Many are familiar with the concept of other universes. It’s a popular science fiction trope, exciting and fascinating audiences of all ages. But few are aware of the underground experiments happening just below the noses of millions of people, and they may have already altered the fabric of the reality we know and understand.
In 1980’s, Nelson Mandela was reported to have passed away in prison, with many people recalling his death. Of course, they were shocked to discover his actual death—all the way in 2013.
Other popular examples include very well-known franchises, such as Star Wars and Pokémon. In the case of the multi-billion-dollar movie franchise, the famous line “Luke I am your father.” never really happened. If you go back, you’ll notice the real line is actually “No, I am your father.” Pokémon’s face, Pikachu, is often remembered to have a black or dark brown tip on his tail. That never existed either.
In Italy, deep under the roots of the sun-kissed towns and lemon groves, lies an underground science lab that rivals the imagination of such in Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse. In fact, this facility has the very thing that caused the universe to shatter in this blockbuster film. A super collider.
Sounds fictional? That’s what they want you to believe. CERN, the company behind these experiments, has repeatedly assured us that it will not affect our daily lives, and it’s perfectly safe. But that’s not what Max Laughlin, a 13-year-old certified genius, has to say. “Mathematics is the language of the universe… and CERN is speaking it out of tune.” Laughlin warns.
And if you doubt Max, maybe you should doubt his 20-page manifesto warning the world’s most powerful scientists not to open a portal they can’t close. This would cause the “irreparable fracture of the fabric of our existence”, or to us simple folk, break the universe into a billion pieces.
Of course, we can’t really be sure about the credibility of a kid, but we also are just as unsure of a multi-million-dollar government company. Sad, isn’t it?
All the same, Laughlin theorized that CERN’s 2012 Higgs boson discovery “destroyed our universe” and shifted us to a parallel one, citing the Mandela Effect as evidence—such as misremembered movie lines or product logos, such as the ones mentioned above. Loughan argued CERN could punch holes in spacetime, merging timelines and causing collective memory glitches.
I don’t know about you, but that really gives me pause. Broken universes and spacetime rips all seem too familiar in popular science fiction novels. In the end, we may never be sure if the Mandela Effect is the result of a life-altering portal opening or just a widespread mental phenomenon like the scientists assure us. What we do know, though, is scientific discovery is not slowing down anytime soon.
