Alabama's Blue Box (short story)

Alabama’s Blue Box was a short story in the Into the Unknown series.

Summary
To be added

Plot
Matt Shore writes about the mystery surrounding a British police box being caught on photograph in Alabama in December 1955, despite experts agreeing it likely originated in the 1960s. He claims some experts have deemed it a prop made by hoaxers, as its windows are the wrong size. Matt adds an update claiming several readers have got in touch to report similar sightings of a blue box in the Punjab in 1947, Tibet in 1935, and twice in Ypres in 1914.

In the comments, "GP" recalls her grandmother claiming to have seen a blue box frequently in a corridor near Prime Minister Winston Churchill’s office, coinciding with the appearance of strangers. Frank recalls his father seeing such a box at a crime scene in San Francisco on New Year’s Eve 1999, only for it to be missing hours later. "TS" claims to be from Leadworth and claims a police box was seen in various points in the village on and off for years, being nicknamed the "Leadworth Locker". TS claims to have found it in February 2020, encountering a "fair-haired woman" as she was stepping inside who told him to stock up on handwash.

Characters

 * Matt Shore
 * GP
 * Frank
 * TS

Worldbuilding

 * The strangers that GP claims visited Winston Churchill included a "kind, old man in a frock coat", a "dashing ‘dandy’ in a velvet jacket", and a "rather dishy young fellow who wore a bow tie" who was accompanied by a woman resembling the model in the Petrichor adverts.

Continuity

 * The sightings of the TARDIS include 1955 Alabama, (TV: Rosa) 1947 Punjab, (TV: Demons of the Punjab) 1935 Tibet, (TV: The Abominable Snowmen) twice in 1914 Ypres, (TV: Twice Upon a Time) near Winston Churchill’s office, (TV: Victory of the Daleks) 1999 San Francisco (TV: Doctor Who) and Leadworth. (TV: The Eleventh Hour, The Big Bang)
 * Matt claims experts believe the police box might be a hoax due to its windows being the wrong size. DCI Billy Shipton made a similar observation about the TARDIS. (TV: Blink)
 * GP wonders if the police box was connected to the Ironside project. (TV: Victory of the Daleks)
 * Frank recalls that "some old guy" was caught in the crossfire of a shoot out on New Year’s Eve 1999, ending up in Walker General. (TV: Doctor Who)