There are those moments we’ve all had that make us pause and think “huh, that seems odd.” The odds just don’t add up, everything starts to feel like a simulation. But the truth is coincidences happen even when they seem deeply unlikely.
Someone asked “What's the most bizarre coincidence you've ever experienced that still baffles you to this day?” and netizens shared the things that kept them up at night. So get comfortable as you scroll through, upvote your favorites and be sure to share your own strange experiences in the comments section below.
#1
Oh, I've got another one. Sometime in the early 80s my mom was flying to Germany, with a layover in Reykjavik. On the tarmac in Iceland someone opened the overhead bin above her and a box fell out and hit her in the head with such force that she had to get off the plane and seek medical treatment. When she got back to the airport she found out that the next plane to her destination wasn't until the next day. A nice American couple who happened to be nearby overheard this and offered to let her sleep on the couch where they were staying so she wouldn't have to pay for a hotel, and she took them up on it. Just crashed for a few hours and never got their info.
Now it's roughly 2003, and my mom and I are stuck on the side of a road in Iowa trying to flag down someone for jumper cables. An older couple pull up and jump our car, and we all get to talking. My mom says they look awfully familiar, do they live near us in Des Moines? Ever stopped into her workplace? No, they're just passing through. Then it hits them both: she slept on their couch in Reykjavik 20 years earlier.
Image credits: Tawny_Frogmouth
#2
When I was in 8th grade (around 1990) my family moved from one part of Houston to another, but it meant totally new schools, new friends, new everything. So, my dad being the adorable clueless guy he was bought pens with my name and number on them. He thought my skater punk a*s was gonna pass out sparkly purple pens with my number on them to 'make friends.' Well, I thought they were so hilarious that I gave them out like crazy and had given them all out by like day 2. Well, flash forward about 15 years and I'm living in LA. I stop at a gas station in like Barstow on a weekend trip to Vegas with friends. There I am, standing at the urinal, mind wandering when I happen upon a purple sparkly pen on the floor. I think, there's no way, nudge it with my foot and sure enough it's one of those f*****g pens! There it was, my name and old phone number. What are the damn odds?!
Image credits: EdithWhartonsFarts
#3
I ran into a guy in Afghanistan that I went to high school with. This was ten years after we graduated, and in high school, we were arch nemesis...
Fist fights 4 times... hated each other.
When meeting in combat overseas, we welcomed each other and just talked about old memories for the evening .
Next day, I got shot, and it went through my vest... he pulled me out as I would've died...
He took a few rounds in back while pulling me out. 2 hours later he died in my arms while we prayed together, saying, I love you man!
I went and saw his parents in our hometown after returning to tell them what occurred. They remembered we hated each other.
I'll never forget this.
Typing this has a tear rolling down my cheek...
Cheers all!
Image credits: juliusnvincevega
#4
1.) I spent the night in a b&b in a small town in France and had a dream about my good friend. It was super vivid. Uncannily so. The next morning over breakfast I looked at the guest book and saw he had stayed there a few weeks before me. I waited until it was morning in the States and called him, figuring it was a sign to reach out. His wife answered and told me he had passed away earlier that night.
2.) we had a picnic in a park for a free summer concert and someone took a picture of my wife and I. In the background is another family with a small kid staring at the camera. The woman was a foster mom and two years later we were matched with a kid - it was the same one staring at the camera. We didn’t notice this for a long time until the foster mom was over (she’s now family) and noticed herself in the background of our photo on our digital frame. Our first family photo before being a family!
Image credits: Zmirzlina
#5
I sat next to my doppelgänger on a flight.
Same name, same birthday—we were both headed to weddings. Here's the kicker: our dates were long-lost siblings reuniting. It felt like the universe hit copy-paste on our lives. Mind blown!
Image credits: iscarafolha
#6
I randomly met a boy on the beach while visiting my grandmother. I was 10 he was 14. I'm American, He's English.
Years later I'm on a message board trying to find out if Dead Like Me is coming back. Begin conversation with random guy on message board.
It's him.
We meet up and get married within months. 20 years and 3 kids later....
Image credits: HmNotToday1308
#7
I wore a simple silver pinkie ring every day for years until I lost it. For two years, I never wore anything else on that finger.
Went shopping recently and found a cool ouroboros ring (snake eating its tail) and started wearing it on that finger. Literally thought to myself when I decided to buy it: "I guess it's time to give up on my other ring coming back to me."
Less than 24 hours later, I pulled a plastic bag out of the tube I keep them in and my old ring fell out onto the floor.
I'm wearing them both now since obviously the original ring was jealous.
Image credits: ToWhenTFor
#8
Maybe not that baffling, but I saw this girl (my age) at taco bell, I went over and said hi to her (briefly, but then left). I thought she was the prettiest girl I had ever seen.
coincidentally just crossed paths with her at a bar that weekend. Hung out with her and chatted.
Turns out, we both got hired by the same large factory (it had 4 different buildings). She was days, I was midnights. We were in different buildings.
Then I got switched to afternoons (still a different building), then I got switched to days, then I got switched to a building closer to hers, then I got switched to her building, then I got switched to her area of the factory, then I got switched to standing right beside her.
We basically would spend 8 hours every day facing each other about 10 feet apart.
Been married for a couple of decades now.
Image credits: Apprehensive-Care20z
#9
I went to Iceland last year and didn't announce it to anyone or anything. I was driving the south coast and took a side quest to a waterfall. Was minding my own business and heard someone say 'you look just like my friend!'. I turned around and I WAS the friend. Ran into a girl I went to high school with (we grew up in a very small rural town) that I had not seen in probably 5 years? We just happened to be at the same waterfall, in Iceland, at the exact same time, with neither of us knowing the other was visiting the country. Definitely one of the most random and cool things that's happened to me in a while.
Image credits: congenitalstupidity
#10
My then-girlfriend and I drove a couple hours to the beach, hiked into the dunes a 1/2 mile, set up tent in the sand and spent the night. Next day we take down the tent, hike back, and realize we don't have her car keys after looking through everything twice. I go back and start randomly, hopelessly sifting through the sand around the campsite, doing a grid, thinking there's no way I'm going to find her keys. Finally my foot hits keys! I reach down and pick up...MY keys, which I didn't know I'd even brought, which I would have never found when I got all the way home because I didn't think I'd even brought them.
Then I kept sifting and found her keys.
Image credits: shimmerer
#11
This happened recently. . .
I was always a huge reader as a kid, and I was an English major in college as progression of this. There has always been one writer in particular (will leave this vague for anon) that I've always, from a young age, been really focused on. This person has written many books, but several are not well known to the general reader. In college, I did a year-long independent study on this writer's work and bought and read their complete works, but because I've made a lot of moves as an adult, I no longer have the same book collection. I've had to sell and rebuild a few times.
Recently, I realized I didn't have a copy of one of the less well known novels. Since that won't do, I decided to order a used copy from Thriftbooks. The copy I chose was the same edition as the one I had previously owned, and the cover was the same. Cool. I'll tell you, my brain almost melted when I opened the book and saw my own margin notes from a lifetime ago. I had donated the book to a local used book store in ~2009. Somehow it ended up at Thriftbooks and was then returned to me in 2024. This is one of the author's lesser works, but the writer is well known, so there are still multiple editions of this book and many copies are available online.
Image credits: porcelina-g
#12
I was once in the military and stationed at a small base where everyone knew everyone. There was one guy who the girls thought a little strange, but harmless, I’ll call him, Joe Smith. Whenever my then wife or I would say or do something dumb, the other would say, “You’re as dumb as Joe Smith”. Fast forward 10 years. We haven’t said his name in all that time and we’re on the other side of the world. She did something dumb, I say the key phrase and we got a good laugh at that. 30 minutes later Joe Smith walks into the bar’s patio and comes up and greets us. Turns out he joined the Merchant Marines and his ship was in the local harbor.
Image credits: notahouseflipper
#13
Joined a completely random guild on a very populated server in WoW years ago (Moon Guard - one of the busiest servers in the game). Nice folks, so I stuck around. I eventually came to realize that the GM and I lived in the same general area when we were both joking one night about missing some upcoming ingame event or another due to an impending hurricane. Thought that was neat and we joked about it but never really probed any further because that'd be weird, right?
One night she was ranting about how much being a call center supervisor sucks, I empathized because been there done that, and cracked a joke about the particular local call center company I had previously worked for. That led to the following exchange:
Her: Yeah, I used to work there too, they're the worst. Which client were you with?
Me: *name of client*, you?
Her: *name of different client*
Me:: Oh cool, my husband worked with that client for a couple of years.
Her: Who's your husband, I'm bad with names but what does he look like?
Me: Big scary looking bearded blonde biker dude, usually wearing his leather vest and always smoked a pipe.
Her: OMG YOU'RE (hubby)'s WIFE!! He sat right next to me for AGES, everybody's scared of him but he was SO nice, and he talked about you ALL THE TIME!
So yeah... random WoW guildmaster ended up being an old coworker/friend of my husband's, who we later figured out lived like 5 blocks away.
Image credits: talidrow
#14
A friend saw me at a busstop so he came and shook my hand. Then he said "Sorry, you look like someone I know."
That's when I realized it wasn't my friend and this guy just really looks like him. We both just happened to look like someone else in eachothers life.
Image credits: treearemadeofbark
#15
I was studying abroad halfway around the world when I met a guy who asked if he could sit down and practice his English with me. He explains that he had learned as an exchange student in the US but hadn't had a lot of opportunities to speak it since. What part of the US, I ask? "Oh, they sent me to the middle of nowhere. A tiny little nothing town. You wouldn't have ever heard of it." Well, I'm from the midwest, it's worth a try.
It turns out he'd spent a year in my parents' hometown, a town of 5k in northern Missouri. I've spent months of my life in this town. I'm probably somehow related to his host family. But he's right, 99.99% of Americans would never have heard of it.
Image credits: Tawny_Frogmouth
#16
I flew to a city I used to live in to attend two weddings in the same weekend. One on Friday night and one on Saturday night. The one on Saturday was actually in a nearby city about an hour away, and I was part of the ceremony by doing one of the readings during the wedding mass. My old roommate let me borrow his old beater car to drive to the Saturday wedding and as I was driving it started to chug and lurch and misfire. I pull off at the next exit and the car died and I coasted to a stop in front of the only building around and it was an auto repair shop filled with junk cars and surrounded by a large chain-link fence and gate. I was still about 25 miles away from where I needed to be. When I got out of my car there were two guys pulling the gate closed and they told me they were closing. I was panicking and told them that I was in a wedding in three hours and I need to get there. They look at me and said "You going to the Henson wedding?" I said yes and they said they were going to the same wedding and were closing the shop early to go home and get ready. They took me to the wedding and all was good.
#17
1st date- we're going over all our background stuff and it gets to "where did you go to school?" She mentions her high school and I mention that I was a camp counselor there for many summers. She whips off her sunglasses and says, "That's where I know you from!"
I did the quick math and realized she wasn't another counselor when I was there. She was a camper! I asked her if this was weird, and she said she was cool. (I was 40 and she was 30 when we started dating)
We're celebrating our 3rd wedding anniversary this fall.
#18
Husband, me and kids were out for the day chatting about the football team husband coaches and explaining to the kids that as child A's parents are divorcing, husband has to notify both parents of things separately, etc.
We go to queue for a drink. Right behind said parent and child.
In Disney World.
We live in Scotland.
Image credits: Scotsburd
#19
Story time!
Back in college, a buddy of mine and I were hanging out in his dorm, looking for mischief to make. We decided to head over to the Student Union Building (the SUB). On the way out the door, we grabbed his roommate's pocket knife. It was a little Old Timer switchblade, maybe two inches long, that he had received from his grandfather.
In the SUB, we played a little ping pong, watched some TV, etc. Then my buddy got the idea to compete to see who could be the first to throw his roommate's pocket knife in such a way that it would stick in the carpet. We had each made a few unsuccessful attempts when I threw the knife in such a way that it hit the floor and kicked off at about a 30 degree angle, and shot into the space between an ATM and the wall.
We went over to the ATM, one on each side and, not really communicating, each reached behind it to retrieve the knife. I was the one who found it, and I pulled it out only to notice that the tip was pretty severely bent. Alarmed at having bent his roomies knife, I stood up and looked at him and held up the knife with my look of dismay evident on my face...
**Only to see him looking back with a similar look of dismay, holding a 2 inch Old Timer switchblade with a broken tip.**
***Meaning that within a space of about two linear feet were two virtually identical switchblades with mangled tips.***
But wait, there's more!
Fast forward about 15-20 years. I'm listening to *This American Life* and the episode is about coincidences. The whole time, I'm listening unimpressed, thinking "My pocketknife story is way cooler than any of these stories. I'm actually pretty bummed I didn't hear when they were taking submissions, or I would've submitted it." I ho-hum my way through the episode until I get to the final act. It's a story about a boy at camp. Losing his pocketknife. That he received from his grandfather. And broke off the tip throwing it at the floor. And then having a confrontation with another boy holding what looked like his pocketknife with the broken tip.
***Meaning that there were two separate coincidences about mistaken identity of pocketknives with mangled tips that guys received from their grandfathers.***
I still can't think about this without my brain melting.
Image credits: sickmission
#20
Put an offer in on a house on a Friday. That same weekend Sunday, started using an online dating app after recently getting divorced. First and only girl I’m talking to seems pretty awesome. I ask if I can pick her up to take her out to eat. Tells me her address. Her house is 6 houses down on the same exact block as mine. Been married almost 3 years with 2 amazing kids.
Image credits: No_Angle875
#21
I arrive in Athens a day early late at night and the hotel I’m booked at can’t accommodate me until the next night. The front desk manages to find me a room at a different hotel down the street. I get to my room around 3 in the morning and head to my balcony to see the view. I hear two girls on the balcony below me speaking French. Suddenly one of them snorts and lets out a very distinct laugh and I very quietly call down “Jen?”. It was my college girlfriend who I hadn’t spoken to in seven years.
#22
During a pretty feeble thunderstorm I yelled to the sky "You call this a thunderstorm?" Two seconds later the world goes white and a sound like an explosion erupts. Our building was struck by lightning and we were only one floor down from the roof. I knew we had been hit because there were sparks cascading down from above. I am an atheist, but I gotta admit, this made me scratch my head.
Edit - I also failed to mention that me and my roommate were on the balcony when this happened. You have never seen two people try and three-stooges there way back through the door so fast!
#23
Here's mine:
A few years ago, I was randomly paired with a guy for a group project in college. We didn't know each other at all, but we worked really well together and got an A. Fast forward a couple of years, and I walk into a new job on my first day, and guess who’s there? The same guy! We end up becoming best friends. The bizarre part? We discovered our parents had been high school sweethearts and almost got married. Now, our families joke that it’s fate bringing them back together through us.
Image credits: No-Investigator-4030
#24
My (now ex) wife and I were heading down the interstate, we were in a neighboring state, and it was pretty late at night.
We see a car pulled over with it's flashers on. It's late, we are in the middle of nowhere, so we decide to stop and see if they need help.
We notice it's a lone woman. I'm a good dude, but I'm big (6'3, 240lbs) and a bit rough looking (prominent facial scars, arms tatted up), so my wife steps out with me. It's a good thing too, because it was her childhood best friend.
We were all 3 hours away from home, it was just really bizarre. I changed her flat tire, and we headed home convoy style.
#25
Went on vacation to another continent to celebrate my birthday. Met a member of staff at the hotel with my name, my age and the same birthday.
Image credits: anon
#26
Was at the state fair with some friends in high school. My friend ran into his 1st grade teacher and was surprised that she still remembered him after all of those years. After they're done talking, we walk away and I say "That's so cool. I wonder if my first grade teacher would remember me".
Immediately after I say that, I hear my name and turn around to see my first grade teacher standing right behind me, totally remembered me and my family. Was such a weird experience.
#27
I, completely by chance, got tattooed in my mom's childhood bedroom.
I made an appointment with a tattoo artist, and when I was on my way there, the address sounded familiar. So I texted my mom, and she confirmed that it was her childhood home, a pastor's house built next to a church.
By pure coincidence, she was also in the same city that day (she never visits it and lives about 2 hours away. I lived 2 hours away the other way as well). We ended up going for lunch together and she showed me around her old house. It turned out I got tattooed in her old bedroom. The old built-in closet she used to climb in was still there.
Still the craziest coincidence ever, I don't think my mom at 9 years old expected her own daughter to get tattooed in that room 45 years later.
Image credits: Art-Soft
#28
I grew up next to a farm that has been bought by developers and their intent is to create a massive quarry. I wanted it stopped, to protect the beautiful landscape surrounding it, and started a campaign. We started brainstorming what celebs we could try to get to endorse our idea, and James Camerons name came up. He named a character in Titanic after our town, Cal Hockley, so we joked he might have A connection.
When I researched into it, it turns out Cameron named the character after our town bc his family are all from here, and he spent his youth on his grandparents farm here. ON THAT FARM.
Then it hit me that our town actually might have meant a lot to him...so on a hunch I checked if there was any other Jack Dawsons around.
In the cemetary NEXT to the farm, where all of Camerons family are buried are the graves of J Dawson and Rose.
Whats even crazier, is that next to them all is the grave of an eastern european family...named Titanic.
I cant decide if its all coincidence or inspiration.
Image credits: MYSTERees77
#29
Several years ago my family hosted a foster child for about seven months. This was a kid who came from a small town about two hours away from me. (We live in a metro area of about 600K.) He entered the foster system after his father died, and his mother wasn't interested in raising boys, so he got left to his own devices for a while, with disastrous results. After a stint in juvenile detention, he moved into a transitional home and then eventually landed with us.
Through all this time he maintained contact with his biological uncle (dad's half brother), who was pretty well put together. We supported weekly visits with the uncle, who lived on the other side of the metro area from where we live, maybe 30 minutes away through average traffic.
Several months into this arrangement, we learned the uncle owns several houses around our city and leases them out as rental properties. We learned this when he stopped by one of his houses, looked over into the yard next door, and saw a cat that he recognized from the kid's Facebook photos.
It was our cat. Out of all the foster families he could have been placed with, he landed with the one family that lived next door to a house his uncle rented out.
#30
I'm a graphic designer and live in a beach town. Fifteen years ago a client asked me to design an oval sticker for a tidal island they liked to visit and had named - think like an OBX sticker. Last year a friend was on vacation in Caribbean and saw that sticker on a wall of a bar they were in, she texted me a picture of it since it was a coincidence to see this sticker about a little island in our town. Then I blew her mind when I explained I designed it and had them made.
