Coincidences are truly strange things to experience firsthand. This remarkable concurrence of events or circumstances, which have no plausible connection with each other, can be intuitively mind-boggling. While everyone is familiar with this strange phenomenon, some people have managed to capture it on camera.
Most photographers elaborately plan their pictures and will go to great lengths to get the perfect shot, but these snap-happy folks managed to capture some incredible by-chance photos.
Whether it’s incidental timing, perspective or placement, these photos are the result of pure coincidence. Here are 24 fortuitous pictures that happened by complete fluke.
1. Newborn photographer, Cassie Clayshulte, was taking photos of babies at the Coastal Carolina Hospital when she noticed a coincidence worthy of a snap. Two babies, which were born within just 24 hours short of each other from separate parents, were placed together after being born. That’s when Clayshulte noticed the names of the babies. Just like Shakespeare’s famous star-crossed lovers, the babies were named Romeo and Juliet and just so happened to be placed beside each other.
2. Before Netflix took over the world of streaming and put the final nail in the coffin of video rental stores, the service ran by renting out DVDs to customers via mail. Naturally, the delivery process of snail mail would result in some recipients having their movies come in scratched or in rough condition. However, this person found that their DVD had been actually broken in transit. Coincidentally, the film that they were renting was called Unbreakable.
3. Death via nail biting is not a headline you read very often, but the fact that the woman sitting beside this boldly printed newspaper is also unknowingly biting her nails makes this chance shot all the more comical. Let’s just hope that this woman had a more fortunate outcome than the person in the cover story.
4. Underwater photography is no easy feat and due to the unpredictability of being submerged, the result rarely turns out as the photographer had mentally planned. However, this coincidental snap turned out hilariously due to the timing of this curious fish. These two couldn’t recreate this photo if they tried.
5. Bird photography is pretty difficult within the confines of a building, but this man managed to get one full frontal, close-up picture of a golden eagle perched ever so curiously on a ledge outside of his office window. To make things even more coincidental, the photographer’s reflection can be seen taking the photo in the reflection being created by the bird’s body.
Reddit /u/ Mannos_Hands_of_Fate
6. Taking a picture of anyone falling while water skiing is bound to be a worthwhile photo, but the chance timing of this snap almost feels like it was planned. Rarely is a water-skier so composed and photo-ready before becoming submerged, and somehow, the picture managed to be taken in the mere milliseconds before his fall disrupts his mirroring reflection in the water below.
7. Everyone knows that they have a better chance of being struck by lightning than winning the lottery, but still, people hopefully select their numbers and hope for the best. This person managed to choose just one number off of each of the winning numbers, which is impressive in its improbability, but unfortunately won’t win you anything.
8. There’s nothing more ominous than arriving at your local blood bank to see a car parked outside with the license plate “Vampyr.” Let’s just hope this guy is there to actually donate and isn’t feeling particularly parched. However, if this person is just an employee with a dark sense of humor then they deserve a raise.
9. Rainbows aren’t the rarest of phenomena and chances are, there’s been more than one that has been visible in the radius of this grocery store. However, a rainbow’s arch forming parallel to a store front’s arch that just so happens to be called “Rainbow”? Now that is quite the adventitious spectacle.
Good Company Apparel
10. It does not take long before school desks and chairs lose their pristine newness and fall victim to sabotage by unruly students. The addition of an ice cream cone on the back of this chair is wildly wholesome compared to most vandalistic creative endeavors, but this kid could have never predicted his t-shirt would add to the story.
11. The bunny ears have plagued photos long before the trend of photobombing became hard to avoid. This brother probably thought that he slyly maneuvered a pair of bunny ears over his sibling’s head for future realization, but little did he know, the donkey behind him was up to the same game.
12. Attempting to get a picture of the water mid-splash over this beached rock is already incredibly difficult to time. However, this photographer not only managed to capture the water strikingly encompassing the rock, they just so happened to catch the sea foam resembling the rock formation in the background.
13. You have to wonder just how many people noticed these two trucks from different companies riding parallel to create the name of one of the biggest pop stars of today. Was this just a fluke or is it an incredibly elaborate subliminal marketing strategy for her new album? You can never really be too sure.
14. All newlyweds want that one special photo from their big day that they can cherish and one day show their children. However, this couple got one coincidental snap that they couldn’t recreate even if they tried. The timing and reflection make it look like this bride is kissing a shark on the side.
Reddit /u/ Ragsboy15. One can only imagine that the person who took this photo had a hard time not bursting into laughter once they saw this comical perspective of a commuter adorned with an evil LEGO head. However, if they were to show him the resulting picture, it’s safe to say that he’d probably understand.
16. The person who curated the movie double bill for STZCw probably did not take into consideration how the two film titles would read side by side as the first one is ending. At first glance, this viewer probably thought they somehow traveled into the adult section of their TV listings.
17. Most of the time, when you take a picture of two horses, it looks like a picture of two horses. However, the perspective of this shot makes it look like one Russian nesting doll of a horse was auditioning for the next Alien film. Something tells us this was not the photographer’s intention.
18. Rarely does your restaurant’s sign’s lights going out work so well. Usually, a defunct light will result in prompt action by the business owner to make sure it doesn’t deter any potential customers. However, whoever is in charge at Dolores could procrastinate on that task for a good while.
19. Sometimes all it can take is hearing a tidbit in a grocery store or a stranger humming along the street to get a song stuck in your head for the rest of the day. This person, however, was reminded of MC Hammer’s signature song U Can’t Touch This just by being in the right place at the right time.
20. This is the type of headline that can’t really go without the visual being shown here. “Man found dead in cemetery”? Well, chances are, you probably can’t find a cemetery that doesn’t have a dead man in it. However, a man actually dying in a cemetery? Now that’s not your everyday news.
21. Clearly, this stock image of a woman pondering a thought is not exclusive to any company in particular. You can only imagine the “wait a second” moment this reader had when they did a double take from the magazine back to the poster in front of them. Who knew this picture could be so versatile?
22. It’s easy to get a present for someone when you know them well enough to know exactly what they wear, but this also makes the chances of them having that item already fairly high. However, to gift them a shirt that they are wearing when they open it? Now that’s a coincidence.
23. Birds are pretty timid creatures around humans so getting one to land on the book you’re reading is quite a rare occurrence. However, a bird landing on a book about birds? That’s unlikely on a whole other level. Did this bird recognize its fellow species on the pages or was it just pure chance?
24. Colleges do their best to arrange roommates with similar tastes and living styles, but looking nearly identical? That is matchmaking at its finest. They may not think they are related, but anyone familiar with The Parent Trap knows that a moment of realization is just a torn picture away.
