What is 120-Year-Old Greta Thunberg?

It's a joke conspiracy theory based on a photograph from approximately 1898 that shows a young girl at a Yukon gold mine who bears a strong resemblance to climate activist Greta Thunberg, leading to humorous claims she is a time traveler[4].

Where did 120-Year-Old Greta Thunberg come from?

Facebook user Allison White first made the connection on November 9, 2019, after seeing the photo at Pike Place Market in Seattle. It went viral through a YouTube video on November 15 and a massively shared tweet by @JackSamStrange on November 18[1][4].

How do you use 120-Year-Old Greta Thunberg?

Share the side-by-side photo comparison with a caption playing along with the time travel conspiracy, typically with mock seriousness or ironic humor[3].

Is 120-Year-Old Greta Thunberg still popular?

The meme had a short but intense viral window in November 2019 and is now largely inactive, though it occasionally resurfaces whenever old photo lookalike comparisons trend[4].

Who took the original 1898 photograph?

Swedish-American photographer Eric Hegg, who documented life during the Klondike Gold Rush in the Yukon Territory[5].

Is the 1898 photo real or photoshopped?

The photograph is authentic and held in the Eric Hegg special collection at the University of Washington library archives. Despite skeptics suggesting it was digitally altered, the photo predates digital manipulation by about a century[1][5].

Did Greta Thunberg respond to the time travel meme?

Thunberg was sailing across the Atlantic aboard the catamaran La Vagabonde when the meme went viral and did not publicly comment on it[6][7].

Why does the girl in the photo look so much like Thunberg?

Beyond coincidence, The Independent noted the girl may have been part of the Swedish community in the Yukon at the time, since photographer Hegg was Swedish-American and Swedish settlers lived in the territory[5].

What was Greta Thunberg doing when this meme went viral?

She was crossing the Atlantic on a solar-powered boat to attend the UN Climate Change Convention in Madrid, having refused to fly due to aviation's carbon footprint[2][7].

120 Year Old Greta Thunberg

Q: What does 120-Year-Old Greta Thunberg mean?

The meme jokes that Thunberg is actually a time traveler who went back 120 years to try to stop climate change, failed, and is now trying again in the present[6].

2019Conspiracy theory / viral photo comparisondead

Published April 6, 2026

Also known as: Time Traveler Greta Thunberg · Greta Thunberg Time Travel Conspiracy

120-Year-Old Greta Thunberg is a joke conspiracy theory that went viral in November 2019 after internet users noticed a girl in an 1898 Yukon gold mine photograph who looks strikingly similar to teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg. The resemblance, complete with braided hair and a stern expression, sparked humorous claims that Thunberg is a time traveler sent from the future to save the planet from climate change.

greta thunberg memes conspiracy memes historical photo memes doppelganger memes 2019 memes

Overview

The meme centers on a black-and-white photograph from roughly 1898, taken by Swedish-American photographer Eric Hegg during the Klondike Gold Rush5. The image, titled "Three children operating rocker at a gold mine on Dominion Creek, Yukon Territory," shows three children extracting gold at a mine in Canada4. In the foreground sits a young girl with braided hair, an angular face, and a stoic expression that looks eerily similar to Greta Thunberg2. The photo is part of the Eric Hegg special collection housed in the University of Washington's archives1.

The joke took the form of a tongue-in-cheek conspiracy theory: Thunberg must be a time traveler who went back 120 years to try to stop climate change at its source, failed, and returned to the present day to try again6. While nobody seriously believed the claim, the uncanny resemblance made the comparison irresistible to share.

Origin & Background

Platform

Facebook (first connection), YouTube / Twitter (viral spread)

Key People

Eric Hegg, Allison White, ArtAleinTV, @JackSamStrange

Date

2019

The first known link between the photograph and Thunberg appeared on November 9, 2019, when Facebook user Allison White posted the image after spotting it hanging at Pike Place Market in Seattle1. White wrote "#GretaThunberg is a TIME TRAVELER" in a paranormal community group5.

Six days later, on November 15, 2019, the YouTube channel ArtAleinTV uploaded a video titled "Greta Thunberg Found in 120 Year Old Photo?" comparing the appearance of the girl in the Hegg photograph with the 16-year-old Swedish activist4. The video picked up more than 34,000 views within five days4. Many commenters immediately questioned whether the photo had been digitally altered, though the image is verifiably housed in the University of Washington's online archives5.

How It Spread

The meme exploded on Twitter starting November 18, 2019. Author Jack Strange (Twitter handle @JackSamStrange) posted a side-by-side comparison and wrote: "So, 'Greta Thunberg' is in a photo from 120 years ago, and it's my new favourite conspiracy. Greta's a time traveller, from the future, and she's here to save us"3. The tweet racked up over 28,000 likes and 9,600 retweets in less than three days4.

Strange followed up with a playful rebuttal to skeptics: "To those saying 'How can she be in the past if she's from the future?!?' Obviously, as a time traveller, she can travel to ANY time period. She obviously tried to go back 120 years, didn't work, and now she's here. Obviously!"6

Other Twitter users piled on quickly. Simon Binns wrote, "I'm not one for conspiracy theories but Greta is 100 per cent a time traveller"5. Another joked, "Maybe she is from the future who was sent back in time to key moments in history to stop climate change"3. One user responded, "That has to be photoshopped surely, they're identical"1. The comment "I, for one, welcome our new time travelling overlord" also gained traction1.

The story was reportedly picked up by The Sunday Express on November 17, 2019, only for the article to be mysteriously deleted within 24 hours5. By November 19, major outlets including the New York Post2, People1, Daily Mail3, The Independent5, National Post6, and Metro7 had all published coverage. Some treated it as a fun human interest story, while others used it as a hook to discuss Thunberg's ongoing climate activism and her Atlantic crossing aboard the solar-powered catamaran La Vagabonde7.

A notable counter-narrative also emerged, with users pointing out the irony of the situation. As one tweet put it: "People refuse to believe in Climate Change but are willing to believe that Greta Thunberg can time-travel"6.

The Independent noted a plausible real-world explanation: the girl in the photograph may have been a member of the Swedish community in the Yukon at that time, given Hegg himself was Swedish-American and there were Swedish settlers in the territory5. As of 2019, there were still just under 1,000 Swedish-Canadians living in the Yukon5.

Thunberg, who was mid-Atlantic on La Vagabonde heading to the UN Climate Change Convention in Madrid at the time, never publicly commented on the photograph6.

How to Use This Meme

This meme typically works as a one-off joke rather than a reusable template. People commonly:

Share the side-by-side comparison of the 1898 photo and a modern photo of Thunberg

Add a caption playing along with the "time traveler" conspiracy, often with mock seriousness

Riff on the idea that Thunberg traveled back in time to stop climate change but failed, so she's trying again in the present

Cultural Impact

The 120-Year-Old Greta Thunberg meme landed during peak Thunberg visibility. She had spoken at the UN Climate Action Summit in September 2019, delivering her famous "How dare you" speech that accused world leaders of caring more about money than the planet1. Her Fridays for Future movement had inspired climate strikes in roughly 150 countries7. The time travel joke added a lighter, more playful dimension to the intense discourse surrounding her activism.

The meme also became a vehicle for meta-commentary about conspiracy culture. Multiple users and journalists noted the absurdity of people entertaining time travel theories while dismissing climate science6. The New York Post ran their story under the headline "No, Greta Thunburg is not a time-traveler in this old photo," treating the claim with deadpan debunking2.

Coverage across at least six major international outlets within a single day made this one of the faster-spreading viral photo comparisons of 20194.

Fun Facts

The original photograph was taken by Eric Hegg, a Swedish-American photographer who participated in gold-digging expeditions while documenting daily life during the Klondike Gold Rush5.

Allison White first spotted the photo not online, but hanging as a print at Pike Place Market in Seattle1.

The photo shows children "operating a rocker" at a gold mine, a hand-powered device used to separate gold from river sediment4.

Thunberg had sworn off air travel because of its environmental impact and was literally sailing across the Atlantic Ocean when the meme went viral2.

The fact that the original photographer Hegg was Swedish-American, and Thunberg is Swedish, adds another layer to the coincidence5.