If you ever had a vivid memory about something that never happened, you are in the majority.
The phenomenon of the Mandela Effect – in which a person recalls an event differently from what actually happened or did not happen at all – is common.
Nelson Mandela, after whom the theory was named, died in 2013. However, many people allegedly were convinced the former South African president and anti-apartheid revolutionist died in a prison during the 80s.
Another example is a famous line from Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back. Do you know how Darth Vader revealed his true identity of his relation to Luke Skywalker?
If you think the iconic villain said, "Luke, I am your father," you are incorrect. The actual line was, "No, I am your father."
But many filmgoers were convinced of the opposite.
Also, there is no "Jiffy" peanut butter. But there's "Jif."
That's the Mandela Effect for you.
Curious to hear from strangers on the internet, Redditor Applescause27 asked:
"What is your favorite example of the Mandela Effect?"
The Song
"My cousin died in a car accident in 1994. His high school band recorded the song 'Time of your Life' by Green Day to have it played at his funeral."
"My entire family, including his brothers and his parents, remember that song being played because it was his favorite song, and Green Day his favorite band. They even remember having a family discussion before the funeral about whether to let it be played because of its actual name (Good Riddance)."
"That song came out in 1997, there is no way it could be the same song."
– chogram
During 9/11
"I live in New Zealand. I have very vivid memories of walking into the lounge in the morning that 9/11 happened and watching it unfold on TV before I went to school. It was in the 2nd or 3rd house we lived in after my mum and dad broke up. I've always had this vivid memory of being in that house when it happened and watching it unfold."
"A few years ago I realised that I was 7 in 2001 when it happened and my parents hadn't broken up them meaning we were still living in our first family home that my parents owned."
"I asked my mum what house we were living in when 9/11 happened, she said the same house that I have the memories of but it can't have been that house."
"Sh*t's f'ked, it's been f'king me up for a few years now."
Spell It
"Always remember it being spelled 'Chik-fil-A' without the second c."
"I also remember it being 'Febreeze' not 'Febreze.'"
Oceans Debate
"I was taught in school that there's 4 major oceans. Atlantic, Pacific, Indian and Arctic. Where the f'k did this 5th ocean suddenly appear from? I never heard of the Southern Ocean in my life until a handful of years ago."
The Fairest Of Them All
"The Evil Queen from Snow White never says 'Mirror Mirror on the Wall...'"
"She says 'Magic Mirror on the wall...'"
"As a kid, I could've sworn she said the first line."
evil queen animation GIF by DisneyGiphyUm, It's BerenSTAIN Bears
"The Berenstein Bears. Always was, always will be.."
"To me this is the easiest one to explain. '-stein' is a fairly common suffix at the end of last names. '-stain' is incredibly rare. It's not surprising at all that people mentally replaced the rare one with the common one."The Teeth
"At the end of one of the James Bond movies (Moonraker?) the villain Jaws falls for a petite woman."
"He smiles his metal-teeth smile at her, and she smiles back with braces on her teeth. It's a cute moment."
"I distinctly remember laughing loudly at this as a child, as did the rest of the theater."
"Today, she has no braces. Just perfect teeth. Ruins a wonderful joke..."
Genie Movie
"The Sinbad genie movie called Shazam. He claims he never made it, that it doesn't exist, I can't find it anywhere, but I had it on VHS as a kid."
Song Or Cartoon?
"Recently I noticed it's not 'Looney Toons' but Looney Tunes. Now the whole thing makes no sense anymore."
– V02D
Parallel
Used to be, almost no one believed in inane internet bullshit about 'parallel universes.'
Then sometime around November 2016 I woke up in one where people did.
I remember being in a hotel watching the fireworks over the statue of liberty on television, celebrating the bicentennial. I was born a year later.
I also remember seeing cigarette ads on American television. They were banned in 1971 and I was born in 1977.
Loom of fate
The Fruit of the Loom logo. Why do I, and so many people remember it with a cornucopia???? Like, why wouldn't some people remember a basket or bowl or something else? Why a cornucopia?? It's such a rare and specific image. When my friend tested me on the Mandela effect the first time he heard about it, he asked me to describe the fruit of the Loom logo from when I was a kid. I described the apple and grapes ect. coming out of the cornucopia.
When he told me the cornucopia has never existed, I was entirely shooketh and still am. I am a man of science. I understand misremembering the spelling of Berenstain bears, or adding a monocle to the monopoly man because it fits with stereotypes and esthetic.... But a cornucopia is so specific. The only time I ever see cornucopias are at thanksgiving, and they are only ever filled with vegetables in those representations, never fruit. It's such a weird thing for so many people to add to a bunch of fruit in their collective memories, including myself. I have no explanation for it
