Yeah that makes sense. That was honest to god my speculation when I did that mission.

Now I'm even more curious....

A bit of a stretch to jump to the conclusion of a shared universe, figuring such theory largely ignores some of the more glaring differences that suggest the opposite but he's most certainly a reference to Epsilon Program. No doubt about that. However, given what the rock carvings depict, I assumed they could also be taken as an implication to the existence of a multiverse.

EDIT: Also worth noting that this isn't at all a new theory as it's not like the odd nature of this particular stranger mission hasn't been discussed before.

I thought it was new because I did not find it on the fandom, but I found old posts that talked about this so I guess you’re right

Francis was born in 1898, not 1856. And there's more history before 1856, like the blood feud between the Grays and the Braithwaites.