A new time travel experiment

 

The missed rendez-vous of May 1, 2009

As is now customary, this year, we were once again present at the local time travel experiment, whereby our descendants are invited to appear on a May 1st, at a precise moment in time, between 2000 and 2050. The experiment is linked with the satellite Kéo, which was meant to be launched by now, and which would have contained a number of messages, one of which is for our descendants, that if they have broken the space-time barrier, within the next 50,000 years, to please come to Opoul.
The request is not strictly limited to our ancestors materialising in a spaceship. Perhaps that is simply impossible – we do not know, as little is known about time as such, despite what many might assume. But just like with our mail, the experiment hopes for some “receipt request”, which they hope to perceive by measuring conditions in that precise location, for a period of one hour, for one day each year, over a period of fifty years.

Of course, the onus of this experiment is on our descendants: they have merely a few square metres to play with, for only 360 seconds each year and only for fifty years, which might seem a lot, but let us note that it might only be picked up in 50,000 years ago and for defining longitude, it would mean that our ancestors know we use the Greenwich meridian, and know where Greenwich was.
Even if the site were known, if we were asked to send a message back to a caveman in the cave of Lascaux, ca. 20,000 BC, would we be able to be that precise with our time? Furthermore, who says that “they” know when May 1st falls, and what 15h means. The Egyptians, for example, had a totally different calendar than ours, yet every way as functional. But calculating between our days and theirs, let alone their hours, is virtually impossible.
Which is why we note that the onus is on our descendants, to get it right. And getting it right, is not an easy task. If they were to be off by a very small percentage, the fact that our descendants had in fact conquered the space-time barrier, would go unnoticed. Indeed, one might argue that for anyone who will break through the space-time barrier might be easier than actually showing up within the allocated timeframe, which has all to do with the haphazard manner – conventions – in which we have defined May 1st, 15h.

Let us also note two other points: one is that the Kéo satellite still has not been launched, and the more time passes, the more likely it seems to be that this is never going to happen, as the project seems to be hampered by a series of delays which definitely do not instil faith in the project. Despite the best of intentions, the time travel experiment is – because the onus is on our descendants – not all too friendly. Ideally, you would inform our descendants that they are always welcome, no matter what, but instead, it is as if they are only welcome for one hour, one day a year.

Missing time

After carefully observing the experiment for several years, we begin to make certain notes about the entire event. First of all, it sprouted in us a realisation, which no doubt was the main objective of the experiment itself: that we know very little about time. That we live by it, but what is it? What are its boundaries? Does it really exist, as many physicists suggest it is an illusion. If so, why does it seem so real?
If it is an illusion, can it be broken? Can we use it? Experience it differently?
By a chance encounter, during a visit to the Netherlands, we began a discussion on this very topic, which brought home the point even further. What would be the impact on the human body if this “barrier” was broken. For it’s clear we do age, which is somehow linked with time, or something that progresses, and which we have labelled time. What would the effect be on the body, which is a physical body existing in space, which everyone seems to assume is directly linked with time, and going back in time?
These experts were also critical of the possibility that even if the barrier were broken, we could not expect a perfect rendez-vous. It is perhaps best explained by an analogy: when we travel from a to b, we will likely get to near b, if there are no problems on the road, roughly on time. But to find b precisely, might take a while. So for anyone trying to travel through space and time, the problem is even more difficult: he needs to be in Opoul at 15 hours, but needs to find both the proper time, and the proper location. Unless there is a beacon at Opoul, like a GPS emitter, which would aid the traveller in finding where he needs to be, this is not easy. Which is why, indeed, the onus is definitely on our descendants. And, almost by default, it is outside of the scope if our ancestors were merely beginning to explore time travel and would have mastered it only partially.
But there is also another concern: perhaps our descendants have mastered time travel, but might, for example, have figured out it is only applicable to non-human material. It would mean that the entire experiment would involve machines. Machines have great difficulty in making adjustments. Take, for example, the subway station in so many cities where it is completely automated. If the train does not stop inch-perfect, the door will not open, until it is inch-perfect. Which might mean that the “time train” has stopped in Opoul several times, on May 1, but there might have been a small problem, which has resulted in missing the scheduled opening.

Fixed schedules

We were very inspired by the idea of time travel coming to Opoul, if only because the area of Perillos has intrigued us for many years – long before the time travel experiment began. We had heard about strange stories, and had reported on them, before the time travel experiment began. We knew that Ramon de Perillos had stated that he felt there was an “opening to another world” on his domains, which either meant that there was some type of subterranean underworld present, or – logically, the only other possibility – some sort of time anomaly opened a gateway into some other dimension. And the latter seemed – as bizarre as it is – the more logical choice, when we hear what some of the locals have to relate about the things they sometimes experience. It is rare, indeed – some people who are 60 years old, might only experience it once in their lifetime, but it is nevertheless sufficient for them to remember for the rest of their life, and speak of it with a terror that makes it clear it was real, or at least experienced as a reality. But, indeed, each one of these people make it clear that it does not occur at a specific moment in time, but, instead, almost haphazardly. If this was caused by time travellers, one would argue that they have indeed mastered travelling in time, but are hopeless in getting the precise date and precise location right, hence why various people in Opoul-Perillos observe their arrival, except those that are waiting for them at the designated place and time!
In short, the Société Perillos tried to re-address a slight “wrong”. Together with other people, equally interested in such matters, we decided to set up a second experiment, which would be wider in scope than the first experiment. In fact, the five people who eventually ended up participating, were not all members of the association, and as the goal of this experiment is not strictly linked with the association, another association will be established, to legalise – as is required under French law – these activities.

Several points needed to be defined: the location, the duration, and the means were principal amongst these. The precise location was furthermore decided to be kept discrete, so as not to cause interference, specifically as we’ve learned that humans tend to feel a desire to dig up whatever is placed somewhere, and seem to feel it weird when someone else shows a bit more respect for other people’s material, and our heritage, and, for that matter, the law.
The duration at the moment is without limit, and in fact, we plan to make arrangements so that the longevity of the project is more firmly defined than it is at present.
The material used is what is now commonly referred to as “heavy”. It are instruments that were bought from military surpluses. Material that belongs in the category “super heterodynes” and the like. For those familiar with the task ahead, they will appreciate that those who were to engineer this device, needed several months in order to put into operation two “super heterodynes”, which presently turn without interruption, at full force, which is what this type of machinery is designed to do, when it was in use by the military.
To this concoction, there is an emitter, similar to the FT-817 of Yaesu, which has been amplified, modified and adapted for our specific purposes. We also conformed by registering our material with the proper authorities, as is customary – and required – for such material.
Finally, let us note that the team was technically consulted by two internationally renowned scientists in such material. They were, in fact, so much enchanted by this exercise, that they personally came to verify, help and donate some material and knowledge that it surpassed our expectations.

The rendez-vous of Bérenger

More technical details will be made available to members of the Société Perillos in due course. Equally, those who so desire, can come to a meeting where the scientists and other members involved, will be present and willing and able to take questions. This will occur approximately three months after the official start of this experiment. And this will be May 26, 2009, between 15 and 16 hours, because that day is St Bérenger’s feast day and he is a man close to our heart. Still, let us add that this machinery has been put live since April 25, so that all material is “well oiled” for the official launch date.
We have consciously chosen for older material. One of the reasons is the cost involved. In fact, if there was no such thing as military surpluses, we would never have been able to engineer the entire exercise. Furthermore, amongst those involved, were several members with a military background, and hence they were familiar with the material, including the reading of its outputs, which is of course the key aspect of this. Finally, let us note that anything else we could have put up, will likely look “old” if not outdated compared to what our descendents from 50,000 years will have, in order to break through the time barrier. So machinery that is a few decades old, or not, won’t make the difference. It is functional, and that is all that matters, as NASA will attest when it comes to using their mainframes for shuttling rockets into space.

The rendez-vous of André Malraux

As – many – others, we have also added our message to Kéo. At the same time, though, let it be clear that our 24/7, 365 days per year, monitoring is not purely limited to the Kéo experiment, but largely that we want to record any anomalies in the area; whether they come as a result of a Kéo time traveller, or another source, has actually become secondary at this point in time.
But we do have – as we have repeatedly outlined elsewhere on the site – a certain fascination with Kéo, which has nothing to do with time travel as such, but with the name itself. This one originates from the works of André Malraux, a writer, but also a politician, serving as Minister of Culture in three administrations: Michel Debré, Georges Pompidou and Maurice Couve de Murville.
While in office, Malraux ordered and executed certain very interesting researches, sometimes with the help of the military, on sites that can best be described as “esoteric” in nature, and which definitely would not fall within the normal bailiwick of the military, or a government official. Perhaps that in itself explains why often there was a temporary news blackout related to these. Two aspects stand out for us: the intervention in the castle of Salses, as well as the infamous “Lazarus Dossier”.

Indeed, we know Malraux, but perhaps that should be we know “of” Malraux. He was the one who shouted that "the next century will be religious or won’t be at all". It was part of a larger framework, in which he argued that “I think that the task of the next century, faced with the worst menaces that mankind has known, will be about reintegrating its gods”. The mere fact Malraux used a plural, makes it more than intriguing, and by default, not very Catholic, as one might expect from a French politician. Equally, for a politician, it is a rather odd statement to make, one which was therefore, no doubt, shortened, so that the weirdest aspect of it, would be forgotten.
Malraux also frequented the Pyrénées-Orientales, and this in an unofficial capacity. Perhaps he, indeed, merely liked this beautiful country, but if so, he nevertheless made strange observations. For example, when discussing a sector around Salses, he said: “it is here that we wait for the future… unless it has already been waiting for us for centuries!” And: “science and the sacred rejoin us here for our greatest stupefaction for time is our biggest enemy.” It was, of course, he who also wanted to have insight into the official dossier that was created after the crash of a military aircraft in Perillos in 1963.
Malraux, as a recent documentary has underlined, was an enigma, even to his nearest family. He was “weird”, and the fact that history does not remember him as even weirder is the fact that he was often silent, and comments like the ones we have just reported, are little known, because in those days, politicians could get away with far more than they can do today – unless they use gagging orders. But let us repeat that Malraux was a weird man, with weird ideas about the region that is of interest to us, and yet he was a man who received 41 foreign decorations, the five highest decorations France honours its citizens with, and rests in the Pantheon. He might be a nutcase to some, but everyone trusted his judgment and he had the power. Perhaps he merely knew far more than any of us can realise, so that he was not nuts, but we are stupid, and ignorant.

A politician’s mind

It is our opinion – at present not backed by any hard evidence, but then he did his best to make sure the evidence disappeared – that Malraux, while making these enquiries, was on the trail of something, which he traced to the Pyrénées-Orientales. It is why he, as part of the Lazarus Dossier exercise, had many archives seized from their rightful owners, with the message that they would be returned imminently. Several files were never returned, and it was when some of these owners began to make a noise, that the very existence of the Lazarus Dossier became known. That it is not wider known, is once again because in those days, newspapers cut politicians more slack, and especially when it was on rather bizarre topics, as the Lazarus Dossier definitely was. Of course, it is also because too few of “us” have been looking into the Lazarus Dossier, while we have been obsessed with parchments and “Dossiers Secrets” that are, at best, insightful jokes.

However he arrived here, the conclusion he drew, based upon what he said and which was recorded, was that this region in his opinion had something to do with time travel. And it is specifically within that sense that we felt that we should monitor – listen – all the time. Indeed, perhaps we are not the only ones. Perhaps Malraux had similar ambitions and, seeing he was no stranger to using the military as cover and workforce for his projects, used the very means we are using today. That would be irony, though some might call it a synchronicity… which is, of course, very appropriate as we are dealing with time here after all.

André Douzet
Note: the information on André Malraux was taken from Daniel Réju’s archives.