By definition, odds provide a measure of the likelihood of a particular outcome. Sometimes odds are very likely, like the fact that nothing good will come out of 2020 (and thankfully, we are almost past it!), and sometimes not so much.
But on very rare occasions, odds-defying things happen against all possible likelihood, proving that after all, this world of ours is inherently random. So this time, we’re taking the ride of a lifetime featuring this selection of nearly impossible odds as presented by the r/nevertellmetheodds subreddit.
Created in 2015, the online community has a whopping 1.7m members who are all in for bizarre and wonderful chances that shouldn’t have happened. The subreddit’s description says it’s all about “Nearly impossible feats of achievement, those with a great degree of difficulty or incredible odds,” so let’s find out what exactly all this fuss is about.
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What Goes Around Comes Around
Many Of You Might Have Seen This . But For Those Who Haven't
Later that same day, he was elected president of Australia and married Gal Godot.
Small World
Thats crazy I wonder if the Coach / Dad ever looked at him and thought hmmm he looks a lot like me.
No matter what we think we know about odds-defying things, the truth is they do happen and they happen more often than we think. British statistician David J. Hand claims that even “extremely improbable events are commonplace.”
This is due to the improbability principle that’s comprised of five laws “analogous to the four laws of thermodynamics or Newton’s three laws of motion.” David insists that “These laws, the law of inevitability, the law of truly large numbers, the law of selection, the law of the probability lever, and the law of near enough, explain exactly why we should expect to encounter highly unlikely events, and indeed why we should expect to do so on a regular, even frequent, basis.”
One Man's Best Friend
In 1990, A Panel Of The Windscreen On British Airways Flight 5390 Fell Out At 17k Feet, Causing The Cockpit To Decompress & Its Captain To Be Sucked Halfway Out Of The Aircraft. The Crew Held Onto Him For More Than 20 Minutes As The Copilot Made An Emergency Landing. The Pilot Made A Full Recovery
They considered letting go of him since they all assumed he couldn't possibly have survived and the engineer and flight attendant were getting injured keeping hold of him. The Co Pilot was worried if they did he'd go right into the engine and they'd be in even worse trouble so they had to keep hold of him until they landed.
I was looking for this comment. I heard the same thing. Insane!
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https://home.bt.com/news/on-this-day/june-10-1990-miracle-of-ba-flight-5390-as-captain-is-sucked-out-of-the-cockpit-and-survives-11363985642960
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Imagine being on that flight and finding out when you land that s**t like this was happening while you were harassing the flight attendants
I saw a documentary about this incident. At the speeds they travelled at, this poor guy was flapping against the outside of the airplane like a piece of clothing in a storm. The sounds were horrible.
Found it, if someone wants to watch : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqRWupOv8DQ
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The engineer who grabbed the captain has the quickest reflexes on the planet. Holy crap.
If I remember rightly the co-pilot landed at an airport he hadn't flown into before. One of the people involved never flew nor spoke of it again either.
I felt the sorriest for the co-pilot. All the other flight crew had worked together before - he was a complete outsider. So he had to deal with the entire thing with little support (they were concentrating on the captain), to an unfamiliar airport, no charts, and could hardly hear the ground crew. The man was a hero - and a wreck when he landed (according to eye witnesses)
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As rotten as people can sometimes be, this is an example of why the human race actually should continue to exist. Sometimes, I just love people!
He did get frostbite. And luckily, they were only at 17k feet (and the copilot immediately took the plane to a lower altitude)
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The copilot has been deeply traumatized though, he never flew again.
That's not true. I googled this story and he kept flying until he was 65 years old in 2015
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If he was, he needs to sue whoever made such a shitty seatbelt.
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Better luck than even the lottery! and the best co-workers in the world!
They were only at 17k feet when it happened and the copilot immediately took them to a lower altitude
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Amazingly, both pilot and copilot kept flying for years afterward. But I bet they kept their seat belts on after that 😉
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17k feet is Everest base camp and aside from not being able to breath well, you are also probably freaking out and peeing your pants.
I laughed out loud, so much so that I woke up my husband. 🤣
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I looked up the Wikipedia article on this and it's crazier than I even guessed.
It was not his day to leave. Besides some little help from his friends.
I am very impressed... that the Pilot made a full recovery and isn't a gibbering mess to this day. I mean 20 minutes... **20 minutes** of 'knowing' you're going to die. (I mean really... at that point... how much are you really believing that they can hold on or that someone doesn't slip?)
I wonder whether he ever wanted to pilot an aircraft again, poor man!
And people wonder why I don't like to fly... (I know, the odds are astronomical.)
Wow. Even The Concorde... Airport '79 wasn't this far-fetched, and that's saying something.
Nowadays the Captain would have been left for dead! Why? Because the Cabine Crew is reduced to only two nowadays! So the first Officer had to have his hands free for the landing!
Fuuu... His life must've been flashing before his eyes. And I bet he got hyperthermia as well. Looks a bit more than 'halfway' too.
I've seen this one on an episode of Air Crash Investigation! I think that that's where these pictures are from actually, the reenactment of it on show, I don't think they are pictures from the actual event! I have a feeling that the cockpit crew would have been too busy to be taking pictures, and I'm pretty sure they didn't have a plane accompanying them to take pictures off the captain hanging out the plane! Nevertheless, it's still a fascinating story!
How do they have a picture from the top... while he’s still hanging out of the cockpit?
Blown out... Like a tire. They're both pressurized. A tire blows out, it doesn't suck out.
And someone with a camera just happened to be in the cockpit with them?
These photos are reenactment from the show "Mayday" !
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Actually, it's not that simple. When there is a pressure differential the second law of thermodynamics says this will naturally even itself out. The force doing so comes from both the pressure inside the aircraft and the lack of it (in effect a vacuum) outside, sucking the high-pressure towards it. The same can be seen in meteorology - high-pressure weather systems don't just push into low-pressure systems, they also get sucked. It even applies to the generation of lift on an aircraft wing, where the pressure above the wing is lower than that below, generating a push-pull effect.
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I Know Twins Have Similarities But God Damn
This is where mathematics comes into play to define these principles and calculate what effect they have on each other. For example, the law of near enough “says that events that are sufficiently similar may be regarded as identical,” David explains.
In fact, this similarity is what precisely makes a dramatic difference. David adds the law of truly large numbers and the result is that “given enough opportunities, the probabilities of even very unlikely events can mount up to be almost certain.”
Those laws raise the number of opportunities for any unlikely happening to actually happen. Read more about David’s philosophy of probability in his book “The Improbability Principle.”
This Hero Has Luck +9000
Unexpected Reunion
What a lucky coincidence for them! They probably would have never found out otherwise.
That’s Gotta Be A First
Two Strangers Sit Next To Each Other On A Flight And Meet Their Doppelganger
Couple Proposes To Each Other At The Same Time
Genes Are Everything
Lucky Nurse
The Laura Buxton Coincidence
“And I Took That Personally” - Tsutomu Yamaguchi (Probably)
Neighbor Brings Owner Identical Cat
Saw This Photo Posted Here.. Noticed I Have The Photo The Grandmother Took That Day. (Bought At An Antique Shop Years Ago In Phx)
Lightning Striking Simultaneously On Chicago's Three Tallest Buildings
None Of Their Feet Are Touching The Floor
The First Time My Friend Visited My Apartment She Was Mind-Blown That My Shower Curtain Looked “Exactly” Like One Of Her Shirts. I Half-Seriously Said That Her Story Sounded Made Up And Promptly Forgot About It Until She Returned The Following Week To Demonstrate. I Forever Stand Corrected
This Mother Deer Has Two Albino Fawns...
My Grandma Died On My Grandpa’s Birthday. My Grandpa Died On My Grandma’s Birthday
This Is A Tomato That Accidently Grew Inside Of The Fence
I think this is absolutely stunning! It looks like a necklace pendant!
Taking A Picture Like This
Thanks Jesus
Twins Married Twins To Give Birth To Another Twins
Landslide Splits Just Before Hitting A Farm In Iceland. Happened This Morning. No One Got Hurt
Went To Take A Picture Of The Rainbow And Lightning Struck At The Same Time!
What A Close Call
A Well Captured Photo Of Lightning Struck The Eiffel Tower
This Hare Caught On Google Street
This Is How The Newspapers Were Stacked Up At My Job
Beluga Whale Saves An iPhone!
We Were Seconds Away From Losing Our Home To The California Fire. Thank You To All The Firefighters That Saved Our Community!
Arrow In A Power Cable
The Cat Knocked My Daughter’s Fish Bowl Off The Dresser
The perfect opportunity to get a decent size aquarium for the fish. A bowl is too small.
Down You Go
It's Gotta Be Weird To Go To The Mall One Day And Run Into... Yourself
Car Found After An Amber Alert Near Me
Two Drunk Guys Imitate Connor Mcgregor As He Drives Past
Poor Cambodian Guy Was Trapped Like This For Four Days After Slipping While Alone In The Jungle. After Finding Him, It Took Ten Hours Of Chipping Away At The Rock To Free Him. He's Alive And Now Recovering In Hospital.
I am claustrophobic and get chills looking at this. I am glad he got rescued.
Pigeon Poops Portrait Of Itself On A Leaf
Red Cross Team Accidentally Captures Meteor On Camera
My Doctor Told Me It Was Heartburn For 8 Months, Cancerous Tumour Encapsulated The Kidney, When Removed It Was The Size Of A Honey Dew Melon And Hadn't Spread - Oncologist Couldn't Believe It. Nearly 6 Years Cancer Free 😊
How Close This Was
This Guy Became An Instant Millionaire When A Meteor Crashed Into His Room Worth Around 1.4 Million Euros
I'm A Woodturner & Found A Lovely Bowl In A Vintage Store, Made By The Guy Who Inspired Me As A Kid. On Closer Inspection I Felt The Bowl Was Very Familiar, So I Flipped Through The Very Book That Inspired Me, 31 Years Ago, & There It Was!
My Brother Hit Every Pin Except 7 8 9 And 10. How Odd Is That?
A Pole Flew Through My Friends Windshield While Driving Down I-80 Outside Of Berkeley, California Almost Impaling Him
Oh man, it hit just a hairs-breadth away from the Daddy Zone. OUCH.
Was Swiping At The Dispensary When I Looked Up And Saw The Girl I Was About To Swipe On
Brother Spent A Year Trying To Get A Lightning Photo. He Caught This Last Night, I Just Noticed The Boat In The Bottom Left.
Germany And Canada Tie For Gold In Olympic Two-Man Bobsleigh
Only Realised He Was Sat In Front Of Me Half Way Through The Game
How Do You Even Make That Shot?
So basically he put a bullet in his head, pulled the trigger, now he's dead.
I Matched A Random Duo With A Guy, And His Name Was Not Something I Was Expecting...(Hunt:shotdown)
Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition! I'm sorry I tried not to say it but couldn't resist
My Vanity Mirror Fell In My Bathroom. It Was Saved From Shattering By My Toothbrush
Liquid nail will solve that. The humidity in the bathroom over the years probably loosened the old glue. Check the wall before putting it back up. Make sure it's not damp.
Score Is 69 To 69 With 69 Seconds And The White Jerseys Add Up To 69.
One teams colors are green and while while the others are white and green.
Finding This In Geoguesser
So My Grumpy Cat Calendar Knew What The Future Would Bring
Someone In /R/Nintendoswitch Posted About Losing Their Nintendo Switch At An Airport. Another User Posted About Finding A Nintendo Switch. It Was A Match And It's Being Returned To The Owner.
The Faulty Sign Still Says The Same Thing.
Five is v in Roman numerals. B is pronounced "bee". So V B Low can mean 5 Be low
This Car Not Being Swallowed Up After The Earthquake In Alaska
The Police Facebook Page Posted A Picture Taken By A Speeding Camera. The Bird Saves The Day
Now You're Playing With Power!
Similarities Between Joe Theismann And Alex Smith Injuries
A Leaf Fell In Front Of My Phone The Second It Took A Timed Photo
I Wouldn’t Have Believed It
Really Glad I Bought This Robot Vacuum...
Steven Hawking Has Died On Albert Einstein’s Birthday
Styrofoam Box Jumped Back Into The Van... Twice !
In the video it actually does this twice https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=BRRlTkNLjh4
Oh Jesus Christ
I Took The Photo Before 1|3 Symbol Appeared On His Phone Screen
Nice Curve
I had the flu once and was vomiting so much my side was killing me. We thought (at the time) it might be my appendix and I was rushed to the hospital where I had a CT scan. Doctor came in, said my appendix looked fine but told me there was a lump on my kidney. Short time passed, lump was removed, and it turned out to be cancer.
Can't believe the story below didn't make it onto this list. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2018/09/03/nurse-meets-baby-she-helped-save-28-years-later-and-hes-doctor/1184421002/
Sorry, but I ain't quite as trusting as I was pre 2020. I'd need some proof on quite a few of these.
Thanks for mentioning Hand's book. Perfect for a math-science nerd like me, so I immediately ordered it through our public library interbranch lending system ....
Per journalofethics: "Appendiceal CT scans are considered to be 98 percent accurate in diagnosing acute appendicitis when read by an experienced radiologist."
Load More Replies... I had the flu once and was vomiting so much my side was killing me. We thought (at the time) it might be my appendix and I was rushed to the hospital where I had a CT scan. Doctor came in, said my appendix looked fine but told me there was a lump on my kidney. Short time passed, lump was removed, and it turned out to be cancer.
Can't believe the story below didn't make it onto this list. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2018/09/03/nurse-meets-baby-she-helped-save-28-years-later-and-hes-doctor/1184421002/
Sorry, but I ain't quite as trusting as I was pre 2020. I'd need some proof on quite a few of these.
Thanks for mentioning Hand's book. Perfect for a math-science nerd like me, so I immediately ordered it through our public library interbranch lending system ....
Per journalofethics: "Appendiceal CT scans are considered to be 98 percent accurate in diagnosing acute appendicitis when read by an experienced radiologist."
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