by Liam Fialkov
For our discussion, let’s look at the planet Jupiter, with our naked eyes or through a telescope. Can we see it? The simple answer is no. We can only see it as it was about thirty-three minutes ago, but not as it is at this very moment, because thirty-three minutes is the time the light takes to reach from Jupiter to planet Earth.
OK, let’s continue to examine the theory. If we put a telescope on Jupiter, it won’t be able to see an event that is taking place on Earth, until thirty-three minutes after it has taken place.
If we put a telescope on a spaceship that is stationed, let’s say, four-light years from our planet, then an event that is taking place on planet Earth would only reach the spaceship after four years. Obviously, it is not so simple because the light spreads and disperses, and furthermore, the telescope on the spaceship would have to filter the intense light of the sun; but anyway, this is the theory. I do hope that in the foreseeable future, we, the scientists, will have access to advanced telescopes, along with innovative computer programs that would allow us to observe occurrences on distant planets.
We could say, then, that events that are taking place on planet Earth during daylight hours don’t really disappear, even if nobody is watching or filming them. They simply travel in space at the high velocity of the light, and if one day there would be a highly developed technology, then theoretically, it could receive and film those events.
There are enormous technological hurdles for such an application to be possible, and it is evident to me that we, the human race, are far away from such a capability. There is also the problem of distance and time. Because if a spacecraft is receiving and filming an event that occurred twenty years ago, then it would require another twenty years for the pictures to return to our planet at the speed of light.
There are scientific theories on how in the future it would be possible to transfer data at speeds faster than light, but it seems to me that this gets into complicated discussions and mathematical calculations that border on science fiction.
So, could a spaceship, which is located hundreds of years from Earth, receive and film events that took place on our planet? And even with a telescope that is far ahead of everything we know?
“To that, I don’t have an answer. I can only explore interesting theories, sit back on my couch to watch a TV series, and enjoy the possibilities that it opens.
Another theory that I could bring up is even more amazing, and it is taken from Einstein’s Theory of Relativity. According to Einstein, the perceived distinction that we make, between past, present, and future, is just an illusion.
When we look at the effect that movement is creating on the space-time continuum, we see that the laws of physics as we know them become irrelevant, and that the reality of the past and future is not different than the reality of the present. The past has not gone, and the future is not nonexistent. The past, present, and future all exist simultaneously: everything that has happened and everything that will happen—it all exists—from events that took place in the distant past, to events that from our limited perspective are yet to happen.
It’s interesting, I’d like to mention, that the ancient Inca people, the ones who built Machu Picchu, also thought that the past, present, and future, all exist concurrently.
Hence, if there was a technology with fantastic futuristic capabilities, it might bridge the gaps between the past and present and receive events from the past. That may sound unperceivable and bordering on science fiction, but I don’t rule out that one day we will have access to such a scientific breakthrough.
For anyone who might dismiss these theories as science fiction, which do not hold practical applications at our time, I would like to remind you that applications that nowadays we take for granted would have looked like a fantasy to people forty years ago. For instance, having access to a wealth of information on the Internet, without having to go to a library. Or a video conversation between two people when one of them is on a train in Australia, and the other is climbing a mountain in Switzerland. Or navigating with a GPS, which uses calculations that are based on Einstein’s theory of relativity.
I am not saying that the films of The Broadcast that document past events necessarily use the theories I have discussed here. I’ve only suggested ideas that could explain, at least in theory, an enigmatic TV program.
Takeshi Nishimura, New York, September 17, 2021.
Professor Nishimura’s article received wide public attention and was copied and spread on the many Internet sites. Due to the reasonable explanations, as well as the prestige of the distinguished scientist, it helped in diminishing the erosion of public’s support for the show, and it silenced voices that came against the authenticity of the footage.
Chapter 36
Sarah
She moved another fraction of an inch to the edge of the steel frame that surrounded the bridge. At that stage, all she had to do was to tilt her body forward and drop down, allowing gravity to take her, home.
The phone rang. Not now, she thought, I’m sorry, I’m no longer here. Another ring and another one. Unwillingly, she pulled the phone from her pocket. She could throw it down into the water. She wouldn’t answer; not if it was her husband, not even if it was her sister. She glanced at the screen; it was Heidi. OK, she would answer, end the conversation quickly, and toss the phone into the water. “What do you need?” Sarah asked impatiently. Her voice sounded distant and muffled, as if it belonged to someone else. “I’m busy now,” she added.
“Please help me!” Heidi sounded distressed.
“What happened?” Sarah heard herself asking.
“They kicked us out of the trailer park, and we don’t have anywhere to go,” Heidi said, sounding worried and upset. “Could we move our trailer to your land? We will pay a monthly rent.
In Heidi’s voice, Sarah detected despair as she pleaded with Sarah for a place for her family.
“OK,” Sarah whispered in a feeble voice.
“So, we can move?” Heidi’s voice was filled with anticipation.
“You can,” Sarah mumbled. She looked down at the sea below her and noticed with a certain discontent that the moment had passed, and she no longer had the strength and courage to throw herself into the water far below.
“Thank you so much!” Heidi breathed with relief. “You have no idea how you saved me; you won’t be disappointed.”
Sarah looked backward toward the bridge. The world’s din and bustle returned. Curious spectators gathered, and some of them tried to talk her out of committing suicide. Once again she looked down at the blue water far below; maybe she could still do it? But no, the moment had passed, she missed her chance, her opportune moment. She climbed back and pulled herself over the banister. Her eyes were shedding tears of sorrow and shame, and that’s how she crossed the group of spectators, wishing to quickly disappear from the view of anyone who might have seen her on the bridge.
***
Jonathan expressed discontent at Heidi’s intention to move to the land with her husband and kids. But Sarah held strong in her opinion, and he had to give up, especially with the argument that after his layoff, they should find alternate sources of income.
Heidi and her husband were easygoing people. After the family’s arrival at the land with their big trailer, Sarah had found that the sounds of children running around contributed to an improvement in her overall mood.
The word had traveled fast. Within a few weeks following Heidi and her family’s move, Sarah and Jonathan received additional pleas from young people living in trailers, who wished to park them in a country environment and for a low cost. Sarah allowed a few young families and individuals to move to her land after she interviewed them. After years of living in a secluded property and being somewhat isolated, they now had to adjust to a more communal surrounding. Sarah thought that the change would be beneficial for her, while Jonathan was reserved and was not eager to have a community on his land.
“What if they discover my site?” J
onathan honestly disclosed the reason for his concern.
Sarah tried to ease his worry. “The hill and the trees won’t let anybody into the spot,” she said. “And Jonathan,” she added, “I think that a community is exactly what we need.”
Sarah saw that the new residents alleviated her loneliness, and the presence of kids delighted her heart. On their land were now parked six trailers, to which Sarah and Jonathan provided a connection to running water, electricity, and sewer. The financial contribution was significant and helped compensate for the fact that Jonathan hardly worked.
Among the new residents were the couple, Stanley and Sandy, and their little daughter, Tammy. Sandy had spent a summer as a volunteer on a kibbutz in Israel, and she was influenced by the community life. Hence, she initiated shared meals, in which every family brought their homemade food. The meals usually took place at Jonathan and Sarah’s spacious house. Sarah was glad to have her residents coming over, and even Jonathan admitted that he liked not being so alone on the wide land.
The trailers were parked some distance from the house, in an area close to where the logging was executed. The vegetation in that parcel of land had grown fast, and covered the severed tree trunks.
The new residents liked the sun, and even Sarah had to admit (to herself) that as a result of the logging, more light filtered through to her house and life. Every once in a while Sarah was asked to be a babysitter during evening hours, to which she willingly agreed. The children called her Auntie Sarah.
Stanley, Sandy’s mate, preferred to use his nickname, ‘Nature’s Son.’ He had a peculiar livelihood: he knew all the nearby, as well as farther counties, like the back of his hand. He was especially familiar with every place, corner, field, or backyard, where there were fruit trees that were not picked by their owners, including lemons and clementines, avocados and persimmons, pecans, apples, and figs. If a tree was deserted, Nature’s Son harvested it, and if it grew in a backyard of a private home, he would ask permission to pick the fruits. At times he offered the landlords to split the crop with them. Nature’s Son then sold the fruits to food stores as organic fruit. On a regular basis, he brought some of the fruits of his labor to Sarah and Jonathan’s house. They now enjoyed plenty of fresh and organic fruits, along with the vegetables that Sarah continued to grow in her garden.
Sarah was delighted when the new residents talked about celebrating the holidays together. She saw that she wouldn’t have to be a guest at her sister’s house like in previous years. Julie was always glad to invite her sister and her husband, but still, Sarah and Jonathan always felt that they were guests because she felt pity for them.
Chapter 37
The Broadcast
In a sea of controversy, The Broadcast continued to navigate its journey back in time. The public debate contributed to the popularity of the show, but nevertheless, a few leading managers expressed their concern regarding the long-term impact on TXB’s good name.
Marketing Director Gordon Mayson spoke at a board of directors meeting and said that in his opinion it would be better if TXB would forfeit profits and drop the show immediately. But the CEO didn’t accept his view, probably because he believed in producer Walter Lindsey’s integrity and decency. The program and the popular host had kept a level of respectability, made an effort to present the events that were chosen in an unbiased way, and always hosted notable scholars.
Challengers of The Broadcast, who expressed themselves in the electronic media, in talk radio shows, and in the printed press, claimed that the concept of the show didn’t make sense. They were annoyed by the angle of filming, straight from above, which made it difficult to observe occurrences, and more so from the illogical direction of examining historical facts, going backward in time instead of the
“normal” direction, from the past toward the future.
Proponents of the show, conversely, especially those who were scientifically oriented, or those who read Professor Nishimura’s article, claimed that displaying historical events in that order is consistent with a spaceship that films from great distances and getting farther from Earth at high speed. The farther it gets, the earlier the events that it captures.
A few sharp-sighted viewers even claimed that the quality of the films got slightly diminished as the historical events came from earlier periods and thus the filming was done from a greater distance. But others responded and argued that they didn’t notice any difference in the quality of the pictures.
The Broadcast continued its inquiry into the fifteenth century, and hosted Professor Natalie Péllissier from the Sorbonne University in Paris. Professor Péllissier, who was on the show before when she spoke about the Napoleon era, was invited this time to talk about Joan of Arc.
“Who was Joan of Arc?” the host, Susan Riley, asked the French guest.
The good-looking professor was dressed in a stylish outfit. “Good evening,” she said in a charming French accent. “Jeanne d’Arc grew up in a small village, a daughter of a peasant family that held a strong religious belief and was loyal to the French crown. It was a period of time called ‘The Hundred Years’ War,’ when France was split between belligerent factions that held claims to the throne. The king of England took advantage of the internal divisions and invaded France. The two contenders to the French throne were Charles VII, son of the king of France, and Henry VI of England, who was just an infant, and the English acted in his name.
At the age of thirteen, Jeanne d’Arc started to hear voices and see visions of Archangel Michael, Saint Margaret, and Saint Catherine of Alexandria. The voices told her that she was chosen to liberate her country from the English, and coronate Charles VII to be the king of France.”
“And how do researchers of our time relate to her ability to hear voices?” Susan Riley inquired.
“I suppose that today she would be hospitalized and treated as a schizophrenia patient, though I personally am not convinced that every person who has a visionary state of consciousness is necessarily a mental patient, and that includes Jeanne d’Arc. Anyway,” the professor continued, “Jeanne d’Arc had proven to the king, Charles VII that she was not insane when she identified him, even though he ordered one of his servants to dress like a king, while he was dressed as a commoner.
Per her request, Jeanne d’Arc received protective white armor from the king and asked that a special sword would be brought to her, which was behind the altar of Saint Catherine Church. The sword was found and brought to her, and Jeanne d’Arc went on her way, riding a horse, ahead of a small army that the king ordered to accompany and obey her.”
A showing of a film started. As usual with the TXB films, the angle of filming was straight from above, and the quality of the picture was mediocre.
Jeanne d’Arc was seen riding a horse, ahead of her small army, while holding a banner, and that’s how she entered the city of Orleans, which was under English siege. In other short films, viewers could see Jeanne d’Arc leading her army in fierce battles that were fought by cavalry and infantry, artillery and archery. “I’ve watched the films several times, carefully watching Jeanne d’Arc,” said Professor Péllissier while the footage was running. “And what strikes me is that Jeanne is seen leading, rallying, and encouraging the French soldiers, but I have not seen her killing any enemy soldiers with her own sword, and that is different than the way she is portrayed in fictional movies that I’ve seen.” The professor said that Jeanne d’Arc won major battles, conquered towns and fortresses, and coroneted Charles VII as the king of France. She won her soldiers’ admiration and a mystical stature among her loyalists. People in the towns that she liberated had viewed her as a saint.
Professor Péllissier continued, “In a battle near the city of Compiegne, which was under siege by the English and their Burgundian allies, she was captured. She was put on trial in front of a tribunal that was staffed only by pro-English clergy, found guilty of heresy and wearing men’s clothing, and sentenced to death. Consequently, she was tied to a tall
pillar and burned alive in the city of Rouen.”
The host, Susan Riley, looked into the camera’s eye and said, “TXB has a film that documents the burning of Joan of Arc, but our editors chose not to air it.”
On several occasions, Sarah heard her friends at work talking about The Broadcast. Most of them expressed amazement and appreciation for the show and said that it had caused them to be interested in history. They also wondered how far back in time the show would go, and would they get to see with their own eyes events that are described in the Bible, or Alexander the Great, or the Trojan War. Sarah didn’t tell them that it was she who had initiated the history direction of the show.
In contrast, there were a few of Sarah’s colleagues who said that the show became boring and they liked it better in its previous form when it assisted in solving crimes.
“The Broadcast hosted Professor Kadir Sankar from Istanbul University. The Turkish professor was a short and stocky man who had somewhat dark skin, a mustache, and he looked like he was well into his sixties. He expounded, with the help of short films, about the conquest of Constantinople by the Ottoman Empire.
“Constantinople was the capital of the Christian Byzantine Empire,” he explained, “which ruled what used to be the eastern part of the Roman Empire. The city was well fortified and surrounded by sea on three sides, but the Ottoman sultan had a large army, and he could attack the city time after time, suffer casualties, and continue the siege.”
“He didn’t mind when his soldiers were getting killed in large numbers?” the host asked.