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An interesting clip from a 1928 Charlie Chaplin film, The Circus, is making the rounds on YouTube, showing what appears to be a woman talking on a mobile phone. GawkerTV slowed it down so you can get a good look at the woman, and you would be absolutely convinced she was talking on a cell phone if they had been invented back then. So, how can we explain this mysterious footage?

The prevailing internet conspiracy theory is that the woman is a time traveler, making a call through time. I would debunk this by saying it would've been awfully hard to get reception before cell towers were ever invented, but I figure anybody who believes this woman broke the rules of spacetime to visit 1928 isn't going to be convinced by silly old historical facts. Oh, and for anyone who think it's a walkie-talkie, those weren't invented yet, either. They didn't pop up until 1937, and even then, they required a bulky backpack transceiver powered by vacuum tubes.

The best theory we've seen so far is that the woman might be fiddling with a hearing aid. The modern hearing aid was invented in the early 1900s, and, although it still had to be connected to an amplifier about the size of a deck of cards, it could be worn in the ear. Perhaps this woman is concealing the amplifier in her bulky coat.

As for who the woman is, nobody is quite sure. It's convenient that her face and form are hidden by a bulky black jacket and a large hat, making her virtually impossible to identify. If only IMDB had been around 80 years ago! What do you think is going on in this video? Post your ideas in the comments.