Legend has it that in June 1950, a strange man, dressed in 19th century fashion, appeared in downtown Times Square. Eyewitnesses claimed that he looked frightened and shocked. A couple of minutes later he was hit by a car and the man died on the spot.
The police searched his body and found the following items in his pockets:
- 70 dollars banknotes of the 19th century
- a copper token with the name of a saloon that even the oldest residents of the area have not heard of
- horse grooming guide and receipts from Lexington Avenue stables long gone
- Business cards with the name “Rudolf Fentz” and an address on Fifth Avenue
- Letter mailed to this address from Philadelphia in June 1876
None of these things looked old or shabby.
Captain Hubert Reem of the New York Department of Missing Persons attempted to track down the man using this information. He discovered that a store was located at the indicated address on Fifth Avenue. Alas, its owner knew nothing about Rudolf Fentz. Fentz's last name was not in any address book, his fingerprints were not on the database, and no one filed a report that he was missing.
Rome continued its investigation. Finally, in the 1939 phone book, he found a man named "Rudolf Fentz Jr." The official went to the apartment building at the specified address. It turned out that the man had not lived there for over 10 years. Residents described Fentz as a man in his 60s who, upon retirement, moved to an unknown location.
After contacting a bank, Rome learned that Fentz had died five years ago, but his widow was still living in Florida. Rome contacted her and learned that her husband's father had disappeared in 1876 when he was 29 years old. He just went outside one evening and never came back.
Facts
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This story was published several times in newspapers as a real case. After the Spanish magazine Mas Alia once again described the incident as a fact in 2000, folklore researcher Chris Aubek decided to test its veracity. In the course of research, he came to the conclusion that this story was fiction, although he could not find and indicate its source.
In 2002, Pastor George Murphy stated that the source was Robert Heinlein's science fiction story, Tomorrow the Stars, first published in September 1951. The story was actually written by science fiction writer Jack Finney. The Fentz episode was part of a short story called "I'm afraid."
So it turned out that the character and story were completely fictional, and the source was found. At least everyone thought so. By then Finney had already died and it was impossible to ask him.
Unexpected turn
In 2007, a researcher working at the Berlin News Archive discovered an April 1951 newspaper with an article detailing the incident. 5 months before the publication of the alleged source!
Moreover, some researchers have stated that they have found evidence of the existence of Rudolf Fentz and his disappearance at the age of 29 in 1876.