A 2,000-year-old Greek statue, known as the Grave Naiskos of an Enthroned Woman with an Attendant, has become a focal point for recent claims that time travel is possible. The artifact, dating back to 100 BC and standing approximately 37 inches high, depicts a woman of status seated in an elaborate chair. Her right arm extends forward, holding open a rectangular object presented by a young servant girl.

Conspiracy theorists interpret this object as a modern laptop, pointing to its shallow depth and even what appear to be USB ports on its side. These interpretations have resurfaced online amid a surge in anecdotal accounts from individuals claiming to be time travelers from the future. One self-proclaimed time traveler, Adam Archon, has stated that travel to the past to witness historical events could become commonplace by 2028.

The statue is currently on display at the J. Paul Getty Museum in California. Museum curators, however, offer a different explanation. They identify the object as a jewelry box, citing comparisons with other funerary reliefs that show women interacting with jewelry containers. Curators stated, "Although the box appears too shallow to hold anything substantial, we can identify it as a jewelry box by comparison with other funerary reliefs that depict women pulling ribbons or jewelry out of larger, more naturalistic boxes."

This is not the only ancient Greek artwork to have fueled similar speculation. Other reliefs from around 500 BC, found on drinking cups, appear to show figures holding open devices that resemble modern laptops and interacting with them using a stylus. These have also been dismissed by experts as depictions of wax tablets, which ancient Greeks used as primitive notebooks. Other images from Ancient Greece around 500 BC appeared to show scholars using a laptop and stylus, although the objects have been dismissed as wax tablets

Modern-day claims of time travel have also latched onto other seemingly anachronistic images. A resurfaced recording of Elvis Presley's final concert in 1977 reportedly shows a fan holding what looks like a smartphone. Similarly, a photograph from World War II in Reykjavik, Iceland, appears to show a man holding a cell phone to his ear, and footage from a 1995 Mike Tyson boxing match shows a spectator holding up what resembles a smartphone.

Footage from Elvis Presley's final concert has resurfaced online and appears to show someone carrying a device which conspiracy theorists claim is a smartphone

A photograph, captured on a busy street in Reykjavik, Iceland, in 1943 during World War II, appears to show a smartly dressed man among a crowd of soldiers holding an object to his ear

A similar theory emerged from footage of a Mike Tyson boxing match in 1995. The clip appears to show a spectator in the front row using a smartphone to record

Archon, who claims to be from 2045, has asserted that time travel technology was invented in 1981 but kept secret until its public release in 2028. He also suggested that future technology would allow for simulations of past events, though many would prefer to experience history directly. Another individual, Alexander Smith, who identified himself as a time traveler from 2118, echoed similar claims about the hidden development of time travel technology, stating the CIA possessed such advanced, secret capabilities.

While the theory of time travel aligns with mathematical possibilities suggested by Einstein's theory of general relativity, there is currently no concrete evidence to support the notion that humans can travel backward in time or possess machines capable of doing so.