The story of Mike ‘Mad Man’ Markham is incredibly strange. After calling into the Art Bell show a few times to talk about the time machine he built, he said he was stepping into it and then disappeared. Here’s one take on the story,

I don’t know if you ever heard the story of Mad Man Markum, so I’ll give you a brief run down. Several years ago Art Bell got a caller who claimed to be building a Jacob’s Ladder to use as a time machine. He actually went out and “borrowed” some generators and other equipment from the power company. Needless to say, he quickly ran afoul of the Law. Art was able to verify that much. Mad Man Markum explained his plans to Art, and Art wanted to be there when the real test was done.
If I remember right, Markum had made several tests with coins and small animals. The device that Markum was going to travel back in time in was basically a large tube. He was all set to try his invention. Then, silence from Mad Man Markum. Art has yet to hear from him.

Tonight, there was a caller from Orange County, CA, who claimed to have seen a photograph in the local paper. This photo, and the story behind it, was about four years ago. It was a retelling of an old mystery. According to the caller, there was a strange discovery on a beach back in the 1920′s or 1930′s. The authorities had discovered a man’s body in a large tube. The tube, and the body, was horribly crushed. Next to the body was a strange device. The whole thing was a mystery. No one knew who the man was, and how he got there. His death was also a mystery, for they could find no reason why the tube and the man were crushed. In addition, they could not identify the device next to the remains. The caller, a listener of Art, examined the photo, and thought the device looked like a cell phone. Mad Man Markum had told Art he would take a cell phone with him. The caller, and I presume Art, is going to contact the paper to verify the story.

… I guess the moral would be if you plan to try to build and use a time machine, it’s best to look at all the newspaper archives to see if your in any of the old pictures. Oh, and I’m going to send this e-mail to you one year ago.”

[via anomalies forum]

P.S. As soon as I typed in Art Bell, Douglas Rushkoff started talking about Art Bell on his weekly media squat podcast, crazy stuff!