The Book of the Bizarre: Freaky Facts and Strange Stories (33 page)

Irv Kupcinet experienced a rare kind of synchronicity while covering the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II
in London in 1953. He found items in a hotel room drawer that were identified as those of Harry Hannin. Hannin, widely known as a Harlem Globetrotter, was actually a good friend of Kupcinet's. Just a few short days later, Kupcinet received a letter from Hannin. In the letter, Hannin explained that he had been in a hotel room in Paris and had found a tie in a drawer that had Kupcinet's name on it.

COINCIDENCE OR JUSTICE?

A man attempting to rob a convenience store in Cherryville, North Carolina, thwarted his own plans when he dropped the gun. The gun hit the ground, went off, and the bullet went into the robber's foot.

HEART ATTACK

In Rome, an Italian who was charged with killing his American girlfriend, after having kidnapped their daughter, died of a heart attack while testifying in court during his trial. Family members and friends claimed that he had threatened to kill her many times, and they were convinced he was guilty. Perhaps divine justice played a role in his eventual death.

A MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE

According to the
Journal Times
of Racine, Wisconsin, there is new evidence that destiny plays a role in love. On August 18, 2007, a young couple, Melody Kloska and Matt Behrs, tied the knot in a simple ceremony at the Wind Point Lighthouse in Racine. After the ceremony, they tossed a bottle containing their wedding vows into the cool blue waters of Lake Michigan.

Just a few weeks later, the newlyweds received a divine sign that they were meant-to-be. A letter arrived from Fred and Lynette Dubendorf, who had found the bottle while walking on a beach in Pentwater, Michigan, located on the other side of Lake Michigan. The letter explained that the Dubendorfs discovered the bottle on the very beach where they had been married twenty-eight years before. Not only that, but the Dubendorfs had been married on August 18, 1979.

A CHILD'S STORY

Anne Parrish, famed American novelist who wrote dozens of award-winning books from the 1920s through
the 1950s, was one day browsing through books in a Parisian bookstore. She found a book that had always been a favorite of hers,
Jack Frost and Other Stories
. Delighted to find a memory from her childhood, she was shocked to discover that the inscription within contained her own name and the address of her childhood home in Colorado.

DOUBLE DEATH

In Germany in the late 1970s, a story hit all the newspapers, television and radio stations—a story that contained one of the most tragic examples of synchronicity to date. A man was walking along a country road at night when a car struck him from behind and killed him. One year from the day he died, the man's twin brother went for a walk at that same spot, in memory of his departed brother. As it turned out, the driver of the car that hit and killed the first man also had a twin brother. The driver's twin brother decided to drive along the same road, in memory of his own departed brother. He hit and killed the twin brother of the pedestrian, recreating a scene that has shocked everyone who has heard the story.

PAW PAW TRAGEDY