People have been sharing stories about times they have experienced a "glitch in the matrix" and some are proving simply too strange to explain away.
A phrase first coined in the 1999 film The Matrix—which posited the idea that humanity is living in a giant computer simulation—over the years a "glitch in the matrix" has become shorthand for an example of an unusual occurrence that cannot logically be explained.
During a recent discussion on Mumsnet, which garnered over 700 comments, users were invited to offer up their own experiences of a "glitch in the matrix" and the responses did not disappoint.
Here are just a few of the most notable experiences shared on the forum.
A Vivid Image
NChgforMatrixThread wrote: "Years ago I was talking to a colleague. He was a nice guy, but too young for me and not my type. In any event, he was leaving to move abroad the following month. I was divorced and 40 years old.
"Whilst we were talking, I got what I can only describe as a vivid image in my mind. It was of myself and this colleague, we were married, with 2 children and living in a very hot place.
"Fast forward 5 years and all of this came true. He stayed in England, a few months later we dated, then we got married and had 2 children when I was in my mid-forties.
"Then out of the blue he was offered a job in the Middle East and we all moved there.
"I know it's a coincidence, but it's really strange."
Dead Spiders
Vampirethriller recalled: "I was once on my own in my family home, family were all on holiday and only I had keys.
"I was making jam. I came to put it in jars and couldn't find half the lids, so I left the lidless jars in the pantry and went to bed. Got up in the morning and all the lidless jars now had lids screwed on tight and in every jar was a dead spider."
Shattered In Midair
Butterpuffed said: "As a teenager there were several of us having a seance. Someone asked if there was a God. The wine glass shot off the table, shattered in mid air, and the pieces fell to the floor.
"Still remember it to this day."
Voices In My Head
Tabbypawpaw recalled: "About 15 years ago I was tidying my room and suddenly there was a loud pop in one ear followed by the sound of people talking.
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"It was the strangest feeling, almost like hearing a conversation and then the people realize and move away. It faded to nothing. The voices were in my head if you know what I mean, rather than it being like overhearing people in the next room or next door."
Identical Milks
419HLR writes: "Was making myself a cup of tea then put the milk back in the fridge after using it. The doorbell rang so I answered it and when I came back to get my cup of tea the milk was beside my cup.
"Thought it was weird but maybe I'd got distracted by the door and put it down instead of putting it away. Took it to the fridge, opened the door and there was the milk, I had 2 identical milks. We had definitely only bought one carton so I've no idea what happened."
The 53rd Birthday
PGordino commented: "My godfather died about 30 years ago on his 53rd birthday. I missed seeing him by a matter of hours—I traveled up from London with a birthday card for him and reached the hospital only to be told he'd gone.
"Just after Christmas, I decided to make yet another attempt to sort out the loft. Found an old bag with a card in it with my godfather's name in my handwriting on it. It was the card I'd brought with me for him on that day I'd traveled up to see him.
"It just felt particularly odd that I should find it on my own 53rd birthday."
In the Middle of My Bed
Spiderlight said: "I went to an event with my very first digital camera—this was back in the 90s, when they were quite a new thing. I took lots of photos in the morning, and then at around lunchtime I realised that I'd lost the camera. I was gutted—retraced my steps, asked at every stall I'd stopped at whether it had been handed in, but there was no trace of it.
"At the end of the day, I went back to my locked hotel room, quite some distance from the event, and the camera was sitting right in the middle of my bed, with all the photos from the morning on it."
The Wedding Ring
PraisetheSunshine posted: "My husband came home from work upset because he had lost his wedding ring, he never takes it off except to shower so we figured it must have slipped off somehow. He was frantically looking for it and we turned the house upside down, we even went back to his work to search the car park but with no luck.
"Later that day I was in the kitchen alone when I heard the sound of something hitting the floor, I turn around and right there on the floor a couple of feet away was his wedding ring, it was as if it had just appeared out of thin air."
Time Warp
Spiderinawingmirror wrote: "I undertook the same journey frequently. 45 mins door to door. Ruralish route, only 1 way to go.
"Except once it took me 30 mins, which is physically impossible. I checked my phone, text message half an hour earlier to friend to say I'm leaving. Checked time on phone against watch and radio. It's not physically possible for me to have done it in the time. Still mystified."
The Autographed Picture
Crochetmonkey74 recalled: "Years ago, I had a signed photo of Andi Peters and Ed the Duck [British kids TV presenters]. It was when I was a young child—I left it at my Mum's house in the loft with childhood stuff when I went to uni. My mum then left that house, and moved in with my stepdad at his house—I never had a room there, and the boxes of my childhood stuff were never unpacked.
"In the meantime, I lived in 4 separate towns—before my current town. I haven't been back much to the house since she died 9 years ago (a family member still lives there so we haven't cleared the loft yet).
"2 years ago, in a laundry bag bought about 3 years ago in my current town—which has never been anywhere but my current house—I found my signed picture at the bottom of it one day.
"I have RACKED my brains how it could have got there—It is definitely mine—I have a fairly unusual name and it has the same folded corner. There is LITERALLY no way it could have got there—I have no old childhood books it could have been in and fallen out of—I haven't got anything out of that loft EVER
"I actually accused my sister of playing a joke and we both ended up in tears—I found it so scary as it was a totally impossible thing."
The Missing Remote
AngelinaFibres posted: "We lost the remote control for the TV. Searched and searched for it. Had to give up and order a replacement. The delivery man knocked on the door. I went and got the parcel which had the new remote in it.
"Went back into the living room. Original remote control was on the floor in the middle of the room. I had just left the room. It wasn't there when I left. I cannot explain it. Made the hairs stand up on the back of my neck."
Uncommon Knowledge
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