Alec Schaal's Shed Time Traveler

Overview

Alec Schaal's Shed Time Traveler refers to a theory purported by Florida TikToker Alec Schaal (@alecschaal) that a man seen entering his shed was a time traveler. Schaal posted multiple Ring camera videos of the shed to TikTok in early 2024, showing the unidentified man supposedly entering but not exiting his shed until roughly 24 hours later, leaving with new clothes and appearing older. The shed was located at Schaal's Airbnb located about five hours away from him. The story and Schaal's theory went viral online, spreading to other social media sites like Twitter / X and Reddit where people debated his claim's authenticity, wondering if it was a hoax. News outlets like TMZ also reported on the story.

Background

On April 29th, 2024, TikToker^[1] Alec Schaal (@alecschaal) posted a video in which he played Ring camera footage taken outside his Airbnb property, showing a man entering the backyard shed. The video supposedly shows that the man does not leave the shed and Schaal's footage shows the police arriving on the scene after he reported the trespasser. The police do not find anyone inside the shed and Schaal claims that the footage doesn't show him exiting it. Initially, Schaal believed that the man teleported. Over four days, the video received roughly 1.4 million plays and 53,700 likes (shown below).

On April 30th, Schaal posted a second TikTok^[2] that showed the full footage sped up per a request in the first video's comment section. In the video, Schaal explained that the house was his Airbnb property located about five hours away from him, explaining why he was unable to be on the scene.

On May 2nd, 2024, Schaal posted an update video to TikTok^[3] showing new footage. In the video, a different man with different clothes exits Schaal's shed. Schaal claimed that the man was never shown entering the shed. Schaal further speculated that the man was the same man who entered the shed the day before. However, he had "noticeably aged," inferring that the first man time-traveled and then reappeared. In a day, the TikTok gained over 5.9 million plays and 525,600 likes (shown below).

After the update video, Schaal posted multiple TikToks^[4][5] on May 2nd and 3rd, 2024, that responded to people's comments, like one that asked him to put a camera inside the shed. He responded to another person who wondered if the cops were paid actors which Schaal denied, supposedly posting the full, unedited recording of them investigating the shed as proof (examples shown below).

Online Reactions

In early May 2024, after Schaal's update TikTok^[3] that went viral, amassing over 5.9 million plays, other TikTokers posted viral reactions to the story. For instance, on May 2nd, 2024, TikToker^[6] @mattyicerants posted a video that shared his thoughts. The TikToker compared it to the TV mini-series and Stephen King novel 11.22.63 in which a similar "portal" is a plot point. His TikTok gained over 230,600 plays and 20,600 likes in a day (shown below, left).

Also on May 2nd, TikToker^[7] @charlieneff posted a reaction video and recap of Schaal's story, gaining over 31,500 plays in a day (shown below, right).

TikToker^[7] @charlieneff was reading off an article published by TMZ^[8] about the story, uploaded on May 2nd, 2024. TMZ also tweeted^[9] about the article.

Reactions surfaced elsewhere on social media during the same timeframe. For instance, on April 30th, Instagram^[10] user @the_paranormal_chic shared a Reel that discussed Schaal's first videos, gaining over 13,400 likes in three days (shown below).

Search Interest

Unavailable.

External References