Every once in a while, real life decides to glitch. Something happens right in front of you, your brain freezes, and years later you’re still not fully convinced it wasn’t a dream, a prank, or a weird simulation error. Sometimes life is normal, and sometimes it casually drops a moment so unreal that your brain refuses to accept it ever happened.
From jaw-dropping coincidences to outright moments you swear happened but others don’t believe, these are the kinds of moments that stick with you forever. Today, we have a bunch of stories folks online swear happened, and honestly, we believe them mostly.
More info: Reddit
#1
Running into the same person in three different cities years apart.
Zman11588 replied: This happened to me once. We rented a house for spring break in Alabama and had parties and I met a guy that was going to the same small Michigan college I was the next year, turned out, we were on the same floor in the same dorm. A year later, I ran into him in Windsor, Ontario Canada.
Blew my mind
Image source: BoldElara92, freepik
#2
Surfacing in the Pacific after 96 days underwater during deployment and I was the bridge gunner on watch from sunset till about midnight. Theres tons of bioluminescent plankton that gets churned up by the rooster tail and the water was glass so it reflected the stars with no light pollution whatsoever, only time Ive ever seen the entire milky way and plus its reflection around us and the water behind us glowing with life. absolutely surreal.
#3
So I live very rural, my driveway is a mile thru the woods on 50 acres cleared out in the woods. There’s zero light pollution and the sky is magical at night. My daughter, wife and I lay out a lot and just stare at the sky.
Several, several times we have ALL seen a ‘star’ that has done some crazy things. And every time we talk about it with other people they look at us like we are nuts or straight up tell us we don’t see what we all seen. Sometimes makes me second guess my own eyeballs as well as two other sets of eyeballs.
Image source: throwitoutwhendone2, frimages
Imperial explains that events that feel “impossible” are often a natural result of probability rather than pure chance or mystery. This idea is explained by the law of truly large numbers, which suggests that when there are enough opportunities for something to happen, even extremely unlikely events eventually become likely.
With so many chances for outcomes to occur, rare coincidences and strange patterns are bound to surface from time to time, making them feel extraordinary even though they’re statistically expected.
#4
I completely understood the word “unbelievable”‘while standing atop the Cliffs of Moher, the Grand Canyon, Hoover Dam, the Highlands of Scotland while it was raining, Zion’s National Park, and how immense the Ocean really is while on a boat with nothing in sight forever and ever.
But the birth of my children and grandchildren takes the cake. First there’s nothing, then there’s a human being, with his own feelings, thoughts, personality, traits, preferences… just like THAT . Incredible.
#5
I saw a UFO that matched descriptions that others have reported.
Swimming-Fondant-892 replied: I saw one in the 90s in broad daylight quite high. Even pointed it to a guy working with and he said “yep”. Later I ask him about it and didn’t remember.How do you forget such?
Image source: AlanWakeFeetPics, vad_7
#6
I saw a total solar eclipse and the way the birds just went dead silent and the air turned cold in seconds was honestly the most glitch in the matrix feeling ever.
Image source: Savagerparkle, flashmovie
The Atlantic builds on this, highlighting that many coincidences and “spooky” near misses are also actually common outcomes of human perception. They provide examples like unexpectedly meeting a distant acquaintance while traveling, repeated birthdays within a family, or friends sharing the same birthday, all illustrations of the classic birthday paradox.
Even seemingly alarming patterns such as multiple accidents over a short period, are often just random clustering that occurs naturally over time. Near misses, like narrowly avoiding a flight disaster or almost stepping into traffic, feel especially meaningful because the brain assigns heightened significance to survival, making these events appear uncanny or fated.
#7
I still don’t feel alive, sometimes.
A guy blasted at me from about 30 or so meters away with a PKM in Afghanistan. By all rights, he should have cut me in half.
He missed, with about 50 rounds…
I think about that day constantly. How I survived, I’ll never know.
I sometimes feel that I am gone, and this is just a dream…
Image source: JudgeHoldenishere2, freepik
#8
My partner of 10 years cheating on me on christmas day.
This was literally 24 hours ago 🫠.
Image source: decemberisforcynics, prostooleh
#9
I saved a child’s life before he ran into traffic–literally an oncoming bus. Parent nearby but everyone was looking the other way. No one knows it happened but me and the child (who’s most likely forgotten) and the bus driver who had quite an expression on his face. I have never told anyone.
Image source: library788, bilanol
Moresapien explains that the brain often assigns special meaning to these coincidences through a phenomenon called apophenia which is the tendency to perceive patterns or connections in random events. This is reinforced by confirmation bias where once a coincidence is noticed, people remember instances that support it while ignoring the countless ordinary occurrences that go unnoticed.
They go further to note that these mental tendencies make coincidences compelling hooks for stories about fate, purpose, or personal significance, even when the events themselves are purely random. In short, our minds are wired to find meaning where none objectively exists, making coincidences feel extraordinary.
#10
Sep 11 – the buildings collapsing.
Image source: Ok_Wonder_1308, Carol M. Highsmith
#11
I visited Bergen Belsen concentration camp (was stationed down the road, British army barracks) and the eerie silence of the place was overwhelming. Surrounded by trees but no birds or anything moving / scurrying around. Silence.
Image source: Flangepacket, World War Diggers
#12
I had a cardiac arrest in my living room a few months back. Luckily my son noticed and started CPR. My husband started in on it too.
My son and my husband saved my life. I wouldn’t be here if they hadn’t have been there and started as soon as they did.
The ambulance showed up and had to shock me as well.
It doesn’t feel real to me since I don’t remember any of it. But, it did mess with my son to have to experience all of it.
Image source: Anxietylife4, rawpixel.com
Still, some patterns of events are considered “too extreme to dismiss” because their probability of occurring purely by chance is exceedingly small. Book Forum notes that when repeated, similar, low-probability events appear clustered together, it often suggests that there may be an underlying cause rather than random coincidence.
In these cases, statisticians and researchers view the pattern as unlikely to be the product of independent accidents alone, prompting the search for a causal explanation. Essentially, extreme clustering of rare events can signal that something beyond chance is influencing the outcomes, making the occurrences feel particularly striking or meaningful.
#13
I was driving through the mountains of PA to a music festival in 2017. Something giant and winged came at me head on and swooped up at the last minute. Logic tells me it was a giant owl and I was exhausted from a long drive, the emotional part of me says it was mothman.
ETA: I had a passenger and we saw the same thing. We were both sober.
Image source: MiserableCalendar416, EyeEm
#14
I was driving, (now) husband in the passenger seat, in the center lane of the highway. It was raining and the car started to hydroplane. The car turned sideways and we were headed straight towards the cement median wall.
In my head I heard, “turn into the skid. Don’t brake”. I blinked and we were back in the center lane. It suddenly wasn’t raining as hard and the highway wasn’t as crowded as it had been before we started sliding. I looked at my husband and he yelled, “how did that just happen!?!”
We’ve been married for 30 years now. Every once in a blue moon one of us brings it up. It’s like we’re just making sure that it wasn’t a dream.
Just typing it out, my hands are sweaty and I realized that I’m clenching my jaw. It still feels so surreal after all these years. I don’t know how we didn’t crash. We should have hit the wall.
Image source: ThisEpiphany, freepik
#15
The methodical dismantling of the United States over the past 10-20 years.
Sauterneandbleu replied: It started with Reagan, continued and worsened by Bush 1, was made slightly better by Clinton, resumed by Bush 2, was reversed made slightly better by Obama, run into the ground by T1, reversed made slightly better by Biden, and in the process of being burned to the ground and turned into a plutocratic autocracy by T2. Are you seeing a pattern there? I got receipts. The Republicans always inherit good things and run them into the ground, and then when the Democrats come along and inherit bad things they fix them, which the Republicans run back into the ground and blame the Democrats for. It all goes back to Reagan. The first of the worst.
Image source: AllNightPony, EyeEm
At the heart of these stories is a shared realization that real life can be far stranger than anything we imagine. According to netizens, these moments didn’t happen in movies or dreams, they happened to ordinary people on ordinary days, which somehow makes them even more unsettling.
Whether they’re funny, terrifying, or just plain confusing, they remind us that reality doesn’t always play by the rules. Keep reading to dive into the moments that left people questioning everything they thought they knew.
#16
Going from totally fit and fine to having an inflamed gall bladder within an hour, so bad that the surgeon described it as a ‘bag of pus’. Suddenly realising what real pain feels and witnessing how quickly it starts and continues. Fear, knowing 2 close relatives was gone due to this condition.
Surgeon & medical team worked their magic.
Image source: Delicious_Link6703, freepik
#17
I watched a bunch of people in cosplay outfits storm the U.S. Capitol. .
Image source: Octavius_Barlow, Inside Edition
#18
The beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic working in the ICU. There just aren’t words.
Image source: squimble_, EyeEm
#19
My motorcycle wheel locking up when I was going 70MPH. Luckily nobody was behind me otherwise I might not be here.
Image source: SpecialistPayment, freepik
#20
The circus that was the COVID-19 global pandemic. 2020 doesn’t feel real.
Image source: Strict_Committee_123, karlyukav
#21
I saw George W Bush’s limo get egged at his 1st inauguration. The crowd was big mad at SCOTUS and everyone was talking about it, that someone should throw an egg. But with all the security around, I was shocked when it actually happened!
Image source: TinyWeird878, Stefan Hendriks
#22
For the first time since 2019 I am tubeless. I still need O2 but there are no longer any tubes sticking out of me. No stoma either. Everything is all back inside where it should be.
My health journey isn’t over, but being tubeless and being able to eat whatever I want? I never dreamed I could get to this point. It does not feel real.
That medicine fueled spirit journey I had last year when I was hospitalized was crazy insane. Nothing as crazy insane as eating normally again. Now if I could only breathe normally then I could get down to the business of living my life.
Image source: Sovonna, freepik
#23
As an American, pretty much every thing since 2016.
Image source: nyclurker369, EyeEm
#24
I saw a ghost when I was about 14
Told my dad and he said it was a regular sighting and I described the spirit the same way everyone else had
Yet 30 years later Iit feels odd.
Image source: DistributionNo6824, freepik
#25
4/8/24 total eclipse.
Image source: theassassintherapist, Erik Drost
#26
Whale calls under water.
BasicallyAmused eplied: I got to ride in a military nuclear submarine years ago as a guest of the lieutenant commander of the sub(I’m not military). One of the coolest things was when we were submerged so deep they couldn’t tell me because it was “classified “, I was hearing these crazy sounds. I was told it was whales. I was so amazed you could hear whales inside the sub! It was a beautiful deep haunting sound I’ll never forget.
Image source: Cosmicharlie18, EyeEm
#27
While waiting to cross the street at a marked crosswalk, I witnessed a truck turn right onto the main street I was waiting to cross. The truck gets hit by a speeding car, pushing it into a metal light poll which fell over and into the corner business’ front window, all while a dog in the front seat of the truck was thrown through the open passenger window, still in a sitting position, and landing on the sidewalk like ‘what the heck’. The scene was something out of a cartoon, and I still can’t believe I witnessed this! Everyone was okay, me and my friend sat with the dog while all the humans involved worked it out.
Image source: Independent_Bit_7084, pvproductions
#28
In the 1970s there was a large octopus in a tank at Newport Aquarium in Oregon. It locked eyes with me in a way that was an unmistakable message, with these strangely-shaped iridescent eyes.
#29
Trump being reelected after everything he’s done. Thought this country would come to their senses and not reelect after he mishandled Covid .
Image source: Maleficent_Cap2240, 60 Minutes
#30
I was in a helicopter crash in western Iraq in which the bird caught fire on the tarmac after a hard belly down landing and skidded to a stop with the rotors still turning, a fully loaded MH53 Pave Low.
We all managed to get off without injury and stood on the tarmac as the bird caught fire and was eventually completely immolated.
I stood there watching the huge column of smoke and watching it burn and thought to myself I couldn’t believe I was just in a helicopter crash.
Years later it’s kind of a cool story to tell occasionally as there was miraculously no injury or loss of life, but at the time I believe we were all pretty rattled. The crash happened early in the morning coming home from a long night mission raid in which there was a lot of kinetic activity and I think everyone was on edge and kind of fried mentally from the entire night and then the incident.
This happened outside of Ramadi, Iraq, in 2005 with 2/75 Ranger Battalion.
#31
When I was 11 years old. We lived in a rural area of Texas. We had a long oil top drive way, I was waiting for the school bus. My mother always watched me until I was picked up.
A lady with a toddler,turned in to the driveway to ask for directions. As she was backing out into the highway, a man was speeding over the hill and didn’t see her in time.
He hit her car, the car was headed straight for me, I heard my mom yell my name. Something moved me out of the way, I remember the child being knocked forward.
I didn’t have any scratches or anything. My mother spoke with the drivers, no one was injured. I got on the bus and went to school. This occurred in 1979.
Image source: mechele99, azerbaijan_stockers
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