25 Personal Tales Of Experiencing The Lowest Probability Events

In the vast realm of probability, life occasionally throws curveballs that defy all odds. Recently, a thought-provoking question surfaced on Reddit, stirring up a fascinating array of responses: “What is the lowest probability event you have personally witnessed?”

#1

Image source: Remiangel1989, gentlebird / flickr

I was stumbling around the tent area of a festival in Portugal late at night and drunk and entered a tent I thought was mine. It was not. But it did belong to a guy I had dated in high school in Australia about 10 years earlier.

#2

Image source: blueova23, RDNE Stock project / pexels

Childhood best friend moved away when we were 10 years old never to be seen or spoken to again until we ran into each other in Iraq 11 years later while both deployed.

#3

Image source: mourninglark, Watts / flickr

Saw a lady walk by one of those banks of slot machines where you can win a car–the kind where the car is actually on the casino floor. She stopped, considered for a moment, then turned around and put a buck in. Spins. Jackpot. Alarms go off. Won the car.

She freaks out. Like, freaks the f**k out. Screaming, crying, yelling, barking, you name it. Almost faints a time or two. Her girlfriends finally get her calmed down, and they’re waiting for casino staff to come over and do their thing.

But this lady, she just won a car. So she’s restless. And to give herself something to do, she walks over to another bank of slot machines. A bank of slot machines where you can win an entirely different car. So she puts a buck in. Spins. Jackpot. Alarms go off. Won another car.

#4

Image source: dandroid_design, Royal Broi / flickr

At 13 years of age, my father and I used to go to dirt track races at the Dixie Speedway in Georgia. We always cheered for car 28. At 21 years of age, I start dating this girl in North Carolina, somehow get on that subject, as she was from GA. “My father used to race there… number 28.”

#5

Image source: Wu-Kang, Kampus Production / pexels

Driving across state in an old Oldsmobile and it breaks down. Water pipe burst in the middle of nowhere. Guy in a RV rolls up looks at the car. Goes back to the RV and comes back with the exact pipe we need. It even says Oldsmobile on the pipe. He installed it and wouldn’t accept any payment. He just asked us to help someone if we saw someone in need.

#6

Image source: CatboyInAMaidOutfit, cottonbro studio / pexels

I was in a restaurant in Spain the night they were holding the nation’s largest lottery. The staff won the lottery that night. I spent the night in a restaurant of celebration and champagne.

#7

Image source: Ocelot2727, Pavel Danilyuk / pexels

Back to back to back winning 13s on roulette. Doubled up after the first one because some randomer told me to take my winning chip off the number, it’s not coming up again. Came up, left the doubled up chips on again, another win.

After the third time they said ‘Wow, are you leaving it on again??’

I said ‘No, I’m not stupid’ and left with all my winnings

#8

At Disneyland in front of the Castle my wife and I asked a person to take our photo. At the same time another couple 2-3 feet to our side asked another person to take their photo as well. We looked over at each other and it was our next door neighbors from home 5 states away. Neither of us knew either of us were going on vacation at the same time to the same location at the same time.

Image source: matcliff

#9

On a trip to New Zealand with my parents in 1988 (we lived in Florida). I don’t remember what town we were in, but we checked out of our hotel and got in the rental car. Suddenly my dad realizes that he forgot his credit card at the front desk, so he goes back in.

As he’s waiting for the desk clerk to go retrieve his card, he realizes that the elderly man next to him is also American, so they start talking. Long story short, turns out the other guy had been my dad’s little league coach in Chicago in the 1950s.

Image source: Plug_5

#10

Image source: cheesesteak_genocide, Rachel Claire / pexels

I saw a giraffe poop on another giraffes head.

#11

Went on a cruise with my wife when we were young. We were sat with another couple at dinner who we really clicked with. We said we would keep in touch but never did. Almost a decade later we went on another cruise. Who did we end up next to at dinner? That same couple. It was insane. We had a great time and still don’t keep in touch.

Image source: weagle01

#12

Image source: Blackfell0518, RDNE Stock project / pexels

Was at a veterans get together and two guys were talking about Normandy. One was a landing craft driver and the other was a soldier that took part in the landing. Eventually their stories line up really well, so well infact that that landing craft driver drove that marine to shore during d-day

#13

Image source: sheepheadslayer, Gaspar Zaldo / pexels

My great grandpa was in WW1. He got stuck in no man’s land for a few days wounded, and eventually got to a hospital, and spent 6 months there. Got to be good buddies with the guy in the bed next to him, but eventually both left.

Decades later, he’s at a party, gets to talking to another guy his age about the war. Turns out to be the same guy he was next to in the hospital.

#14

Image source: hameater, Tima Miroshnichenko / pexels

Lost a ring shovelling snow one winter when I took my gloves off.

That autumn, raking leaves while chatting to a friend I said ‘wouldn’t it be neat if I found my ring?’ That exact moment I looked down and found my ring.

#15

Image source: Clear-Penalty339, Rachel Claire / pexels

I (American) sparked up a random conversation with a guy (Canadian) while on a small island off the coast of Croatia in 2021. We discovered that we were both in the same industrial park in rural England at shops across the parking lot from one another at the exact same time in 2017.

#16

Dad was born in a very small hospital in 1939 in Fullerton, CA. Successful life, aero engineer, retired a millionaire at 55 and hung em up. Bought a camper and travelled the states with a fly rod for a few years. Bought a house on a golf course in AR while he was fishing in Montana. Turns out the groundskeeper at the course was born a few minutes prior to him in the next room over. Still tells Pop to respect his elders lol.

They met at 1 day old and re-met 57 years later. I love it.

Image source: valis6886

#17

Just last year me and a friend were in Japan visiting a mamashibe cafe and while we were waiting in line these two girls entered after us and the one talking had an Australian accent so I said hello being neighbours from New Zealand and she points to the other girl with her and she’s like, she’s also a kiwi! Any way long story short the kiwi girl literally grew up on the same street as me, about ten houses down and we spent our whole lives so close but didn’t know each other haha. Seems so odd we ran into each other in such a remote part of the world.

I know nz is a small place but it isn’t that small.

Image source: doxjq

#18

Image source: LupeHikari, Allan Mas / pexels

I bumped into the same mate in different countries, different years, no plans.

#19

Image source: SnooWalruses6440, Anete Lusina / pexels

Two friends playing a dice game. One rolls 5 6s. The other then has his turn & also rolls 5 6s. I don’t know the odds but I’m pretty sure they’re astronomical

#20

Was descending in a commercial airplane through the clouds and saw a skydiver parachuting in the clouds about a football field away from us. My jaw dropped.

Image source: HuckleberryCream

#21

Image source: anon, cottonbro studio / pexels

Poker night with friends: One friend got two royal flushes in a row.

#22

Image source: whistlerite, Omar Ramadan / pexels

Was walking with a girl and don’t remember the exact context but said something like “the craziest thing would be if that street light went out right now” and pointed at a light and then it did actually go out for some reason. She literally screamed and ran away, it was bizarre, weirdest coincidence I’ve ever seen.

#23

Image source: ImNotA_IThink, Karolina Grabowska / pexels

I got a brain injury in an accident and the doctor told me after doing all the scans and stuff that he’d never seen an injury so bad that didn’t end in paralyzation or death. The fact I walked out of the hospital a week later was a medical miracle apparently. So got that going for me.

#24

Image source: StarChaser_Tyger, Dilan Kusanç / pexels

I was in the back of the house, and looked out the back window, saw it was raining and yelled to my brother he should bring his laundry in.

He was in the living room at the front of the house, looked out the window, blue sky and sun, no rain. He said I was crazy, I told him to come look.

We went out the front door, and it was raining in the back yard. A line that stopped right at the peak of the roof as far left and right as you could see.

#25

Image source: Bruenor80, takenbytablo / pexels

I watched a guy get struck by lightning for a 2nd time. This was all in Missouri. The 1st time was a few years prior – he was mowing the grass in his tractor, a storm rolled in real fast, and he got hit running to the house. I didn’t see that one, but his son was one of my good friends, and I was at the house fairly often, so I saw the aftermath and heard the story.

The 2nd time was while we were on a construction job, same deal, a storm rolled in out of nowhere (it was clear skies, and then we saw clouds and started cleaning up and 15 minutes later a torrential downpour starts). He was running back to the truck after tarping over some material and got struck again. I was in the truck looking right at him when it happened, it was f*****g unreal. I was absolutely sure he was dead. He had some hearing loss, his hair mostly burnt off (what didn’t was shaved off), had some nasty burns and scars as a result and got knocked out. Spent a couple of days in the hospital and was back at work the following week (supervising – he was the owner anyway).