Hank Tapper was a junior biologist of the original time line (OTL). He was part of a geological team sent to study the Grantville "disaster" years after the West Virginian town vanished. After months of studying the new displaced terrain that occupied what was once Grantville, Tapper realized that the flora and fauna was similar to that found in Thuringia, Germany. This, combined with the medieval burned-out farmhouse and their burnt and dead occupants found close to the area Grantville had been led Tapper to suspect the so-called "disaster" had sent Grantville and its residents four-hundred years into the past. However, without additional evidence, Tapper decided to keep his suspicions to himself due to undoubted skepticism from the public and for fear of ruining his career.