Doppelganger

Doppelganger is a fairly common phrase used to describe someone who looks very similar to someone else. In paranormal circles however there is a spooky phenomenon where there appears to be an entity mimicking a person known by the observer.

In German folklore it is said that if you come across a doppelganger of yourself you will be soon to die. Other traditions believe your doppelganger is your evil twin and if you come across the you should watch out. Most can agree that to see a doppelganger of yourself or someone else is a bad omen.

Many reports of doppelgangers are probably just cases of mistaken identity such as just seeing a similar looking person or the viewer not really paying attention to who was around. Such an explanation becomes harder to accept when doppelgangers are seen by family members and close friends who know the real person intimately. It seems unlikely that they would be convinced by another person who simply looks a lot like the original person. Doppelgangers are often reported to have the same hairstyle and clothing as the original person which makes misidentification even more unlikely.

It is claimed that a poet named John Donne saw the doppelganger of his wife on the night their newborn child passed away/ As John was having dinner with friends he turned and saw his wife with her hair loose around her shoulders carrying a dead baby. He found out later that evening that his wife had given birth to a stillborn child.

Another English poet named Percy Bysshe Shelley claimed to have seen another version of himself not long before he died. He recounted to his wife that he had been standing on a balcony when another version of himself approached and asked him “How long do you mean to be content”. The strangest part of the story is that another member of the household also saw the doppelganger walk back and forth in front of the window while Percy was on the balcony above.

It should be noted that seeing an image of oneself from afar can be a symptom of schizophrenia called Heautoscopy. It is associated with starting to see your mind and your body as separate entities. If you or someone close to you start to see doppelgangers often it might be a good idea to check in with a trusted medical professional just in case something is wrong.

Skeptics argue that there are so many people in the world that it is statistically quite likely that there are a number of people who look very similar to you. Similarities in style and dress sense could potentially be attributed to fashions and styles that tend to be common among people of similar ages. This doesn’t account for the incredibly unlikely probability that you would run into one of these people and that your loved ones would mistake them for you. Is there something paranormal going on here? We’ll leave it up to you to decide.