Barton, N.C. - Clarke Cobert went to bed one night in 1699 never thinking that by some freak of nature, he would awaken 300 years later. But that's exactly what happened, probably due to a malfunctioning body mechanism. It was during one hunting trip in 1699 that Cobert crawled under an old bridge hoping to get a few minutes of rest before his buddies caught up.When he woke up, he noticed that the landscape was different, and unfamiliar. He walked a few hundred feet, and nearly collapsed in shock when his ancient eyes gazed upon a 14 lane highway filled with fast moving cars - " I thought I had died and gone to hell...there were thousands of horseless chariots rolling on a surface that looked like sheets of black ice. I was stunned'. Then Cobert's attention was attracted to a high flying airliner, and he got on his knees and prayed that God take him to heaven, away from the evils before him. Thankfully, a passerby helped the stunned man to his car and took him to the Victoria Home for the Mentally ill.

A doctor who examined him says that Cobert is in very fit health, and is expected to adapt readily to his new environment with the help of a full-time trainer. Says Cobert - " I think I understand...I'm not going to snap out of this dream, cause it ain't a dream...is it ? I hope the doctors will help me, otherwise I'll just put an arrow through my heart and end it all...".

Cobert will be indoctrinated into this new world and hopefully adapt to its new features. At one point, he was hospitalized when he ate all the wax fruit from a display. " I didn't see him grab the fruit - he should have told me he was hungry..." say Mary Bartwell, full time trainer.

Above: Clarke Cobert emerged from this spot only to find a new world he never imagined...

"I say a big silver bird with smoke shooting from its rear..and men dressed in strange clothing."

                                                          Clarke Cobert
                                                   "Confused"
                                                                                                  

"He looked like he hadn't shaved in years, and then he asked me for a bit of raccoon pie...I thought it was quite odd."

                                           
                                                         Judith Kelpin
                                                  Neighbor
                                                                                        
"He's adjusting...sometimes he drinks out of the toilet and does "doodoo" in the sink..."

                                           
                                                   Brenda Spitovsky
                                        Sociologist