Assiti Shard
The Assiti Shards work by displacing bits of the world into other times and places, exchanging it with that which was there. These "shards", according to the fictional universe backstory, are waste byproduct of artworks created by the alien "Assiti". The various stories involve shards striking the Earth and timeshifting characters into different periods and places.
Read more about this topic: Assiti Shards Series