English author Neil Gaiman has said that life is always going to be stranger than fiction because fiction has to be convincing, and life doesn't. Well, if these words needed any proof, there's a TikTok trend that vividly illustrates their essence.
It was started by Ellery (@dentedmilk), who posted a video on Thanksgiving of herself and an old photo of her great-great-great-grandmother that she said died in 1923 during childbirth. 100 years later, Ellery is now around her age.
Throughout the video, a haunting, robotic-sounding voice sings "Well you don't know me, but I know you. And I've got a message," from Laurie Anderson's song 'O Superman.'
The clip has since amassed 6.2 million views and inspired other people to share their own eerie experiences using the tune as well.
@dentedmilk She’s my great great grandmother who died in 1923 during childbirth. I’m around her age, 100 years later. Her name is Jessie.
♬ You dont know me - ellery
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The cashier thought we were crazy when we were trying to tell her why we were freaking out lmao what are the odds.
This sis in a no way context (recommenting for I am egg)
Load More Replies...yall know katie was saying shut up in a "no way" context. stop downvoting her
Yeah, it's an American figure of speech. I too gave you both upvotes.
Load More Replies...Yes that is a massive coincidence and also your son is a very stylish little man 😎
I had a similar thing happen with a video game. My boyfriend's housemate at the time took a NASCAR game to gamestop to trade in. I went there about a week later when boyfriend asked me to get the game. Picked up a random one. Same game housemate took in, including the code sticker in the same place inside. Completely blew our minds.
My childhood Christmas stocking got lost when I was a teenager in Wisconsin. I found it 20 years later in an antique mall in Iowa. It had my first name printed in my childish handwriting on the top border.
Not a coincidence. This stuff is too common to be real and it's really special
That deer was not coincidence. It was your mother. I lost my mother last October and I’ve come to realize that there’s no such thing as coincidence.
While the exact definition of what each of us considers eerie differs, the underlying cause is more or less the same.
"[Creepy is] about the uncertainty of threat. You’re feeling uneasy because you think there might be something to worry about here, but the signals are not clear enough to warrant your doing some sort of desperate, life-saving kind of thing,” Frank McAndrew, professor of psychology at Knox College in Illinois, United States, explained.
My Dad passed away in August 2014. My husband & I had lived with him (stepmother, 1/2 sister, her husband and their 3 y/o feral monkey of a daughter) for a year before he was diagnosed. Dad & I had gotten really close. We all knew it was coming - stage 4 lung cancer - but I was still devastated when he died. As a coping mechanism, I would send text messages to his phone. A few days before our annual family Christmas, which I always hosted, I texted him about how beautiful the house looked, how I was so sorry he would miss Christmas in our first San Diego home, etc.. A few minutes later, my phone dinged and I see there's a text from "Dad". I durn near wrecked the car. I pulled over to read it. His number had been reassigned, but the lady who got the text was kind enough to let me know. I explained why I sent it and she texted back with some very kind words about love never dying, he'd still be there etc. We kept in touch for years at the holidays. Thanks, Linda.
I'm not crying, you're crying!!! My daughter's dog crossed the rainbow bridge 4 days ago. So this makes me so happy to see
It's so hard to loss our 4-legged furry family members. Warm hugs for you both ♥️
Load More Replies...I have a similar but very sad story. I'll be brief cause it hurts me to this day. My neighbor had dogs and one of the dogs had puppies. The dogs were neglected. I loved them, my family did all we could to take care of them and feed them. One of the puppies, my favorite, was a male that I always said resembled a coke bottle, and he was very close with his sister and both were very agitated and always playing around. I actually wanted to take him in but my mom wouldn't let me. They died, probably poisoned, the male first, the female soon after. Months later my mom found a puppy on the streets, she looked like a small coke bottle with white paws, like if she truly was born from those two, there was also no explanation as to where she could have came from. I fought to keep her, she's 9yo now, still going, still as crazy as those two were. It truly feels like they sent her from the other side.
I lost my dog twelve months ago and I miss him everyday, Kasey my adorable boxer, he was fifteen years old and on the job with our b***h when I lost him , and still hurts like hell, he was the love of my life and I was crazy about him. I feel guilty just thinking about another dog. You are so lucky that Luna brought him to you, there was reason for that. And I'm guessing Luna never left you.
Never ever trust or date anyone who doesn't like animals! BIG red flag
My grandma's CB name was ladybug 🐞 and I find them everywhere in my mom's house. All year round. It gives me so much hope that our souls and love live on.
They are all over my house, gaining access through any little crack. Tell your mom to stay out of my house.
Load More Replies...Coincidence, anyone? Look, people...the chances are way too incredibly small to be a coincidence. Exactly that butterfly, at that particular spot, at that particular time? Come on. That you can't see it, doesn't mean it doesn't exist.
Probably not nearly as big of a coincidence as you think. That particular spot was at her aunt's "favorite place", where I'm guessing swallowtail butterflies - including yellow ones - make frequent appearances, which is what had inspired the aunt to get a tattoo of one on her back.
Load More Replies...Even the way our bodies respond to the triggers is similar.
In 2012, researchers from the University of Groningen in the Netherlands found that when subjects felt creeped out, they felt colder and believed that the temperature in the room had actually dropped.
Chilling, indeed!
My uncle came to our wedding and saw our house for the first time. We didn't want a house with no garage- this house doesn't have one. I refused to consider houses that didn't have dishwashers. Spoiler alert: no dishwasher here but me. I remarked on these things in his presence and he said : your house looks exactly like my childhood home (my grandparents' house) - tho i didn't grow up with this side of the family and rarely visited their home. Its jusththough
It's not a coincidence- I wanted to connect to the "familiar " without realizing it.
Load More Replies...To be honest, *if* this story is true, I'm pretty sure OP bought this house *because* of his grandparents living there before. But, you know... this doesn't give you half as much likes (*cough* and money *cough*) on the internet than *drumrolls* *fireworks* "we magically found my ancestors' home!"
Not at all. Just plain fake. That's just not how silver salts work - unless you rework them.
Load More Replies...I don't want to nag around, BUT what about the tie on the left in the picture? 👔 🧐 🕵🏽
I get that it's genetics here, I do, but if it brings his mom comfort feeling like her brother is still around I think it's still lovely. <3
Load More Replies...Yeah, I'm trying not to p**s on all of these, but it's not spooky that people that share DNA look alike....
Load More Replies...It‘s just the hair. Give him a different haircut and they will look nothing alike. Different eyes, different grin, different nose… I hope they don‘t tell him he is the reincarnation of his uncle. Way to ruin a child.
Reincarnation maybe? None of us know for absolute certainty what happens after we die.
I don't call it a coincidence but have sth similar with me and my mother's late sister - she died at age of 12 when I was a few months. When looking at our photos throughout growing up it's hard to tell who is who. Really, I have a few photos that neither me nor my mom or grandma knows anymore if they shows me or her, sometimes we could guess only by the surroundings. Especially one (two) photos when we were 11 take in school (we were in the same school) we both take it in the same place and have the same haircut and 'Mona Lisa' smile.
My ultrasound technician from when I was pregnant with my youngest turned out to be my ultrasound technician from before I was born in a completely different city clear across the state that my parents moved away from shortly after I was born.
That physical response further heightens our senses.
"You don't know how to act but you’re really concerned about getting more information," McAndrew said.
"It kind of takes your attention and focuses it like a laser on this particular stimulus, whatever it is."
My son is identical to my biological father who I had no visual memory of. When my son turned 28 I was given a photo of said father at the age of 28 by an aunt who lived on the other side of the country, and I thought it was a joke. Feature for feature they are identical. = Genetics. It also explains why my mother has treated my son like garbage his whole life. - She had divorced him very shortly after I was born. I also look like the female version of him, which explains a lot as well. Sometimes genetics aren't fantastic.
No they don't. I don't resemble ANY of my grandparents but I do resemble my dad
Load More Replies...That gave me goosebumps! It's beautiful to know that he is there with you looking out for you! I love these stories because they remind me to have faith in things you can't see or touch but that you definitely feel 💕❤️
My sister had never met our great grandfather. She told me about a very tall and thin man she saw stand over my nieces crib and whom my niece was smitten with. It absolutely floored my sis when I showed her a pic of Grandpa Otto. It was he who was visiting and entertaining my niece.
My kids used to laugh when they were little, and I would ask what was so funny. They would say, "Papa Max is so funny!" Papa Max is the name we gave my Dad so my kids would know him. He died 4yrs before my first born. All 3 of my children talked about him.
my blind a*s sitting here zooming in on the middle and right to read these
Not that different from Heidi Wyrick and Mr Gordy. It just means you had some abilities as a child.
You probably overheard your relatives talking about Grampy and misheard the name, but kept all the other details. Brains work in interesting ways!
Oooh with the first paycheck of the job I've had for nearly 15 years I went to a local used bookhouse. I purchased a paperback set of LoTR in a golden box that reminded me of the one my dad used to read to be as a kid. When I got it home and opened it up I saw my maiden name written in my dad's handwriting. I started reading it to my kid a few months ago.
A reply to Kimbowa below; you are right. There are no coincidences--it's planned from above!
Load More Replies...As we can see from the pictures, it can be a lot of things, situations, places and, of course, people.
"We're predisposed to see willful agents that mean us harm in situations that are ambiguous, but this was an adaptive thing to do,” McAndrew said.
Our ancestors saw saber-toothed tigers in every shadow and a slithering snake in the motion of the swaying grass because it was better to be safe than sorry.
That is like spooky amazing. Not exactly terrifying.. more like reassurance with goosebumps.
My sister had a good friend named Jean who died of cancer. After she passed away my sister bought a new car that she synced to her phone. For a long time afterwards her car would randomly say "You have a text from Jean." There would not be a text on her phone.
The moment we stepped out of the church after my mums funeral, the sky went pitch black, and the heavens opened, there was almighty thunder and lightning for about a minute. Suddenly it cleared and the sun shone through. We all looked at each other and said, which one of us had p!ssed her off? Was real weird.
That's amazing. I love these stories so much, I choose to have faith in something much bigger than ourselves. It's beautiful!
Why? What's wrong with just accepting that it's a coincidence?
Load More Replies...How effing cool do you have to be to walk your daughter down the aisle wearing shades? 🙄
This makes sense if you live in a small town or go to a small church. Or even a big church.
Friend's grandpa was wounded in WWII which left him with a scar on his abdomen. My friend has a birthmark in the exact same place, similar shape and size.😳
It's the same number not the same cop from when she was younger.
Load More Replies...Seeing that smile makes me feel good for the children he has and will help.
McAndrew pointed out that truly creepy things and situations are not attractive. At all.
"We don't enjoy real creepy situations, and we will avoid them like the plague," he said. "Like if there's a person who creeps you out, you'll cross the street to get away.”
What we do enjoy is playacting, in the same way we enjoy the thrill of watching a horror movie.
This is no coincidence. Since she was a little girl, she has had a special relationship with this baseball club thanks to her favorite doll.
Lol. You don’t get to marry someone on a sports team because you have a stuffed bear. Even if you become a major fan who attends every game. Plus he has been in and out of various clubs. Not saying it is a coincidence, saying it’s not because she liked the Cubs because of the doll is ridiculous logic.
Load More Replies...Sweeeeeeeeet! We're a Cubs family! Wishing you guys a World (Series) of happiness!
As a lifelong Cardinals fan, I don't approve of the Cubs. But it's very sweet! The next time those idiots win, we'll be watching on Mars.
Goldschmidt is old and Arenado mid. Out best players (other than Bellinger) are 23 and 25 and we still better than y’all. See who’s good in three years.
Load More Replies...Nah that’s Sergio Alcantara Baez is lighter and has a thinner face
Load More Replies...This one is a bit creepy with the image of the future girlfriend staring out of the window, like a ghost.
Nad she looks like a child while they are grown ups. Kinda makes it less romantic to me 🙈
Load More Replies...It took a minute to understand what she saw…center left in picture #2 is almost a perfect shadow of the dad in his baseball hat
That's being cast by the very visible baseball hat perched on the refrigerator there.
Load More Replies...McAndrew and other psychologists, anthropologists, and even author Stephen King agree that horror films are a safe place for us to explore our fears and rehearse what we would do if, say, zombies tore apart our town.
Maybe these TikToks are too?
Coincidence. If something has a one in a million chance of happening, well there are a million seconds in a month, so it should happen once a month. There are 8 billion people on earth, each doing billions of things. A couple things are gonna line up in funny ways now and then.
Load More Replies...Yeah. This one's a stretch. And I do believe in some of this stuff.
Load More Replies...Coincidence. Inlaws ikely similar age. 1:365 odds for each year of age variance.
The parents of a girlfriend of mine from years ago shared their anniversary with my parents (same date but different year). 8 years later, my next serious long-term relationship, her parents and mine shared the exact same anniversary. We used to keep their wedding photos side by side, most likely taken at around the same time of day because they both had afternoon weddings.
This house is back in my family after over 100 years.
Earlier this year my wife and I went to an event celebrating the purchase of a house and property by a charity that is near and dear to her heart. When we got there I recognized the house. I helped build it 30+ years ago.
It may be the same house, but after extensive renovation and an add-on.
Load More Replies...The ghost friend sent the mom a text saying her daughter was safe after she got into a car accident on the same day that the ghost friend got into an accident and died....that didn't help did it?
Load More Replies...She was in the same kind of accident as her mother's best friend, and her mother received after a text saying "She's safe," as a reassurence. I thought it was very clear.
I don't get why this is a big deal? I have a picture of a relative from a century ago who looked enough like me that my mother asked "is that a picture of you that's been made to look old timey, or one of the old family pictures your grandma sent you?" I thought it was cool, but I wouldn't expect anyone else to. We're relatives. It's not that weird we have a resemblance.
These aren't that weird. I looked identical to my great grandmother--to the point that when I was younger and found pictures, I was confused because I didn't remember the circumstances in which those pics were taken. It was her, not me. My brother looks a lot like our grandpa. My youngest son looks very much like my dad. My older son has the exact same smile as one of my cousins. Every time he is really happy and smiley, she comes to mind. Every time. My niece is the spitting image of my MIL. That is what DNA does. It isn't a weird coincidence for people who are related to actually look alike. The weird part is that so many of these have made the list, because they don't actually fit.
On another Reddit thread someone is lamenting how they've lost the same ring twice.
Avon rings were like this through early-mid 1980’s. I have that ring too.
I think they all came with the sizer already added. I have an identical ring from my mom ❤️
My mom had that ring when I was a kid in the 70s. It came as a free gift for her buying something, I can't remember what. It's just gold plated, so it can't be properly sized by a jeweller. Those sizers on them could be bought and you put the sizer on the ring yourself, you don't need a jeweller to do it.
Dude..... I have that exact same ring! Literally identical! I got it when my grandma passed away.
I have the same shirt, but in yellow and without the pictures and writing on it.
Load More Replies...The logo on the kid’s shirt is filling the full front and not at all on the other one. 🤷🏼♂️
She’s my great great grandmother who died in 1923 during childbirth. I’m around her age, 100 years later. Her name is Jessie.
ok for the film, but the others... you see what you wanna see i think. but I can understand, when you miss someone, you look for them everywhere
What? Doesn’t anyone know how to write stories that make sense anymore?
I think it is just a coincidence - someone inside that looks a lot like the little girl might when she is older.
Load More Replies...Dad may be doing a bit of projecting here. Probably harmless.
Vocal cords are one of the few things that rarely is passed between genetics so having the same voice is a really big coincidence.
Load More Replies...It was probably written by the aliens that were found in Mexico.
Load More Replies...Please consult a dictionary and learn the difference between ancestor and descendant.
The people who posted these are not very smart, and mainly for views. The writer of bp who picked this up needs to go back to journalist school. Oh wait, anyone who has access to the internet is a journalist now and boredpanda is basically a re- hashing site. I forgot to adjust my expectation for a sec there. My bad.
Load More Replies...She actually looks a lot like the one currently at #35. With the old picture an old frame. (Where the girl doesn't look like the picture)
yeah me too, I went to a black tie function and you wouldn't believe it but, every guy was wearing a tux (insert cheeky sarcasm here)
Even more amazing, I went someplace where everyone - male and female - was dressed just like me. I wasn't so surprised the next time I went to that nudist colony.
Load More Replies...Do people don't know about genetics? Yeah, you look slightly similar to a member of your family, who would have thought!
but I look just like our postman, that's not genetics
Load More Replies...One mildly interesting story of coincidence in my family. My parents lived in a very small village quite some distance from where they were both born. When visiting the church, we noticed a sign showing the names of the previous vicars, and one of them was almost the same as our family name, with one letter different. Some years later a relative did some research on our family tree and I followed it up with a bit more detail. Turns out the vicar was in fact my great-great-great-great-grand-father (b. 1781). He married into a farming family, and several generations farmed somewhat nearer to where my parents were born, and those farms still exist along with headstones in the local churchyard.
I want it to be my job to randomly text people "I love you" or "I miss you" or "I'm proud of you" from dead people's numbers. Is that a job someone can have? Seems like it'd be helpful to people.
Maybe not. What if you are finally dealing with the loss of a loved one and get that message? Would rly f with your emotional well-being
Load More Replies...I, personally, don't believe that the spirits of loved ones watch over us or communicate with us, but many do, and if I'm being honest, I sometimes wish that I did. I imagine those beliefs bring people comfort, but I just don't have them. I honestly don't know if that makes me better off, or worse. But I don't suppose it matters much.
yeah I feel sad for some of these people because they will spend the rest of their lives waiting for their phone or tshirt or bottle cap to send them another random message from their dearly departed. Really sad.
Load More Replies...My cousin & I. We hadn't seen each other in a long time, and the only coincidence we were aware of was that our kids were born on the same date (Jan 23) 12 years apart. Then we finally got together & started talking just to find out: My first car was a white Ford Focus that I later traded in for a golden Toyota Corolla; Her first car was a white Ford Focus that she later traded in for a golden Toyota Corolla. I had a German Shepherd named Vincent; She had a GS named Vincent. I moved into my house in May 2004; She moved into her apartment in May 2004. There were more 'coincidences' that I will not delve into. I do not have an explanation for that 🤷♂️
I find it quite disturbing how many of these seem to actually believe that there's something more than coincidence at play. Nom that butterfly/deer is not the spirit of your departed loved one.
It helps people cope and brings them happiness. Nothing wrong with that.
Load More Replies...WHY, for fùck's sake, is there a tikfuck video trying to open at the very start of the page? I've neve noticed that before, but what the eff, BP?
Meh. Most of these are stretching it a bit...but there were just enough goosebump-poppers to keep me reading. My only coincidental story is that my parents were in an antique mall on the other side of the state and bought the most horrible picture just for the frame. They got it home, Dad popped the frame, and the address of their house was written across the back of the picture. We reframed it and hung it in our dining room. Just in case.
i have a pic of me and my dad wearing the same white t-shirt, the same plaid jacket, and the same shade of blue jeans and black sneakers. we showed up for a surprise visit bc he was back early from a long haul (hes a truck driver) he didnt know we were coming and neither of us knew what the other was wearing. momma (step mom, but she momma to me) snapped a picture. theres no doubt we are dad and daughter. we have the same face shape, same smile, same hair color and eye color. i love that picture
Do people don't know about genetics? Yeah, you look slightly similar to a member of your family, who would have thought!
but I look just like our postman, that's not genetics
Load More Replies...One mildly interesting story of coincidence in my family. My parents lived in a very small village quite some distance from where they were both born. When visiting the church, we noticed a sign showing the names of the previous vicars, and one of them was almost the same as our family name, with one letter different. Some years later a relative did some research on our family tree and I followed it up with a bit more detail. Turns out the vicar was in fact my great-great-great-great-grand-father (b. 1781). He married into a farming family, and several generations farmed somewhat nearer to where my parents were born, and those farms still exist along with headstones in the local churchyard.
I want it to be my job to randomly text people "I love you" or "I miss you" or "I'm proud of you" from dead people's numbers. Is that a job someone can have? Seems like it'd be helpful to people.
Maybe not. What if you are finally dealing with the loss of a loved one and get that message? Would rly f with your emotional well-being
Load More Replies...I, personally, don't believe that the spirits of loved ones watch over us or communicate with us, but many do, and if I'm being honest, I sometimes wish that I did. I imagine those beliefs bring people comfort, but I just don't have them. I honestly don't know if that makes me better off, or worse. But I don't suppose it matters much.
yeah I feel sad for some of these people because they will spend the rest of their lives waiting for their phone or tshirt or bottle cap to send them another random message from their dearly departed. Really sad.
Load More Replies...My cousin & I. We hadn't seen each other in a long time, and the only coincidence we were aware of was that our kids were born on the same date (Jan 23) 12 years apart. Then we finally got together & started talking just to find out: My first car was a white Ford Focus that I later traded in for a golden Toyota Corolla; Her first car was a white Ford Focus that she later traded in for a golden Toyota Corolla. I had a German Shepherd named Vincent; She had a GS named Vincent. I moved into my house in May 2004; She moved into her apartment in May 2004. There were more 'coincidences' that I will not delve into. I do not have an explanation for that 🤷♂️
I find it quite disturbing how many of these seem to actually believe that there's something more than coincidence at play. Nom that butterfly/deer is not the spirit of your departed loved one.
It helps people cope and brings them happiness. Nothing wrong with that.
Load More Replies...WHY, for fùck's sake, is there a tikfuck video trying to open at the very start of the page? I've neve noticed that before, but what the eff, BP?
Meh. Most of these are stretching it a bit...but there were just enough goosebump-poppers to keep me reading. My only coincidental story is that my parents were in an antique mall on the other side of the state and bought the most horrible picture just for the frame. They got it home, Dad popped the frame, and the address of their house was written across the back of the picture. We reframed it and hung it in our dining room. Just in case.
i have a pic of me and my dad wearing the same white t-shirt, the same plaid jacket, and the same shade of blue jeans and black sneakers. we showed up for a surprise visit bc he was back early from a long haul (hes a truck driver) he didnt know we were coming and neither of us knew what the other was wearing. momma (step mom, but she momma to me) snapped a picture. theres no doubt we are dad and daughter. we have the same face shape, same smile, same hair color and eye color. i love that picture
