We recently discussed "The Mandela Effect," which posits that there are multiple parallel universes, and sometimes these universes merge, split apart, or that people accidentally hop from one to the other.
Such is the theory with the man known as "The man from Taured." As the story goes, one summer day in 1954, a Caucasian man who was fluent in Japanese, French, and several other languages stepped up to the customs desk in Tokyo's Haneda Airport. The man was well-dressed and well-kempt, and claimed to be a businessman who traveled a lot. Indeed, his wallet contained currencies from many countries.
The customs agent asked for the man's passport, and discovered that - although the passport looked completely legit - it had been issued by a country named Taured. The man explained that Taured was a small country nestled between the borders of Spain and France.
The man blustered that yes, Taured was a real country, it had been around for a thousand years, and if someone had a world map, he would show them. A map was produced, and the man pointed to his nation - but on "our" map, it was Andorra.
Declaring himself the victim of a prank, the man became outraged. Further examination by the customs officials showed that the company he claimed to be meeting with had never heard of him, the bank on his checks did not exist, and the hotel he had supposedly reserved a room at had no such record.
Furious and confused, the man was detained by customs officials overnight in a hotel room for investigation. All of his papers and property were secured in police custody. The next morning, the man had vanished without a trace - as had his property and papers!
Was the man simply an exceptionally well-kitted-out paranoid lunatic? Had he accidentally slipped into our universe from his own, nearly-identical one? Or is this simply an urban legend which has been passed around for so long that it has cemented into myth? Sadly, there is no way to know.
