34 Rare Coincidences That Challenge The Concept Of Probability

Back in the 1980’s, a friend of mine was working on a paper about some of the action in WWII. One of the incidents he was working on involved an American unit with a British officer seconded to it. He needed more information about the officer, and had no idea how to do that. Someone suggested contacting the Imperial War Museum in London to see if they could provide a lead or source on how to find him. So, he got on the phone and called the Imperial War Museum. He asked the person who answered the phone how he could locate an officer from WWII, and was asked if he knew the man's name and unit. He gave them, and the response was: “Speaking.” In one of the most incredible phone calls in history, he had actually reached the officer who had left the service and gone to work for the Museum, and happened to be walking by a desk when the phone rang. The secretary was away from her desk for a few moments when he happened to walk by and answered the phone.

I once stopped to help a guy change a tire. He had an arm in a sling and two very young kids in his car. He thanked me saying he didn't want to hurt his arm any more and wanted to get back to work. Fast forward three months and I'm in a very ugly motorcycle wreck. One of the EMTs noticed my back was broken. Had they continued I'd have been paralyzed. His quick thinking prevented that. After I recovered I got to meet the EMT crew that saved my life. The guy that noticed my back was broken? The guy whose tire I had changed.

When my brother died, it took 2 years before I could afford to spread his ashes at the family plot at a remote cemetery in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia because I couldn’t afford to fly there. Until I could get there, his ashes sat in their box in my family room in Delaware.

When we finally traveled north, my husband and two cousins accompanied me to the cemetery. We planned to spread some of his ashes by my father and grandparents’ headstone and then place the rest in the brook that runs through the graveyard out to the sea. It was an overcast, misty day on the Cape Breton coast.

We got out of the car and began walking to my father’s gravestone when we suddenly heard music. We all stopped, wondering from where it came. Lo and behold, it was my cell phone. Somehow, the google play app had activated.

Now, just so you know, I rarely use google play on my phone, I had not activated it, and I always keep my phone on priority only silence. However, it was playing music. When I pulled it from my jacket pocket, I realized it was playing The Rankin Family - a Canadian band who my brother not only loved but who he had introduced to me well before they became known in the US. The band’s music had always been a common bond for us.

Then, the song was one I had never heard before, and it was about someone going away forever. Needless to say, my husband, cousins, and I were just a little freaked out. But, in the end, I knew it was my brother’s way of saying goodbye. I will never forget it.

I was headed in for a job interview several years back. As I'm walking in, two other men are approaching the door from different angles. One of them speeds up to cut off the other and get in the door first, and the other walks in, shaking his head in disbelief. As I walk in behind them, the first guy runs to the elevator and presses the button, not holding the elevator for the other guy and me. Again, the second guy just shakes his head and we wait for the next elevator. I say "Can you believe some people?" And we both chuckle a little bit.

As it turns out, we are headed to the same floor, so we get off the elevator together. As we walk into an office, there is guy #1 Mr Impatient, standing at the desk tapping his foot as the receptionist is finishing up a phone call. The receptionist asks him "can I help you?" And he says "I'm here to see Mr Smith for an interview at 3:30." (it's currently 2:50).

I think to myself "Great, this guy is interviewing for the same position I am and he will act like the sweetest guy during the interview." I lean over and tell the receptionist "I am Mr Smith’s 3 o'clock interview." Mr Impatient GLARES at me.
The other guy I walked in with (the one Mr Impatient cut off) then says "Hey gentlemen, I'm Mr Smith." And turns to Mr Impatient and says "you don't need to wait around. I've already determined you are not a good fit for our company. "
I got the job.

I bought a fairly rare car with a very rare configuration and it ended up having a defect. The manufacturer ended up replacing the car (impressive move without a lot of hassle and they certainly didn’t need to at the stage that they did so). The dealership that I replaced the car at was about 40 miles from my home, in a metropolitan area of about 2.2 million people.

A few months before exchanging the car, we had moved homes, but only a couple of miles away. About three months after exchanging the car, I ordered a pair of shoes and they were delivered to the old house (we had moved several months earlier at this point). I decided to drive to the old house on the off chance that the residents had received the package.

When I arrived and was walking up the driveway, I noticed a car identical to the one that had been replaced sitting in the driveway, again because this was a very rare configuration this stood out. The car had one small scrape on the front fender when I turned it on and I checked this one and it had the same mark. So, in the driveway of my old home sat my old car. This was weird.

At the door, I found my shoes and asked the gentleman “whose car is that in the driveway” and the guy (who I had never met before) just started laughing. He told me that he already knew it was my former car because when the dealership did the registration paperwork it already had the right address in the system and they were blown away.

So, the guy who moved into my previous home, bought my previous car (presumably repaired), from a dealership 40 miles away, in a city of over two million people. I don’t know what the odds are of this happening, but they are astronomical.

38 years ago I had to go into London for an interview. The job was for 3 times existing salary and I was nervous so set off early, driving down the M4 and planning to park at Hammersmith and get the tube to their offices near Leicester Square (now a MacDonalds).

I didn’t usually drive into London so stopped my MG Midget at the petrol station at Hammersmith to fill up and ask where there was a car park. As I went to pay a man entered in an obvious hurry so I stepped aside and said “You go first. I’m in no hurry.”. He paid, thanked me and left. I paid, parked and caught the tube to my interview.

Yes, you guessed it. The man in a hurry was my interviewer and he recognized me, hired me and I spent an interesting time in the USA working in Georgia, Ohio and Manhattan, New York.

Sometimes Karma can take a while to arrive, but in this case my politeness to a man in a hurry gave me almost immediate payback.

I was visiting Aberdeen on a business trip from London. Checking out of the hotel I was sitting in the lobby and waiting for the taxi. A gentleman next to me asks where I am from. When I reply I am visiting from London but originally from Pakistan, he told me he was originally from India but based in Birmingham for more than 40 years and had a very good friend from Pakistan that he lost touch with 20 years ago when they were together in London. With our taxis in sight, we get up and I just ask his friend’s name. The lost friend is my parent’s next door neighbour. Before getting into our taxis, we exchange numbers and 30 mins later these friends were in touch on the phone.

This did not happen to me, but it happened beacuse of me. Years ago a woman got on a bus. She was an elementary school teacher in a small town in Iowa. One of those towns that’s so small there aren’t even any traffic lights. You can drive from one side to the other in one minute flat. I’ve done it. It was summer vacation and the bus she boarded was in Fairbanks, Alaska. She was on a tour of the “interior” as we locals call it. Meaning she wasn’t just skirting the edge of the state on one of the “horrible cruise ships”. The bus driver starts doing his tour guide routine and after a while he puts out the call for questions. The woman raises her hand. This is a little odd but.. I teach 4th grade in Oxford, Iowa. This past year I had a student who moved there from this same city. I notice you have the same last name. Any relation? The driver grins and pulls out his wallet, displaying 5 tiny school pictures. All his neices and nephews. He holds up the bottom picture, the youngest child. You mean her? My teacher gasps! You know Katie! My uncle grins. She’s my niece. And you must be Mrs. Lewis. She told me all about you. Mrs. Lewis is hit with a sudden thought. Are you Michael? Katie says you’re her favorite uncle. Michael the family comedian can’t help himself. I hope so I’m the only one she’s got. My competition is limited. How is it that two random strangers 3 thousand miles apart can find themselves talking about me 10 minutes after they met? How??

Strange encounter in Thailand I was traveling to Thailand alone, for the first time. When I arrived, I stopped by Khao San Road (one of the more popular streets in Bangkok) for a bite. I’m waiting in line for some food, and say hi to a cute girl who was in line behind me.

HER: “Where are you from?”

ME: “New York, you?”

HER: “Israel. Where in New York?”

ME: “A place called Riverdale, in the Bronx.”

HER: “Oh cool… is your mom Daphne?”

ME: “ :: looks of disbelief:: YES… how in the heck… “

Turns out she was my babysitter when I was a baby. Her family left New York when she was young to move back to Israel. 25 years later, we bump into each other in Thailand…

My husband & I met working in the same restaurant at age 20 while in college. Got married, had 2 kids. One day while looking through old photos of his I find a photo of him dancing at a formal dance with the girl he dated before me. In the photo we are back to back, almost touching. I was dancing with the guy I dated before him. We didn't meet that night, it was months later! Crazy that we were so close to each other & even have a photo together before we even knew each other! We’ve been together over 15 years now :)

I was in a casino and a mother and son sat down at slot machines on either side of me. They were having a loud conversation and the sons phone kept ringing over and over but he kept declining the calls.

Turns out he was leaving his wife that day and he spent 30 minutes talking about how horrible she was and his mom throwing in her 2 cents.

Finally as a joke I said “let me answer the phone”, so he laughed and gave it to me. When she called back I said who is this, turns out it was my sister and the man was my brother in law.

My sister started screaming at me to get away from her husband. I have 7 sisters and this one I had not talked to in 5 years due to some stupid argument we had.

She divorced him and her and I are now best friends, Funny how life works. We laugh about this a lot.

I was awoken from my hazy sleep one morning with a frantic call from a good friend of mine. He informed me about how his car was stolen that morning and filled me in on all the details. How they broke in, how he’s called the cops, etc. All the boring stuff. He ends with jokingly “Keep your eye out for it”. Yeah right I thought, it is most likely already trashed. We hang up and I begin my day as usual.

Lunchtime arrived and I decided to go home to eat, about 5 mins drive. On the way home in the car, I received a call from my friend. Just a catch up call, nothing to do with the stolen car.

As we are speaking, I pass a car heading the opposite direction that looked familiar. I asked my friend the licence of his stolen car, did a u-turn and proceeded to catch up to the car I saw, all the while still on the phone with my friend. I caught up with it and yep, it was definitely his car.

Long story short, I chased the car down while my friend was in another car on the phone to me and the cops at the same time, directing the cops to my location. It ended with a heap of police cars converging on the stolen car, pulling the thieving scum from it and locking them up.

So basically, his car was stolen in the morning and I found it at the same time as talking with him later that day. Not much of an amazing coincidence I suppose, but still a cool one in my opinion.

This happened to me yesterday. I was at a bar in Oceanside California and noticed one of the barbacks was wearing a shirt with a silhouette of Ohio on it. I grew up in Ohio, so I asked where he was from: “I’m from Cleveland.” “Me too. A little south of it.” “We actually know each other. You trained me at a restaurant and gave me my first AFI album” I’m 33 years old. When I was 19 or 20 I trained this 16 year old kid named Pete how to bus tables at an Italian restaurant — and apparently gave him an AFI album (which probably explains why I can’t find it). That he recognized me after over a decade and that we both happened to be in the same place in a random bar in Southern California is pretty incredible to me.

Once when a class of tenth graders and I were discussing Edgar Allan Poe’s poem “The Raven,” an actual raven landed on the tree outside of my classroom and started cawing loudly … no kidding! The students and I lost it! I’ve taught in that room for almost twenty years, and I can’t remember another time when a raven has landed in that tree, let alone under such specific circumstances.

I was on holiday with my husband and three kids in New Zealand (visiting from Australia where we live). We drove into a petrol station to fill up with fuel. Right in front of the bowser we pulled up at was a massive poster advertising Queenstown NZ which featured my husband and I on bikes with our kids (smaller then) being doubled on our bikes. Our third baby just growing in my tummy. It was an image that was randomly photographed (our consent was given) 4 years prior when we had last visited this place, and was subsequently used in an ad campaign - which we had no idea about! Very spooky and kinda cool.

In high school in the early 70’s I had a crush on a guy named Michael McCabe. A magazine article suggested casting a love spell, burning pink candles, chanting, etc… to gain your crush’s attention. So I cast this spell, planning to get his attention at the next school dance in 2 weeks. The night of the dance comes, and I'm sitting in the back of the gym on the bleachers listening to music, very disappointed because Michael McCabe wasn't at the dance. While sitting there, another guy sat down next to me and said hello. I said hello back, and being the obsessed nerd I was, my idea of small talk was to say “"Do you know Michael McCabe?” He smiled and nodded. Then he scooted closer and said “"What?” The music was really loud, so I repeated my question. “"Do you know Michael McCabe?” He frowned at me, then pulled out his wallet and showed me his drivers license. He was new at this high school and his name was Michael McCabe. We ended up hanging out together the rest of the evening and had a good time, so my spell actually worked, just not how I'd planned. That was 1973 and I haven't met another Michael McCabe since.

I was driving my car with fuel levels on “E”, trying to stretch my gas as long as possible before refueling (something I did very often when I was younger due to little money).

It was a hot summer day, so that may have had an impact, but while waiting at a red light at a busy intersection (in the very front, important later) my car began making noise and stuttering as I ran out of gas.

It’s worth noting that I drove this street very rarely, maybe once a week. I was shocked and embarrassed, as I’ve stretched my fuel levels before and never had this happen to me. I set my hazard lights and began pushing my car ACROSS the intersection to the gas station on the corner.

A couple of cars honked as I was in the very front of the light, it was a lesson learned. I fueled up and went on with my day.

Exactly a week later is when the strange coincidence occurs. I was driving down the same street, this time with at least half a tank of gas. I pulled up to the same red light, in the same lane, at the very front of the light/crosswalk (the same spot as when I broke down a week earlier).

While waiting at the red light I chuckled at the last time I was there, thinking how embarrassing the situation was hoping it would never happen again. That’s when it happened. The light turned green, I pressed the gas, and the car stalled and wouldn’t start again.

This time I didn’t run out of gas, but my fuel pump broke and my car wouldn’t start because it couldn’t get fuel into the engine.

Luckily a kind person helped me push the car out of the intersection to the same gas station I pushed it to a week earlier. Sometimes it feels like life is playing a joke on you!

So one day I lost my dog, Marko. He's the most adorable and adventurous corgi ever and he got out of the house and ran away. However, I wasn't heartbroken for long because I eventually got a voicemail from a neighbor further down the street, (let's call her Sarah Hall) saying she found my dog and her kids were bringing him over. Thank God his dog tag had my name, phone number, and address. Anyway, half a year later I was walking Marko in my neighborhood and he came across a black dog running around the front of the houses, just sniffing around the bushes. The dog sees Marko and they do their dog thing, sniffing each other's butts and getting along right off the bat. This dog had no collar and seemed lost. As I walked Marko back home, it followed us home since I guess it had nowhere to go. I took him in and called him Kaiba while Marko was just so happy to have a friend spend the night. The next day I set out to post up lost dog posters when I see a family I never met before already posting up posters looking for this dog. It was perfect timing and they were so relieved I had him. It turns out his name was Bruiser and the story goes, they were just friends of the family that owned Bruiser. Apparently the original family moved away to the other side of town, Bruiser escaped, but rather than finding his way back to the new house, he was able to trek all the way back to the neighborhood they used to live, where I found him. I bid Bruiser/Kaiba a fond farewell and kept one of the posters as a memento. I thought that was a great end to the story, but then later I'm clearing out my voicemail history while waiting in line at Disney when I remember Sarah Hall’s voicemail. Something clicked. After a fun day at the theme park, I went home, grabbed the poster and saw the name at the bottom, “If found, please call Sarah Hall…” The number was the same and I was just in awe. She finds my dog and then half a year later, I find her dog and it all comes full circle. Pic of my lovable rascal.

Well if you've ever heard about the fabled s*x clubs in New Jersey, I don't know about now, but they sure did have them in the past. I had a guy I was dating drag me to 1. Thought it might be interesting. I wouldn't go to another, But it definitely WAS interesting. People were very friendly. We got in as a group of newbies and a very nice young lady was showing us around the different rooms where different things happen. Large room for group dex, smaller rooms for couples, places for dancing etc.Then telling us rules, like places guys could only go with gneir ladies, and then there was a lovely buffet and drinks were included, and she was just trying to make us feel welcome.. and later another one or two people joined us to tag along at the very end for about 8 minutes or so. We got back to where we started and she asked if anyone had any questions, and all the sudden she got a strange look on her face and stared past the group and said “DAD?” Now THAT is a coincidence!!!!

I was working in an Emergency Room in Atlanta, Georgia. We had a new doctor who had just finished her residency in Boston. She was working her second shift with us when an ambulance came in. She looked at the patient on the stretcher and said, “Hey. I know him.”

She followed the stretcher to his room and said, “Randy, why are you in Georgia?” He looked up at her shocked and said, “Ah s**t. I can't get away from you can I?”

Apparently he had been a "Frequent Flyers" at her previous hospital and she had just taken care of him several days before leaving Boston the previous week.
it must have been shocking for him to take a bus to Atlanta and have the same Doctor take care of him. There are a lot of hospitals in America, the odds of the frequent flyer picking the same hospital in the same state, in the same city, on the same day, on the same shift that the same doctor was working was insane to comprehend.