Doppelgängers (IHTM)

[catseye]

Or is it a first name that was the name of someone famous when you were born? Like the inordinate number of Kylie's walking the street today - once upon a time that name would have been incredibly rare in Britain. One of my daughters has a name which was absolutely unheard of when she was born 27 years ago, but now a celebrity has used it so we expect a confusing influx of people with the same name as her (she has a very very common surname, not shared with me).

 

[escargot]

Like the inordinate number of Kylie's walking the street today

When people called their baby daughter Kylie it was considered witty to point out that the word is Aboriginal for 'boomerang'. No idea if it really means that!

 

[caspergriswoldbacon]

Thanks for the clarification ...

Does the first name you share with him have a particular commonality or significance within your family?

No at all.

For example, was your first name handed down from an ancestor?

No.

Or is the shared first name so common (e.g., 'John') that it doesn't suggest any particular connection to your family?

My first name is a biblical name. Pretty common 50 years ago but not a john, david, paul etc.. I'd say it was probably in the top 15 boy's names in the 70's. My 2nd name is french so pretty uncommon here, though obviously common in france. As an unscientific survey, there are 6 of me round the world on facebook, though a fair few more have the french spelling of my first name

One thing is a doppelgänger, the other thing is he got your name as well. That's an incredible coincidence.

Go visit the address of his employer. When he exit his employer walk next to him and see if he take notice. Even better, get some clothes that looks like what he got on the profile photo.

Lol! I was thinking of being a bit more subtle rather than full-on stalker mode. Although if we do appear that alike to others (the picture is a headshot, he could be a dwarf or missing an arm for all i know) you could have a ball messing with him. Go round his neighbours house and intently stare through their windows; find out who his friends are and then pretend you are him while speaking in a (presumably) different voice and accent. the possibilites are endless!

Actually when you think about it, sharing the same name and looking alike is probably less of a coincidence. my guess sometime in the last century there was some family divergence, and the gene lottery has thrown out two people with similar facial characteristics from our shared ancestors. Either that or we're twins seperated at birth in a evil genetic experiment

 

[sherbetbizarre]

My best friend in middle school had a doppelganger, and what freaks her out is the fact that she saw the entity jump in the top floor of our school.

Ooh, any more details you can give us?

 

[Swifty]

My first name is a biblical name. Pretty common 50 years ago but not a john, david, paul etc.. I'd say it was probably in the top 15 boy's names in the 70's. My 2nd name is french so pretty uncommon here, though obviously common in france. As an unscientific survey, there are 6 of me round the world on facebook, though a fair few more have the french spelling of my first name




Lol! I was thinking of being a bit more subtle rather than full-on stalker mode. Although if we do appear that alike to others (the picture is a headshot, he could be a dwarf or missing an arm for all i know) you could have a ball messing with him. Go round his neighbours house and intently stare through their windows; find out who his friends are and then pretend you are him while speaking in a (presumably) different voice and accent. the possibilites are endless!

Actually when you think about it, sharing the same name and looking alike is probably less of a coincidence. my guess sometime in the last century there was some family divergence, and the gene lottery has thrown out two people with similar facial characteristics from our shared ancestors. Either that or we're twins seperated at birth in a evil genetic experiment

I didn't know there's a caspergriswoldbacon in the Bible ? ..

 

[EnolaGaia]

My first name is a biblical name. Pretty common 50 years ago but not a john, david, paul etc.. I'd say it was probably in the top 15 boy's names in the 70's. My 2nd name is french so pretty uncommon here, though obviously common in france. As an unscientific survey, there are 6 of me round the world on facebook, though a fair few more have the french spelling of my first name ...

Thanks for the additional information.

Although if we do appear that alike to others ...

This touches on what was going to be my next question - do others agree there's a striking resemblance between his photo and you? There's a lot of variation in how precisely one versus another person perceives and / or attributes facial resemblances. There's also a lot of variation in how precise one's own self-image may be.

I'd strongly recommend you get others' opinions (if you haven't done so already ... ).

Actually when you think about it, sharing the same name and looking alike is probably less of a coincidence. my guess sometime in the last century there was some family divergence, and the gene lottery has thrown out two people with similar facial characteristics from our shared ancestors. Either that or we're twins seperated at birth in a evil genetic experiment

There's always the outside chance he is, in fact, a previously unknown cousin. Having an unknown twin is an overworked trope in films and TV dramas, but it can actually happen. If others confirm a striking resemblance to go with the identical name, I'd suggest contacting him.

If you think about it, you have a reasonable rationale for contacting him. Mistaken identities aren't uncommon, and misidentification can lead to serious hassles. It might prove useful for both of you to know there's a similar looking guy with the same name within an hour's drive.

 

[blessmycottonsocks]

Enzo Ferrari, died 1988:





Mesut Özil, born 1988:

 

[JamesWhitehead]

the inordinate number of Kylie's walking the street today

Kylie has pretty much dried up as a name of choice for sprogs; I have not taught one for years. Likewise, all those Jades are now out in the world, trying to live the name down. Thanks, Mum!

In years to come, in Twilight Homes, calling out either will have half the room turning, the Ethels and Ediths of their day! :wide:

 

[catseye]

Yes, all the Kylie's are in their twenties and thirties now. You can't move for wading through Scarletts at the moment.

 

[living-in-ithilien]

Weird!

I once saw a guy in his mid forties who kinda smiled at me. He looked like an older version of myself and although I can't be certain it WAS an older version of myself - I wonder if I'll see a younger version of me when I'm older...?

i know you're gone from this board probably. but this is the best thing I ever read on forteantimes

 

[Swifty]

Enzo Ferrari, died 1988:

View attachment 12264



Mesut Özil, born 1988:

View attachment 12265

That's uncanny.

 

[blessmycottonsocks]

That's uncanny.

That's what I thought.
It was doing the rounds on Pinterest amidst some rather lurid claims of reincarnation.
The fact that the Turkish/German footballer was born just a short while after the Italian racing driver died and that, in photos of them around the same age, they could pass for twin brothers, certainly adds to the woo factor.

 

[catseye]

I guess there's only a certain number of facial types possible - and a lot is down to hairstyle. If you imagine one of them with a shaved head, the resemblence is a lot less marked.

I deal with many many people on a daily basis, and see quite a few that could be related but aren't. Well, probably aren't. This is a rural area, after all...

 

[Schrodinger's Zebra]

Several weeks ago Mr Zebra and I had occasion to be staying for one night at a B&B / guest house. Nothing remarkable happened until we were checking out, when the couple we'd briefly spoken to at breakfast came out to the car park having also checked out, and the man remarked to us that "I've just seen your brother and sister upstairs" and went on to explain that he'd seen another couple at the establishment, who apparently looked exactly like us.

Unfortunately time was pressing (we had an appointment to get to) so we couldn't hang around to see this other couple for ourselves, but it was quite bizarre to think of this double doppelganger scenario.

For clarification I should note that we were staying in a downstairs room and had no cause to go upstairs so it was impossible for the man to have mistakenly seen us, not to mention that we'd been packing up the car and dogs for some minutes before the man had appeared and told us the tale, which gave us the impression that the alternative Mr & Mrs Zebra had been seen upstairs at the same time as we'd been out in the car park.

 

[Swifty]

Several weeks ago Mr Zebra and I had occasion to be staying for one night at a B&B / guest house. Nothing remarkable happened until we were checking out, when the couple we'd briefly spoken to at breakfast came out to the car park having also checked out, and the man remarked to us that "I've just seen your brother and sister upstairs" and went on to explain that he'd seen another couple at the establishment, who apparently looked exactly like us.

Unfortunately time was pressing (we had an appointment to get to) so we couldn't hang around to see this other couple for ourselves, but it was quite bizarre to think of this double doppelganger scenario.

For clarification I should note that we were staying in a downstairs room and had no cause to go upstairs so it was impossible for the man to have mistakenly seen us, not to mention that we'd been packing up the car and dogs for some minutes before the man had appeared and told us the tale, which gave us the impression that the alternative Mr & Mrs Zebra had been seen upstairs at the same time as we'd been out in the car park.

I don't mean to be a killjoy but no chance that he was just trying to be funny? .. my old boss says that to me when I go in his shop if he's seen me earlier in the day: "I saw your brother in town earlier" .. "Oh, you mean the good looking one?" .. etc ..

 

[Schrodinger's Zebra]

I don't mean to be a killjoy but no chance that he was just trying to be funny? .. my old boss says that to me when I go in his shop if he's seen me earlier in the day: "I saw your brother in town earlier" .. "Oh, you mean the good looking one?" .. etc ..

The chap who spoke to us didn't really seem the joking type; friendly, yes, but as we'd only exchanged a few words at breakfast (him and his wife initiating the conversation and doing most of the talking, as we aren't social like that), would it not have been strange for him to suddenly make a joke to us later?

I will admit to not always understanding the nuances of social interactions, so maybe it was a joke and neither of us realised, but the situation just didn't come across like that. The man made a big effort to come over and mention it to us when really he needn't have even spoken at all at that point as we were busy with the car and dogs.

I have just posed your question to Mr Zebra but he feels the same as me; the chap acted as if he'd genuinely seen this other couple, and neither of us think he was joking.


And Swifty, I don't think you could ever be a killjoy.

 

[Swifty]

I've been approached by strangers twice when I was in my 20's, one thought I was Dennis Berkamp the footballer and tried to convince me to prank their mates and the other one though I was Jorg Buttgeriet the film director (I ended up becoming good mates with him because I actually new who he was on about) ..

Jorg Buttgereit

An old friend once had a weird double doppelganger experience though .. he lived on the outskirts of Tamworth and told me the tale of the night him and another mate of his decided to drop acid and walk down the hill into Tamworth town centre. As they were walking down the hill, my mate spotted a taxi drive past slowly and saw himself and his friend in the taxi looking at them as it went past. He told me that before he could say anything to his friend beside him, his friend said something along the lines of: his friend "Did you just see that?" .. my mate: "Yeah" .. his friend: "That was us in that taxi!?" .. normally you'd put that down to a hallucination caused by the acid but for them both to see it and not to verbally 'lead' each other via the sequence of the conversation afterwards? .. weird.

 

[Schrodinger's Zebra]

I've been approached by strangers twice when I was in my 20's, one thought I was Dennis Berkamp the footballer and tried to convince to prank their mates and the other one though I was Jorg Butgeriet the film director (I ended up becoming good mates with him because I actually new who he was on about) ..

An old friend once had a weird double doppelganger experience though .. he lived on the outskirts of Tamworth and told me the tale of the night him and another mate of his decided to drop acid and walk down the hill into Tamworth town centre. As they were walking down the hill, my mate spotted a taxi drive past slowly and saw himself and his friend in the taxi looking at them as it went past. He told me that before he could say anything to his friend beside him, his friend said something along the lines of: his friend "Did you just see that?" .. my mate: "Yeah" .. his friend: "That was us in that taxi!?" .. normally you'd put that down to a hallucination caused by the acid but for them both to see it and not to verbally 'lead' each other via the sequence of the conversation afterwards? .. weird.

I wonder if your mate and his friend might have intended to take a taxi that night but decided to walk instead?

Meanwhile in the taxi, your mate and his friend from their timeline were surprised to see themselves walking into town, as they'd discussed walking but in the end had decided to get a taxi instead.

 

[Swifty]

I wonder if your mate and his friend might have intended to take a taxi that night but decided to walk instead?

Meanwhile in the taxi, your mate and his friend from their timeline were surprised to see themselves walking into town, as they'd discussed walking but in the end had decided to get a taxi instead.

He told me that the taxi was going up the hill so was taking 'them' back home as they were walking down the hill ..

 

[Mythopoeika]

Maybe taking the acid caused a fork in the timeline?

 

[Schrodinger's Zebra]

He told me that the taxi was going up the hill so was taking 'them' back home as they were walking down the hill ..

The alternate ones were more organised and had gone into town earlier

 

[Swifty]

Maybe taking the acid caused a fork in the timeline?

He told me they both had a bit of an identity crisis afterwards wondering if they were the copies and the ones in the taxi were the real them *twilight zone music*

 

[Ulalume]

Since this interation of the forum is about to go, I might as well share this here. (I'm copying some parts of this from my blog, with changes for clarity.)

If you've read my posts for any length of time, you'll know that my brother seems to attract all sorts of weirdness. His vardoger appears fairly frequently. It's long been a family joke. However, the thing that happened this summer was startling even by those standards.

It was about 6 PM on the 21 of June. It was getting toward evening but the sun was still up and the light was good. My brother had just parked his truck in the driveway and was walking toward the carport, a distance of appx. 15-20 feet. I noticed someone walking behind him.

​

I was standing on the lawn maybe 40 feet away, wondering who was following. For a moment I thought it might have been my elder son, but that didn't seem right. They have a similar build, but a different walk, and besides, the following figure was dressed like my brother. I blinked. Could I be seeing double? But my vision was otherwise fine, and what's more, the follower was moving at a different speed. That's when things get weird.​

My brother was walking the way he normally does, but the figure behind him was trailing much slower. Indeed, I was put in mind of frames of a film being cranked slowly through a projector, with the following figure seeming to fade out just toward the end of the frame before appearing in the next. It was very, very odd. I watched their progress into the carport, then had to go think it over. Despite the jokes about my brother bi-locating, I'd never seen anything like this before, let alone his Doppelganger appearing in the same place at the same time.

What to make of this? Well, there is a medical condition that can make things appear as if in slow motion, but as far as I can tell, it doesn't isolate one object, nor does it come and go in an instant. Not very likely the explanation in this case. No more likely than an honest-to-goodness Doppelganger, in my opinion.

To see one's Doppelganger is a bad sign. To see it following your footsteps is even worse. I decided to say nothing to my brother - no sense in alarming him if it did turn out to be some quirk of my vision.
Early the next morning, though, he had a strange story to tell

About 5 AM, he was awoken by someone opening the door to his trailer and motioning to him to come with them. He thought it must be one of us, but it was dark and he couldn't see well. He told the person he'd be a minute, got dressed and came into the house. But we were all asleep. It was none of us who'd done it.
...

My brother's health was fine at the time I saw the apparent Doppelganger, but in early October he suddenly fell ill and was rushed to the hospital and put on life support. After multiple surgeries he has survived, but frankly is not doing well.

I did stick to my pledge not to mention the Doppelganger to him and I don't know if it could even be considered a bad omen after 3-4 months had passed. But still, I think about it a lot. I might have just dismissed it as some quirky hallucination if it hadn't been for the person at my brother's door that night.

Oh well. That's the story. Make of it what you will in the time the forum has left.

 

[hunck]

That's a pretty freaky story.

 

[Ulalume]

That's a pretty freaky story.

If you mean mine, than I agree! The thing that puzzles me most is the way the figure would fade out and reappear, as well as the lag in speed - it just looked really odd, in a way that reminded me of the stories of UFO and ghost lights moving strangely. I don't know if any of those things are related, but it didn't look normal in any case.

 

[Crankyoldgit62]

Hope your brother gets well soon, Ulalume

 

[escargot]

Since this interation of the forum is about to go, I might as well share this here. (I'm copying some parts of this from my blog, with changes for clarity.)

If you've read my posts for any length of time, you'll know that my brother seems to attract all sorts of weirdness. His vardoger appears fairly frequently. It's long been a family joke. However, the thing that happened this summer was startling even by those standards.

It was about 6 PM on the 21 of June. It was getting toward evening but the sun was still up and the light was good. My brother had just parked his truck in the driveway and was walking toward the carport, a distance of appx. 15-20 feet. I noticed someone walking behind him.

I was standing on the lawn maybe 40 feet away, wondering who was following. For a moment I thought it might have been my elder son, but that didn't seem right. They have a similar build, but a different walk, and besides, the following figure was dressed like my brother. I blinked. Could I be seeing double? But my vision was otherwise fine, and what's more, the follower was moving at a different speed. That's when things get weird.​

My brother was walking the way he normally does, but the figure behind him was trailing much slower. Indeed, I was put in mind of frames of a film being cranked slowly through a projector, with the following figure seeming to fade out just toward the end of the frame before appearing in the next. It was very, very odd. I watched their progress into the carport, then had to go think it over. Despite the jokes about my brother bi-locating, I'd never seen anything like this before, let alone his Doppelganger appearing in the same place at the same time.

What to make of this? Well, there is a medical condition that can make things appear as if in slow motion, but as far as I can tell, it doesn't isolate one object, nor does it come and go in an instant. Not very likely the explanation in this case. No more likely than an honest-to-goodness Doppelganger, in my opinion.

To see one's Doppelganger is a bad sign. To see it following your footsteps is even worse. I decided to say nothing to my brother - no sense in alarming him if it did turn out to be some quirk of my vision.
Early the next morning, though, he had a strange story to tell

About 5 AM, he was awoken by someone opening the door to his trailer and motioning to him to come with them. He thought it must be one of us, but it was dark and he couldn't see well. He told the person he'd be a minute, got dressed and came into the house. But we were all asleep. It was none of us who'd done it.
...

My brother's health was fine at the time I saw the apparent Doppelganger, but in early October he suddenly fell ill and was rushed to the hospital and put on life support. After multiple surgeries he has survived, but frankly is not doing well.

I did stick to my pledge not to mention the Doppelganger to him and I don't know if it could even be considered a bad omen after 3-4 months had passed. But still, I think about it a lot. I might have just dismissed it as some quirky hallucination if it hadn't been for the person at my brother's door that night.

Oh well. That's the story. Make of it what you will in the time the forum has left.

How strange. You're right not to mention the Doppelganger to your brother. It might be too weird for him to take in, with his health being poor.

I do hope things improve for him.

 

[Schrodinger's Zebra]

Since this interation of the forum is about to go, I might as well share this here. (I'm copying some parts of this from my blog, with changes for clarity.)

If you've read my posts for any length of time, you'll know that my brother seems to attract all sorts of weirdness. His vardoger appears fairly frequently. It's long been a family joke. However, the thing that happened this summer was startling even by those standards.

It was about 6 PM on the 21 of June. It was getting toward evening but the sun was still up and the light was good. My brother had just parked his truck in the driveway and was walking toward the carport, a distance of appx. 15-20 feet. I noticed someone walking behind him.

I was standing on the lawn maybe 40 feet away, wondering who was following. For a moment I thought it might have been my elder son, but that didn't seem right. They have a similar build, but a different walk, and besides, the following figure was dressed like my brother. I blinked. Could I be seeing double? But my vision was otherwise fine, and what's more, the follower was moving at a different speed. That's when things get weird.​

My brother was walking the way he normally does, but the figure behind him was trailing much slower. Indeed, I was put in mind of frames of a film being cranked slowly through a projector, with the following figure seeming to fade out just toward the end of the frame before appearing in the next. It was very, very odd. I watched their progress into the carport, then had to go think it over. Despite the jokes about my brother bi-locating, I'd never seen anything like this before, let alone his Doppelganger appearing in the same place at the same time.

What to make of this? Well, there is a medical condition that can make things appear as if in slow motion, but as far as I can tell, it doesn't isolate one object, nor does it come and go in an instant. Not very likely the explanation in this case. No more likely than an honest-to-goodness Doppelganger, in my opinion.

To see one's Doppelganger is a bad sign. To see it following your footsteps is even worse. I decided to say nothing to my brother - no sense in alarming him if it did turn out to be some quirk of my vision.
Early the next morning, though, he had a strange story to tell

About 5 AM, he was awoken by someone opening the door to his trailer and motioning to him to come with them. He thought it must be one of us, but it was dark and he couldn't see well. He told the person he'd be a minute, got dressed and came into the house. But we were all asleep. It was none of us who'd done it.
...

My brother's health was fine at the time I saw the apparent Doppelganger, but in early October he suddenly fell ill and was rushed to the hospital and put on life support. After multiple surgeries he has survived, but frankly is not doing well.

I did stick to my pledge not to mention the Doppelganger to him and I don't know if it could even be considered a bad omen after 3-4 months had passed. But still, I think about it a lot. I might have just dismissed it as some quirky hallucination if it hadn't been for the person at my brother's door that night.

Oh well. That's the story. Make of it what you will in the time the forum has left.

First of all, I'm sorry to hear that your brother is not doing well health-wise; you and he are now in my thoughts and I hope he can make a recovery.

Second of all, hello, I don't think we've met on here although I've read (and enjoyed) many of your posts when I was in lurker-mode, you always have such interesting things to tell us.

Third of all, the crux of your story. It is very odd indeed. I know of the medical condition you mentioned (I've read about it in a book somewhere) and like you said, it wouldn't cause an isolated object (in this case, a person) to appear differently than the surroundings. Everything you see would be affected in the same way.

So as this seems like a real oddity, I have questions:

Forgive me if I'm not understanding correctly, but when you say the follower was moving more slowly and fading in and out like in the frame of a film, was he actually fading out and then 'jumping' forward in space and appearing again? (Not actually jumping, but... would he fade out then reappear some distance further ahead than before?)

Also when you first saw the follower, did you see where he came from? (Followed you brother out of the truck, appeared from behind the truck, appeared out of nowhere, etc?)

As for the person at your brother's door, did your brother go on to say what happened when he went outside? (I understand this possibly isn't something you're able to ask him now) - but had the stranger vanished? Was there anything to see?

Logical mundane explanations could be something like a stalker / other criminal type but that wouldn't explain the strange look of the follower you saw.

Most bizarre.

 

[Ulalume]

How strange. You're right not to mention the Doppelganger to your brother. It might be too weird for him to take in, with his health being poor.

I do hope things improve for him.

I don't know about too weird, as he's been doing nothing but watching Ancient Aliens since he regained consciousness but too frightening, yes. No one wants to hear someone's seen a bad omen, no matter how good their health might be at the moment! I worried it might cause some sort of self-fulfilling prophecy and also, knowing my brother, wouldn't have changed how he took care of his health anyway. Now that his heart is so weak, I wouldn't dare.

I'll pass your good wishes on to him.

First of all, I'm sorry to hear that your brother is not doing well health-wise; you and he are now in my thoughts and I hope he can make a recovery.

Second of all, hello, I don't think we've met on here although I've read (and enjoyed) many of your posts when I was in lurker-mode, you always have such interesting things to tell us.

Third of all, the crux of your story. It is very odd indeed. I know of the medical condition you mentioned (I've read about it in a book somewhere) and like you said, it wouldn't cause an isolated object (in this case, a person) to appear differently than the surroundings. Everything you see would be affected in the same way.

So as this seems like a real oddity, I have questions:

Forgive me if I'm not understanding correctly, but when you say the follower was moving more slowly and fading in and out like in the frame of a film, was he actually fading out and then 'jumping' forward in space and appearing again? (Not actually jumping, but... would he fade out then reappear some distance further ahead than before?)

Also when you first saw the follower, did you see where he came from? (Followed you brother out of the truck, appeared from behind the truck, appeared out of nowhere, etc?)

As for the person at your brother's door, did your brother go on to say what happened when he went outside? (I understand this possibly isn't something you're able to ask him now) - but had the stranger vanished? Was there anything to see?

Logical mundane explanations could be something like a stalker / other criminal type but that wouldn't explain the strange look of the follower you saw.

Most bizarre.

Hi, S.Z. (if I may call you that for the moment) Nice to meet you.

Yes, there was the sort of 'jumping" forward in space as you describe. It really was like watching a slow fade-out on film, then the frame being repeated just a short distance ahead.

I didn't exactly see where the follower came from, only that when I saw my brother walking, there was someone a few steps behind him. The distance between the two gradually increased as the follower lagged.

According to my brother the day after the mysterious visitor (because of course I questioned him), he did not hear a knock, just heard the door open and saw the dark shape of a person motioning to him to come outside. He couldn't make out any features, he only thought the person seemed smallish, so he assumed it was a female figure.

His impression was that the person needed him to come into the house because something was wrong, that's why they were so quiet.

It was most likely a very realistic dream, but considering what I'd seen (and hadn't breathed a word about at that point) it seemed especially eerie.

ETA - forgot to mention - there was no one around when he stepped outside his trailer, but he assumed whoever it was (presumably being another family member) had gone into the house to wait for him.

 

[Schrodinger's Zebra]

Hi, S.Z. (if I may call you that for the moment) Nice to meet you.

Yes, there was the sort of 'jumping" forward in space as you describe. It really was like watching a slow fade-out on film, then the frame being repeated just a short distance ahead.

I didn't exactly see where the follower came from, only that when I saw my brother walking, there was someone a few steps behind him. The distance between the two gradually increased as the follower lagged.

According to my brother the day after the mysterious visitor (because of course I questioned him), he did not hear a knock, just heard the door open and saw the dark shape of a person motioning to him to come outside. He couldn't make out any features, he only thought the person seemed smallish, so he assumed it was a female figure.

His impression was that the person needed him to come into the house because something was wrong, that's why they were so quiet.

It was most likely a very realistic dream, but considering what I'd seen (and hadn't breathed a word about at that point) it seemed especially eerie.

ETA - forgot to mention - there was no one around when he stepped outside his trailer, but he assumed whoever it was (presumably being another family member) had gone into the house to wait for him.

You may call me S.Z. or Zebs

The whole event is definitely quite strange, I don't know enough to say whether it is related to your brother's illness or not, though. The 'jumping' ahead in time seems to me like a replay, of sorts. Like, not an actual physical person there, just... a recording, if you will.