Aliens. I don't know exactly where they're from. But they somehow made the Earth rotate backwards, reversing time---it took a heavy load of magic, apparently.

[He still has a distaste for the word 'magic', and he omits things where he can to avoid being caught out for who he is.]

My device accelerated my body's aging to restore me to an age where I could be taken seriously in my work until we sped the earth back to its rightful place.