The Vertical Plane: The Mystery of the Dodleston Messages: Second Edition

by Ken Webster

For a period of two years, Ken Webster found himself in the extraordinary position of corresponding directly with an individual who had lived on the site of his own cottage four centuries earlier. The correspondence began with messages left on his home computer on the kitchen table, and ended with communications scrawled directly onto paper. Fully prepared for some form of elaborate hoax, Webster found to his consternation that the language of the messages tallied precisely with 16th century English usage.

A unique supernatural detective story, The Vertical Plane is a riveting personal experience of an inexplicable fault in the fabric of time—and a moving account of a relationship mediated across four hundred years.

Genres: Paranormal, Nonfiction, Mystery, Supernatural, Historical, Occult, Time Travel

358 pages, Paperback

First published March 30, 1989

Reviews

[Nicholas · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very strange story, not sure I actually believe it but it certainly caught my attention and I read it to the end.

I live not 5 minutes away from this location so know the house concerned, (I`ve actually been inside if its the correct house I recall as I was a telecommunications lineman for many years and fixed their phone lol)..

Time is a mystery though and we still don`t fully understand its mechanics so who knows...

[Lyndsay · Rating 5 out of 5]

MEDIEVAL GHOST COMPUTER AIM MESSES UP RENOVATION PLANS AND CAR PURCHASES. MASTERPIECE

[Allison Thurman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Five stars if only because I had to go to such effort to get a copy!

As a lifelong connoisseur of strange history/Forteana/etc. I was amazed to learn of the story of the Dodleston messages only for the first time on the Mysterious Universe podcast this past year. Ghosts in the machine? The present haunting the past? I'd never heard of anything quite like it. I am IN.

The book did not disappoint. The short version: this is an account of some odd events that took place in an English country cottage in the 1980s. In the midst of a bout of "standard" poltergeist activity Webster borrowed an early computer (a BBC Micro - little better than a computerized typewriter) from his local school for unrelated reasons. Messages in Elizabethan(ish?) English started to appear on the screen when the computer was unattended, demanding why they were in his house and where this "box of lights" came from.

Webster & his roommates initially thought this a hoax, albeit an elaborate one. But one of Webster's colleagues affirmed that the odd English usage was historically accurate, and no one could figure out who might be getting at the computer and how (this was pre-internet).

And then things got REALLY weird.

Apart from a few stretches in which Webster speculates about the source/nature of the phenomena most of this book is a diary of the interactions on the computer. Transcriptions of the original messages are provided (presumably for people who want to analyze the language for themselves) alongside modern versions of the same tell a story of two time periods haunting each other to the consternation of both, mediated by a mysterious third party that makes one wonder if their meeting was accidental.

Do I believe that these events are what they appear to be? I don't know. If it was a hoax it's a hell of a good one, which makes one wonder who would go to such effort and why.

This story is unique among the tales of ghost and poltergeist phenomena in it's technological component - that alone is what drew me in. Some part of me hopes that Webster and "Thomas Hardwen" do meet about the table in Oxford one day to share an ale and exchange stories. Another part of me just wants to know what the hell went on here!

FWIW, I got my copy by requesting the University of Pennsylvania libraries to scan their hard copy for me. Anyone disinclined to wait for a Kindle version or spend hundreds of dollars on a 30 year old paperback might want to contact them.

[Kate · Rating 1 out of 5]

I saw a video on Youtube about this book so I downloaded it off the internet. To buy a copy is like over 100 pounds. It is the single most boring book I have ever read. I kept pushing on to the end of 374 pages and it never got any better. I don't know who Ken Webster is but it would have been much better if he had a professional writer ghost this book. 'Maybe' then it would be interesting. Don't waste your time. See the video and leave it at that.

[Nikki E. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a weird-ass book.

Here’s a lazy attempt at a synopsis: An English couple from the 80s borrows a BBC Micro computer, turns out to be capable of time travel and makes contact with a man from the 16th century, as well as unknown figures from the future.

I had an interest in reading this one after listening to the somewhat infamous episode of Mysterious Universe that covers it (17.05 if you’re interested). The book is presented as a true account, including pictures and early English passages with accompanying translations that come through from the 16th century man who calls himself Lukas.

I’ve come up with three scenarios to why this book exists, ordered from least likely to most likely:

1. It’s a hoax (perpetrated by someone in Webster’s life.)
Somebody must have really had it out for Ken and his lady friend to work out a prank like this. Always breaking in their house to save messages on the Micro in the voice of ye olde man of tyme and some d-bag in the future. Or maybe the prankster was a morally righteous, middle ages scholar and computer engineering genius and invented the internet before Al Gore, and fashioned this whole scheme as a way to GET THOSE TWO HEATHENS LIVING IN SIN to move out of the neighborhood. That’s a ton of time (2 years) and effort (LITERALLY EVERYTHING ELSE IN THIS BOOK) to get someone off the block. Then again, I’m part of some neighborhood Facebook talk groups. Shit gets ugly real quick.

2. It’s entirely true.
Every passage, every photo, every message, every account by Ken Webster and his group of friends and colleagues is completely unironic truth and there’s some X-Files style weirdness going on here. The glowing green computer/box of lights/"leems boyste" was brought to by some guy (also glows green, calls himself “one,” probably from the future and is clearly ripping off the Matrix) to the 16th century, the BBC Micro receives messages plus some poltergeist-esque activity, and some people from 2109 burst in and act like assholes with vague and arrogant messages (in all caps even, how rude. I could excuse Lukas for using all caps, I mean the guy didn’t grow up with AIM so he doesn’t know chat etiquette, but come on 2109. You know that means yelling, not cool guys.) It’s a whole bucket of explainable and unverifiable events that will spin your brain up in a WTF centrifuge. It’s so out-there that it’s easy to immediately dismiss as fiction, but someone has to be seriously creative to come up with this stuff. All the translations, staging all the pictures, the fact that it’s a little TOO mundane to be made up… it all makes me lean just a little bit toward “I don’t know, maybe?”

3. It’s a hoax (perpetrated by Webster himself)
I think we’ve been trolled to the highest order. I’m not an expert in personality or people, however I’ve noticed something over the years. People tend to be emotionally invested in how their intelligence defines them. Whether that means rattling off fun facts in conversation, kicking ass at Trivial Pursuit, watching brainy documentaries on Netflix, or making a career in academia depends on the person. I have a theory that the author bothered to write and publish The Vertical Plane as a way to arrogantly reaffirm his own intellectual superiority.

Hear me out… I think all the characters in this book are one person, the author. This person is creative and intelligent enough to work out a plot this convoluted and bizarre, and has enough knowledge of middle English to make Lukas’ messages passing enough for the average layman. Webster has used the term “of course” in placed where no “of course” would be assumed, big red flag for me that this person feels intellectually superior. If you do a little Google-fu on this case, you can find a few forums with entries from both Debbie (Ken’s bae) and Gary (ufologist with a side scam with 2109 apparently). All of them sound strangely similar in tone with the whole book. More evidence that it’s all the same person, my guess is to drum up more interest in the book after MU covered it.

So, if the whole thing is the brain-child of Ken/Debbie/Gary/Peter/WHOEVER, then what’s the motivation here? Again, it could be an attempted declaration of “I’M SO SMART I FOOLED EVERYONE HAHAHAHA *evil genius cackle*”.

But then I think about Deb’s role. She apparently a pretty lady, but that’s apparently all she is, there’s literally nothing else that defines her, aside from a picture of her at the BBC Micro with big fantastic 80s hair. She does however have weirdly pushy dreams about Lukas. He grabs her arm a few times, they want to touch each other, they make candles together but hers breaks(???). Given that I’m not sure Deb actually exists, was this whole damn book just some complicated outlet for a time travelling cuckold fetish? The dreams aren’t explicit, but I have a theory that Ken had too good of a time at a renaissance faire once and has held onto a bizarre fantasy about pretty ladies in the Ye Olde Candle Shoppe.

Anyway, at the end of it all, I loved the book for what it is. I was 100% entertained, mostly by myself and trying to figure out why this book exists. I still think we all got conspiracy-theory catfished by Ken, which is totally fine. I’m leaving CALLING 2109… up in Microsoft Word anyway.

[Ken Cartisano · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fascinating book, any way you look at it.

What the author, Ken Webster, presents, is more of a journal than a story, a chronicle of facts and observations within a well-documented time frame. If it were a magic trick, one could simply marvel at the ingenuity of the magician, and let it go at that. But this story is told by a school teacher with very little interest in all of the most disturbing aspects of the events that he relates. In other words, the author is describing things that he doesn’t understand, doesn’t like, and doesn’t even believe in.

I share the author’s distrust of the paranormal, and it is the author’s cynical view of the supernatural that lends this book a lot of its credibility.

Which leads to the question, ‘Is this guy serious?’

The answer eludes me, along with everyone else. Even after 40 years, the book and the author defy explanation.

In 1985, the year these events are alleged to have happened, phone booths stood on every corner. Personal computers were rare, bulky, word processors with a small screen and a blinking cursor. Besides keeping the date and time, all they were good for was editing and printing text. They were the first incarnation of all of the digital devices we use today: cell phones, digital cameras, pagers, fax machines, printers. The Internet was officially two years old and still virtually unknown. Again, keep in mind that when this book was published in 1987, digital technology was still a thing of the future.

What’s fascinating is that the events are flat-out impossible, either way you choose to interpret them, hoax or authentic. If the events were a hoax, it continues to be the longest running, as well as the most difficult, elaborate and senseless hoaxes of all time. If the story is true, as the author claims, it would drastically alter our perception of multi-dimensional space and time.

In addition to that stark contrast, if the events did really happen, then the perpetrator of those events is surely one of the greatest pranksters of all time, too.

And the author insists that the events really happened. He provides sketches, photos, and an original copy of every message he decodes, or ‘translates,’ so you can see for yourself the difficulty of comprehending the spelling of a fellow Englishman from the distant past, and the meaning of the messages, especially at the outset.

He does not hide the locations involved, the equipment used, the names of the participants, some of whom are still alive…

It is so odd and riveting, that one can be forgiven for not noticing that there is no story here. Ken Webster never ‘turns’ his journal into a story, it’s fair to say he doesn’t even try, which is all the more fascinating—but he leaves the reader a blueprint, or a treasure map, a riddle for us to ponder.

Because there are no dinosaurs around to measure and weigh, we must, at times, infer the extinct lizards size and weight from the depth and distance of their fossilized footprints.

What we are given in ‘The Vertical Plane’, is the description of an event that left a four-dimensional footprint in space and time. The author does us no harm in refusing to speculate on the nature or mechanisms involved in such an event, but leaves us to our own imaginings.

[Megan Hex · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great account of a computer haunted by a ghost from the past AND aliens from the future! It’s a twofer!

[Bmj2k · Rating 2 out of 5]

There's probably an interesting story here but it needs a competent writer to produce it. Ken Webster is not that man.

[Doc Cartwright]

(I’ll attempt this review. Although I have read the book several times, I don’t have it to hand, so I apologize in advance for any errors. )
This book purports to be an account of communication through time, with the past and with the future, with messages and images appearing on a BBC computer possessed by Ken Webster, an economics teacher at the local grammar school, from his cottage at Dodleston, a small village in Cheshire just on the border with Wales. The same cottage was occupied by Thomas Harden in the 16th century. So Ken is receiving messages from an astounded Tom, who doesn’t understand who are these “people” disturbing his rural tranquility (which isn’t so tranquil as Tom is on the run from Henry VIII’s thought police – remember it was a time of religious persecution). Tom also starts getting the hots for Ken’s lovely girlfriend. Ken meanwhile, with the help of a friend who has some expertise on the English language of the 16th century, tries to find out more about Poor Tom. They search the parish records and what they find is convincing.
Then after a while they start receiving messages from the future, from 2109, and now it seems they are all part of an experiment conducted by these future dudes. The futuroids tell them to contact Gary, a psychobilly who lives in Rhyl. So Ken with some friends heads for “Greaseburger Rhyl”, where he is not convinced by Gary. Other psychobills turn up at his cottage.
Ken Webster has an attractive personality. He’s sceptical, no Von Daniken-type fantast. His hobby is renovating and racing vintage Jaguar cars. And he’s all too human. He describes how he and his friends travel to London to see an Elvis Costello concert. A friend in London has the tickets. They go to the street where their friend lives, but they don’t have the house number (no handphones in those days). So no Elvis Costello for Webster & Co. It’s the sort of thing we’ve all done, but Webster is honest enough to omit it.
And yet, and yet… My gut feeling tells me that this account of time travel is false.
I wrote a poem for Ken, six stanzas of then lines each. Here’s the final stanza.

The nearflung northwest frontier fades away,
And Cheshire cats get curiouser every day.
Costello sings Greensleeves, Garner shifts to red,
And Hope, World’s End, pour powerclouds overhead.
Lothlorien leys around the Dobshill webcam.
And Webster hopes that some Cabotian Seb can
Discover a book a friend wrote long ago,
When timeslip rangers braved their vertigo,
Vertically scrubbing out temporal grime.
Virtually planing radiance out of time.

References: Alan Garner wrote an extraordinary novel, Red Shift, set in Cheshire, about time travel (one space, three times). Hope Mountain and World’s End are Welsh elevations southwest of Dodleston. The webcam on the nearby Dobshill crossing on the A55 frequently captures UFOs. In fact the whole area is a timeslip zone; reports exist of sightings of Roman legionaries marching along a road near Chester, and of spaceships taking off and landing at Liverpool Spaceport. If a book that Thomas wrote is found in Brasenose College, this will prove the truth of the events recorded in Vertical Plane.

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I feel obliged to say my rating of the book does not mean I believe anything contained in it! However it is a great yarn, if nothing else.

[Philip · Rating 2 out of 5]

Like a lot of reviews I've seen online, I saw a video on YouTube on this 'phenomenon' and wasn't quite sure what to make of it. I thought the book would provide a deeper dive and give me more data to feed into my BS Detector [patent pending].

For those unfamiliar, the story goes that the author, Ken, brought home a BBC Micro computer from the high school he worked at one weekend in 1984 and began receiving messages from hundreds of years in the past on it.

Although the Internet is said to have been invented in 1983, this was the first time computers could successfully communicate with each other over phone lines, earlier iterations of it were around as far back as 1969, though you would need a small warehouse to house your computer. Also, the BBC Micro had no modem capability, so the idea that these messages were coming from another computer in the present (1984), doesn't really hold water.

So that leaves us with two options; the author is lying/ writing fiction, or it really happened. Reading the book I did go back and forth quite a lot. On the one hand, I thought Ken, a high school economics teacher, was quite an accomplished writer for someone who allegedly never wrote anything before or after. However, the structure of the book is repetitive and quite boring.

The book is a record of messages sent and messages received, with a bit of personal flavour thrown in by Ken about what was going on in his home life at the time. The frustrating thing, and maybe the most telling thing, is that when he asks direct questions to the past, they rarely answer them. These wouldn't be hard questions for someone living in that time to answer. They could've shared things that only a dedicated historian could know and immediately disprove this whole thing as a hoax, but they never do. The guy in the past does mention some obscure historical facts, but some are verifiable and some aren't (and some aren't true). Can we put this down to stories and news being passed on by word of mouth and being corrupted/ exaggerated with every telling? Oddly enough, that rings more true than this guy knowing everything that's in a textbook.

After finishing the book, the needle on my BS Detector [patent pending] is leaning towards BS. Even though the BBC (the TV station, not the computer maker) made a documentary about these events back in the mid-80s and treated it seriously, we only have the author and his girlfriend's word that any of this happened the way they said it did. Nowadays, you'd just stick a GoPro in the corner of the room to watch the computer and you'd see exactly what's going on, but in '84 we just have to believe that these messages only arrived when they weren't around (for some reason).

It's an interesting story, but find a YouTube video on it - there's a lot - and it'll tell you everything you need to know. This book, much like The Mothman Prophecies book, adds nothing to the story but lots of pointless filler and no resolution.

[Des · Rating 3 out of 5]

My interest in this book stems from working with the BBC Microcomputer in the 1980s. The BBC played an important part in my life and led to many significant outcomes in using educational technology and IT. So I couldn’t let this story go past.
My disclaimer is that I haven’t actually read the book because, like many others I couldn’t find a copy at a reasonable price. So I base my review entirely on podcasts that I listened to about this story. Interestingly, quite a few others have done the same, stating that the reviewed or synopsis approach was better than the book!
I would the entire story intriguing and well worth my time. My sceptical self was looking for verifiable evidence as to the veracity of the author’s information.
Once I got past the fact that evidence was absent supporting communication back and forward in time, I was more comfortable just taking the information at “face value”.
It was a really good story and I found it entertaining.

[Nicholas Luecking · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm glad I read this book because I found the concept interesting, and I'm always excited to try something more unique or experimental. I did, however, find the execution to be a bit of a drag that ultimately didn't really go anywhere meaningful.

[Miguelángel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Un libro bien extraño, todavía no sé si en el buen o el mal sentido. Quizá lo que me genera más dudas es si el autor realmente cree que todo esto pasó o si es una especie de novela/pseudo-no-ficción sobre apariciones, desfases del espacio-tiempo y absurdas conspiraciones futuristas (un Blair Witch literario, por decir algo). Si es lo primero, temo por su salud mental; si es lo segundo, me intriga qué lo motivó a escribirlo.

Como sea, lo que hace bizarra la experiencia es que sea un relato tan cotidiano, tan "tenemos un fantasma del siglo XVI y otro del siglo XXII con los que nos comunicamos a través de un computador de 1985 y que lanzan muebles por los aires, pero más me preocupa arreglar el auto y que me crean en la pega" que llega a desorientar, aunque le da credibilidad al relato. Hay momentos en que prácticamente no pasa nada (o peor, se da vueltas en lo mismo), mientras que la mención de que un fantasma podría formar parte de una cábala de alquimistas (!) nunca es explorada. Por supuesto, el tema es que tampoco podría explorarlo más con los recursos disponibles, es realmente lo que hay, efectivamente en la vida real pocas cosas se llegan a saber completamente. En ese sentido, las teorías finales (sobre líneas ley y ovnis futuristas) terminan por matar un poco la ilusión, por lo que sugiero saltarlas.

Creo que al final terminó por gustarme el experimento, pero solo porque estos temas me fascinan. No podría recomendarlo a un lector casual o quien tenga la suspensión de incredulidad muy alta.

[Cecilio Soto · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ken Webster if you are reading this, can you please sign my copy of The Vertical Plane? Or can you sell me another signed copy? I will not be selling or profiting from it. It willl be added to my treasured collection of books. How can I contact you? I heard about your book on Mysterious Universe podcast and I was so amazed I had to buy it. My email is CecilioSoto@msn.com. Thank you!

[Stanley Bad · Rating 2 out of 5]

Utter tripe—but somehow compelling for all that.
An economics teacher and his teenage girlfriend enter into correspondence with a silly man in the 1540s and an entity from 2109 with atrocious spelling, using BBC model B computers borrowed from his workplace, in 1985. It is on archive.org if you don’t want to pay between £100and £500 for what is, frankly, crud.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

If true, this would be one of the most amazing stories of all time. The writing isn’t great and, at times, can be difficult to follow… but overall, this is an interesting read.

For those who are interested, the Unexplained podcast has a great episode on the Dodleston messages:

http://www.unexplainedpodcast.com/epi...

[Kaylen Stuart · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is one of those viruses where you feel the need to give it to all your friends and family just so you have someone else to discuss all the spoilers with.

[Lydia · Rating 1 out of 5]

I’d give it 0 stars if I could. Extremely boring, nothing really happens.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mediaeval ghost computer chats cause havoc with a renovation of a cottage in Cheshire and that’s just the start of an increasingly bizarre experience with the paranormal that, if true, shatters preëxisting notions of linear time.

Ken Webster obtains a BBC microcomputer and suddenly begins a long-running series of communications with someone named Tomas (alias Lukas) from the reign of King Henry VIII. This eventually blossoms into a strong and abiding friendship that is sorely tested by the fact that 400 years separate the two men not to mention the intrusions from a futuristic voice in 2109 and the scepticism of paranormal researchers.

Webster spends a long time outright denying the veracity of his encounters and listing the many different opportunities for hoaxes or pranksters. If this were a hoax, either Webster has psychological problems or his neighbours hate him in the extreme. The main issue however is that every other character present in the Webster’s narrative has the same tone and voice, feeling like they are all just other aspects of Webster’s tale. Substantial parts of the narrative are just given over to Webster’s musings about work, daily life, the banality of renovating his cottage; all of these actually add authenticity to his account, making this narrative seem more real, like he’s actually chronicling his life. Regardless of this, Webster writes a believable and compelling account of this bizarre time-travelling AIM chat that, for all intents and purposes, remains historically and linguistically accurate.

Whether or not this is actually a true account, it is certainly an eye-opening discussion on the nature of time and our experiences of it. Webster manages the not so easy feat of objectivity and scepticism before finally believing. Certainly what we know of time is limited and with the increasing prevalence of computers and AI in our society, there is bound to be some sort of similar shenanigans in the not too distant future. And once we reach the year 2109, We might have further proof anyway.

3.5 stars rounded up.

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the strangest book I’ve ever read. I encountered the story on a TV show called ‘The Why Files’ which prompted me to find the book. I have the 2nd edition which is expanded from the original. The book recounts the experiences of some teachers in a prestigious British school, two of whom are housemates and the other was an early language specialist. They borrowed a “computer” from the school to use at home. It sounded to me very much like an old IBM Selectric typewriter with a floppy memory disk and a monitor. One day they found a file none of them put there. The message was in an older English dialect and purported to be from a Tudor-era resident wondering who they were and what they were doing in his house! The housemates soon discover they can have conversations across time with an educated Tudor era gentleman who’s told them he sees ‘leems’ or lights with their words.

So begins a two-year set of conversations and a deepening mystery about the teachers, this man of the ‘leems’ and another mysterious entity identifying itself as 2109, and the circumstances that brought them together. It would be good fiction, except it’s not. It’s what the author experiences. He still stand by the story all these years later and expands some of his information in this 2nd edition along with an appended chapter by his linguist friend who translated and verified the old English messages

I have since found YouTube videos recounting this story and grappling with its mysteries. It’s a mystery that has really grabbed my attention and I recommend it to anyone intrigued by the ‘Strange but True.’

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really interesting story, easy enough to read. I didn’t find the book boring at all as some others have commented. Ken Webster tells the story of the events really well with a good deal of humour and honesty. The second half of the book (the messages with ‘2019’) dragged a little bit for me – possibly because 2109 is just such an annoying character in this story.

Also, to address the criticism that the events written about are ‘obviously a hoax’. That’s not quite correct. They may LIKELY be a hoax but not OBVIOUSLY. It’s as difficult to prove this event was a hoax as it is to prove that it was real. In Ken Webster’s defence also, he remains sceptical and unsure through a lot of the book. He is often questioning how this event is happening and worrying that a trick is being played on him and yet he (and others) are unable to conceive of how or why such a trick is being played, if that is what it is.

And secondly, even if it were ‘obviously a hoax’, would that make the book any less worth reading? It’s a fascinating and weird story told really well. Whether it's true doesn't matter. I really enjoyed it.

Finally, a tip for us all. This is a rare and expensive book (especially the 1989 edition). Don’t forget that there are places called libraries that let you borrow books for free! That’s exactly how I got hold of a copy.

[AquaMoon]

Tracked this down after hearing about it on a podcast featuring Weird & Interesting True Stories. I'm not sure I believe in the "truth" of this particular tale, but I appreciate what the author is trying to do. However, a writer he is not. An editor, he is not. The story was convoluted, confusing, full of holes, and, well, even kind of boring, even to this fan of time travel, time loops, alternate timelines, and Simulation Theory. I did try, though.

If you're looking for a better suggestion, there's a series by a little-known author by the name of Ransom Riggs. Or, if it's something more ambitious you desire, you could attempt House of Leaves. Although most definitely fiction, these atypical haunted house stories will satisfy the Weird Quota where Webster's fell short.

[Anakim Hemelloper · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very odd. I hunted out a copy on the internet and read it in March this year. The more I read the more I was convinced I'd read the book before and indeed when I got to the end I thought spooky but bit of an anti climax - same reaction after my first reading. That is until I checked the published date. No way! I remember reading it when I worked as a computer programmer in the middle east in 1972. At the time I read it as science fiction. Back then computers took up a large hall. At the end of my 2 year contract I was talking about it with a computer analyst who just came out from the UK. He told me to get into microcomputers as they were the future. I asked if the BBC were thinking of making a desktop computer and we both laughed. Maybe in 10 years he said.

[Caffeinated 24x7 · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story is a unique and twisted supernatural. Detective story about an unheard of tear in the fabric a time across multiple hundreds of years of accounts in the past, and in the future. It is unique as it’s written as a first person account but you have to think it’s got to be fiction. It truly is a beautiful story whether fiction or nonfiction, but an extraordinary position for a person to be in communicating with people 400 years ago and then again 400 years in the future. Lets you decide what to believe and what not to. A wonderful mystery book I discovered from listening to the Why Files on YouTube. I had to buy the book to read it for myself.

[Simon Gipson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I got the book as I grew up with a BBC Micro at home and the story overview piqued my interest. Although I finished the book, it wasn't the can't-put-it-down book I was hoping for. I only tend to read when I'm in the bathroom, so my progress is always very slow - maybe that contributed to my lack of enthusiasm for the story. However, it was interesting, especially as it appears to be based on real-life events, but it petered out towards to end, and by finishing the book I felt a sense of achievement rather than a feeling of sadness that it was over.

[Marc Roberge · Rating 3 out of 5]

I dug up a copy on Scribd after learning of the Dodleston messages on YT. Altogether unconvincing and a chore to read, even as you are urged on by the intriguing core premise. Tantamount to a modern day Saskwatch communicating with ancient Mayans via Etch-A-Sketch while trapped in the house from the film 13 Ghosts.

[Cathy Frantz · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's an interesting read but loses steam as it goes. I had never heard of the Dodleston Messages before so it was intriguing to hear about them from the perspective of the professor who (supposedly) experienced them, but no questions are really ever answered and I found myself getting more and more eager for the book to be over.

[CPJ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just to clarify for the person reviewing below. They are all different people in this book and not one person pretending to be them all, as you state. I know one of them and have my book signed by two of them.

[Chans · Rating 4 out of 5]

7/10