- [Narrator] Every now and
then, the universe serves up some situations that seem so unlikely... so improbable... it's almost hard to believe
they actually occurred. I'm talking about the kind
of unbelievable coincidences that'll make the most logical person start to believe in fate. So today, we'll be checking
out some wild glitches in the matrix, birds with
picture-perfect timing, and some folks who encountered their own inanimate doppelgangers, as we explore some
one-in-a-million coincidences that'll blow your mind. (whimsical music) Til Tides do us Part. When you get married and give
your partner a wedding ring, the jewelry is meant to
symbolize a bond of love and commitment that'll last a lifetime. Unfortunately, people lose their
wedding rings all the time, and this supposedly
everlasting symbolic bond can be broken by something as
simple as a trip to the beach. Back in 2021, a woman called Susan Prior found this out first-hand,
after discovering a lost wedding ring
wrapped around the body of a small mullet fish while snorkeling off Norfolk Island, Australia. Susan was shocked by her discovery, and as she snapped a photo of the fish and returned to the surface,
she recalled a Facebook post that she happened to have
read earlier that year, about a man who lost his
wedding ring in the area. In the post, local man Nathan
Reeves explained that his ring had slipped off his finger
while swimming there and sunk to the seabed. Nathan attempted to dive
down and find the jewelry, to no avail. Turned out, unfortunately for him, the area is populated by mullet fish. These little critters feed
by pushing their bodies through the seafloor and
eating any small crustaceans hiding in the sand. As one particular mullet
fish pushed through the sand to find its dinner, it
inadvertently pulled off a jewel heist, as it
seemingly swam into the ring and got trapped, stealing
Nathan's jewelry. When Susan re-found Nathan's
original Facebook post, she messaged him about
the ring's whereabouts, and she has since made several
trips back to Norfolk Island to try and catch the ringed fish. Unfortunately, she's been
unsuccessful thus far, and as far as she knows,
Nathan's ring is still stuck around the mullet, leaving
him with a naked finger, and an eternal bond with a fish. Talk about an odd couple. A-Lister Sister. They say you should
never meet your heroes. But there are cases of people
forming close relationships with their favorite
celebrities after meeting them. Or in one case... becoming family members with their childhood idols. And not through marriage, either. Let me explain. In 1987, a girl called Jennifer
was born without any legs. A sad affliction, which - even sadder - prompted her birth-parents
to give her up for adoption. Jennifer's adoptive parents
gave her a great upbringing, and despite her disability,
she developed a passion for gymnastics, a love that was inspired by her favorite athlete,
Dominique Moceanu. Dominique was a teenage prodigy
who competed for team USA at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, and Jennifer used to watch
all of her events religiously, lining the walls of her bedroom with the gymnast's posters. Dominique even inspired
Jennifer to compete in events against able-bodied gymnasts, and in 1998, Jennifer competed in the
USA Amateur Athletic Union's Junior Olympics, placing
fourth despite her disability. With a loving family and
a passion for gymnastics, Jennifer had a happy childhood, allowing her biological
family to slip from her mind. That was, until 2003, when she was shown her adoption papers. As Jennifer started to
skim through the papers and read about her birth-parents, she came across a familiar surname... Moceanu. A little further digging, and Jennifer uncovered
something unbelievable: her hero was actually
her long-lost sister. They'd been born to the same parents, but only the firstborn, Dominique,
had been raised by them. Like every good gymnast,
Jennifer started to flip out, before spending the next
four years trying to pluck up the courage to contact Dominique and explain the situation. Eventually, Jennifer
wrote her idol a letter, and incredibly, Dominique
immediately wrote back to her, asking to meet up and have
a conversation face to face. Dominique and Jennifer
immediately hit it off, noting similarities in their looks, mannerisms, and of course... their passion for gymnastics. Since meeting in 2008,
the long-lost sisters have formed a close relationship, and today, they regularly meet up, spending time with each other's families. What an inspiring story. I wonder if I'm related
to my childhood idol... me and the Michelin man
do look pretty similar. Doppelganger Dads. Every father's coffee cup collection claims that they're the
'best dad in the world'. But the similarities between
Dads go much further than that, with the average dad
featuring the exact same blend of cargo shorts, receding
hairlines, and terrible puns. Some dads are so similar, in fact, that they're virtually indistinguishable, and in 2022, a TikToker called
Andrea Haaland proved it, after discovering two identical
dads while on vacation. (gentle guitar music) As Andrea chilled at her hotel, she spotted a glitch in the matrix, spying two identical men
walking up a set of stairs. The fellows, who it's fair to say, certainly looked like Dads, at least, both sported bald spots, shorts,
and sweaty blue T-shirts. They even seem to move in sync. And although they're one
floor apart in the video, I think they need to
keep even more distance from each other. If their kids accidentally run into their Dad's doppelgangers, they might end up going
home with the wrong parent. Modern Day Muses. Let's move from those sweaty dads to some slightly classier doppelgangers. Back in 2012, Max Galuppo from New Jersey was soaking in some culture at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, when he walked past a 14th
century painting called 'Portrait of a Nobleman
with Duelling Gauntlet'. The museum has a tons of old portraits, but this one stood out to
Max, because as he stared at the 500-year old canvas... he felt like he was looking into a mirror. Sadly, Max left his bright
red spandex at home that day, but the resemblance was
still pretty uncanny. Max isn't the only person who's discovered their lookalike in a museum. This guy found his double in New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art, as he discovered a portrait
from 1884 that showed a man that shared his facial
features and hairstyle. Another museum-goer took
it really old-school, after finding their doppelganger in the form of a statue
recreating a child caveman. Similarly, this fellow
found an uncanny resemblance in a centuries-old statue of
the Roman emperor Hadrian. Certainly a chip off the old block. So, if any of these modern day muses ever lack self-confidence,
they can remind themselves that they're literally works of art. Ultimate Wingmen. In my experience, all
seagulls are good for is stealing sandwiches and
pooping on beach-towels... but it turns out, they aren't all bad. Back in 2018, a seagull
decided to make amends for its species' wrongdoings
by doing a human a big favor - saving them from a speeding ticket. As the driver soared past a speed camera, triggering it, the guardian
gull came to his rescue, flying in front of the camera and blocking the driver's license plate. The odds of the gull blocking the camera at the moment the photo was
taken are incredibly small, but unbelievably, this
isn't the first time a speeding driver's been saved by a bird. This driver was saved from a speeding fine by a much smaller bird, that
flew by at the perfect time to cover up his plate. When the image was posted onto Reddit, the critter was identified as
an Indian Myna from Australia, and Redditors praised the airborne Aussie for preventing the driver
from receiving a fine, and making sure he had a real G'day, mate. Accurate Artillery. Let's move from those
speeding cars to a vehicle that's slightly heavier duty. Using a military tank
for precision sniping might sound insane, but in World War 2, a tank crewman did just that, by pulling off this incredible shot while out on the battlefield. This image shows the moment
that a German Tiger 1 tank was disarmed, after an allied tank shot an armor-piercing round
straight through its barrel. The chances of hitting this
shot are truly a million to one, however, it probably wasn't intentional. The tank crewman was
almost definitely aiming for the Tiger 1's body. The unbelievable shot
may have been accidental, but for the crew of the Tiger 1, the misfire was likely
a life-saving mistake, and I think they owe the allied
troops a tank you note... I'll see myself out. Buzzing Bodyguard. With war and politics constantly at the forefront of the news, it's easy to feel like
humankind is completely divided. However, there is one thing that can unite almost everyone on earth... a deep hatred for mosquitoes. Skeeters are arguably
humankind's arch-enemy, and unsurprisingly, some
members of the animal kingdom aren't so keen on them either. This shared hatred acts as a real bond between man and beast, and in 2018, the connection came to
a Redditor's advantage, after a dragonfly landed on his hand and ate a mosquito that
was just about to bite him. The way that the Redditor's
buzzing bodyguard ate the mosquito before it had
a chance to hurt his client required some incredibly
coincidental timing, and the next time the
summer months roll around, you can forget about
nets and insect spray... just buy yourself a pet dragonfly. Hitching a Ride. When I first learnt to drive,
my Mom gave me two things - a set of fluffy pink
dice, and a stern warning to never pick up hitchhikers. Hitchhikers often get a
reputation as madmen and vagrants, however, there are some exceptions to my dear old mom's
rule, and back in 2021, Jocelyn Anderson snapped a photo
of a pretty cute hitchhiker catching a ride. This little bird is a
red-winged blackbird, a North American species that's known for being aggressive and territorial around its nest and chicks. Apparently, when this Osprey,
seemingly carrying a stick for its own nest, flew too
close to the blackbird's home, the little bird attempted to fight it off, chasing after the predator. The blackbird got close enough to land on the Osprey's stick,
tagging along for a while to make sure it flew far
away from its babies. Despite the size difference
between the birds, the blackbird definitely won the fight, proving that in this
David and Goliath story... nothing is bigger than a mother's love. Deja Xu. Whether it's their eye color
or favorite sports team, children can inherit lots
of different characteristics from their parents. Spotting your traits in your child must be a pretty wholesome experience, but unfortunately, passing
an attribute to your kid isn't always a good thing, especially if that trait is
a tendency to fall helplessly into large bodies of water. Back in 1988, a man called Xu Weifang, heard a commotion from
the river beside his house in Jiangsu, China. He ran outside and found a child on the brink of drowning in the river, prompting him to dive into the
water to save the kid's life, before sending him home to his parents. For most of us, this would
be heroism for a lifetime, but Xu's work wasn't done. 30 years later in 2018,
a now 80-year-old Xu, experienced a terrifying case of déjà vu, after heading into his garden and discovering another 8-year-old
kid fighting for his life in the river. Despite his now-advanced years,
Xu managed to save the kid, dragging him out of the water
before calling an ambulance. The next day, Xu decided to
visit the kid in hospital to make sure he was okay, and when he arrived and
asked for the child's name, he made an insane discovery... the 8-year-old was the son of the boy whose life he saved 30 years earlier. It turns out brave, yet
somewhat unskilled swimming runs in the boy's family, and Xu's heroism had saved 2
generations from the same fate. I guess the apple really
doesn't fall far from the tree - it's just a shame those apples
keep falling in Xu's river. Repaying the Favor. Saving two kids from drowning takes an incredible amount of bravery, but Xu isn't the only hero out there, and for a pediatrician
like Dr. Michael Shannon from Orange County, California, saving a life is all part of the job. Heading to work and treating sick kids sounds like an incredibly
rewarding profession, but for Dr. Shannon,
saving children's lives has provided even richer rewards
than fulfillment at work, after one of his former patients
grew up to repay the favor. Let me explain. In 1981, Dr. Shannon saved the life of a 3.2 lb premature
baby called Chris Trokey, working around the clock
to stabilize the child and ensure he survived a chaotic birth. For Dr. Shannon, this was just another day at the office, and he
soon forgot about Chris... until they met again 30 years later. In 2011, Dr. Shannon was
cruising down the highway, when he was involved in
a serious car accident. Shannon's chances of survival looked slim, but luckily, the emergency
services soon arrived, and a paramedic was able to cut the doctor out of the car and drag him to safety. Shannon spent over a month
recuperating in hospital, and during his stay, the
paramedic that saved him came to visit, introducing himself as none other than Chris Trokey, the baby that Shannon had
delivered 30 years earlier. The paramedic had discovered
that the man he'd saved was Dr. Shannon soon after the accident, and it seems Chris' grateful
parents had made sure their son never forgot the name of the man who'd given Chris a shot at life. Both Chris and Dr. Shannon were in shock, as they realized that
Chris had finally repaid a 30-year favor by rescuing the
man that saved his own life. After bonding over their shared heroism, Chris and Shannon struck up a friendship, and today, Dr Shannon continues
to work as a pediatrician, even for Chris' own newborn son. I wonder if that kid'll grow up to save Dr. Shannon's life in some way too? Dominican Doppelganger. From pigeon people to scuba
diving security guards, when you open google maps
and head down to street view, you never know what you'll find on the world's roads and sidewalks. In 2020, American Twitch
streamer SimCopter discovered this first hand, after finding something
unbelievable on Google Maps... his doppelganger. - What? Bro. - [Narrator] SimCopter streams
lots of different games on Twitch, and back in 2020
he was playing GeoGeussr, a popular game that places you in a random part of the
world on street view, before asking you to use your surroundings to figure out where you are. As SimCopter was dropped
onto a busy street in a random city, he started
looking for road signs and buildings that could help
him identify his location. Instead, he immediately
stumbled upon his doppelganger, crossing a road sporting
similar clothes and facial hair to SimCopter's own. SimCopter was shocked by the discovery, and when he made his location guess and pulled up the world map, the game revealed that his
lookalike lives in a town in the Dominican Republic. Considering GeoGeussr can place you down anywhere on the planet,
the chances of stumbling across your lookalike
are incredibly small, let alone a lookalike
wearing the same outfit as you on a particular day,
making SimCopter's discovery a pretty unbelievable coincidence. To think, most liberal arts
students travel all the way to South-East Asia to find themselves... all SimCopter has to do is
catch a flight to the Caribbean. Carmex Clothing. With wardrobe malfunctions
and ever changing trends, the world of fashion can
be a pretty intense place. As you can see, I avoid
all these pressures by walking around naked. But most folks don't have that option, and in 2019, twitter user @Positivehar, caught her friend making
a fashion faux pas, after accidentally dressing
up like a tube of lip balm. - [Positivehar] It's just about right. - What? - [Positivehar] Just about right. - What's just about right? - [Narrator] As Positivehar and her friend got dressed up to leave the house, she realized that her
buddy's bright yellow dress and red hair closely resembled the tube of Carmex in her bag. The resemblance was uncanny, and although lip balm's
made to soften your lips, I'm sure Positivehar's friend's
lips had a few rough words to say after the
unfortunate clip went viral. It's in the Name. If you ask a kid what they
want to be when they grow up, they'll usually tell you that they aspire to become something like
an astronaut, a doctor, or a famous athlete. But unfortunately, some kid's career paths are seemingly already
pre-determined, by - of all things - their names. In 1994, a journalist for
New Scientist Magazine, came up with a concept called
Nominative Determinism. This is the hypothesis that
people tend to gravitate towards jobs that relate to their names. Take the neurologist, Lord Russel Brain, or the world's fastest man, Usain Bolt. Or how about this fireman called Lieutenant Les McBurney, and this chef called Tom Kitchin. There are also examples of
anti-nominative determinism, when people end up working in jobs that directly contradict their names. For example, Philadelphia's
Commissioner of Police, Danielle Outlaw, or a famous
archbishop in the Philippines called Cardinal Sin. Since the term was coined in 1994, researchers have found countless
examples of the phenomenon, while questioning whether the effect is a case of coincidence, or
subconscious decision making. The former Lord Chief
Justice of England and Wales, Igor Judge, has stated
that he thinks the link between his name and his profession is completely coincidental. In contrast, a New York
lawyer called Sue Yoo, remembers people jokingly
telling her to become a lawyer throughout her life. She never dreamt of
going into law as a kid, and believes that a lifetime
of comments about her name could've eventually pushed
her to pursue a career as a lawyer. With those conflicting accounts, it's still impossible to say
whether nominative determinism is a case of causation or coincidence, but when you hear about a
professional poker player called Chris Moneymaker, a real estate agent
called Cory Greathouse, and a vasectomy specialist
called Dr. Dick Chopp, it feels like some people are truly born to work in their chosen profession. Household Names. For some A-List celebrities,
their name is an entire brand, attached to business ventures like designer perfumes and makeup lines. As a result, we're used to
seeing these household names appear on billboards and TV adverts, but sometimes, even the
most famous names can pop up in places that are totally unexpected. Celebrities like Taylor
Swift are usually associated with private jets and limousines, so seeing her name emblazoned
on these dusty trucks was a pretty surprising sight. Of course, Taylor Swift hasn't
actually expanded her brand out into the truck logistics industry. The way the logos on the trucks lined up to create the singer's name
is a pretty crazy coincidence, but she isn't the only famous name that has appeared in an unlikely location. Usually, the names Mario
and Luigi are associated with super powered mushrooms, but these coincidentally
named establishments in Manchester, England only serve loaves of bread and kebabs. The two buildings garnered
a lot of attention for their names, and after these images went viral online, lots of people rushed to see the hilarious coincidence for themselves. Unfortunately, before you say 'lets-a-go' and book a flight to Manchester, you should know that the free publicity didn't create any brotherly
love between the buildings, and by 2016, both establishments
had changed their names. Mamma Mia, what a shame. Captive Cow. Mario and Luigi are
some of the most famous video game characters of all time, and aside from those
restaurants in Manchester, the brothers have influenced
Halloween costumes, statues, and this water buffalo, who
seemingly tried to emulate the Italian plumbers by
jumping into a drainpipe. Unfortunately, the pipe
didn't lead to Peach's castle, and as the Buffalo fell inside
the drain it got trapped, with its horns wedged on
either side of the gap. The buffalo fit into the ditch perfectly, leaving it sitting upright with its head sticking out of the hole. The critter was unable to move, but this tight fit turned out to be a pretty lucky coincidence, because when a group of people stumbled across the trapped buffalo, they were able to quite literally
grab the bull by the horns and use some rope to save
the perfectly wedged bovine. An Athletic Illusion. I might look like a big white blob, but I actually used to
be quite the athlete, and I could've gone pro... if it wasn't for my bum knee. Sporting injuries have
forced thousands of athletes into retirement, and in the
world of track and field, few sports are more dangerous
than the javelin throw, an activity that literally
involves throwing a spear as far as you can. A lot can go wrong at a javelin event, and when this image
went viral back in 2022, lots of horrified netizens were convinced that they'd witnessed a
terrible sports injury. But before you throw up your lunch, you should know that this
is actually an illusion. While it might look like the
javelin is passing straight through Estonian javelin
thrower Magnus Kirt's face, this visual is actually caused by a shadow running across the athlete's cheek. The way the shadow extends
out across his face is an incredible coincidence
of perfect photographic timing, and if Magnus ever gets
bored of athletics, I think he should start a
career as an illusionist. Comic Coincidences. Every superhero needs a villain. In the world of comic books,
there's no rivalry bigger than the one between Marvel and DC. The publishers have fought
for the superhero top-spot since the 1930s, but coincidentally, both companies have
incredibly similar origins, and some of their biggest superheroes have their roots in the
same New York high school. DeWitt Clinton High School in
New York boasts a long list of notable alumni, including Marvel's late
creative leader Stan Lee, and the co-creators of Batman,
Bill Finger and Bob Kane. Finger and Kane both graduated
in the class of 1933, while Stan Lee graduated in 1939, giving DeWitt's art department a decade with some of the most
influential comic book artists of all time. This coincidence is pretty insane. However, DeWitt was a giant school, with some individual graduating classes in the mid-20th-century holding up to a
mind-boggling 900 students, and as many as 12,000 total
students in the 1930s. With that number of students, it makes sense that there'd
be several success stories. However, it's still pretty crazy that some of the most crucial individuals behind the development of two of the world's most popular heroes, Batman and Spider-Man,
went to school together. Anyone wanna sign my petition
to make superhero costumes the compulsory uniform for
students at DeWitt Clinton? And that's all the crazy coincidences we've got time for today. Have you ever encountered
any strange, hilarious, or downright unbelievable
coincidences of your own? Let me know down in the comments below and thanks for watching. (gentle music)
