This was always one of my favorite urban legends. If you haven't heard of this, allow me to present to you The man from Taured.
The Man’s Arrival
The story of the ‘Man from Taured’ begins quite specifically in many sources with a hot day in July 1954. On that particular day, a man was said to have arrived at Haneda Airport, known also as Tokyo International Airport. This man has been described as Caucasian looking with a beard. Whilst his primary language is said to have been French, it has been purported that he spoke Japanese and many other languages as well.
The sequence of events then differs according to which version of the story one encounters. In one version, this man hands over his passport to be stamped, and the Japanese immigration officer notices something strange. Whilst the passport looked authentic, the country where it was issued, ‘Taured’, was recognized as non-existent, either by the officer or one of his / her colleagues, indicating that the man should be taken away for interrogation. In another version, the man mentioned that he was from Taured, and when the immigration officer did not believe him, he showed him / her his passport.
Location of Taured
The next part of the story details the man trying to convince the immigration officers that Taured does indeed exist. According to the traveler, Taured was located between France and Spain, and had by then been in existence for 1000 years.
When shown a map, the man pointed to the area occupied by the Principality of Andorra, and was puzzled as to why his country was called Andorra on the map. Both sides refused to give in – the Japanese officers insisted that Taured did not exist, and the traveler argued otherwise.
Vanished!
Eventually, the man was held by the officers, as they were suspicious that he might be some kind of criminal. They brought him to a nearby hotel for the night, whilst they conducted their investigation. To ensure that the man did not escape during the night, two guards were placed outside his room. The next morning, when the officers went to the man’s room, they realized that he had simply vanished, as there were no signs of his escape. Additionally, all of his personal documents, which may serve as evidence for the story’s validity, had apparently disappeared as well.
What do you think? Mandela Effect, Time Traveler, Conman or hoax? I'd love to hear your opinion.
The Man’s Arrival
The story of the ‘Man from Taured’ begins quite specifically in many sources with a hot day in July 1954. On that particular day, a man was said to have arrived at Haneda Airport, known also as Tokyo International Airport. This man has been described as Caucasian looking with a beard. Whilst his primary language is said to have been French, it has been purported that he spoke Japanese and many other languages as well.
The sequence of events then differs according to which version of the story one encounters. In one version, this man hands over his passport to be stamped, and the Japanese immigration officer notices something strange. Whilst the passport looked authentic, the country where it was issued, ‘Taured’, was recognized as non-existent, either by the officer or one of his / her colleagues, indicating that the man should be taken away for interrogation. In another version, the man mentioned that he was from Taured, and when the immigration officer did not believe him, he showed him / her his passport.
Location of Taured
The next part of the story details the man trying to convince the immigration officers that Taured does indeed exist. According to the traveler, Taured was located between France and Spain, and had by then been in existence for 1000 years.
When shown a map, the man pointed to the area occupied by the Principality of Andorra, and was puzzled as to why his country was called Andorra on the map. Both sides refused to give in – the Japanese officers insisted that Taured did not exist, and the traveler argued otherwise.
Vanished!
Eventually, the man was held by the officers, as they were suspicious that he might be some kind of criminal. They brought him to a nearby hotel for the night, whilst they conducted their investigation. To ensure that the man did not escape during the night, two guards were placed outside his room. The next morning, when the officers went to the man’s room, they realized that he had simply vanished, as there were no signs of his escape. Additionally, all of his personal documents, which may serve as evidence for the story’s validity, had apparently disappeared as well.
What do you think? Mandela Effect, Time Traveler, Conman or hoax? I'd love to hear your opinion.
