“Of course life is bizarre, the more bizarre it gets, the more interesting it is. The only way to approach it is to make yourself some popcorn and enjoy the show.”―David Gerrold.
“Strange things are mind-opener because when we see something strange we immediately start thinking! Anything bizarre activates your brain; anything usual makes you sleep!”―Mehmet Murat ildan.
Life is bizarre, and it has its bizarre moments. At this point, most of us are used to it. How can it not be, we are a rare life form living on a rock seemingly floating in nothingness? So, naturally, accepting the bizarre nature of life is a big part of living, but that doesn’t mean we aren’t often caught off guard. But that is a good thing, because it is often the bizarre, utterly strange things in life with wake us up and force us to pay attention. Here are some of the most bizarre things that people have experienced and then decided to share with the world on Reddit.
42. The Thornberry
I just plugged in my new hard drive for the first time. I bought it yesterday. It's a 2TB Western Digital. I plugged it in and my computer informed me that the drive contains 20GB of Nigel Thornberry memes. 126,000 images. I don't know what the heck to do.
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40. He Knew The Truth!
I was at the bus stop, when an old man walking by stops, looks at me, and says: "You like the naughty stuff, don't ya?" and leaves.
I'm a guy.
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38. Splitting Life in Two
I'm not sure if it would be bizarre from an outsider’s perspective, but it is an odd occurrence just the same.
When I was 17, I had a random sit down conversation with some guys that shaped the rest of my life. My friend and I were taking a shortcut through the park on our way home at dusk when we passed these two guys sitting on bleachers at an old baseball park. We smelled what they were smoking and I think it was my friend that made a joke. Next thing you know, they invite us to sit down and partake and we get to talking while smoking.
The conversation was different right off the get-go. These guys were quite a bit older than us (mid-30s maybe) and a lot more worn from the tear of life. I wasn't used to deep philosophical conversations at the time, mostly just being a dumb kid doing things for the heck of it. So for the first bit I just sat back and observed. They got to asking about my life and whatnot and I got to telling them about my dead-end job and my dead-end education and my dead-end relationship. Looking back on it, maybe it was because it was the first time I actually had a talk with someone about how things were going and didn't feel like they responses were forced, such as those that come from overbearing parents or teachers.
Sometimes people ask the question, "When did your life change?" And I can honestly say that my life has been split up into two halves; before that day and after. I made some rash decisions as a result of that convo that at the time was rushed and silly but in the long run shaped me. I broke up with my girlfriend the same week, started looking into colleges that month, and moved to a different country within two months.
I suppose it isn't so bizarre, but looking back on it, it seems almost like someone took off the autopilot in my life and gave me the steering wheel. It was just a normal conversation between four guys, but something clicked and made me realize that my life wasn't just something that happened, but rather something that was to be made.
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37. The Moment His Life Changed
I used to be involved in the whole gangs, guns, and drugs thing. I grew up in the worst of neighborhoods—my first day of school, I left my building to see a woman "sleeping" in the grass next to it with a spoon, Kleenex and hypodermic needle right there on the sidewalk—and fell into the wrong crowd.
I was always the type to be into books and thinking and even in doing wrong, I'd think things through and find a way to do it that caused the least chance of failure.
Leaving my building one day to grab a package off my connect a few complexes behind mine, I get stopped by some older (mid-30s) African guy wearing an Islamic headcover. He told me he never met me but knows me well—he told me that although I'm not physically the biggest, I'm the tallest he's seen. He went into the need to change my life and the existence of God. His example, I'll never forget. He said "We all neglect God until we need to recognize him. If I punch you in the nose you're gonna grab it and say "Oh god!"”. He told me how what I do is hurting the soul of the community and that I am meant for more than this. He told me he knew my hurt, he knew what I came from and am up against and not to worry. I will prevail.
It was a good hour, plus that he stopped and talked to me and although I was some young dude thinking "Whatever, it's bout the money," something stuck.
Anyway, I end the convo and go to the place I was supposed to go to lick up and see the emergency task force and a bunch of cops and dogs around the complex. I start asking what happened and the connect I was supposed to see just got booked!
Had that man not stopped me, I would've been in that house right then. That and I never would have had the perspective that made me who I am now.
I think about that conversation in full at least once a week. That man saved everything about me, much less my life.
36. Saving The Trip With Ice Cubes
One time in high school, a bunch of friends and I took a mind-altering substance together. We were wandering around my friend's apartment complex, and when we got to the other side of it, the strangest thing happened.
An unattended little girl—looked like a fourth grader—appeared with a Ziploc bag of ice. She was wearing raver beads and she offered each of us an ice cube. We all took one and thanked her for it. We all agreed that it was rather bizarre.
35. A Compliment is a Compliment
Was at a music festival, two drunk guys sprinted past me, one of them stopped, looked at me and said "Darn, you have beautiful nostrils" and ran off again. Most bizarre compliment I got to this day.
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34. As Creepy as it Gets
I stayed home from school one day because I was sick. I went in the kitchen to make a sandwich and I heard a sound coming from the living room. Go to see what it was, and it's a little toy car rolling from the "fancy living room" to the room I was previously sitting in, then it rolled around the coffee table, and crashed into the spot I was sitting at.
Also, my brother had passed away three months prior to this and after it happened I told my mom. She said the same thing happened to her too. So I'm sure it was related to him dying. Still very bizarre.
33. One-Upping The Flying Fish
Was driving from Ft. Worth to Austin, doing around 75mph, and ahead of me was a pickup hauling a trailer with a single cow in it. As I watch, the cow walks backward, hitting the back gate. The back gate swings open and the cow keeps walking backward, falling out of the trailer. It hits the road and bounces, spinning with its legs flopping around. It keeps bouncing and spinning, bouncing and spinning, legs still flopping. My thought process in order:
- That's a bizarre sight!
- Aww, that poor animal!
- Holy crap, IT'S COMING RIGHT AT ME!
I swerve and half a ton of ballistic bovine flies by missing my car by inches. The speeds and mass involved means if there was a direct hit the wreck would have been fatal.
So that's how I was nearly killed by a flying cow, which I think qualifies as "most bizarre."
32. Learning You're Pregnant
Oh god, when I was younger I was just standing downtown outside a diner. Some guy came up to me and yelled "YOU'RE PREGNANT. You are 100% pregnant and it's a boy!" and walked off.
Two weeks later I found out I was pregnant—and yes, it was a boy. Always thought that was a bit bizarre.
31. A Streetcar Named Bizarre
I was riding a streetcar home, in a window seat with an older lady sitting next to me. She was staring ahead and clutching her purse tightly the whole time. When we arrived at my stop, I mumbled "Excuse me" as is customary when you need to get out.
Not only did the lady not budge, she ignored me twice and kept staring at nothing. I tapped her shoulder, at which she finally looked at me and let out a shriek, then turned and looked forward again. I looked around helplessly and a couple of shrugging passengers made way for me to climb out of the seat backward. A bit odd, I'd say.
30. Teacher Vacation
I'm from Wisconsin. About 12 years ago my family went on vacation in San Francisco. As we cross the Golden Gate bridge, we see my fourth-grade teacher. We talk to her and her husband and go on our way. Three years later, we go to Hawaii and we see them again. It was weird.
29. Darn Good Chicken
Once, while driving down a main 45mph road in Sarasota, my mother and I spotted a young man hanging out of the passenger window of a truck in the next lane. The young man was eating a chicken strip and exclaiming how delicious it must have been. he kept making efforts to make eye contact, point at the chicken, hold up an "OK" gesture, and shake his head in pleasure.
Must have been a darn good chicken strip.
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28. (Not) Alone in the Bijou Theater
Someone tapped on my shoulder when I was completely alone the Bijou Theater in Knoxville, TN.
27. The Hamburger Creep
As a young teen at a swimming event I went to the break room to get some food. As I'm heating it up, someone places their hand on my right shoulder. I think it's my brother messing with me, and turn my head to the right. It was some strange man who had actually rested his chin right on my shoulder next to my head. He said, "Is that a hamburger?"
26. Hookup Surprise
I hooked up with this guy in high school and afterward he said, "Do you like juggling?" I think I mumbled some noncommittal answer and then he whipped out some pins and swords and juggled all of them extremely well while I sat there and questioned every decision I'd ever made in my life that lead me to that moment.
25. Space Is Lit
A meteorite, or some space-ly thing, slammed next to me when I was six years old. I was alone in the yard after dusk, and a bright twinkle in the sky caught my eye. A second later something whooshed into the ground about 20 feet away and flashed on impact. It left a burned, bare spot in the grass less than a foot in diameter. I immediately showed my parents who not only didn't believe me, but were a bit angry. It was at a time where I had been in trouble for playing with matches, and they thought I was covering my tracks from doing it once again.
24. That May Have Been Uncalled For
A couple weeks ago as I walked by a homeless man, he asked me in a really concerned tone, "You alright? You look like you ain't got a friend in the world."
I mean darn.
23. Dancing Life Away
One time when I was about 16, I was waiting at a lone bus stop. After some time of waiting, this car pulls up and out comes a fat guy who just starts dancing for a cool 15 seconds before taking off. Still wonder if he's out there dancing.
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22. The Chosen One
Some random guy at a gas station once gave me a pretty legit Green Lantern ring. I have a witness that can corroborate this story.
I was filling up when the guy walked over and asked if I had a few dollars or any spare change, I didn't so I told him no and he told me to have a good day then he started walking away.
I turn back to talk to one of my friends, who was in the car, and then I heard the guy say somewhat loudly "Hey buddy" so I turned and I saw him toss something and then heard it hit my door panel. I looked down and grabbed it and it was a Green Lantern ring.
21. Watching A Benny Hill Chase
I was in my friend's car and he was driving, we were on our way to a concert and I was looking at my phone, and he suddenly says, very matter-of-factly: "There's a... naked man coming towards us."
I look up, not really understanding his words, but sure enough, there was a naked man running down the street through traffic. Fit dude, looked early 30s, wearing sneakers—so okay, not totally naked. Jogging blissfully seemingly without a care in the world.
A couple of cop cars came roaring down the street and come to a stop. Some cops get out and try to talk to the dude, and he seems to be listening. He stops as one cop approaches him. Puts his hands up... and takes off again. Cop is pretty overweight, takes off after him, the whole thing becomes a Benny Hill routine.
Then the light turns green and we just keep driving. Turns out the dude was high. It actually made the national news, my parents saw it in the paper several states away.
20. Florida Woman
A buddy and I were waiting in a parking lot for another friend to come out when we see this older lady literally dragging a small dog along behind her by its leash. My friend calls to the woman to tell her that she's choking her dog, and when she turns and sees the poor thing, she exclaims "OOOOH!" as if she just discovered something exciting.
She continues walking, taking more care not to strangle her dog, and after about thirty seconds she turns to us and yells, "YOU GUYS FOUND MY DOG!" She then proceeded to buy drugs from a car further down in the parking lot. Florida's a weird place.
19. Did You Not Expect a Pun to Make an Appearance
I went to a Middle Eastern market. It was very bazaar.
18. Gangbanger Revenge
When I was 14, I was a little jerk gangbanger living on the outskirts of Gary. Me and my group of wannabes jumped this kid for an idiotic reason. We beat the heck out of him, horribly. I mean, broken bones, lacerated organs, glass shards in his eye, had to have a testicle removed. We messed him up. Bad.
Two years later I was living in a different world, a small farm town in the middle of nowhere. I'd changed, my life had changed, my whole world had changed. And one Saturday morning I'm woken up by someone shaking my shoulder and saying my name.
I open my eyes and who is sitting there, in my house in my small town 60 miles away from where I'd last left him laying in a field, was the dude we beat. In my darn house. In my darn bedroom. Staring at me with one cloudy eye and a wicked grin on his face.
And so he says to me, "Hey man, you got any weed?"
I told him no, he asked if I could find any, I told him no. Asked if I had a bowl he could scrape and smoke, I said no. Asked if I'd go on a walk with him to see if I spotted anyone I knew might have some. I told him no one I knew would be up at nine in the morning. Told him I was tired and going to go back to sleep so he nodded, gave me a look that spoke incredible volumes, and left my room.
Turns out he'd come to visit with my mom's boyfriend's little sister (who still lived in the area from where we'd moved) and almost surely planned on doing to me what I'd done to him.
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17. Iraqi Soccer-Mom Van
My story is from my first tour in Iraq. We were stationed not far from Baghdad at the time. Our sector had had some heavy activity a couple months earlier and as a result there was a 22:00 closing of checkpoints set at most in the area. No in, No out. This was followed at 24:00 by a strict off street curfew.
On this night we were "lucky" enough to have patrol duty instead of manning one of those points. At about 22:30 we have pulled to the side of the road to mount for awhile when a minivan slowly pulls up. An honest to god Astro Van style mini van. Iraq has vans. Vans of many makes and types. However, Iraq does not have Soccer Mom-mobiles. Weird but not too weird. Still cautious, could be anything. Probably just a local trapped on the wrong side of the C.P. trying to beg through.
However, next comes the driver. I move forward to try and puzzle out what he wants.
The driver asks in flawless American-accented English, "Hey are the roads closed ahead?" I had expected broken English begging me to help him through the VERY closed checkpoint ahead. The best I could stammer was something like "Ye-yeah" as eloquently as possible. His response, again in a perfect American accent, "Well, dang! Oh well. You have a good night now, catch you later buddy." I'm paraphrasing him but I distinctly remember him calling me buddy as he drove off. I remember because as I wondered about his car and the conversation I saw his license plate. It was from Florida.
To this day I don't know who that stranger was but I wonder if he wasn't just some guy who got really, really, lost and refused to ask for directions. Good luck to you, traveler. I hope you finally found your way home.
16. Black and White Convoy
A car drove past me and I still remember the look on the driver's face. It was a look of mirth mixed with a sense of foreboding. The car was black and white as was his clothing. His face was painted black and white and everything in that car was black and white. His passenger shared his duo chromatic color scheme and again her face was painted black and white, even her earrings were black and white. Just as I had realized this was no normal car I saw the second following close behind the first. The same black and white colors again, this time four people inside.
I would say in total about 10-14 cars passed me that day and everything from the cars, interiors, passengers and clothes were black and white. Every single person looked at me as they passed. I don't know why or where they were going but was before camera phones so don't have pictures. Think that would have spoiled the moment though.
14. Did He Come From a Land Down Under?
I was buying bread once from this guy in Brussels. He was easily 6'4" and full of muscle. I tried to ask if he spoke my language, but he just smiled and gave me a vegemite sandwich.
It was the oddest thing.
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13. Tree Branch Attack
It was the strangest thing that I’d ever seen. I was with a group of friends on St. Patrick's Day and I was the only one sober enough to get us home—we were walking since everyone was too drunk to drive. We came to an intersection and this guy in our group that I did not even know very well grabbed a fallen tree branch off of the ground, walked over to a car full of young girls that was stopped at a red light, opened the door, and just started hitting the passengers with the tree branch for no reason.
12. Traveling Doppelganger
I was traveling around the country on my motorcycle one summer. Stopped in Nashville and went to check into the hostel. I walked in the door the same time as another guy, he checked in then went to his room. Next I checked in and the front desk guy was super confused because he said he just checked me in. We were both very confused until he realized that the guy in front of me had the exact same name as me. I don't have a very common name either. We even ended up in the same bunk.
I talked to the guy for a while, super cool fellow, really reminded me of myself, he was just traveling around too. I still think about him from time to time.
11. The Girl with the Quilt
I used to live in a duplex.
I was/am good friends with my neighbors. We used to hang out in his side of the garage all the time, smoking joints and what not. Our side of the garage had a spotlight in it.
So, if I was in my room and it was late at night and the light turned on, that meant someone was headed out to the garage to smoke one. I always got up to see who it was (it was a popular spot).
Well, on this day I see the light and get up to check, and there's a little girl holding a quill in her hand, walking along the fence that separates our two yards, until she hits the house, and disappears.
I lost my mind and thought "Darn, I'm just messed up. that never happened."
The next day I'm talking to my neighbor about what I saw. he said that he saw the exact same thing, because when the light went off he got up and looked out his window to see who it was, and all he saw was a little girl with a quill, walk along the fence and into my house.
That was bizarre.
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10. Learning Why Jesus Hates You
I was waiting at the bus stop when an old toothless black guy walked up to me and handed me a piece of cardboard. Written in pencil on it was a story about how he was a deaf, homeless, and disabled vet and needed money. I literally never carry cash, so I handed it back and said "I'm sorry, I don't have any money."
He glared at me and said, "Jesus hates you, Satan!" and then stormed away.
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9. Surviving With Razor Sharp Wit
I was getting some smokes at a 7/11 near Virginia Beach, and a couple of hoodlum-looking guys come in and start asking me about my jacket. It was a nice leather Harley jacket my grandma gave me. I'm the honest sort, so when they asked where I got it I told them. They began teasing me about getting a jacket from my grandma, and one guy said I should give it to him as he flashed a gun. He was wearing one of those puffy vests, and my adrenaline rush made me real dumb, so I said, "why? Because yours lost its sleeves?" His friend began laughing super hard and started giving vest guy crap, and vest guy was trying to talk back at him... Somehow they forgot I was there and I beat a hasty retreat.
It was the only moment in my whole life where I actually did respond to such a situation with perfect cutting wit in real time, rather than later while taking a shower.
8. Surreal Birthday
Girl I work with has the same birthday as me, which is not strange really. What is strange is that her spouse and my spouse have the same birthday as well and even work in the same industry. Was seriously the most surreal conversation I've ever had.
7. Answering the Call
It was the summer after my next door neighbor/Uncle had died—to make a long story short he was shot and killed.) I was in the basement of my house playing some video games when I heard somebody that sounded like my uncle yelling my name. I yelled back "Be right there!", turned off the good ol' PS2, turned the TV off, and then ran upstairs to see what was going on.
Turns out I was home alone with the doors locked and curtains closed. Needless to say, I nope'd the heck outta there and went for a walk.
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6. Emotional Drawing
Probably not the most bizarre, but about three weeks ago, I was sitting on the train going home from work with my headphones on. A woman got on and sat directly across from me. After 10 minutes or so, she takes a little sketch pad and starts doing little drawings of the other passengers, and I'm watching because I've always found it relaxing to watch someone draw. She started drawing me.
At this point, Videotape by Radiohead started playing in my headphones. I'm watching this woman drawing me and I swear to God, I couldn't move, like I was in a trance or hypnotized or something. I physically couldn't move.
After 30 seconds or so, I started to tear up. I wasn't emotional, I wasn't feeling any kind of way, but my eyes started to well up. And then as quick as it all started, I just snapped out of it. I could move, I stopped 'crying' and it was like waking up. I have no idea what the heck happened.
5. Dialing Sean
Got a phone call from a voice I didn't recognize, an older woman who asked me how my son Sean was doing. My son's name is Sean so I thought she must be a distant relative I just can't place. We talked awkwardly for a minute about our lives, catching up on how my sister Sasha was doing in school and how my mother's surgery went. I mentioned my aunt and the woman became confused. Who? She asked a few more questions and it became clearly obvious we didn't know each other at all.
She had dialed a wrong number looking for her niece and happened to reach a person with the same name, with a son named Sean, a sister named Sasha that was in school and a mother who recently had surgery.
4. The Family Witnesses a UFO
The most bizarre thing that has happened to me happened when I was about 10 or 11 years old. Me, my mother, grandmother, her sister, and my three brothers were out in the mountains berry picking one summer. In one pickup truck is me, my mother, grandmother, and my little brother. My older brothers and my grandmother's sister were in the other, smaller pickup.
Well, we must have ran over a nail or sharp rock on our way home, because my mom's truck got a flat. We tried changing the tire, but the donut also happened to be flat, so we piled into the other truck. The three women were up in the cab of the pick-up and my brothers and I were in the bed of the pickup, all laying down watching the stars. We had about an hour drive ahead of us.
While driving down the road, we noticed that a star wasn't rotating with the other stars whenever we made a turn. It was as if the star was directly above us. It left us all perplexed. It wasn't blinking and it was pretty high up, so it couldn't be a helicopter or a plane. It wasn't a satellite. We were so confused.
After about 20 minutes, the "star' began to move across the sky, gradually getting faster until it ZOOMS into the sky really fast until we can't see it anymore. I should also say here that it didn't fade away into the horizon. It literally zoomed into the sky. Like one minute it was there and the next, it wasn't. After about a minute of stunned silence, my oldest brother sits up, looks at us wide-eyed, and says, "Did you all just see that thing?"
To this day, we don't have any explanation.
3. Getting the Rat Home
I was walking to my bus stop after work one day when a mentally disabled man ran up to me. He said his name was Ron and that he needed $0.50 for bus fare so that he could get his pet rat home and celebrate its birthday. He then opened a leather briefcase he was carrying and showed me that inside there was, in fact, a rat and a couple of rat toys.
I don't normally give money to panhandlers, but this guy seemed pretty legit. It was his rat's birthday. He needed to get home!
2. Calling From Beyond the Grave
My sister died in an auto accident years ago. Shortly after, I was at home for lunch on a work day, and the house phone rang. It was someone asking for my sis. I asked who was calling, since everyone we knew was aware of her passing, and he identifies himself as "Tom" (or whatever). I explained the situation, and the call ended.
A couple of days later, talking to sis's best friend and I mention the call. She tells me that "Tom" had also been killed in an auto accident weeks ago, so he couldn't have called. Was really creepy.
1. Rolling Away
I was around five or six and my Grandma would pick me up from school, then my older sister, and we'd all ride toward the city as part of a carpool so my sister could attend ballet classes. We'd stop at a McDonald's midway to the city and make the sister baton hand-off to her friend's car.
Well, one day, for whatever reason, I was the only one sitting in my grandma's car and I was in the passenger seat. The two of them were outside the car, not too far away, and I guess they were completing the human trafficking transaction. At this point, my childlike curiosity to understand how things work took hold. I decided to mess with the automatic gear shift, and I put the thing in either reverse or neutral. I'm not certain whether the car was running, but Nanny's never been the best driver and she was kind of new to it at the time anyway.
So, it's useful to note this particular McDonald's parking lot is situated on a pretty steep hill above a rather busy, high-speed limit street. The car proceeded to roll backward directly toward said street and I remember looking up confused and scared as my grandmother and sister looked on frozen in horror. I saw my life flash before my eyes, mostly Beanie Babies and K'nex-related memories at that point, but suddenly a suited man climbed in the car.
The next part is a little fuzzy, though I have confirmed the overall experience later in life to make sure it wasn't a dream. I'm not sure whether the car was running, but from my perspective, the man definitely put the car in gear and parked it back in the spot. The bizarre part is he didn't stick around, not for a thank you, nothing. Instead, he disappeared at a very fast pace behind some bushes never to be seen again!
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