 PLOT: At the end of the movie, it is revealed that Ellies video  recorder recorded 18 hours of static, suggesting she really did go  somewhere. It is peculiar that scientists in the movie neglected to  include a simple clock in Ellies equipment. Surely they would have  wanted to see if time inside the pod would slow down since that is  what the theory of relativity says would happen when you travel  faster than light. Although in the movie the opposite occurs (time  moves faster for Ellie) that clock would nevertheless have shown  that 18 hours had passed inside the pod, while from the outside it  seemed to pass straight through the machine, adding credibility to  Ellies story.