First off, I am glad that we have a paranormal subforum.  I think the popularity of the subject matter is evidenced by the longevity of the famous "Creepy Thread" in GD (of which I am the proud owner of page 100 ).

One of the nice things about the "creepy thread" is that people did not take gratuitous shits on other people for sharing their stories, even if they did not believe them.  Hopefully we can observe the same kind of civility here in this subforum.  You disagree with something or don't believe it - fine, but don't shit on people for sharing paranormal stories.

The topic of this thread is "Doppelgangers," which is a German word that means "Double Goer" or "Double Walker."  These creatures of legend were said to be "duplicates" of people that walked around, without the knowledge of the real person they appeared to be.  Some were thought to be evil spirits.

Here is a creepy (well to me anyway) story that I shared in the "creepy thread" and I will share it here now, as a stand alone thread, in hopes others can share any similar stories they may have.  It is a subject that interests me since this happened to me.

Many moons ago, when I was an undergrad in college, I had a course one semester with a professor who I had never had before.

I showed up on the first day of class and he is introducing himself and talking about the course and his expectations and what not, and then calling attendance and talking to each one of us for a few minutes.

He gets to me and he asks me how I liked another course he taught the previous semester.

I politely corrected him, pointing out there must have been some mistake - I had never met him before, or taken any previous courses he taught, which was true.

He gave me a very strange look, and then moved on.

After the class he approached me and insisted I had been in a course he taught the previous semester.  He was very adamant about it, and thought I was pulling his leg for some reason by denying it.

Again, I told him this was impossible, he must be mistaken somehow.

I could tell he did not believe me, since he kept giving me an incredulous stare, like I was either joking with him or I was insane (which, to the best of my knowledge, I am not).

Finally he let it drop, but for the rest of the entire semester, he kept giving me strange looks.  I actually did very well in his course and liked his teaching style, but again, I had never met him before.

This whole experience was bizarre to me on many levels, and it still creeps me out to this day.

I have an English surname, and it is comparatively rare.  I am 100% certain there was no one enrolled in the college with the same last name as me.

But apparently, at least according to him, someone with the same name as me, who must have also looked exactly like me, took a previous course of his.

So did I have a doppelganger walking around on that campus?

The professor was not elderly, and did not appear to be afflicted with any sort of dementia or cognitive impairment.

It remains mysterious to me to this day.

1st

I always enjoy your stories, 6W2.

I struck up a conversation with a super-hot girl at a bar my band was playing at one night.

Turned out, she thought I was someone else the entire time! She said his name was, "Donny" (only one letter away from mine), and he could very well be my twin - right down to the way I speak, sound of my voice, facial expressions . . . the whole package.

Happened several times after that, too, but the first time stuck out the most (probably due to her extreme hottness!).

Oh! She wouldn't give me her number because she and my doppleganger had dated briefly and "that would be weird"!

I used to see a red-head while out and about who was the spitting image of my (now ex) wife, too. Very similar dark blue sedan, too. My ex would get mistaken for her often, but was told she was much nicer! LOL

Dunno if this counts.
Was at a small restaurant in the middle of no where south Georgia.
Im with a buddy and his wife, who live near by and 4 other friends. As im walking to our table. This couple at a both asked me how i was doing.
Being polite i replied " good, and how are yall tonight."
" oh we are great, youll be at the church bbq Sunday right? Tell your wife......blah blah etc".
My buddy was " wtf was that about" . I just laughed it off.  But they spoke to me just like they knew me for years. I'd never been in that town before in my life.

I've run into several girls, that I've had to do double takes because they look exactly like others ive known. And a guy who could have been the twin of my buddy. Same everything, speech,hair cut,same glasses...i even showed pictures to my coworkers who about lost thier shit it and thought i was fucking with them.

I apparently have many doppelgängers.  It happens to me often. Ever since high school.  
Recently at a 4th of July party at a country club a guy came up to me and thought he knew me. Called me by some name even.  I had a few beers in me so I decided to play along. He seemed confused when I answered his questions of where I was working and where I lived now. Lol

McTaggart

I was hanging out at my friend's tattoo shop, which I did often. Knew many of his regular customers. One day I am there with my now ex wife when one of the regulars stops at the office, sees me and asks who the red head he saw me with yesterday was. My now ex wife almost never went with me, so I'm assuming he didnt know she was with me.

Of course the (ex)wife starts getting an attitude. I tell the guy it wasnt me. He insists it was. Even describes my car. (Ex)Wife is starting to get pissed. I asked the guy when and where he supposedly saw me. The day before at a pizza place down the road. I asked if he was absolutely sure it was yesterday.  Yup, positive. He and his girlfriend went there and they were leaving when they saw me and the red head get out of my car.

(Ex)wife is now very angry. Until I remind her that I had not gone to work yesterday and that we had spent the entire day together. Oh yeah she says, and all is OK...until

I ask the guy what the red head looked like. He said she was HOT. Big tits, nice ass. Looked like a Playboy Playmate. I said, Goddamn! I wish it was me!

(Ex)wife angry once more.

I've had this happen to me often as well but only until recently considered that this might be a factor. I always thought it was because I've had people tell me I look a lot like some famous guy but maybe not.

I posted my experience a few years ago, cant find it though.

Short version. Happened a few times. One instance it was in my house while I was in it as well. Never saw it.

Disclosure. I DO NOT believe in the paranormal. At all. I did not see "it" though numerous people over numerous tiems did and on a couple occasions it wasn't   some random stranger in passing. One time in my house in another room. Another time At my workplace seen by a few people up close, in the breakroom, etc. I was over 55 miles away at that time.  What was it? I don't know. I am not sure its even an "it" but maybe a phenomenon of time dilation? If such a thing were possible. I prefer a scientific interpretation since that how I think. A ghost guys might have a paranormal interpretation and thats cool, thats how some people think as well. We are probably both wrong though lol.

Either way its a WTf for sure.

ETA - I wont retell it in the subforum though. If I cant find it in the GD Creepy thread I will repost it there

From another thread:

You have a lot of good points and I actually share your skepticism, even though I might not sound like it.

I too wonder if a lot of what we think of as "paranormal experiences" are not, in fact, rooted in things we do not yet understand about the universe (multiverse & things of that nature).

I think that's very possible as well. Go back 1000 years ago in a new car and people would think you're some kind of wizard or alien.

Have you searched online? Same name, same school, try to find the person that's not you.

I had a guy ask me how I was doing and I was a bit surprised he was talking to me.

He noticed the strange look and asked if I knew him which I did not.
He said then someone looks exactly like me to which I replied that guy is one lucky guy.

After asking where he lived, I said I never venture into that part of town. No need too as there isn't any thru traffic.
He was adamant it was me and remembers me because I knocked over his mailbox to which I replied it definitely wasn't me.

Definitely strange encounter.

There are at least two people out there that look like my twins. Both times they popped up it was close family members that sent me links to YouTube asking when I was in a band and when I was at a tech conference.
I even did a double take. It was spooky seeing my face on someone else.

If you roll the genetic dice enough times...

Pretty much. I think after a few billion different models of the human form are made God runs out of unique cookie cutter dies and has to improvise by reusing some of his favorites. Unlike my introverted self my doppelgangers apparently have active social lives, attractive wives/girlfriends/children, and act snobbish or puzzled when called out by my name when they are encountered in public by my friends and co-workers.

Right after HS my sister met a college kid who looked just like me. She even drove him around and introduced him to a bunch of my friends as a prank and they all thought he was me.

I never met him. I was overseas at the time. My friends were all “Dude, what happened? Why are you home early?”

Donnie and Ronnie
Supposedly the most common names for twin sibling in SWPa - if you followed the old WDVE morning shows at all

The guy in the background is a dead ringer for me. So much so, that when I first saw this funny image, I thought someone had taken my picture at SHOT Show.

Attached File

That has to be it.

I went to a Dr appointment 70 miles away a few years ago.
Walked in a bit late, went to the window and the receptionist says "Oh, did you forget something?"

No, I explained, I was running late and had an appointment with Dr. Soandso.
"but you just left"  She said.
"Wasn't me". I replied.
She then gave me that look that mothers give when you tell them the dog ate your homework.

I have several doppelgangers, and my guess is it some of it goes back to a great great grandfather on my father's mother's side.  He migrated to the US before in the latter part of the 19th century, had a moderate sized family of 6-8 boys and girls.  As his kids grew up and had their own families, they stayed in the area, but for whatever reason they never got together for family reunions or kept ties with their sibling's families.

There have been several times I've gone into a bar and someone thought they recognized me, or a police officer would ask when I got a new car (I didn't or ever meet the officer before.)  I have a cousin who likes doing genealogy projects, and the old saying that some of your first friends and playmates are your cousins meant more than I expected.  My parent's next door neighbor is a second cousin to my father.  His mother is a cousin to my grandmother.  They grew up and went to school together and knew they were related somehow, but there was no social family connections.

Ok.  I had yet another memorable doppelgänger experience.   I went to the bank to get change for work and was standing in a long line.  One cuteish teller kept looking at me, I thought hey I still got it. Lol. Anyway when it was finally my turn I ended up getting her as my teller. She insisted that I had just been there, to the point of dragging out making the change as she thought I was messing with her. This went on for the whole time I was dealing with her. She never did believe me.

That's hilarious! I actually had brothers-in-law named Donnie & Ronnie! LOL

I might have an identical twin somewhere.

I was working at some place, and they hire this new kid. When we're introduced, he has this odd look on his face, and he's always acting a little nervous around me.

One day, he finally comes up, hands me a photo and says, "This is my dad. He left me and my mom when I was little". I look at the photo, and I'm stunned. I stare at it. To say that the guy in the photo was a dead ringer for me is an understatement, and I'm not a particularly common looking guy.

The ONLY way I could be 100% sure that the photo WASN'T me, was that I knew with absolutely ZERO doubt, that I'd never worn that ugly ass shirt in my life. If his dad had been wearing a plain t-shirtbin the photo, I'm not sure what I would've been thinking. Then he says, "Don't worry. I know you're not him, but now you know why I was acting a little weird every time I saw you".

The kid wound up getting fired not long after, so there wasn't even a chance to dig a little deeper, but that was definitely a WTF moment for me.

A friend and I were in Panama City FL for a weekend of debauchery. We took a cab to Stagger Lee's, pretty happening place back in the '80's. There was a long line at the door but the guy working the door waved at us and motioned for us to come to the front of the line, I thought it was because I was wearing jeans which may not have been allowed. When we got up to the door he shook my hand and let us in with no cover charge. People inside kept coming up to me, all the waitresses gave me big hugs and they set up a table for us near the stage. I didn't know what was going on but we rolled with it for a while until one of the waitresses told me I was being a jack ass for coming in there so soon and that Suzanne wanted to talk to me in the back room.

I reluctantly went to the back room with her where this very hot but very pissed off looking woman was waiting. She starts giving me hell for being in her bar, turned out she was the manager, and threatening to have me kicked out. I thought it was time to come clean, there was obviously a case of mistaken identity going on. When I told her I wasn't who she thought I was she told me to knock it off with the games, she was sick of my shit. I had to produce my ID and have my buddy vouch for me before she even started to come around. She made a phone call and the color went out of her face for a minute. When she finally believed my story she told me she had called Spinnaker's, another bar, and asked if Rusty was working which he was.  She and ol' Rusty had been a thing apparently for a long time and had recently split up.

The 3 of us, my friend, the girl, and I loaded up in a cab and went to Spinnaker's. When I saw the guy working the bar it was like looking in a mirror. When he saw me with his ex he later told me he thought he was having an out of body experience or had died. It was very odd and a bit unnerving, he and I could have been identical twins. Actually I asked a lot of questions about where he was born and confirmed that we did indeed have different parents.

Fast forward a couple of years, I went to get a haircut at a new place. As soon as I walked in one of the girls there ran up and grabbed me in a big bear hug asking how I had found her. She knew Rusty too and could not believe I wasn't him for a minute. Through her I kept tabs on him for a few years, I was worried he would get in trouble and I would be picked out of the line-up. When I found out he had a coke problem I decided it was time to change my hairstyle and shave my beard. Actually I moved out west about that time, not related to any of that though. I often wonder if he and I still look that much alike as we have aged.

I was at Costco 3 months ago and this guy in is 40's came up to me all excited, he asked me if I was Amos from the Expanse, I said, sorry no. other than bodybuilder type look and a beard, I dont think I look anything like him

When I was in the Army, there was another Cpl Murier in another brigade.  We had the same first name ,except she spelled it with out the e.  I thought the lady that ran the facility was just pulling my leg,until we finally met?  While she didn't look like me there was enough common characteristic, we could have been related(5'8, medium build, brown hair, green eyes)

Never had a doppleganger myself, but I've met one.  There was a kid in my neighborhood that moved away in 1985.  Two years later this girl my age moves into a house on my street.  Her boyfriend came to visit and he looked just like the kid that moved away.

I even found class pictures of him and everyone was shocked.  So then I had the guy ride my bike around my friend's old house.  He said someo kids started talking to him asking him if they moved back from California, and they couldn't believe it wasn't him.

EDIT.. add...  Even his voice was very similar, maybe a little bit deeper.