[Strawhat]

The world is filled with astonishing occurrences of coincidence and synchronicity that defy explanation. Are these incredible true stories of mere chance... or the hand of fate?

Hope you enjoy the read :smile:

In 1975, while riding a moped in Bermuda, a man was accidentally struck and killed by a taxi. One year later, this man's bother was killed in the very same way. In fact, he was riding the very same moped. And to stretch the odds even further, he was struck by the very same taxi driven by the same driver - and even carrying the very same passenger! (Phenomena: A Book of Wonders, John Michell and Robert J. M. Rickard)

Joseph Aigner was a fairlly well-known portrait painter in 19th century Austria who, apparently, was quite an unhappy fellow: he several times attempted suicide. His first attempt was at the young age of 18 when he tried to hang himself, but was interrupted by the mysterious appearance of a Capuchin monk. At age 22 he again tried to hang himself, but was again saved from the act by the very same monk. Eight years later, his death was ordained by others who sentenced him to the gallows for his political activities. Once again, his life was saved by the intervention of the same monk. At age 68, Aiger finally succeeded in suicide, a pistol doing the trick. His funeral ceremony was conducted by the same Capuchin monk - a man whose name Aiger never even knew. (Ripley's Giant Book of Believe It or Not!)

In 1858, Robert Fallon was shot dead, an act of vengeance by those with whom he was playing poker. Fallon, they claimed, had won the $600 pot through cheating. With Fallon's seat empty and none of the other players willing to take the now-unlucky $600, they found a new player to take Fallon's place and staked him with the dead man's $600. By the time the police had arrived to investigate the killing, the new player had turned the $600 into $2,200 in winnings. The police demanded the original $600 to pass on to Fallon's next of kin - only to discover that the new player turned out to be Fallon's son, who had not seen his father in seven years! (Ripley's Giant Book of Believe It or Not!)

In the 1920s, three Englishman were traveling separately by train through Peru. At the time of their introduction, they were the only three men in the railroad car. Their introductions were more surprising than they could have imagined. One man's last name was Bingham, and the second man's last name was Powell. The third man announced that his last name was Bingham-Powell. None were related in any way. (Mysteries of the Unexplained)

In Detroit sometime in the 1930s, a young (if incredibly careless) mother must have been eternally grateful to a man named Joseph Figlock. As Figlock was walking down the street, the mother's baby fell from a high window onto Figlock. The baby's fall was broken and both man and baby were unharmed. A stroke of luck on its own, but a year later, the very same baby fell from the very same window onto poor, unsuspecting Joseph Figlock as he was again passing beneath. And again, they both survived the event. (Mysteries of the Unexplained)

The stories of identical twins' nearly identical lives are often astonishing, but perhaps none more so than those of identical twins born in Ohio. The twin boys were separated at birth, being adopted by different families. Unknown to each other, both families named the boys James. And here the coincidences just begin. Both James grew up not even knowing of the other, yet both sought law-enforcement training, both had abilities in mechanical drawing and carpentry, and each had married women named Linda. They both had sons whom one named James Alan and the other named James Allan. The twin brothers also divorced their wives and married other women - both named Betty. And they both owned dogs which they named Toy. Forty years after their childhood separation, the two men were reunited to share their amazingly similar lives. (Reader's Digest, January 1980)

Henry Ziegland thought he had dodged fate. In 1883, he broke off a relationship with his girlfriend who, out of distress, committed suicide. The girl's brother was so enraged that he hunted down Ziegland and shot him. The brother, believing he had killed Ziegland, then turned his gun on himself and took his own life. But Ziegland had not been killed. The bullet, in fact, had only grazed his face and then lodged in a tree. Ziegland surely thought himself a lucky man. Some years later, however, Ziegland decided to cut down the large tree, which still had the bullet in it. The task seemed so formidable that he decided to blow it up with a few sticks of dynamite. The explosion propelled the bullet into Ziegland's head, killing him. (Ripley's Believe It or Not!)

[asylum_souljah]

Great synchronicities there. It almost makes you wonder if theres not some sort of 'fold in time' when things like this happen - especially the baby and moped stories.

Almost like an action clip of a movie repeating itself or something.

[MooseyMoose]

Wow. Those were great. It does make you wonder!

[octoberskye]

Truly amazing!!! And those stories just go to show you that perhaps there is a much larger plan in place than we all realize.

[Erinwolfrus]

Whoa! Crazy! Makes me think of the Lincoln-Kennedy thing.

[ghostbusters]

wicked. ive read some more of those in a book from the library. maybe ill get it out and post them!

[gizmo]

Mind-boggling! Very interesting reading, thanks for sharing.

[EmeraldAngel]

Those were great - so interesting! I'd love to hear more of them. :biggrin:

[MorningGlory]

Those are great. The twins, James and James were featured on a talk show a few years ago, Montel I think. It is a fascinating story!

I think there are other twins seperated at birth stories that are similar though. I'll see if I can find any to share.

[Sasqwatcher]

Wow! The one about the baby falling was really creepy!

[M.R. Bryan]

Very Interesting.