“I Really Wish I Was Making This Up”: 44 Unbelievable Moments That Made People Question Reality

Got in the bus in South London and some dude dressed up like a 1990s wizard wearing a starry cape, gown, hat AND had a cat riding his shoulders got on the bus. He waved his wand over the Oyster card reader, it bleeped and he sat down. This dude had disassembled an oyster card, got the chip and inserted it into a wand!! Apparently he's quite well known around there and that's his normal outfit, yes the cat normally rides on his shoulders on the public transport and in the shops.

We have a local superhero in our town. Polarman.

Goes around dressed in full costume all the time and helps out people around town. Really nice guy. I think he's on disability or something so he can't work but he still wants to make the world a better place.

The best part is new people seeing him for the first time and everybody else just being like "oh that's just Polarman".

Panama papers. The elite 1% were all hiding their money and had 1000s I’d high ranking officials names on it. The news ran with is for one day and then dropped it.

Out at a restaurant with my wife and her family.

My mother in law starts choking on her food. No one does anything. So I go to help. Did basic first aid years ago.

5 hits to centre of back. Nothing. She is now foaming at the mouth.

Go to try Heimlich maneuver, on third thrust this huge lump of lamb comes up and lands in her plate.

Her husband, son and other daughter look at me, say nothing and carry on eating their food.

I sit down look at my wife and feel like I am in alternative reality. Did that just happen? Was it really that inconsequential?

To this day only my wife acknowledges what happened and that I saved her mum's life in the middle of a busy restaurant.

I twitch when I think about it still years later.

The president of the Untied States says some really awful [stuff] and yet we all keep on keeping on like this is normal. Any other president would be crucified for many things, but here we have actual hateful speech and it's just swept under the rug after a "Oops he did it again" news cycle.

There was a gas leak in the building where my first morning college class was held. The class still met. There was still a strong gas smell, so I questioned the safety of the situation. The teacher mocked me for being concerned and sarcastically said that he wouldn't take attendance if anyone wanted to leave. I was the only one who did. I had to text my husband to confirm that I was being reasonable.

I remember being invited to a pool party in the fourth grade. I having a grand time until I went in the deep side and started drowning. I remember everyone staring at me while I was screaming and flailing my arms. My dad was the only one who jump inside to save me.

Long story short...I hate people.

In India, they regularly marry girls forcibly to someone whom they don't want to be married to. And everyone is like, this is how society works.

Pretty much every time I see anyone else parent. They ignore bad behavior when it's cute, and reinforce it by laughing. It blows my mind. This is why my two nephews (and soon my niece) all need speech therapy. Their mom leaves them with their grandparents who think it's just ADORABLE that they say "My need to go bafroom." So they giggle and applaud this life changing developmental issue which could have been fixed with mild correction and actual education.

The oldest one is so tired of being teased for it, and so frustrated by being unable to correct it that he now has anger issues and is in 3 kinds of counseling a week.

All because you thought it was cute.

There's a guy who rides a motorized bicycle through my neighborhood dressed like a circus ringmaster. It has been going on for 6 weeks now.

Not a motorcycle or a moped, a bicycle with pedals with a 2-stroke engine attached. Goes around 29 mph? It is loud. I can hear him coming for a few minutes, so at least 2 miles of sound carry.

Black tailcoat. Top hat. Puffy white shirt. Scarlet vest. Maroon and gold vertically striped slacks. One time I saw him check the time on a gold pocket watch. Another he puffed on a corn cob pipe.

Every morning at 7:15 he is headed north, every night at 9:45 south. 7 days a week.

I think, "where is he going dressed like that with such punctuality?" "Surely nowhere around here would allow him to dress like that, and he has no backpack, pannier, or other means of transporting a wardrobe change." "He must work 3rd shift, south of town from 10-7, that's 8 hours and an hour lunch." "But 7 days a week?"

I tried following him at night, because I assumed he was heading to work, and following him home would have been creepier than the already super creepy following to work. I had to do it in a car because like I said, he can book it on that motorized bike. I lost him in 2 turns. He runs stop signs, I don't.

The next night I was waiting in my car ready to go. I had 'The more you ignore me the closer I get' by Morrissey cued up. He was late. Super late. Rounding 10PM now. Then I see his flashy white headlight. He must have ran out of gas; he is pedalling, but I was so amped i tried anyways. He was moving at around 6 or 7 mph. I couldn't stay behind him, but I know my every route in, out, and through my neighborhood, I've lived here for 21 years and run 3x a week, so I'm like an atlas of this block. I lost him at around 5 turns. To be fair he saw me about 8 times, he may have gotten scared I was stalking him, probably because I was.

But last night, oh last night, I followed him the whole time. He was back to motor power, and ran every stop sign and red light on the way. I was catching up to him slowly at 30, so that's why i assume he is going 29. He can't lose me now. I have his scent. This is it. I will finally know. After 6 weeks closure.

Anyways he works at Walmart.

Was at a staff meeting where the president of our company casually mentioned that she spits on her neighbors dogs when she walks past them. No one reacted, not even a glimmer of emotion on anyone's face. Thought I must have misheard or was going crazy until later in the day when a colleague privately brought it up to me and mentioned how insane it was.

I went to the cliffs of moher in Ireland on a tour bus and three different guides warned us not to climb onto the ledges because those cliffs often have “shelves” or edges that have no support to them.

We get off the bus and there are signs everywhere saying not to climb onto the edge. The wind is so strong I’m standing at an angle. What do my peers do?? They get on the cliff for a picture.

Girl had the gal to ask me if I was afraid of heights and then claimed not to have notice all the signs.

So many tourists have died for similar reasons but I was the only one who was worried.

I was at a bakery on a random weekday afternoon when about 20 pirates (Like full on puffy shirts, eye patches, bandanas, weapons. I'm not exaggerating here, full on pirates) walk in. The swords and daggers all stayed sheathed and they all ordered some food and coffee in full on pirate-talk and then left. After they all cleared out, everyone else just kind of shrugged and went about their day. It wasn't "Talk like a Pirate" Day. I assumed they were cosplayers/LARPers but it was a weekday around 3pm. Pirates gotta eat too, I guess?

I was deep in a line at cedar point and a girl passed out and started seizing. Everyone, including her friends, just looked at her. I crawled under the lanes to get to her and climbed up and yelled for the new people joining the line to go back out to the front and tell a staff member we had a medical emergency. They just started at me. I was finally yelling “this is not a joke get help!!” and they eventually turned back. Everyone just stood around nonplussed. EMTs finally arrived. I feel like everyone was too afraid to do anything out of embarrassment and not wanting to “make a big deal” or something? Dunno. She had heat stoke, btw.

I was on vacation in Spain and my husband and I were sitting outside eating lunch. A lady was crossing the street and a motorbike hit her. The lady HUNG ON TO THE FRONT OF THE BIKE like a ninja.

The driver slowed down, shoved her off, and kept going like nothing happened.

We went over to make sure she was ok. She was fine, just shaken up. I mean obviously. We couldn’t believe the guy left like that.

Circa 2010.

At the cafeteria of a very large office building, I was about to put a bagel in the conveyor toaster oven when I noticed other people had shoved their muffins in there and got them stuck.

Then the muffins caught on fire.

The people responsible for the muffin-fire were smiling and laughing at the smoke and flames. I jumped in to pull the electrical cord and blow out the fire. An audible “awww!!” came from the disappointed muffin crowd.

I have brought up this anecdote in job interviews to differentiate myself from other candidates (whom may be of the muffin-fire mindset). Seems to work.

I heard someone reading the instructions on their microwaveable food say “Pierce film four times with a fork.” Simple enough right? He went on to question if that meant four holes with one prong of the fork or 16 holes all together. A gal interjected that some forks have three prongs and maybe it’s supposed to be 12 holes. The guy said the three prong fork would make bigger holes and maybe the film should be pierced five times with the four-pronged fork. At this point I feel like I’m having a stroke. Then they start looking for two different styles of fork to test the holes they make. I had to leave and find my coworker to ask if I was still alive.

I used to work as a paramedic.

We got a call at a local hotel lounge and when we got there a large guy was out on the dance floor. No pulse. We started our cardiac arrest protocol right on the dance floor. The music was still blasting, the lights dim and the waitstaff was still serving drinks. It felt like we were part of the floor show.

But it could have been worse, at least they all quit dancing.

I was in Plano Texas at a 4 way intersection in the right most left turn lane. Driving an 18 wheeler.
I had a bluetooth headset on and my mom was talking , most likely complaining about work.

Across this giant intersection i see a small green Honda approaching from my left making a right hand turn. Really slowly. All of a sudden her drivers side door opens and she rolls out into the crosswalk.
The car continues to slowly roll down hill. Another lady crossing the road rushed over to help the 1st lady up out of the road.
So there stands these 2 tiny Mexican women and me in my truck watching her car slowly and steadily roll down the hill picking up speed.

This white man with a earbuds in his ears and a cord running to what i guess was his cellphone in his pocket slips as pretty as you please into her little green Honda, steered it into a parking lot and then he hopped out and left. Didn't speak a word to either woman just bebopped off into the sunset as if his walk had never been interrupted.

The driver got in her car and left. The other lady walked on.

Mom realized i hadn't been listening and said 'what's going on' and all i could say was 'i don't know what i just watched but man have i got questions.'.

Boat tour.

Tiny catamaran 6 hours away from the nearest island (Kauai).

Rain storm.

Enormous waves that were like 3x the size of the boat.

Everyone was cheering for 6 hours like it was a rollercoaster.

I was terrified.