The Why Files: Operation Podcast
581: The Disappearance of Peter Williamson | Lightning Pants from Another Dimension
Fri, 31 Jan 2025
A summer barbecue transformed into a nightmare when lightning split the sky above Somerset, England. Peter Williamson dashed across his rain-soaked lawn to rescue his terrified dog, unaware that his next step would carry him beyond the boundaries of our world. His family watched in horror as a blinding flash illuminated his silhouette against the stormy sky. When their vision cleared, Peter had evaporated into thin air. The police launched a search, but found no footprints, no scorch marks, and no explanation for how a man could disappear from a walled garden. Sixteen witnesses swore they watched him vanish in plain sight. Three days passed before Peter materialized in his backyard, wearing unfamiliar clothes and carrying items that defied explanation. His memories painted a picture of a hospital that both existed and didn't exist, where reality shimmered like heat waves rising from summer pavement. The investigation into his disappearance uncovered something extraordinary: evidence suggesting Peter had slipped through a crack between parallel universes. His impossible story forces us to question everything we think we know about the nature of reality.
Chapter 1: What happened during the summer barbecue in Somerset?
Peter Williamson was flipping burgers on the grill when a storm rolled in. His wife, kids, and guests ran to the patio to stay dry and keep the party going. Peter packed up the grill as the rain came down harder. When the thunder and lightning started, everyone laughed nervously. When a lightning bolt split a tree next door, people stopped laughing.
It was then that his kids noticed their dog was still out in the yard, cowering under a bush. Peter told them to stay put and ran out to get the dog. He was halfway across the lawn when lightning hit again, this time even closer. Peter's friends and family saw his silhouette against the flash. Then he was gone. He just vanished. Three days later, he reappeared in his backyard.
Chapter 2: How did Peter Williamson disappear?
But everything was wrong. There might be more to reality than we think, or there might be more realities than we think. It splits with every choice we make. Hugh Everett proposed this in 1957 with his Many Worlds Theory of Quantum Mechanics. Picture an electron spinning in every direction at once. Superposition. Traditional view says measuring it forces it to choose one direction.
Everett disagreed. He said the electron keeps spinning in all directions, but in different universes. Each measurement splits reality, creating infinite parallel worlds. That means there are infinite versions of you out there, and every version of you results from the billions of choices that you make. So there's a reality where you're the president of the United States.
There's one where you're a movie star. There's one where you're on death row.
So there's a universe out there where I didn't get married?
Yep.
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Chapter 3: What is the Many Worlds Theory in Quantum Mechanics?
That lucky son of a... Okay, take it easy.
A few months ago, Google unveiled Project Willow, a 105 cubic quantum computer that solves problems in five minutes that would take the world's fastest supercomputer 10 septillion years.
That's a one with 25 zeros following it, or a time scale way longer than the age of the universe.
How does it do that? Because quantum computers might be combining computing power across parallel universes. It sounds like science fiction, but the math works. Then in 2014, the many-worlds theory got an upgrade. Physicists from Griffith University said that parallel universes not only exist, they interact through gravity.
That electron spinning up and down, it's two universes merging briefly, each with its own version of that electron. This is the many-interacting-worlds theory. Again, the math works, and this theory could explain everything from quantum tunneling to zero-point energy to human consciousness.
And I've been thinking about doing a video on quantum consciousness, but it's a brain buster, so let me know if you want me to cover it or I should just stick to aliens.
Yeah, stick with the aliens, boy, Dexter.
But here's where the many interacting worlds theory gets dark. The Griffith team warns that when parallel worlds get too close, quantum effects intensify, electromagnetism becomes unpredictable, entangled particles become unentangled, superposition breaks down. This could cause other realities to cross into ours, where things could exist in two places at once.
There's only one known natural phenomenon that can produce enough energy to do this, lightning. Mary Williamson screamed. Her husband vanished in a flash of lightning. No burn marks, no footprints, no body. Peter was just gone. The police searched everywhere, the house, the property, and the neighborhood.
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Chapter 4: How did parallel universes relate to Peter's experience?
Yeah, some people would do anything to get out of a dinner party.
I know I would. The police insisted Peter climbed over the eight-foot wall. They said the lightning flash blinded witnesses longer than they remembered. The officer said if Peter had been hit by lightning, he might have a concussion or amnesia. He'd eventually show up at home or the hospital, but he didn't. Mary's friends watched the house all night, no Peter.
No hospitals reported anyone matching his description. An alert went out on national television, still nothing. At this point, the police told Mary she should probably prepare for the worst. She didn't take this well. But on the third day at about 8 a.m., she heard the gardener frantically calling for her. Mary ran outside. Peter was sitting on the grass near the bushes in a daze.
She hugged him through tears of joy, and then she noticed something strange. It rained in Somerset for two days. Everything was wet, but Peter's clothes were completely dry. And then she noticed those weren't his clothes. Mary took Peter to the hospital immediately. Aside from amnesia, he was perfectly fine. He barely remembered the barbecue. He didn't remember the lightning.
And he had no idea where he was during the past 60 hours. Mary asked him where he got the new green corduroy pants he was wearing. He didn't remember that either.
You go missing for three days and show up in the wrong pants. The wife is going to have some questions.
She did, but she believed Peter was telling the truth. So did the doctors. This was just amnesia.
And what did the cops say?
Well, the police were pleased with themselves. Peter was struck by lightning and had amnesia, just like they said.
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Chapter 5: What strange occurrences did Peter experience after returning?
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Peter Williamson didn't sleep at all that night. Finding the clue inside the label of the corduroy pants caused his memories to come rushing back. By the time the sun came up, Peter had pieced together everything. Well, almost everything. He remembered waking up in a yard or a garden, but he didn't recognize it. He just knew it felt wrong. He didn't know where he was.
He didn't even know who he was. Soaking wet, he stumbled around until he found a road and decided to rest. He didn't know how much time had passed, but eventually a car stopped. The driver offered him a ride. He was a nice man, a doctor, Dr. Nugent. Right. Dr. Nugent was concerned and took him to the hospital. It wasn't Somerset General. It was a small local hospital.
He was admitted to a section called Pritchard Ward. It was a nice place, but something felt off. Sometimes Peter would see a shimmering in the air, like heat waves rising off the pavement. And through the waves, he'd see different furniture, different walls, even different people. A nurse would walk past, and for a split second, she'd be a completely different person.
The clock on the wall showed 3.15, then 2.45, then 3.15 again. His voice sounded strange, too. It was sluggish where everyone else was speaking quickly and crisp. When Peter tried to keep up with their pace, his words just sounded garbled. Peter mentioned these symptoms to Dr. Nugent, who ordered concussion tests. They found nothing wrong.
This is what the doctor ordered. This is what the doctor ordered.
What was that?
Somebody out there gets it.
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Chapter 6: What clues did Peter find about the corduroy pants?
They confirmed the material was new. They even asked to be notified if Peter ever found Herbert Fox. They'd never seen that color green before and wanted to use it in productions.
Oh, easy. Just get hit with lightning and travel to another dimension.
Peter didn't believe in the multiverse theory. He was sure there was a reasonable explanation for what happened. He just needed to find someone who knew him from the hospital. But Peter was at a dead end. The weeks went on and his memories of the other hospital came back. He could remember every detail of the experience. The layout of the hospital, the sounds and smells of Pritchard Ward.
He knew the price of tea in the cafe. He remembered Dr. Nugent taking care of him. He remembered all the tests. He knew all the nurses' names. But at this point, he didn't know if he was losing his mind. After learning he had clothes from a tailor who didn't exist, he was afraid to tell anyone what he was going through. He tried to forget about it.
Then about a month later, he was talking to a friend who just had a minor surgery. The name of the doctor came up.
Wait, was it?
Yep. Peter's friend's doctor was Dr. Nugent. Peter was so excited and relieved he was almost moved to tears. He started peppering his friend with questions. Was Sister Charles there? Was the cafe there? Was there a Pritchard Ward? Peter caught himself and apologized. And then he grabbed his car keys.
We are Theresa and Nemo and that's why we switched to Shopify.
The platform we used before Shopify needed regular updates, which sometimes led to the shop not working.
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Chapter 7: What mystery surrounded Herbert Fox, the tailor?
We're not doing this now.
Fake moon landing linked down in your loot chute.
The name comes from Nelson Mandela. Millions remember him dying in prison and watching his funeral, but that never happened.
Link to all kinds of episodes about that down in your sock drawer underneath the nudie bags.
There are theories of quantum physics that say parallel universes are real and they can interact. And we know lightning is powerful enough to disrupt quantum systems. So next time you hear thunder, pay attention. Make sure everything looks right and that your memories are the truth. Remember, there are infinite versions of you out there who just asked the same question.
Infinite versions of you looking into the same storm and imagining that lightning is the doorway to another dimension. And of those infinite versions of you that exist in the multiverse, there's at least one of them out there who wants to steal your pants. The story of Peter Williamson is perfect for paranormal forums and YouTube channels. A man vanishes during a lightning strike.
He returns three days later with impossible evidence. The story is often attributed to Jenny Randles, who mentions it in her 2002 book, Time Storms. No primary sources are cited. But I found the primary sources. Before Time Storms, the Peter Williamson story appeared in the book Supernatural Vanishings by Rodney Davies. That was 1996.
He got the story from Colin Parsons' book, Encounters with the Unknown, True Accounts of Modern Paranormal Experiences. Parsons said he interviewed Peter and Mary Williamson and the witnesses. He said he tracked down the clothing company. Parsons does a great job of mixing hard science and quantum theory with the Peter Williamson disappearance. It's the perfect mystery. But is it true?
Well, despite the claim that there was national news coverage, no newspapers from Somerset in 1974 mentioned his disappearance. No police records, no property records or census show a Peter Williamson living in the area. Some YouTube videos and podcasts have added to the story, like JB standing for John Blackwood, who allegedly died in 1954. That's not mentioned in the original story.
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