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People Describe The Most Mysterious Thing That's Happened To Them That They Can't Explain

Everyone loves a good mystery or ghost story, particularly one with a massive twist regarding one of the main characters.

But surely, stories like this never happen in real life?

Such as finding yourself stuck on the side of the road, when a guardian angel of sorts comes and helps you, seemingly out of nowhere, then disappears just as mysteriously.

Or getting a call warning you about something which sounds far-fetched, then happens three weeks later?

Surely, these are the types of situations only found in the work of Shirley Jackson or Edgar Allen Poe.

Or are they?


Redditor vinnlo was curious to hear if people had ever gone through a mysterious experience which they still can't explain to this day, leading them to ask:
"What's the most mysterious thing happened in your life that you can't find any explanation for?"

Mom Acting Weird

"My mum is a type 1 diabetic, has been since she was 11 years of age."

"When me and my little brother were very young, I was about 7 and he was 5 , I came into my mum's room to find she was acting extremely strange."

"She looked almost drunk, and wasn’t really responsive."

"I went to pick up her insulin needles to see if she would react to that and she didn’t."

"So I panicked and phoned my Nan who told me to put the phone down and dial 999."

"For some reason I was so frightened and confused I didn’t, and sent my little brother outside to get help while I tried to get my mum to respond to me."

"My brother came back in crying saying he couldn’t find anyone and then about five minuets later this woman just walked into my mum's bedroom, called me by my name, and my brothers, said she knew my mum and help is coming, she was calm, soft-spoken and had a warm feeling about her."

"I didn’t recognize this woman and neither did my brother."

"Shortly after the ambulance arrived and got my mum's sugar levels back up."

"And when I went to find the woman, she was gone."

"Like literally gone."

"When my mum came round I explained to her about this mysterious woman and what she looked like."

"And my mum had absolutely no idea who she was, and we never saw her again."

"If she didn’t help us my mum would have died eventually."

"Still gives me shivers now."- leeshouse90

Portrait Of A Lady On Fire Neon Rated GIF by NEONGiphy

Psychic, or lucky?

"When I was around 18 a friend and I were traveling in Europe."

"We were walking along a pleasant, quiet street in Rome one day and saw an elderly homeless man sitting on the street."

"He said to us if he could guess our date of birth could we give him some money?"

"Of course we said ok."

"He did it! "

"He told us both our correct dates of birth!"

"Never met him before and never saw him again."- robertodurian

Some Unfinished Work, Maybe?

"I was at my mother in law's flat in Hungary."

"Fyi I don't speak Hungarian, so I couldn't be aware of any of this."

"I tend to go to bed later that my wife, and for the first couple of nights, I had trouble falling asleep because around midnight I could hear the neighbor upstairs."

"It's an old block of flats made under the communist era, walls are incredibly thin."

"Walk in high heels, which was very annoying."

"I could also hear little objects fall on the floor, and I told my wife it sounded like the plastic buttons you have on some clothes."

"She looked at me funny and told me her niece hated to sleep in that room because she was scared by the noises coming from upstairs."

"I said that was a bit exaggerated, and I thought it was until my wife told me the flat upstairs had been empty for the past at least 4 years."

"Neighbor died years before that, and guess what?"

"She was a tailor, always nicely dressed and wearing high heels."- mimzou

High Heels Shoes GIF by Real Housewives Of CheshireGiphy

Gone Without A Trace

"When I was a kid, I participated in Big Brothers Big Sisters, which if you don't know what that is it's pretty much just a mentorship program in the US."

"I basically just hung out with this dude Chris for a couple hours a week."

"We'd go to the movies, out to eat, he'd help me with my homework, that kinda thing."

"One day, he tells me that he's going to Baltimore for a couple weeks and when I should expect him back."

"The day rolls around and I give him a call to see if he's back yet."

"A man whose voice I didn't recognize answered and I asked if Chris was there."

"He said no."

"I asked him when Chris would be back just kinda thinking it was someone staying at his house or watching his dogs or something."

"But he said that I had the wrong number, that he and his wife had lived there for years, and there was never a Chris there."

"I double checked in the phonebook to see if it was the right number which it was because I had it circled."

"I was confused so I just said sorry and hung up, and I never heard from Chris ever again."- theautomemoriesdoll

A Clever Distraction?

"When I was 10 or so I was staying at my grandma's over the summer break and we were having breakfast."

"We barely started eating when the phone rang."

"She left the dining room and I followed her thinking that maybe they were my parents calling."

"When we returned most of the food was gone."

"She asked me if I ate while she was on the phone and I said 'no'."

"There was no one else home and there were no pets."

"My grandma just shook it off saying we might have eaten more than she remembered but I am absolutely positive that I had at most two bites of my toast by the time the phone rang."- queenliz2fr

Hungry Good Morning GIF by HBO MaxGiphy

Mystery Benefactor

"Every month around the 5th I get a letter with exactly 23 dollars."

"No note, no return address."

"I’ve asked family, relatives, friends, the two past occupants of this apartment."

"Nobody knows anything about it."

"It is not addressed to me, but to my unique postal address."

"The total is now exactly 1886, I have just stashed it all in a box."

"I do not want to spend it in case it is cursed."- Puzzleheaded_Ad928

A Comforting Sign

"My grandmother always loved roses and had them growing in her back yard."

"She died in a December and when we were gathered at her house for the funeral my father happened to look out the back window and saw a bright red rose had blossomed."

"It stood out brightly against the snow."

"He brought it in and put it in a vase on the kitchen table."

"We all left for the funeral and when we came back the rose was on the living room floor."

"No one had been in the house while we were gone."

"My father is the most hard-headed person alive but he was convinced it was his mothers way of telling him she was all right."- regular6drunk7

Mystery Portal?

"We have a built in wardrobe in our bedroom."

"About a month ago our cat had managed to get herself inside and I must have closed the door."

"I heard her meowing and I opened the door and she jumped out and walked off."

"Silly cat."

"I closed the wardrobe door."

"Less than five minutes later I hear a meow in the wardrobe, I open the door and to my surprise, our cat jumps out again and walks off."

"My partner and I were both stunned as there is no way into the wardrobe with the doors closed."

"Neither of us have any idea how this happened."- TorthOrc

Cat Jumping GIFGiphy

Lost Time

"I had just picked up a coworker from her house heading to work.'

"We are just talking and chatting, "how'd your weekend go" type of stuff."

"We are maybe 5 miles away from her house, when all of a sudden, we realize we are in town pulling into works parking lot."

"We both kinda look at each other not sure what happened."

"We had gone near 20 miles in a blink of an eye."

"And what cemented this experience as something that I actually happened, and not just simply losing track of time, IS THE TIME!"

"It should have taken us almost half an hour to get to work."

"Instead the time from when I picked her up was 2:30."

"And the time when we got to the building was 2:40."

"There is no way in HELL!"

"We couldn't have gotten there that fast."

"From that point on we both called that experience the time when we Jumped, like from the movie Jumper."

"I have no explanation why."

"I'll also state, I don't believe in the paranormal or supernatural."

"So this experience is one of those things that makes me question my own sanity."- belac4862

car dark GIFGiphy

There must be an explanation for these circumstances...

Even if it's not an explanation that will make any sense, otherworldly or not.

Non-Sexual Things Married People Look Foward To Doing When Their Partner's Away

Reddit user shaka_sulu asked: 'Married folks, what's a non-sexual thing you look forward doing at home only when your spouse is away?'

Man enjoying sangria solo
Sangria Señorial/Unsplash

When the cat's away, the mice will play.

That scenario could apply to many situations, but it generally refers to an individual enjoying temporary freedom to do as they please in the absence of a foe or constant companion.

In romantic couplings, this may involve a spouse or significant other finally engaging in private activity that could be frowned upon in the presence of the other person.

Curious to hear examples, Redditor shaka_sulu asked:

"Married folks, what's a non-sexual thing you look forward doing at home only when your spouse is away?"

Some people are happy to take up extra space.

Spacious Parking

"Parking my car in the middle of the garage."

– starkpaella

"Genius answer. It always brings joy."

– Heynicejobtoday

Hush

"The quiet. My husband constantly has the TV on, even if he’s not watching, and I enjoy silence."

– 2workigo

"This. My wife lived alone for many years and always has the TV on, even uses the one in the bedroom as noise to fall asleep to. The first thing I do when she’s gone is make sure all the noisemakers are shut off around the house. Well, except the cats. They don’t have off buttons."

– jaybeeg

Bed Positions

"Sleeping on the diagonal."

– snogweasel

"When you're there, I sleep lengthwise And when you're gone I sleep diagonal in my bed."

– downvotingprofile

Quiet Viewing

"I had a day off work today. Husband was at work, kids at school, so after I did the school run I came home, wrapped myself in our softest heated blanket, lay on the sofa and watched 3 movies with no interruptions. It was bliss."

– PheonixKernow

These Redditors can finally revel in their respective indulgences when they finally have the place to themselves.

Taste In The Finer Things

"The wife is a picky eater. When she is away, I either make a meal that she doesn’t like or I go to a restaurant that she doesn’t care for."

"It’s the little things. 😂"

– aizzo4

All Mine

"I cook almost all the meals. Almost being that we occasionally get take out. When I have a day off and my husband is working and my kids are at school/daycare, I go get breakfast and Waffle House. By myself. I sit there and eat a waffle, two scrambled eggs and bacon and I DONT HAVE TO F'KING SHARE! My husband despises Waffle House, but f'k I love those waffles. My parents used to have a waffle iron that made the traditional style waffles with the tiny squares until the cord shorted out. I miss them."

– missag_2490

Cheers

"My wife is in recovery, six years sober, and I support her in every way possible including, obviously, no alcohol in the house. If she’s away for a few days, I’ll grill me some steak tacos and wash them down with a really good Cabernet."

– Tom__mm

"I’m a recovering addict and I think you’re a great husband."

– JLHuston

Screen Time

"Watching TV shows he'd never watch, on the big TV."

– sexrockandroll

"There isn't an ancient aliens, shows from the early 80s (chuck Norris and Jack klugman), or horror movies that he won't watch - pausing every 3 seconds in case I miss something - that WE have to watch. When he travels for work I relish the quiet. Even the weather channel is enjoyable."

"My love for my husband has no end but he has the stupidest taste in shows yet whines if I would rather deep clean the basement than deal with any of it."

"But I can only deep clean the basement so many times..."

– Big-Mine9790

To each his/her/their own.

The Organizer

"Deep cleaning and reorganizing. I know, I'm a real party."

– Dependent_Top_4425

"You are my people. The garage door is hardly down before I'm getting busy!"

"There is not one thing better in this whole world than having some alone time in my spotless house."

– Individual-Army811

Everything But The Kitchen Sink

"Hike all day, get the sh**ty chinese takeout that she hates and I love despite knowing full well it’s objectively not good, and drink some nice beer while watching movies all night."

– holographoc

Establishing Order

"Putting things down and having them still be there when I want them."

"Having a clean house that stays that way for more than 30 seconds. I love him, but he's just a whirlwind of plates and seltzer cans some days."

– Lyeta1_1

When my husband's away, I watch all the horror films that have been stacking up in the queues of my streaming platforms.

He has a weak stomach for gore and violence, so we often avoid home invasion movies or slasher flicks and instead stick to comedy, drama, or dramedies, and documentaries.

Which is all well and good.

But when I have the place all to myself, I bust out the wine and Doritos and watch the latest Halloween or Scream movies I've been missing out on.

We've all had a conversation with someone where they say something where they've said something incorrect or inaccurate.

Sometimes, our gut reaction is just to laugh, as it was an honest mistake, such as mixing up a pair of celebrities or misusing or mispronouncing a word.

Other times, we might feel the need to put them in their place and not only correct them but educate them.

Then there are the times when we have just heard something so shockingly inane that we are left completely and utterly speechless.

Redditor Moo1124 was eager to hear all the dumb things the Reddit community heard which left them dumbfounded, leading them to ask:

"What's the stupidest thing you've ever heard anyone say?"

Before You Denounce Something, Make Sure You Know What It Is

"'I don't believe in astronomy'."

"We asked her if she meant astrology, and she asked, 'which is the one where like, you can tell what stars are made of?''

"We confirmed that was astronomy'."

"'Yeah, I don't believe in that'."- octohog

That Explains All The Traffic Jams?

"That when you press on the horn of your car, it lowers the amount of air in your front right tire due to it helping make that horn sound."- Boomstick123456

Oh, Dear...

"I was walking around the ruins of the ancient cliff dwellings at Mesa Verde just outside of Mancos, Colorado, (where the Ancient Puebloans lived from approximately 550 A.D. to 1300 A.D.) when a visitor asked the tour guide:"

"'Why did they build their homes so far from the highway?'"- badwolf1013

driving los angeles GIF by HOLLYWOOD LOVE STORYGiphy

Ribbet...

“'I can shoot with my left hand, I can shoot with my right hand, I'm amphibious'."- Master_Grape5931

Racist No Matter What...

"Apparently when my daughter was first born she looked vaguely East Asian."

"Enough, at least, for the nurses to ask if I was sure it was my baby."

"Now that was an incredibly weird thing to say to a new dad meeting his daughter for the first time, but it wasn't the stupidest thing someone said about this situation."

"That happened when I was retelling the above story to a client in a meeting."

"He asked to see a photo of my kid as a newborn, remarked how she really did 'look Asian', and then proceeded to ask if I thought my child might end up having an Asian accent when she got older."- JoeyCalamaro

"Where are you from, China or Asia?"- SonaPen22

Cbs No GIF by HULUGiphy

When Life Gives You Lemons

"Asked someone if they drove a stick."

"They responded, 'no, I drive a car'."

"Now I have a dad joke I’ll remember forever."- 99problemsbut

ID Please...

"I once found a big bulldog in my back yard."

"I don't own a bulldog."

"He was a big friendly, but slow witted guy."

"He look healthy and had a collar but no tags so I knew he was a local."

"I made sure he had water and went to the front yard to start knocking on doors."

"As soon as I stepped outside I saw the family three houses down all gathered in their front yard."

"So another case closed for our young detective."

"I walked over to them and said, 'You guys missing a bulldog?'"

"The mother looked at me and said, 'Is his name Tyson?'"

"The question took me aback."

"I mean, he didn't have tags."

"They knew he didn't have tags."

"So all I could think to say was, 'He didn't say'."

"'But I'm pretty sure he's yours'."

"To this day I wonder if that woman knew how dumb that question was."- Spodson

looks stupid english bulldog GIFGiphy

Under The Influence

"Stoned friend ."

"What year is February in?'"- IHave47Teeth

Woof Woof...

"My teacher told a class of 16-17 year olds about that super loyal dog in Japan who walked to the train station daily for nine years to wait for his owner, who died at work."

"After hearing that story, a girl raised her hand and asked 'Why didn't somebody just tell the dog?'"- Senator_Ruth_Martin

That's Why The FDA Warns Against It...

"When I was 12 years old a friend told me 'smoking is good for you because the smoke makes a shield around your heart when you breathe it in'."

"He argued that the smoke could prevent you from being stabbed or shot."

"Even at 12 I knew he was a moron."- ipondy

There's Denying Global Warming, And Then...

"Solar panels will cause a global ice age, because the law of thermodynamics states energy cannot be created or destroyed, so obviously they must be removing heat from the air."

"With no sense of irony of the scale nor efficiency (or lack thereof) of solar panels and their capacity to cool."- peptobiscuit

In Debt, Maybe...

"I knew a Finance major in college who thought he was worth $20k because he had two credit cards with $10k limit each."- alano134

No one loves a know-it-all.

Especially when they don't actually know anything at all...


A man with an ostentatious watch rifles through a wardrobe
Photo by charlesdeluvio

Shoplifting is a prevalent issue, but why do people do it?

Some reasons can be as banal as boredom, but other are far more intruiging.

Redditor WineOhCanada wanted to understand why people steal, so they asked:

"People who shoplift on the regular: why do you do it?"

I loved shoplifting.

Until I was caught, that is. I was a price tag switcher.

I apologize.

So Excited

Happy Thomas Lennon GIF by ABC NetworkGiphy

"It makes me feel alive. Jk I don't any more but as a kid, it was for sure a thrill thing."

silly-billy-goat

The Need

"I’m going to give an actual honest answer as someone who has not done this in many years… it becomes addicting."

anewchapteroflife

"Came here to say this. Back in my high school days, I would do it all the time. It's like a rush. Now my shoplifting days are when I forgot the can of soup on the bottom of the grocery cart and don't realize til I'm loading it in the car."

TheRumpleForesk1n

"I used to work in loss prevention. A lot of times we would let you go; especially teenagers. We knew you would be back and have pictures on the wall of you. We focused on shoplifting rings with a higher dollar amount and employees. Employees rob you blind."

taco_cop

The Hit

"I was greedy and had poor impulse control. While shoplifting was terrifying... having the shiny new thing after gave me a dopamine hit. I got caught three or four times and I thank Christ I was under 18 each and every time."

happyele

"It was less about greed for me I think, I've never been addicted to any drugs, whenever I got caught I would always test negative for anything, the custody sergeant who would take my fingerprints/DNA/drug swab would say 'Sean you're the only one that comes in regular that's not on any drugs, what's going on?' I explained that I was homeless, lost my job because the company I worked for folded, and life just kicked me in the butt."

"Flirty Chez I called her, and she would always give me extra food whenever I was brought in, I just thought that was how she was, then one day she said I need a girlfriend and I shot her down, no more flirty Chez. She was shooting her shot and I rejected her without even knowing it."

hardcoresean84

Exchanges

"Much to my mom’s embarrassment, I was a serial shoplifter as a baby. At least I had the presence of mind to take off my socks and shoes and leave them scattered around the store in exchange."

UsualFrogFriendship

"I was once on a camping trip with my parents. We left the campsite for a day and when we got back our soap had been stolen from the tent. Just our soap, nothing else was taken, but we did find the shoes of the perpetrator!"

"This kid left them right at the entrance of our tent, so it was not difficult to find out who did it. When we went to get the soap back and give him back his shoes, sadly the kid threw it over a fence, so we never got it back."

ptbroeke

Influences

Breaking Bad Crying GIFGiphy

"My easily influenced mind was corrupted by TV. If it's good enough for Marie Schrader then it's good enough for me."

DavosLostFingers

TV rots your brains and decision making capabilities.

Do the opposite of your favorite characters.

End of Times

Nbc Shoplifting GIF by SuperstoreGiphy

"When I was bedridden due to Covid, I had a friend who shoplifted a whole damn box worth of medicine from different drugstores."

"I was very impressed and confused, as I didn't ask for it. Great friend though!"

pepper-blu

Criminals

"As a former loss prevention officer, most of the people I stopped were stealing to resell the items. Many people were clearly drug addicts and many people I stopped had meth and other drugs on them. Not every shoplifter is stealing to buy drugs, but a ton of them are."

"A lot of other people just stole items they wanted, and some people just have a stealing problem and would take whatever random BS they came across and thought would be easy to steal. If I ever saw someone stealing food I'd usually look the other way, but that was pretty rare to see someone taking food, it was usually clothes, electronics, makeup, or tools."

BigBudZombie

The Rush

"Addiction. And that's addiction to shoplifting, not drugs. It's a rush. Confidence grows with each success. It becomes an obsession. It brings an amount of power when stealing from giant corporations. For me, this question is similar to asking an addict why they are addicted to drugs or alcohol."

"I haven't shoplifted in three years. I attended Shoplifters Anonymous and continue to go to therapy which are both very helpful. I'm very lucky I didn't lose everything."

tacoterrarium

Self-Control

"In high school, I dated this guy who would shoplift and I got influenced to start doing it. After we broke up I kept doing it all throughout college since I was a broke college student who had no self-control. I only shoplifted from big retail stores and told myself it was 'okay.' Post college I stopped because the possible consequences as an adult and to my career were not worth it."

isatacobelle

There was no good in it

"I used to do it as a means to support my drug habit. I wouldn't call what I was doing shoplifting though. I moved the volume and high-end merchandise. Honda generators from Home Depot or Lowe's. Shopping carts full of Tide pods, and Similac baby formula. I'd hit Nordstrom during the holidays for their perfumes and colognes. COACH, Burberry for purses."

"I made a good chunk of change from it, yet I was still homeless. Most of my money went to drugs, and hotel rooms at shi**y hotels. I'm no longer like this. I reached out and went to rehab this past July. I now have 132 days clean and sober, and work an honest job. My life's boring as hell now and I love it. Even though people on the street complimented and applauded my skills."

"I was never proud of myself for any of the stealing I was doing. There was no good in it. Now I feel good about myself and can be proud of what I do. It's a nice feeling to go into a store and not have to be aware of my surroundings and not tighten up when the greeters ask for a receipt. Because now, I can happily show them one. Lol."

Crotch-Monster

Think First

Steve Austin Wrestling GIF by WWEGiphy

"I work for a 3-letter retail store in NV and we have a ton of theft. I see a lot of random products for sale on the FB marketplace. If it adds up to over $1,200 it’s grand larceny and you get arrested."

"Walmart also allows up to a certain amount to be returned with no receipt and you get cash back."

samisalwaysmad

What have we learned kids?

Theft never really pays.

Do you have any experiences? Let us know in the comments below.

job interview
Van Tay Media on Unsplash

I once burst out laughing during a job interview.

It was for an internal position so I knew all of the interviewers well, but even if I hadn't I doubt I could have kept a straight face.

What cracked me up?

This interview question:

"If I attended a backyard BBQ with your last boss, what do you think they'd say about you?"

After I stopped laughing,

I told the interviewer—who happened to be my then boss' boss:

"I'm sorry, but that sounds like a question from the Miss America Pageant."

The interview panel got a laugh out of that. And yes, I did answer the question.

So what odd, absurd or just plain strange interview questions have people gotten?

Keep reading...Show less