The Goddard Time Slip of 1935

In 1935, Air Marshal Sir Victor Goddard of the Royal Air Force experienced one of the most compelling time slip cases on record. While flying over Drem Airfield in Scotland - which he knew to be abandoned and overgrown - he encountered a strange storm. Emerging from the unusual weather, he saw the airfield below completely transformed: operational, with yellow aircraft on the tarmac and mechanics in blue overalls. When Drem Airfield reopened four years later in 1939, it matched his vision exactly - including the then-unprecedented yellow training aircraft and blue overalls that weren’t standard in 1935.

The Witness

Sir Victor Goddard

His credentials:

• Air Marshal, Royal Air Force
• Highly respected officer
• Distinguished military career
• Later Air Vice-Marshal
• No history of fabrication

Why He Matters

Goddard’s testimony is significant because:

• Military professional
• Expert aviator
• Trained observer
• Nothing to gain from story
• Reputation at stake

The Incident

The Flight

What happened:

• Year: 1935
• Flying over Scotland
• Passed near Drem Airfield
• Knew it to be abandoned
• Routine flight initially

Drem in 1935

The airfield’s condition:

• Closed and derelict
• Hangars decaying
• Runway overgrown
• No aircraft present
• No personnel stationed

The Storm

Goddard encountered:

• Unusual storm clouds
• Strange yellowish light
• Turbulence and disorientation
• Brief but intense
• Unlike normal weather

The Vision

What He Saw

Emerging from the storm:

• Drem Airfield below
• Completely operational
• Hangars repaired
• Aircraft on tarmac
• Personnel visible

Specific Details

The memorable elements:

• Aircraft painted yellow
• Mechanics in blue overalls
• Busy, active airfield
• Modern appearance
• Fully functioning base

His Reaction

Goddard’s response:

• Confusion and disbelief
• Knew the airfield was derelict
• Questioned his senses
• Continued his flight
• Remembered details vividly

Four Years Later

Drem Reopens

In 1939:

• World War II approaching
• Drem Airfield reactivated
• Completely renovated
• Became training base
• RAF Fighter Command

The Match

What Goddard discovered:

• Yellow training aircraft present
• New standard introduced after 1935
• Mechanics wore blue overalls
• Not standard in 1935
• Changed after his experience

Details He Couldn’t Have Known

The key evidence:

• Yellow aircraft not used in 1935
• Blue overalls not standard in 1935
• Both introduced later
• He saw the future
• No way to predict these changes

Analysis

Time Slip Theory

What the case suggests:

• Glimpse of future
• Time not linear
• Perception can shift
• Past and future connected
• Reality more fluid than assumed

Alternative Explanations

Skeptical views:

• False memory
• Later embellishment
• Coincidence
• Misremembering details
• Hypoxia or disorientation

Problems with Skepticism

Why alternatives fall short:

• Goddard told story before 1939
• Specific details matched
• Trained observer
• No motive to fabricate
• Reputation would suffer

Similar Cases

Time Slip Phenomenon

Other reported incidents:

• Bold Street, Liverpool cases
• Versailles time slip (1901)
• Various location-specific slips
• Pattern of experiences
• Consistent characteristics

Aviation Anomalies

Other pilot experiences:

• Missing time incidents
• Temporal disorientation
• Unusual weather connections
• RAF has multiple reports
• Pattern in flight experiences

The Scientific Question

What Could Explain It?

Theories proposed:

• Electromagnetic phenomena
• Consciousness anomalies
• Space-time fluctuations
• Unknown physics
• Psychic perception

The Problem

Why it remains mysterious:

• No scientific framework
• Can’t be replicated
• Single witness events
• Subjective experience
• Beyond current understanding

Goddard’s Other Experiences

A Pattern

Notably, Goddard also:

• Had other unusual experiences
• Became interested in paranormal
• Wrote about his experiences
• Remained credible figure
• Never explained definitively

His Later Life

After the experience:

• Continued distinguished career
• Rose to Air Vice-Marshal
• Spoke publicly about incident
• Stood by his account
• Never recanted

The Question

In 1935, Sir Victor Goddard flew over an abandoned airfield and saw the future.

Not metaphorically. Literally.

He flew through a strange storm and emerged to see Drem Airfield operational - with yellow aircraft and mechanics in blue overalls. Specific details. Memorable details.

Impossible details.

Because in 1935, RAF aircraft weren’t painted yellow. Mechanics didn’t wear blue overalls. Both of those changes came later. After his flight. After his vision.

Four years later, Drem reopened. And there they were. Yellow training aircraft. Blue overalls. Exactly as he’d seen them.

How does a man see something that doesn’t exist yet?

How does he see specific details - details he couldn’t have predicted, couldn’t have guessed - years before they become real?

Sir Victor Goddard was an Air Marshal. A trained observer. A professional military officer. He wasn’t prone to fantasy. He had nothing to gain and everything to lose by telling this story.

But he told it anyway.

Because it happened.

Something happened over Drem in 1935.

A glimpse of 1939. A window through time. A moment when the normal rules didn’t apply.

The Goddard Time Slip.

One of the most credible, most documented, most unexplainable time anomalies ever recorded.

A man flew over the past.

And saw the future.

And four years later, the future proved him right.

How?

We still don’t know.

We may never know.

But it happened.

And that’s what makes it so extraordinary.