
Have you ever experienced a "glitch in the Matrix"? You know, those instances where your whole world suddenly becomes unfamiliar, and the unexplainable occurs before returning to normal? It's beyond the blue pill and the red pill- this sh*t happens in real life too. Here are some of the craziest glitches.
u/C00LRTH4nU asked: What is the creepiest glitch you've experienced In real life?
Maybe it was a prank?
Was taking the train home one afternoon and an old man was sitting a row ahead of me. He turned around and asked for directions to the hospital, and I told him which stop to get off at. Eventually, his stop arrives and he gets up to leave, but before he exits he turned and said "thank you, I'll see you later." I said "yeah no problem," and again he said "I'll see you later" and he looked me right in the eye. I said "sure, see ya" and he got off the train and hobbled away with his cane. Thought it was a little weird he was adamant about seeing me around but whatever.
Freaky thing is, when I got off the train and to the bus station, about five minutes after boarding my bus I hear a voice that sounds like the old man. I looked out the bus window and sure enough, he was there at the bus station--same clothes, hat, and cane. I know it was the same guy, but with his walking speed and the available bus/train routes at the time I have zero clue how he got to the bus station right when I did. There are no buses near the hospital that go to that bus station, and my train was the only train that had just arrived at the bus station.
This is actually kinda sweet.
I had a dream about a coworker. She loved dogs and would always ask me to share pictures of my GSD and Labrador whenever we'd talk at work. In the dream she was on a couch crying. My Labrador is a very emotional connected dog. She goes to anyone she thinks is sad, which is exactly what she did in the dream. My coworker looked at me and said, "thank you for sharing her, I feel better about all of this now".
I found out at work the next day that my coworker had tripped at the top of her stairs and died that night. The dream still freaks me out when I think about it. It was so vivid and clear.
That's unsettling.
In 2010 I was working for a transportation company as a dispatcher and I walked out to go home one afternoon and my foot went through the paved parking lot. After I took another step I looked all over and it was all solid - it was a weird random thing but I'll never forget it.
NOPE.
While this may not seem creepy, I can tell you the experience most definitely was creepy.
This happened when I was 8 and working in the yard with my mom. My mother and I were doing the spring planting in the flower beds around the house. I went inside for a pee break and on my way to the bathroom I had to walk through the living room.
I entered the LR through the kitchen. Looked up and on the other side of the LR, I saw sitting on the couch none other than my sister. She was wearing her school uniform and was looking towards me, but not at me. Never said a word. Nothing really unusual, right?
What makes this a glitch? My sister was hundreds of miles away at boarding school. Not helping us plant flowers and certainly not sitting at the edge of the couch giving me a blank stare.
My little 8 year old self reversed course and locked himself in the half bath until he regained the courage to go back through the house and finish planting hostas.
I mean, it's a great movie.
Every time I just randomly think about the movie Groundhog Day I see it everywhere, people mention it to me, it's on the TV, radio, I can't escape it.
Reminds me of a weekend vacation my friends took, where we kept hearing the song House of the Rising Sun, to the point where we started to notice it.
The last night we were there, we were just watching TV in out hotel room when an episode of (I think) Supernatural came on where that song precedes bad things happening. We were all a bit stoned so it freaked us out.
We were freaked out again when we heard it on the drive home.
That's freaky.
When I was a little kid, like around 6-7, my family got a pet hamster/gerbil/whatever. I remember the first day we got him I played with him, went upstairs for bed, fell asleep, woke up, came back downstairs, and he was dead.
I was really sad that the pet we had just gotten was dead, and my parents informed me we had him for a year before he died. I literally have no recollection of that entire year. I just get a hamster, fall asleep, miss a year of my life, wake up, hamsters dead. It's trippy thinking about it now.
Creepy.
One night my dad was tucking me in when I was 8 years old. He said goodnight and I replied "goodbye." He asked me why I said by and we laughed it off, it was just an accident. The next morning my brother found him passed in the living room. He had a heart attack in the middle of the night at the age of 48.
Nice reflexes.
Had a bonfire at a family member's home. They put a sheet of metal on a concrete slab, then built the bonfire on top. No one thought about what happens when you make a hot spot in the middle of a frozen concrete slab. The concrete expands with no where to go, so it literally explodes.
I was the closest to the fire. When it exploded, I had enough time to check where the debris was going to see that I wasn't going to be hit. Look over at my mother and think, "I should move anyway so she doesn't freak out". So then I calmly stood up and backed away from the fire while laying down the chair I was sitting in (so it would fit between my legs while I stepped backwards).
At least that's what I thought. My cousin came up to me after and said he'd never seen anyone move as fast as I did.
That's really rough.
When my mom called to tell me that my grandpa died, I thought she said "papa died" and papa is the nickname for my dad. I was crying uncontrollably and when I finally figured out it was grandpa I was too embarrassed to admit that I thought it was my dad. I called him later and told him and he just laughed.
Anyway fast forward three weeks and my dad dies too. Part of me thinks mishearing her was the universe preparing me to lose him.
It was weird because it was like I lost him twice and I'm still kind of waiting for someone to tell me it was all a mistake and it was actually someone else.
Edit: I feel kind of bad because I've barely thought about Grandpa since my dad died. My grandma has it the worst because she lost a husband and a son in the same month.
Sleeping can be scary.
Sometimes when I dream, and I wake up, I "wake up". I know it's a dream. I just know it's a dream. But I can't "wake up". And the harder I try to wake up, or the more I realize I have to wake up, the scarier it gets, even though nothing really changes. It feels like a darkness enveloping you as you try and wake up from your fake room.
How do I know it's a fake room? Just some weird details. Like how my wall looks a little TOO white. Or the christmas tree's lights are on when they're supposed to be off (don't ask why I have one in my room and not the living room lol).
So then I go through like maybe 1-2 minutes of intense waking up, falling back asleep. Trying to open my eyes, but then falling back asleep right after. As I said, the rooms are similar but not too similar, so I can just about tell when I'm in the real world and when I'm dreaming.
Or perhaps both rooms are fake, and when I finally wake up, it's the real me in the real world. I dunno. Those are the scariest of dreams, even though they last for a few minutes tops because that's right before I'm about to wake up.
Listen to your dreams.
I was on holiday with family and had an intense dream about our home being broken into. When we got home the place was trashed just like I dreamt, my parents remember me telling them about the dream when I woke up too so I didn't imagine it.
Not a self-fulfilling prophecy.
My mom and I have had dreams MULTIPLE times about people dying or things happening and then they did. The most notable ones off the top of my head are when she told me she had a dream my former boss, who was also a family friend, died, and then he did 3 days later; and the time I had a dream that myself and two of my employees were driving somewhere together and the three of us got in a car crash. I texted them telling them to drive safely because I'd had that dream, and the next day the two of them were driving somewhere together and got in a car crash. It wasn't their fault either, so it's not like it was a self-fulfilling prophecy or anything.
Tragic but hopeful.
I don't know if I would even call this a glitch because I'm sure it can be explained by my brain just making this up, but I don't believe that that's what it was.
My childhood best friend died tragically and unexpectedly in the summer of 2018. When I say childhood best friend, this guy was more like my twin. We were 9 days apart and close literally since the day he was born. We grew up together, learned to walk together, were each other's first kiss at 4 years old, etc. We were close until the day he died, and he was very literally like my twin brother (we are both only children).
I believe in God and Heaven and in the concept of an afterlife, reincarnation, etc., and I've seen lots of signs from him since he passed, like me saying "give me a sign you're here" and a plane flew over my head (he was a pilot and that's how he died), and then me following it up by saying "that was just a coincidence" and ANOTHER plane flew over immediately. Another time, at Disneyland, we were in line for Thunder Mountain and a little bird was following us, hopping around the rafters. I made a comment like "it must be [friend]", at which point the bird landed on my head (I have witnesses for that one).
But the biggest thing was a dream I had. It was maybe two months after he died, and in the dream he and I and a bunch of other random people were at a party at my aunt's old house in Phoenix (me and the friend have never lived in Phoenix so idk why that's where we were in the dream). But in the dream, I knew he was dead, and I was crying and hugging him and saying "how are you here? How are you here?" And he just hugged me and said "it doesn't matter how I'm here, I can't tell you about it, but I'm here" and he was happy and healthy and okay. It's making me cry just typing it. Like I said, not exactly a glitch but everything that I've experienced when loved ones have died, especially everything with him, solidifies in my mind beyond a shadow of a doubt that this life isn't it.
A psychic movie.
This happened last year, during December I think? I was at school, watching a movie about the quantum immortality theory and stuff. I'm a big fan of PieMations, been following him ever since 2015. Let's go straight to the point
I wasn't really paying attention to the movie, so I just took out a few sheet of papers and started sketching. Mike (Piemations) has this one little character named pretzel. He's some kind of weird gryphon/bird? I don't know, it's pretty weird. I really like him so I said to myself "Hey, since I have nothing else to do, why not draw this old man a gift?" I started sketching. Came up with the idea of Pretzel holding a pepsi bottle, for the memes.
So, as soon as I finished sketching, I moved my chair back a little and took a look at my drawing. Then, I hear something coming out of the school's speakers; "A bag of pretzels and a bottle of pepsi, huh?" I was shook. My heart skipped a beat for a moment, I really lost notion of what happened at the moment I was so confused, so impressed, practically speechless.
School is now over and the thought of how coincidental life can be at times is still spinning in my head.
TLDR: Decided to draw during a movie, the movie "guessed" what I was drawing.
Talk about foreshadowing.
About 2 weeks before my best friend's grandmother passed away, her name (Which wasn't super common) and age had been in the death notices in the news paper. The day it came out, obviously everyone called concerned, but she was alive and well, needless to say, weeks later when she actually did pass away, everyone felt like it was some sort of weird warning.
Many people live by the mantra that ignorance is bliss.
It's true, how being left in the dark about influential pieces of information is preferable.
For example, being cognizant about a co-worker's questionable private life can adversely affect how others interact with this individual if they object to their tendencies outside of the workplace.
Not knowing certain things can be freeing, a notion that was explored when Redditor Distantmole asked:
"What’s something you really wish you didn’t know?"
These Redditor examples are based on an occupational hazard.
Printer Expert
"How to fix a printer. Sometimes, I just play dumb when I'm asked..."
– jfincher42
Undervalued Employee
"I was the ONLY one who knew how to unjam the printer at my old job. And it was a lemon - it jammed at least once a day. I quit the job because I was overworked and unappreciated. My replacement left in less than a year. I hope they're suffering without their little resident unjammer. Thanks for letting me vent."
– KidsTheseDaysYknow
Parents are people too, and you wouldn't be here were it not for them.
So there's that.
The Origin Of You
"I know exactly where, when, and how I was made in grand detail. I have no idea why my parents felt the need to tell me this, but I now know and I wish i didn't."
– stitchmidda2
Making Waves
"I was conceived in a waterbed in my parents’ old condo. My dad told me when I was 15…"
– the_crystal_onix
Pulling Back The Curtain
"My father photographed all the births, me and my siblings."
"Each of us had a photo album growing up."
"They started with the photos of our births."
"My father took photos of us coming out.... of the vagina."
"This is the first page of my childhood photo album."
"Checkmate sir."
– joejill
Too Close For Comfort
"My parents told me they conceived my younger sibling in a tent with me and my older sibling while we were sleeping in the same tent. I did not need to know that."
– arkayer
You think you know everything about the members of your family.
However, some things about them are better left a mystery.
Grandma's Tactic
"Was on a vacation with my grandma in a shared room and she disappeared into the bathroom for 5 minutes, came out, I didn't think any of it and didn't care, and she came up to me and said."
"I have bad constipation right now so I shoved a bit of soap in my butt to help softening it up! Maybe I'll fart bubbles soon, he he!"
"That happened 6 years ago but it's burned into my brain."
– dinanysos
The Family's An Open Book
"Didn't need to know the reason I'm mums least favourite child and I certainly didn't need her to tell me what colour my step dad's pubes are. Didn't need my Grandparents to tell me that they had sex the night before on the couch I was sitting on or my grans favourite position."
"Also didn't need to know my uncle only has one testicle or that my dad was in the room when my cousin was conceived. My family is far to open lol."
– scruffadore
Infinite Capacity
"If you find an unlabeled videotape laying around burn the f'king thing just in case."
– Trav3lingman
The myth of mammals.
Scary Fish Tongue
"There is a parasitic isopod that gets inside a fish’s mouth, severs the tongue, and lives in the fish’s mouth acting as a replacement tongue."
I wish I didn't know about as Demodex or eyelash mites.
Oh, you didn't about them?
Prepare to have your mind blown.
There is a community of mites living in the pores of our faces.
Ever wondered why your face randomly itches when there's nothing visibly making contact with your face? That's because these little stubby boring worms–that are a distant relative of ticks and spiders–are having a party inside your fleshy dwelling, and they are grateful for its host to extend the welcome mat.
You're welcome.
Americans often drop popular sayings in conversation that have some element of truth to them.
You've undoubtedly come across phrases like, "Kill two birds with one stone" or "it's raining cats and dogs."
While those are used to describe actions, like the state of the weather, there are other phrases that are dispensed as words of wisdom to help individuals through a challenging situation.
But the endeavor to console someone by using this tactic is not always effective.
Curious to hear examples of this, Redditor Braca5 asked:
"What popular sayings are bullsh*t?"

These sound familiar?
The Survivor Mentality
"whatever doesn't kill you just makes you stronger."
– WhenTardigradesFly
Vanity
"Looks aren't important."
"It's true. They don't always or entirely matter, but they do. That's kind of how superficial humans are."
– Ok_Chain821
Not Every Pain Heals
"Time heals all wounds."
– sweetechoes2008
"There's another one that goes like this 'time heals nothing, it just replaces memories.'"
– Fulcinnamonroll
The stigma around this is so foul, the guilty will lie about their offensive crime.
The Gas-Leaker
"He who smelt it dealt it"
– MrGeekman
"Whoever said the rhyme did the crime."
– Neoptolemus85
Psychology Around The Guilt
"The irony is it's almost always the opposite that's true. Most people would rather just be quiet about a fart than try to put it on somebody else and as it is you usually become pretty accustomed to your own and probably don't even smell half of the ones that slip out so likely the person who dealt it is going to be one of the last to actually consciously smell it."
– Vanilla_Neko
Playing by the rules doesn't always get you places.
Playing Dirty
"Cheaters never win."
– MadAsH3ll
"A better saying:"
'Treason doth never prosper, what's the reason? For if it prosper, none dare call it Treason.' John Harington (1561 - 1612)
– Suibian_ni
Comeuppance Never Comes
"What goes around, comes around."
"Bullsh*t. I've seen people be jerks my entire life (I'm 57 y/o) and they never got what should have come around to them."
– Feels2old
Thing About Karma
"Worse, it's an excuse to not take responsibility. A few years back, I had discovered a nasty person who was fooling the public by buying dogs from Amish auctions of out of state, bringing them, unvaccinated, across state lines, and pawning them off on the public as 'rescues' but also taking loads of donations when she was not registered as a charity. She was not using the funds for medical care. The gal was a flashy blonde in designer clothes and knew how to fool people."
"The county authorities were investigating and needed more evidence. I approached the owner of a local pet supply store where she operated her scam and asked him to cooperate. He banned her from the store but completely refused to cooperate with the investigation. Excuse, 'Karma will get her.'"
"B*tch got off with just a fine when she would have faced animal cruelty charges."
"Karma? No, it's not a thing."
– ShowMeTheTrees
Those who adopt a passive way of thinking end up making up for lost time.
Turning A Blind Eye
"Out of sight, out of mind."
"Ever lost track of a spider?"
– Samuelabra
How Much Time Do You Have?
"Good things come to those who wait."
– P13r15
Lond Distance Relationships Aren't For Everyone
“Absence makes the heart grow fonder”
– Quirky_Mongoose_401
I think those who say "if you love what you do, you'll never work a day in your life," is debatable.
Depending on the situation, being forced to do something you once loved so you could earn a living can potentially breed resentment.
I'm a former dancer who absolutely lived off the adrenaline of performing on a stage. But when the cast I was performing with at a theme park was forced to do the same rigorous show five times a day–sometimes in intense heat–I was miserable.
Once, I severely twisted my ankle mid-performance simply because I was physically exhausted but continued giving it my 100% when my body was ready to give out. That's when most performance-based injuries occur.
That phrase certainly got a second hard look from me back then.
No two people share exactly the same likes and interests.
But on occasion, one might find themselves being among the few, if not the sole members of a certain fan club.
Indeed, while Cats earned a place on the list of the worst movies of all time, its 19% score on Rotten Tomatoes suggests that there are a handful of people who actually liked it.
Or while many people dread having to clean their homes, some simply can't wait to get started, and will look for any and every opportunity to do so.
Redditor StardustNova_ was curious to hear where members of the Reddit community found themselves in a distinct minority of appreciation, leading them to ask:
"What's something you like that the vast majority people hate?"
You've got me all tied up in knots!
"I love untangling things."
"Your Christmas lights end up in a ball and there’s no telling where it starts or ends?"
"Give."
"Got a necklace that got rolled up into a total mess?"
"I’m your de-tangler."
"Headphones come out of your pocket looking like a Tangela? "
"No problem!"
"Total zen for me."
"Wish I could make a few bucks with it tho."- Not_Jo_Mama
I'm all ears!
"People that talk a lot so I don’t need to."
"I like listening to them & I find their energy refreshing."- krasavetsa
Jet setter!
"Everything about the airport."
"Idk why but it’s so fascinating."
"Honestly I like it more than the trip sometimes lol."- abigailgwhitney
"The cold never bothered me anyway"
"A Winnipeg winter day where there's not a cloud in the sky or a breath of wind, but it's so f*cking cold out your nose hairs freeze together every time you breathe."- FakeLordFarquaad
When life gives you lemons...
"Apparently a lot of people don't like the lemon/yellow starburst candy, and that's the one I prefer."- mermaid_with_pants
Sudsy, soapy dreams...
"Doing the dishes."
"I find it so calming."- shakensunshine
The gift that keeps on giving.
"Wrapping presents!"
"It's super therapeutic and relaxing to me."
"I'll wrap everyone's presents in the house, even the ones they have to give to other people!"- happygoose2022
Sweeet and sparkly!
"Fruit flavored sparkling water."- suitcaseinherhand
Can't dive too deep!
"Writing essays."
"I got addicted to research when I was in college and something about putting everything together to present a coherent argument is just exciting for me."- ILoveFoodALotMore
It's always interesting to hear the thing which would make some people groan with misery that would make others cheer with glee.
Nor should always look down on someone for loving something you absolutely hate, as they could help you wrap those presents you've been putting off because you hate it so much.
And who knows, maybe Cats wasn't as bad as you remembered...
It's usually a good feeling to be "on top".
To be found at the top of the list of a notable or unique accomplishment.
Though having the distinction of being in the top 0.1 percent of something might not always be something to brag about, resulting in some keeping this distinction to themselves.
If only because some people might be unusually fascinated by their so-called "accomplishment", that they'll never stop being bombarded by questions.
Redditor ImLostInTheForrest was curious to hear if any members of the Reddit community believed they were in the 0.1 percent of anything, be it commendable, bizarre or unfortunate, leading them to ask:
"What’s something you believe you may be in the 0.1% of?"
A mighty heart indeed
"Scars on my heart."
"I have about 30, I think."
"On my 4th heart procedure, I had 24 cardiac ablations."
"They use radio waves to kill tissue to create scarring so that effectively signals can't travel through that way."
"During one procedure, epicardial, meaning both inside and outside the heart. by the top electrophysiologist on the east coast."
"He said only one other patient of his had more done in one procedure."
"Took 10 hours."
"I could hear the nurses gossiping about me in the hallway."
"This was 7 years ago, and now my heart is working great!"- pearlie_girl·
Extremely comfortable in my skin
"Half of my body is a birthmark of tan skin, and the other half is pale white."
"It's right down the middle of my stomach and same with my back."
"I've only ever seen 1 person online with it saying 'chimerism' but idk if that's same with me."
"Idk but it's uncommon." - User Deleted
Still standing!
"Still living with stage IV lung cancer for 13 yrs."- Flashy-Cattle-8086
Big shoes to fill indeed...
"Shoe size."
"I wear a size 18."- wearegoodthings
Love your job!
"Don't know if it's less cool because I do it for work, but I 'photograph' atoms and crystalline atomic structures most days."
"I get to see the world in a way few ever do which is kinda neat."- RayseBraize
An exclusive club no one wants to be part of...
"I have this condition called Miyoshi Myopathy, which, thankfully, affects only my calves and hence my walking capabilities."
"My doctor told me it is rare, but tbh statistically rare does not really mean anything, everyone might have it but they either did not get out of their way to test it, via taking blood and had it examined in a lab, or they just never realized there was something wrong at all."
"If you are wondering why I said 'Thankfully it only affected the legs', it is because it is a muscle disorder, and some disorders affect Cardiac, heart, and Pulmonary, lungs, muscles that will obviously not be pretty."
"I have to get tested every year to make sure all my vital functions are normal and as of now nothing significant is noted and I should be living a long and healthy life."- 1123Icantthinkofname
Just one?
"Apparently only 0.1% of people become mechanical engineers in the US and an even smaller percentage are women, so maybe that?"
"I was also less than 2 lbs when I was born, and I think the percentage is probably similar."
"I somehow have no lasting physical issues from that, though my sister has cerebral palsy."- s_p_o_c_k
Plenty to go around!
"I have 3 functional kidneys."
"No it doesn't mean I pee more."
"No it doesn't mean I can drink more alcohol, thats the liver."
"No I won't sell it for under $71,241." - User Deleted
While some wouldn't necessarily consider some of these things an accomplishment, all of them certainly make for fascinating conversation starters.
Seriously, where would the third kidney even go...?