Why the Somerton Man’s Timeline May Be a Mechanical Illusion
Ticket G 52703 found on the Somerton Man. Note the texture of the "30 NOV 1948" stamp compared to the pre-printed serial number.
One of the anchors in the Somerton Man case timeline was the 'Left Luggage' ticket, it was attached to.
A Brown Suitcase that was checked into the Adelaide Railway Station Cloakroom supposedly at 11:00 AM on November 30, 1948.
This date and timestamped ticket is the foundation of every theory associated with the man's possessions and his 'persona'. It provide us with information about which train he could have arrived on (the 10:50 AM from Broken Hill? The earlier overnight from Melbourne?). It's the foundation of the 'legend' of the Somerton Man.
But what if the "11:00 AM" date stamp fact isn't a fact at all? What if it's a mechanical illusion?
New forensic analysis of the evidence, specifically the physical characteristics of Ticket G 52703, suggests that the timeline relies on a vulnerable, vintage system that may have been manually manipulated at the exact moment the suitcase was supposedly dropped off.
This post is not asserting a new truth; we are asking if the old truth holds up to forensic, mechanical scrutiny.
The Split-System Anomaly: Rubber vs. Steel
Many researchers assumed the ticket was printed by a single secure machine. However, a close, forensic review of the ticket image reveals a "Split-System" of authentication.
The front of the ticket—the only side we have a clear image of—displays the date "30 NOV 1948." This mark bears the characteristic "squash" and "halo" of a hand-held rubber stamp. Unlike the heavy "Dating Press" used for train tickets, which physically crushed the paper with metal dies, the ink on the suitcase ticket sits unevenly on the surface.
If the date was applied by a simple desk stamp, the integrity of the timeline rests entirely on the time stamp reported to be on the back.
The Invisible Machine
Critically, no photograph of the reverse side of Ticket G 52703 exists in the public domain. We are relying entirely on the 1949 inquest testimony that a "clock stamp" was present.
Based on railway procurement in 1948, the machine used was likely a Gledhill-Brook or International Time Recorder (ITR). Unlike the front stamp, these machines used a fabric ribbon to print the time gently. This explains why there is no heavy pressure mark visible on the front.
But these machines had a flaw: The Ribbon Drag. If the ribbon was dry or the mechanism jammed, the operator had to open the case. Once the case was open, the clock face could be manually adjusted—just like setting a wristwatch.
Video: A restoration of a Gledhill-Brook Time Recorder. Note the internal clockwork mechanism that requires manual winding and setting.
Inner Mechanism of Gledhill Brook Time Stamp Machine
The "Coal Strike" Variable: A Broken Clock?
The most innocent explanation for an incorrect timestamp is not a conspiracy—it is the infrastructure.
November 1948 was the height of the National Coal Strike. Power rationing and "load shedding" (rolling brownouts) were common across South Australian industry.
If the Adelaide Railway Station lost power at 10:00 AM, the electric drive on the cloakroom clock would stop. When power returned, the clerk (R. Craig) would have to manually wind the hands forward to reset it. Without a verified reference, he could easily have set the clock to "11:00 AM" when it was actually 9:00 AM, or vice versa. If the machine was dead, the "11:00 AM" timestamp could be nothing more than a guess by a busy railway clerk. Mr.R Craig, the employee it is said issued the ticket, was on leave at the time of the Inquest, another person, Mr. Harold Rolfe North, Senior Porter, spoke for him. A Police statement was not taken from Mr R.Craig according to publicly available records.
The Missing Ledger: The Cash Book Void
Even if the clock machine did not have an internal counter, the station’s accounting system did. Railway clerks in 1948 would have been required to balance their cash against ticket numbers at the end of every shift. This was recorded in a "Coaching Traffic Return" or "Daily Sales Book." I am still trying to trace a copy of that cash book.
If Ticket G 52703 was genuinely sold on November 30, it would be listed in this book alongside the tickets sold immediately before and after it and the cash payment.
Yet, there is no record in the inquest files of the Police seizing this specific ledger. They seized the ticket and suitcase, but apparently not the proof of purchase.
The "Time-Travel" Ticket: Was it pulled on January 14?
This absence of audit creates a massive window of opportunity. The falsification did not necessarily happen on the day Detective Leane arrived (January 14, 1949). The suitcase sat "unclaimed" in the station for 45 days.
Anytime between December 1, 1948, and January 14, 1949, a ticket could have been pulled from a spare roll, backdated using the rubber stamp, and associated with the suitcase.
This creates a mathematical trap. If the station processed say, just 50 pieces a day, over 2,000 tickets would have been issued between November 30 and January 14.
If G 52703 is a legitimate November 30th 1948 number, the sequence holds.
But if G 52703 turns out to be a number from the January sequence, then the "11:00 AM Nov 30" timestamp is 'questionable'.
The Challenge
So, we are left with a ticket that bears the signs of a rubber date stamp, and potentially a handwritten or manually reset time, and a serial number that has never been audited against its neighbors. Until we find Ticket G 52702 or G 52704, the "11:00 AM" timeline and the date stamp remain an assumption, not a substantiated fact.
CITATIONS
Historical records confirm that on November 30, 1948, Adelaide was in the grip of a power crisis. The Advertiser (Nov 30, p.2) reported on the urgent need for industrial power stability, and rolling blackouts were a common counter-measure during the ongoing coal shortage.
Citation 1: The Ongoing Crisis (Mid-November)
Headline: "Coal Strike Effects"
Source: The Advertiser (Adelaide), November 16, 1948, Page 1.
Fact: The article confirms that coal stocks were critically low and that industrial power restrictions were being debated/implemented across the state to conserve fuel.
Citation 2: The Critical Date (Nov 30)
Headline: "POWER FOR INDUSTRY"
Source: The Advertiser (Adelaide), November 30, 1948, Page 2.
Fact: On the very day the Somerton Man supposed;y arrived, the main editorial was discussing the urgent need for power reliability for industry, reflecting the instability of the grid at that precise moment.
Citation 3: The "Load Shedding" Context
Headline: "Power Cuts In Suburbs" (General Context for late 1948)
Source: The News (Adelaide), November 1948 (Various dates).
Fact: Reports of "blackouts" or "cuts" were common in the suburbs and industrial sectors during this period due to the coal shortage in New South Wales (which supplied SA).
I'd be surprised if no one has previously posted on this.
ReplyDeleteActually, I have a database of comments from various sites over the years and I have searched but nothing shows up. I agree, it's surprising but quite common for people to accept unsubstantiated narrative as the truth. Will have another look.
DeleteA bit hard not to get into conspiracy theories. It looks like it was clearly possible for just about anyone to fake the ticket, how would you know if they had is the big question. Not as straight forward as it looked. Good post BTW
ReplyDeleteWhat a brain teaser! I don't know how thisk the liuggage tags were, agree with the easy to manipulate the date stamp. Seems odd looking back and the time stamp wasn't ever shown, can't see any protrusions from the time stamp machine coming through to the front surface but, I think it was a ribbon was used so does that mean it doesn't need a lot of pressure to imprint the time stamp?
ReplyDeleteHello Gordon, I have had a problem with this ticket all along and now is probably the time to put my opinion — the label was attached when the suitcase was collected, not when it was deposited or transferred to the racking system (K16?).
ReplyDeleteThe ticket actually says “ “Overtime storage collected” which means the ticket was attached at collection and supposedly the overtime fees paid! Were the overtime fees paid, and the ticket attached and stamped, on 30th Nov 1948? Not when it was deposited.
At Adelaide Railway Station, an “Overtime storage collected” ticket means the following (this wording is quite specific and was commonly used):
What it indicates
• An item held in station storage (most often left luggage, sometimes bicycles or parcels) was kept longer than the allowed period.
• An extra fee (overtime storage charge) became payable.
• The item was collected, and the overtime charge was paid at the time of collection.
Where this applied at Adelaide Station:-
Historically (especially mid-20th century through to the 1980s):
• Adelaide Station operated a Left Luggage / Parcels Office
• Storage was charged:
• By day or part-day
• With penalty or overtime rates once the standard period expired
• A small paper ticket or receipt was issued stating “Overtime storage collected”
Story hasn’t held water from the start.
As a p.s.- Stations only used an Edmondson Bench Attached Date stamp and a handheld rubber band stamp as you show. Time was only relevant to the station master and his assistants and the “Central Control” for up and down trains. Cheers
Good thoughts Alan. If I understand this correctly the ticket shown as evidence was not a standard ticket, it was a reciept ticket. In other words, we do not know when the suitcase was intially lodged because that ticket had expired and the case moved to an unclaimed luggage location. The owner then arrives with his ticket stub, pays the outstanding fees and the case gets the ticket we see now with the endorsement 'Overtime Storage Collected' on it This second ticket was a receipt. That 'could' mean that the date shown was the date the outstanding bill was paid. I wonder whether that would mean there were two tickets on the case?
ReplyDeleteA less kind scenario would would also fit rather well, perhaps even better. This option would say that Leane went to the station and looked at the register, saw the list of unclaimed suitcases, inspected a few, selected one but he left it there for a further week, I think, according to records.He would have paid the outstanding money and that's when that new ticket/receipt was attached.
Some years ago I contacted SAR historical people and asked whether they had a daily register from that era. They had one but it was for Mount Barker and not Adelaide. I have a copy of that somewhere and will post it here when I find it.
A really god comment Alan, a question, you mentioned: "At Adelaide Railway Station, an “Overtime storage collected” ticket means the following (this wording is quite specific and was commonly used)". Do you have a record of where that statement was made?
Gordon, the info I posted recently in comments demonstrates how facts turn into fiction by reading text from bits and pieces with no context using AI. I lodged this for 2 reasons, (one) to show AI deficiencies and (two) ………… well!
ReplyDeleteWhilst I have significant problems with any red inked time stamps being present at all, I supply here a little bit of context to my doubt about a time stamp being present on anything coming out of a ticket office.
In my own experience with Station Master exposure, there were always only 3 items that were capable of DATING tickets or dockets. There was nothing at all to provide TIME stamps except a pen, and this wasn’t done on anything except “Off Peak Event” hand written tickets.
The only items in any station ticket office were the Edmondson Ticket Dater https://imgur.com/dxylRKR and https://imgur.com/VCPSubZ and https://imgur.com/HPWBWXb ,the manual hand stamper (similar to what you show) https://imgur.com/PXsEbbf , and the ink pen. https://imgur.com/p50B5oq
There was nothing any more complicated in the railways system, even in Train Control, than just electric clocks.
In the Control Room inside picture https://imgur.com/RzpJEDn there is a free standing console near the right hand end of each desk with an array of toggle switches. These switches represent each station on the system and they were called on a common party line using bell rings with 4 digit codes.
Each station had an identity that looked like a 4 letter morse code word (e.g. -..- or .- -. etc) and the Station Master would listen out for their particular ring if a call was incoming, likewise if they called Control they would ring the Control Room bell in the same sequence as their identity and Control should answer knowing who was calling.
One state would have the Control Room send a single ring at 10am precisely and the Station Master would be waiting and check the accuracy of their station clock against the ring. Others would do something similar to keep clocks synchronised.
There was one other stamp but was fixed and had no date, just purely the name of the station and looked exactly like the Post Office round stamp used to cancel postage stamps.
Thanks.
Alan, i have found the Register, it is mostly about lost and found items and the dates show the early 20th Century some 35 years earlier and wll before the reconstruction of the Adelaide Railway station which, I understand led to a number of updates to their systems. It is not clear whether there were left luggage points elsewhere within the station confines.
ReplyDeleteWith regards to the K16, from earlier research that apparently was the operators number but that's open to interpretation of course.
I have some images of the reconstructed main Left Luggage counter and the inner storage area but I think that the latter was from th late 1920s and it may have also been altered. You.ll find the images and a post here: https://tamamshud.blogspot.com/2022/02/somerton-man-tamam-shud-suitcase_27.html
Your insights into procedures add further value to the discussion. Thanks Alan