Howling:Hiding 1 second out of sync

In The End of Time, The Doctor hid the TARDIS one second out of sync with the rest of the universe, so it couldn't be found.

The Daleks did the same thing to the Medusa Cascade and all of the stolen planets in The Stolen Earth.

Has this idea ever been mentioned before?

Or is it one of those simple tricks that's easy to do once you get the idea but no one would ever think of the idea except maybe Dalek Caan--so it'll work on The Master, whichever aliens happen to be around that he hasn't identified yet, and probably even the Time Lord Council, but not on the Shadow Proclamation (who know about the trick)? --99.157.75.211 06:39, December 31, 2009 (UTC)

I personally thnik the TARDIS is "evolving", or he is upgarding it as of late. Hency, why in the future, its doors close by the click of his fingers. Delton Menace 10:45, December 31, 2009 (UTC)


 * Yep the concept has appeared before. In NA: The Also People the Doctor places the TARDIS out of sync to keep God from getting at it. --Tangerineduel 13:23, December 31, 2009 (UTC)

I think the sontarans used this system to hide the gas inside ATMOS systems(oh wait i can't say atmos system thats a tautology).I dont really understand how this out of synch thing works,is the object constantly traveling forward in time so you never exist in the same second as it? could someone please explain it to me?--666hotline 15:57, December 31, 2009 (UTC)

The second out of synch idea is what we call Doctor Who science- we don't know how exactly it works only that it does. but, if I had to guess, I'd say that it's bent space-time around it to hid it away in a little pocket of time, if that makes sense. Excalibur-117 16:09, December 31, 2009 (UTC)

It means that its one second in front of everything else. Or behind.

Possibly, but while thats the most obvious explanantion, all you would have to do is travel forward/back in time one second ahead relative to the TARDIS/the Doctor, and bam,theres the TARDIS. and personally, I like the simple trick that no one thinks of, especially for a Time Lord. Excalibur-117 18:53, December 31, 2009 (UTC)

That is the easy way out if it was reality. It is one second out of sync for all time, you can land a tardis at that exact second and it is still out of sync with that second you landed on, the only way to find the tardis is to merge another tardis with it (ala time crash). just my view, be it wrong or right Geffe71 19:07, December 31, 2009 (UTC)

One second sideways in time, perhaps? :P 86.180.136.214 17:19, January 4, 2010 (UTC)


 * My point wasn't to question the science of it. But if you want to get into that: Presumably all time-travel-related physics is so far beyond our comprehension that "one second out of sync" is the best description The Doctor could give that would make sense to us, even if it's a familiar and simple idea to someone who grew up as a Time Lord.


 * Think of this analogy: You're running around with Isaac Newton, and you point something out with a laser pointer, and he asks, "What's that?"


 * You could stop everything while you spend a couple years explaining quantum physics, or maybe get him up to speed at a layman's level in an hour or two, or you could say, "It's a powerful beam of light that's focused tightly by shining it through a crystal."


 * That answer is blatantly misleading in our physics, and complete nonsense in terms of physics as he knows it, but it gives him enough information to deal with it.


 * For example, if he had your laser pointer and wanted to point something out to you, he'd know it would go through a clear glass window (although it might refract), but it wouldn't go through a brick wall or a red window. He'd avoid throwing it at a wall for fear of breaking or dislodging the crystal. He wouldn't shine it straight into his pupil, because it might be powerful enough to damage his eyes. He might even think to use it to distract the 30-foot cat that's chasing you. Whatever.


 * Of course as soon as you'd escaped from the giant cat and defeated the aliens with the shrink ray, Newton would want to know how it actually worked. And I'm sure that some companions--like Zoe, or Adric--frequently did exactly that. But only off-screen--because, even if it weren't impossible to write, it would be pretty boring to watch (and useless, too, because Zoe and Adric would already have a solid background in areas of physics and math that you know nothing about). --99.157.75.211 03:02, January 5, 2010 (UTC)

Surely if the TARDIS was one second out of sync, you'd still be able to see it, just how it was one second ago? The explanation doesn't really make sense. Jim393 19:53, January 8, 2010 (UTC)


 * If you consider time as the 4th dimension, then moving it one second, could be considered to say moving it physically one one of the 1st three dimensions, say 100m to the left, round that corner over there. It's still there just not where you can see it.  At least that's the way I prefer to think about it, otherwise I start getting those headaches.....--Terahurts 17:36, January 10, 2010 (UTC)