Edmonton-area man looking for ‘serious buyers’ for homemade time machine

Alberta man Pat Gooley is selling an intricate time machine he built for his grandchildren for $850. CTV News Edmonton's Matt Woodman takes a tour.

Pat Gooley built a career for himself constructing commercial buildings, but if you take a look in his workshop, there is a different kind of life-size structure that stands out as much more unusual.

“I built it in 2024,” says Gooley, looking at his time machine. “It’s actually still a work in progress. I’m selling it to somebody who’s a little more tech savvy than me … can take it to the next level.”

The time machine features reclining seats and audio/visual screens, as well as interior electronics, lights and switches.

“I’ve got it to the stage where you start it, and you begin to travel through time,” says Gooley. “After that, it’s up to somebody’s imagination.”

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Gooley has built a number of “big toys” for his six grandchildren, and the idea of building a time machine came about after he had finished constructing several spaceships.

“I still had a lot of parts left over,” says Gooley.

“I thought, well, how could I ever top my spaceship? And I thought, well, maybe a time machine. It was fun to build, because nobody really knows what they look like.”

After doing some research on how a time machine should look, Gooley came up with his own design. It looks “a bit ominous,” by his own admission. The machine is inspired by real-life spaceships, as well as various designs on Pinterest.

Gooley says his wife wasn’t thrown off by his decision to build a time machine, as she’s used to him working on unusual projects.

“For me, the fun was to fabricate,” says Gooley. “I like building things in my shop here. That’s what I built the shop for, was to create things in it. Now that I’m retired, that’s what I do.”

Gooley’s grandchildren enjoyed playing in the time machine when they were younger, and Gooley found himself inside of it many times as well.

The grandchildren have since grown out of it.

“They preferred to go into the future,” Gooley recalls. “I prefer to go into the past.”

The machine won a prize in Alberta Beach’s 2024 Polynesian Days parade. Gooley’s grandchildren dressed up as aliens for the occasion.

Now that it isn’t getting as much use, and he’s put as much of his knowledge as he can into it, Gooley has decided to sell his time machine.

The machine will set you back $850. It’s just under eight feet tall and seven feet wide. The interior can comfortably fit two adults.

“I think it’s an absolute bargain,” Gooley says. “It’s made out of a lot of reclaimed lumber that I had kicking around, but it’s well made, very solid. It’s not very heavy, probably less than 300 pounds. It’s on wheels, so it’s easy to move.”

In addition to wheels, the machine is equipped with retractable landing legs.

“These are, for of course, when you travel into time, you never know what you’re going to land on,” says Gooley. “This shop would be gone if you went in the future, and if you went back too far, it would be a barnyard. So that’s why it has landing feet.”

Gooley posted the machine on Facebook Marketplace, and has gotten a number of interesting responses.

“I’ve had about 17,000 hits on it,” he says. “Couple hundred shares, saves. I’ve had two or three somewhat serious people (that are still in talks).

“One guy wanted to go back and try and prevent the Second World War. A lot of people making jokes… my wife thinks that these people are joking, but I have a feeling two or three of them maybe are not joking.”

Gooley has some thoughts of the perfect home for the time machine to go to.

“I think it would be perfect for somebody who has more technological or computer skills than I do,” he says. “There’s all kinds of things they could do. It could be mounted on a base so it moves. It would make a great display for a store. It would make a great Christmas display. It’s great in a parade.

“It’s a very unique machine, I don’t think you’ll find another one of these in Canada. I hope it goes to a good home.”

Gooley already has his next project in mind, a submarine (as requested by his grandchildren). He has a number of valves and pipes left over.

As to the question of whether the time machine actually works or not, Gooley says he defers to his brother’s suggested response.

“I don’t know,” he says. “I’m afraid to turn it on.”

With files from CTV’s Matt Woodman and Darcy Seaton