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Doppelgängers (IHTM)

i have on sadly all too many occasions, been grabbed by someone who claims to know me, knows my name, etc... always turned out to be someone i'd met whilst drunk and forgotten.

my flatmate in fact, who studies the same subject as me, i met in halls of residence during my first year at university, when i was frequently drunk. several times she saw me, said hello to me, and i looked at her like she was mad and had to have it explained to me that she was doing the same subject as me, and i'd met her several times before, and had completely forgotten her those times as well.

i have encountered someone who looks an awful lot like me - the effect was amplified by the fact that when i first saw her we had very similar and distinctive hairstyles (pink stripes!). more frighteningly, i have also encountered someone looking very much like an ex of mine, right down to the dyed black and red hair. :hmph:
 
When thinking this topic over I came to the following conclusion - just how 'unique' looking is any particular person? I remember when I was in college, being friends with a guy who always dated the same type of girl ( petite, about 5'2, a little over or under 100 pounds ) and they ( there were three in rapid succession ) all looked alike! seriously, you'd have thought they were the same person if you didn't know better. This, coupled with the fact that there are innumerable Elvis impersonators as well as travelling road tours of 'Beatlemania' leads me to believe that there may very well be several sets of 'us' out there. Just a thought...;)
 
remember when I was in college, being friends with a guy who always dated the same type of girl ( petite, about 5'2, a little over or under 100 pounds )
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I hate girls like that(no offense):D

Anyway, it seems like most guys like to date girls who look like that, and they do tend to look the same. Maybe its malnutrition.
 
types

When I was in my twenties I was invited by a friend to a party. The guy who was giving the party took one look at me and left his own house. It turned out I was the double of his girlfriend that had just dumped him.

There have been about three other incidents of people mistaking me for someone else, but last month was the best.

A woman walked up to me in the supermarket and standing right beside me started a conversation about an Art exhibition I was apparently organising! I was so fascinated that I let her talk away for several minutes until I had to stop her and say I was not the lady in question. She was dumbfounded.

I am definately a 'type'.
 
This is Steve, msclairevoyants boyfriend

I have had a somewhat similar experience in the bedroom of my old house. One day about 3 years ago, I walked back into my room from the kitchen, and much to my surprise, there was another me sitting on the foot of my bed. He was dressed and styled differently than I was or concievably would ever be, but definitely me. His hair, for one was bleached blonde and spiked up, while mine at the time was kept shaved for the summer. Also, he was dressed in preppy style olive green cargo pants and striped polo shirt. Anyways, descriptions aside, I opened the door and there he sat. I looked at him increduously for a second or two before he noticed me, as he was watching the movie I had left on (Jet Li's Twin Warriors... great flick..). He then looked up and back at me ,nodded like an acknowledgement and then was promptly gone. I rubbed my free hand over my eyes, shook my head and sat down and thought long and hard about what had just happened, and whether or not it was possible or probable that it had just indeed happened. Strange, huh?
 
I've often been told I look just like so-and-so (sometimes a celebrity!) and have often been mistaken for other people. However, I've met most of the people I've been mistaken for, and the funny thing is, I look absolutely nothing like them, nor do I resemble any of the celebrities I'm said to resemble (though I am holding out hope on the "Milla Jovovich" one). :cool:

However, in every case, I do share one striking feature with the person I'm said to look like. Usually it's my hair. What I've noticed is that people will often latch on to a strong feature, make a connection in their minds to the familiar person who also has that feature, and perhaps "see" me as that person instead of as me.

That's just my theory, however - I know very little about the way the brain recognizes features and faces.

My other theory is that I'm so ephemeral I can't really be seen at all. All you can see is my fairy glamour. (In which case, yes, I really do look like Milla Jovovich!) ;)

As far as seeing myself, however - I've never really met anyone who even remotely resembled me, let alone a doppelgänger. I can only imagine how chilling that might be.
 
I once saw myself following directly behind myself in a big shop mirror.

The 'fetch' was dressed exactly as I was and carried the same unique rucsac and hat and was unmistakeably me.
Yet it/she looked downwards with a glum expression, as I stared in disbelief. Now if this had been some kind of mirror effect, eg 2 mirrors mounted on a pillar, BOTH reflections would have looked back at me, not just the first.

The whole thing lasted only seconds but I was quite shaken.

Dunno what it meant, but while the 'fetch' looked as solid as the real reflection, it also looked every bit as miserable as I was really feeling inside in that xmas week.
 
About 15 years ago my then boyfriend and myself went to stay with my parents for a week. Because they didn't really approve of him they made us sleep in separate rooms. We drew straws and I ended up on the sofa down stairs. Well one morning, around 7am, the dog came in and woke me up. I must have stayed their for a further half an hour or so before my boyfriend came down. He swore blind that I had walked into his room upstairs, glared and said that we're going to be late. Now he wasn't asleep because he was sitting on the edge of the bed putting his socks on when it happened!
 
escargot said:
I once saw myself following directly behind myself in a big shop mirror.

Dunno what it meant, but while the 'fetch' looked as solid as the real reflection, it also looked every bit as miserable as I was really feeling inside in that xmas week.
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It may be like a crisis apparition, apperaing when you were going through an emotionally straining time. I've noticed that I experience mild poltagiest activity when I'm really stressed out. Also when I was at my lowest and was suicidal I (and other witnesses) saw shadow people in our hallway on a daily basis. So I could well believe that your state of mind can play a huge effect on paranormal events.
 
I got a spate you look like so-and-so, or conversations from people I didn't know. I wasn't that worried about someone looking like me, 6'2" with long hair. But one day my mum told me she was crossing the road to talk to the other me, but realised it was someone else, as my hair was green at the time, his wasn't. For my own mother to mistake someone else for me is weird. Although the other bloke new people I did and Huddersfield isn't that big, I never got introduced, shame!
Got a big hippie beard now, so no mistaken identities anymore!
 
i dunno, mothers can be pretty daft sometimes. i've been wearing glasses since i was five, but when i was practicing reversing round a corner for my driving test, my mum said "you're lucky you don't wear glasses, because it makes it more difficult." :rolleyes:
 
Seaweed said:
I got a spate you look like so-and-so, or conversations from people I didn't know. I wasn't that worried about someone looking like me, 6'2" with long hair. But one day my mum told me she was crossing the road to talk to the other me, but realised it was someone else, as my hair was green at the time, his wasn't. For my own mother to mistake someone else for me is weird. Although the other bloke new people I did and Huddersfield isn't that big, I never got introduced, shame!
Got a big hippie beard now, so no mistaken identities anymore!
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Similar strange thing happened to me once, years ago.
I'd gone shopping with my parents, and I went off to one part of town on my own. When I met up with them later, they said they'd seen me walking around, but dressed differently!
For my own parents to mistake someone else for me is a tad worrying.
I've also had one or two other instances where friends have seen somebody who looked just like me.
And on one occasion, I was sitting in Peterborough city centre eating some sandwiches (like you do on a sunny day) when three scruffy types approached, and greeted me as one would with a friend. Of course, I don't like to be hassled when I'm trying to relax, so I told them I didn't know who they were, and walked away. There was something shifty about them that I didn't like.
They weren't too happy about their supposed friend rejecting them like that!
 
Crisis apparition, yup, I've heard of them, thank you Hally M8! Maybe that's what it was.

I've also been 'seen' by other people at times when I wasn't under stress. My next-door neighbour once saw me cycle through my gate, prop the bike against the wall and go into my house, wearing a pink top or possibly dress.

I was out all that day, the gate was locked and I NEVER wear pink, much less wear a dress to ride a bike. She insisted that she'd seen me though and even now, years later, would deny that she was wrong. :confused:
 
Mythopoeika said:
Similar strange thing happened to me once, years ago.
I'd gone shopping with my parents, and I went off to one part of town on my own. When I met up with them later, they said they'd seen me walking around, but dressed differently!
For my own parents to mistake someone else for me is a tad worrying.
I've also had one or two other instances where friends have seen somebody who looked just like me.
And on one occasion, I was sitting in Peterborough city centre eating some sandwiches (like you do on a sunny day) when three scruffy types approached, and greeted me as one would with a friend. Of course, I don't like to be hassled when I'm trying to relax, so I told them I didn't know who they were, and walked away. There was something shifty about them that I didn't like.
They weren't too happy about their supposed friend rejecting them like that!
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Not entirely similar due to the fact I was five, but I was out with my folks in a shop, and saw who I thought was mum leaving. I followed for a short distance, but realised the clothes were different, and was then completely lost in a strange place. The weird thing is is, to this day I still know it was the clothes and not the face/ hair that made me realise. Still I get called Jesus by so many people it is untrue! I could prove I'm not Jewish for them at any time though!
I do have a friend that looks similar to me, as I'm the Messiah, he is Brian, due to the fact that he is, indeed, as Mr.Python once pointed out " A very naughty boy"!!!!!!
 
Raya said:
I had a similar experience when I was in high school. While walking across the grounds to my next lesson I saw a girl who looked just like me walk towards me. My reaction was "Holy shit! It's me!....wait it a minute it can't be me- I'M me!". When we passed each other though I realised it was just a girl who looked an awful lot like me, rather then some future self. Although I'd like to know why I never saw her again...
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I had a similar thing happening to me while in high school. I was walking down a staircase in the library. Right now front of me, at the bottom of the stairs was the help desk and a girl was standing in front of it, speaking to the librarian. As I walked down, I just got the feeling that the girl was me.

I walked slowly and stared all the way down. It was creepy! It wasn't until I reached her that I realized that it wasn't me (she caught me staring, too) and that in fact she looked almost nothing like me! She must have been several years younger, and that means something then you're 17.

Afterwards, I have wondered that ever gave me that notion. Sure, maybe we had around the same bodyshape, but... It wasn't that I noticed any similarity in clothing, hair or face, I just thought she was me!
 
Just after I read this thread, I went into the travel agents and they thought I'd been in there before ! I know there's someone else in Manchester who looks like me as I've been told, but I've yet to meet them!




Oh, yeah, I think I looked familar to the travel agent as I spend large amounts of time at the bus stop right outside!
 
escargot said:
Crisis apparition, yup, I've heard of them, thank you Hally M8! Maybe that's what it was.

I've also been 'seen' by other people at times when I wasn't under stress. My next-door neighbour once saw me cycle through my gate, prop the bike against the wall and go into my house, wearing a pink top or possibly dress.

I was out all that day, the gate was locked and I NEVER wear pink, much less wear a dress to ride a bike. She insisted that she'd seen me though and even now, years later, would deny that she was wrong. :confused:
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Escargot,

do you ever feel tired around the time your apparition is appearing? In the account of the French teacher who kept splitting herself around her students, that's the feeling she described. Emilie Sagee

It seemed to happen to the Emilie Sagee whenever she was concerned or wanted to be someplace other than what she was.
 
At the times I've been 'seen' I was doing normal things and would have put down the 'sightings' to mistaken identity, so wouldn't have pursued them too closely.

The pushbike incident was different because it was definitely impossible, and because the neighbour concerned became quite annoyed when I argued with her!

When I'm 'seen' out in my car when I'm really at home or in a different town, and later told off for not offering a lift or waving, I tend to assume it's just another car like mine. They are very common.

I enjoyed the link about Emilie Sagee. Read about her as a child and she sprang to mind the first time I was 'fetch-seen'.

Dunno, strange things happen and we can't understand because we're only human.

I have seen what might be called 'pre-crisis apparitions' of people who died soon after, which I've described elsewhere on here. No lottery numbers, though.
 
Reading these posts brings up a strange memory for me. One morning I boarded the bus to go to work as was my usual habit. I settled in a seat near the front of the bus. Glancing up, I saw my reflection in the mirror that sits above the driver and allows him or her to see what is going on inside the bus. After a bit, I looked up again, only this time I was shocked to see that my reflection looked to the side as I kept looking forward. I felt the blood drain from my face as all sense of reason escaped me for a few fearful seconds. There had to be an explanation, the only one was that it couldn't have been my own reflection I was seeing.

I turned around to see, sitting directly behind me, a woman whose face looked so amazingly like mine it was uncanny. I didn't want to stare at her, so I turned around and continued watching her reflection in the mirror, marvelling at how much like me she was. We even shared the same eye color and hair color. As she walked to the front of the bus and got off at her stop, I had a better chance to check her out. She seemed a bit older than me, as if I was seeing myself as I would become in a few years.

This was many years ago and to this day I wonder if I will ever again run into the woman who looked so much like me it even fooled me!
 
Re: This is Steve, msclairevoyants boyfriend

MsClaireVoyant said:
Anyways, descriptions aside, I opened the door and there he sat. I looked at him increduously for a second or two before he noticed me, as he was watching the movie I had left on (Jet Li's Twin Warriors... great flick..). He then looked up and back at me ,nodded like an acknowledgement and then was promptly gone.
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Just curious -- ever see this person again?

That he would just nod at you seems very self-contained on his part.
 
Kind of weird coincidence in that a friend and I were just today talking about this. She had been to lunch near our office and saw someone she thought was a mutual friend of ours that we hadn't seen in quite a while. She studied the girl and realised it wasn't our friend but said the resemblance was uncanny. Our friend has 2 younger brothers but no sisters and I don't know of any cousins that look a lot like her. Maybe I'll email her and ask. I commented that we're all supposed to have a twin somewhere in the world and wondered whether actual twins have twins! My friend said no, they just have their actual twin but then she said maybe they're quadruplets!
Just wanted to mention the coincidence of the earlier conversation and me discovering this post today. Myself, I've had a coworker tell me that a client of ours whose office is just down the street looks an awful lot like me but I've seen several girls from that office and don't think any of them do. Maybe the girl just wasn't there that day. :?
 
A few weeks ago at Marlyebone station in London I saw two men walking past me, one on either side of me, and a good 10 metres apart from one another. They were walking pretty much in sync. One of them had come from the train platforms, and the other entered from the street. They had different hair and clothes, but exactly the same face! :shock: Their body shapes were also very similar. They clearly did not know each other - one of them met his girlfriend and went off, the other kept walking. I must've looked quite strange, gawking at these doppelgangers, my head swivelling between the two.
 
There's a story about the German writer, Goethe, who claimed to have seen his 'doppelganger' when out riding in 1771. He saw a man on horseback coming towards him, who looked exactly like himself, but was wearing a grey suit with gold trimming, unlike any clothing he then owned. The apparition then just disappeared. When, eight years later, he was riding along the same road but in the opposite direction, he suddenly recalled the incident, and with shock, realized he was wearing the exact clothing that he had seen on the doppelganger eight years earlier.

There is a drawing by the Pre-Raphaelite painter, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, called How They Met Themselves, which shows a medieval couple confronted by their doubles while walking in a forest, based on the German folk belief in the doppelganger as a portend of death within a year. The model for the woman was Rossetti's wife, Elizabeth Siddal. A year later, Siddal was dead, having committed suicide by taking an overdose of laudanam.

How They Met Themselves:

http://www.css.edu/USERS/phagen/hon4777 ... elvesw.jpg
 
I once saw myself (well, an exact version of my younger self) on a billboard advertising luggage at Pearson Airport. That particular company had lots of signs throughout the airport and the rest of the city, but I never saw that particular picture anywhere else. It was startling.
 
I was in Fort William in Scotland a few years back when I saw my double walking towards me. I stared at her, she stared at me..it was a very odd experience..

I have had friends at work who have seen me about and joked about my bad choice of Rupert the Bear trousers when I have never and will never own such an item of clothing.

And finally, last time I went into B&Q the bloke on the till said hello, called me by my name and asked me how things were going. To this day I have no idea who he was. I was curious and made a mental note of the name on his tag, went home and checked through school pictures incase it jogged a memory..I came up blank..I guess I should have told him to stop me wearing those trousers as they really didn't suit me.. :goof:
 
escargot said:
I once saw myself following directly behind myself in a big shop mirror.

...

Dunno what it meant, but while the 'fetch' looked as solid as the real reflection, it also looked every bit as miserable as I was really feeling inside in that xmas week.
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Maybe this "fetch" thing is really your soul. Reflecting what you feel on the inside. I have read a few articles recently from men who claim to see some people's souls... one guy said as he was talking to his mother, he could see her fetch/soul standing directly behind her but with its back to her... :shock:


I have a tale actually....

Its not mine, its a friends, so it might be a fuzzy in the information area :lol: anyway...


one of my mates swears that one night coming back from the pub, she walked in and saw one of her flatmates in the kitchen chopping some vegetable. She shouted I'm off to bed I'm knackered see you in the morning and went up to bed, no reply but she went anyway or something. Then, in early the next morning my mate went into her flatmate's bedroom to say she was leaving for Uni and to meet her after lectures somewhere (probably pub :lol: ) and she wasnt in her bed. She wasnt anywhere in the house so she called her mobile and she answered it, she was like, "where are you?" etc tec and teh flatmate said she was at her boyfriends house where she'd stayed the night!!! :shock: :shock:
Apparently when she checked her flatmate's bed was warm!!!!! :shock: :shock: but the bf confirmed she'd stayed the night before ... that story always creeps me out.
 
Mentioned this thread to my friend (who had spotted the twin of another firend) and she said she knew a girl back in college who met her exact duplicate. They talked and eventually found out that they were actually twins who had been seperated and adopted by different families. Kinda made me think of that movie The parent Trap".
BTW, the friend whose double was spotted said she might have an identical cousin because her dad was adopted and she doesn't know anything about his family except the last name of Lee or Leigh and that a stranger once told her mother she (my friend) looked like a Lee.
 
Has anyone read a story by Edgar Allan Poe called " William Wilson " ?

I recommend you do as it deals with subjects mentioned in this thread.

Awfully good read :vampire:
 
A few months ago I remember seeing an article in a magazine (might have been the one that comes with Saturday's 'The Observer'?) about a European photographer (Italian?) who had found look alikes in one town, photographed the pair of them and made an exhibition of the results. These were very impressive as in some cases you couldn't tell the two apart! This should illustrate that we may share features with more people than we think.

Does anyone else remember the article or have the exact info on it as I appreciate my recall is quite sketchy?
 
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