to hear about https://t.co/1IS1VpEyPD
— Tyler Sloan (@tesloan) November 21, 2019
Thunberg, whose activism sparked a global youth-led climate movement, is currently sailing across the Atlantic after spending more than two months in the United States.
“We had to slow the boat down to avoid some really rough weather ahead, but now we’re back on track at full speed,” Thunberg tweeted Thursday. “Hopefully we will arrive in Lisbon, Portugal, sometime in early December.”
So we know what continent she’s headed to now. The only serious question left to consider is this: Will she arrive in time?
