🎙️ Voice is AI-generated. Inconsistencies may occur.
- A TikTok user claiming to be from 2671 has claimed that 8,000 people will be chosen by an alien to "save humanity" on Thursday, the same day TikTok CEO Shou Chew is making his first appearance before Congress.
- Bipartisan lawmakers have called for the app to be banned over national security concerns, and the Biden administration is ramping up pressure on TikTok to forego its Chinese ownership.
- Chew has stressed that the app is headquartered in the U.S. and American data is stored on American soil.
A TikTok user who claims to have traveled through time said aliens are descending onto Earth this Thursday.
Eno Alaric, who goes by the social media handle @radianttimetraveler and claims to be from the year 2671, posted a TikTok on Wednesday that detailed key events and dates in 2023 that would prove his ability to travel back in time.
According to Alaric, the first important date is March 23, when 8,000 people will be chosen by "an alien known as the Champion" to save humanity. March 23 also coincides with Thursday's Senate hearing with TikTok CEO Shou Chew in his first appearance before Congress.
The CEO is testifying before the House Energy and Commerce Committee as part of the social media company's plans to secure its future in the U.S., which has grown increasingly wary of the app's Chinese owner, ByteDance, and questioned whether data from American users would be put in the hands of Beijing officials.
On Thursday, committee chairwoman Representative Cathy McMorris Rogers opened the hearing by telling Chew, "Your platform should be banned."
There are a number of users on TikTok who claim to be time travelers and who have made predictions for upcoming dates.
Another user by the name of @unicosobreviviente went viral in 2021 after they posted pictures depicting scenes from the "future" that included empty streets in Valencia, Spain.
The other dates that @radianttimetraveler told viewers who doubted his time-traveling abilities to pay attention to were:
- April 12, 2023, when a deep-sea research team would allegedly discover the "first living colossal squid"
- May 15, 2023, when San Fransisco would allegedly be hit by a 750-foot tsunami that would result in more than 200,000 casualties
- June 12, 2023, when an earthquake with a magnitude of 9.5 would allegedly cause a five-mile trench opening
- August 17, 2023, when scientists would allegedly learn to track wormholes and send a spacecraft into one
- September 23, 2023, when a Spirit Airlines flight would allegedly crash into the Atlantic Ocean
- October 6, 2023, when scientists would allegedly combine the DNA from a wooly mammoth and an Asian elephant in an attempt to bring the species back from extinction
Some observers poked holes in Alaric's timeline, asking "If there is going to be an invasion how we are going to see the rest of the events?"
"I think you play too many video games," one user commented.
"So if none of this happens will you delete this account and go back to being a normal dude?" a third asked.
On Thursday, Chew sought to stress TikTok's independence from China, saying the app itself is not available in mainland China and noting that the company is headquartered in Los Angeles and Singapore.
"The bottom line is this American data stored on American soil by an American company overseen by American personnel," he told lawmakers.
Members of Congress on both sides of the aisle have called for the app to be banned over national security concerns. Last week, it was revealed that the Biden administration was ramping up pressure on TikTok, urging the app to forego its Chinese ownership or to face a possible ban—a position former President Donald Trump took when he was in office.
About the writer
Katherine Fung is a Newsweek senior reporter based in New York City. She has covered U.S. politics and culture extensively. ... Read more