Can the past change? It sounds incredible, but scientists are debating exactly this, with various theories ranging from quantum mechanics to the many-worlds interpretation. If it could, how would it appear to us? The internet is buzzing with wild ideas, so it's time to go over where they originated, and consider in detail what exactly might be causing it.
The Mandela Effect
Ever had that feeling when you hear of something, like a celebrity dying, and was sure it had happened before? When that happens to a group of people, it has a name - The Mandela Effect. It's called that because there are many who were sure Nelson Mandela died in the 1980's and not in 2013.
Welcome to Alternate Memories, where these and more are documented, discussed and puzzled over.
Remember - as you read about them more and more, some will hit you as being ridiculous, and others as spookily accurate. They are not the same for everyone, which is a huge part of their mystery ;-)
The face of Big Ben
- SavageTweet 0 Comments
What are the numbers like?
MMDE: Clear, wide Roman numerals
Current: Unclear, narrow Roman numerals
Most people know "Big Ben" is the bell in the Elizabeth Tower of the Palace of Westminster in London, to give it the correct title, but still call the clock by that name anyway.
It's instantly recognisable when seen in the image as a tower by the side of the Houses of Parliament, but how much do people remember the detail of just the clock face itself?
Some are saying the face looks "off" today, and claim it has changed. They believe the Roman numerals are now much thinner than they remember, and harder to make out. In 2017 the bell fell silent for 4 years due to restoration, and that includes re-painting the clock dials. Will they change "again"?
Was Christopher Columbus Italian or Portuguese?
- Paul Baker 0 Comments
The nationality of Columbus?
MMDE: Christopher Columbus was probably Italian
Current: Christopher Columbus was probably Portuguese
Cristoforo Colombo, or as he's better known, Christopher Columbus landed in the Bahamas in 1492 and claimed it for Spain. So right off the bat you'd have thought that's his nationality confirmed, because why otherwise would he claim a new territory for any other country than his own? The answer is the usual - money. It turns out his famous voyage had to be paid for somehow, and it was the King and Queen of Castille, or what we now now of as Spain, who sponsored it, with the obvious catch that all he acquired belonged to them. Columbus was known to be living with his Spanish mistress and his child in Spain at the time.
So it's known he wasn't Spanish, but what nationality was he? Everyone is taught he was Italian, but that's in doubt now. Why? His remains have been DNA tested.
Whilst this isn't being talked about as a Mandela Effect, it is an MMDE because of it's widespread misbelief. And it's still not certain, so we're only talking probabilities.
Movie quote from no movie?
- Kevin Robbs 0 Comments
A reverse Mandela Effect
MMDE: The source is known for: "What does it do?" "That's the beauty of it, it doesn't do anything!"
Current: The source is not known for: "'What does it do?" "That's the beauty of it, it doesn't do anything!"
Here's a strange reverse Mandela Effect. It's a quote from a movie which many know, but apparently is permanently on the tip of everyone's tongue because the source it came from doesn't exist!
The quote is two people talking to each other: 'What does it do?' 'That's the beauty of it, it doesn't do anything!'. Sound familiar? It's certainly got a Back to the Future kind of movie vibe, a Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy book feeling to it, or maybe even a Far Side cartoon strip style, but searching today doesn't bring up it's true origin. People can picture the two characters speaking, one is usually some kind of investigator and the other a crazy scientist or inventor type. But where is it from?
Is St. Patrick a Saint?
- James Taylor 0 Comments
Officially canonised?
MMDE: St. Patrick was canonised as a Saint
Current: St. Patrick was not canonised as a Saint
17th March is recognised the world over as St Patricks Day. It's celebrated as the day he died, and also known as his Feast Day. He's the Patron Saint of Ireland and lived in the 5th Century AD, although the exact dates for the year of his birth and death are not known.
The problem? Everyone assumes he's a regular, official Saint like the rest of the famous ones, whereas it turns out he's a little different because he wasn't actually canonised. He appears on the List of Saints, and is known as The Apostle of Ireland, so there's no problem with him actually being accepted and treat as one, it's just that there is a formal process which must be followed for the Catholic Church to officially recognise a saint, and for various historical reasons he didn't go through it.
Reply All: The Case of the Missing Hit
- Carter Tweed 0 Comments
Anyone remember this song?
Here's the story of a mysterious record from the late 1990's which was certainly a hit with one person who could remember every detail of it, including the words and melody, yet could find no trace of it today.
If a group of people were to remember the song too, it would be classed as a regular Mandela Effect, but it seems only one man, who was called Tyler Gillett, had the memory.
The quest for how he tried to remove this "earworm" was reported in The Guardian and documented on the podcast Reply All from Gimlet. It's episode #159: The Case Of The Missing Hit, which can be heard on Spotify or all quality podcast sources.
It's unusual in that because he could remember the details so well, it was possible to put together a band to record it. Then things got really interesting, but beware if you prefer to find out by listening to the podcast, which is strongly recommended by the way ... spoilers follow!
We asked 1 million Mandela Effect questions
- Carter Tweed 0 Comments
How big is a "group"?
There's something at the heart of the Mandela Effect which has been troubling from the start.
Most people know it's when a group of people have an alternate memory of something for which there's no evidence today, but the definition of group is vague. Technically, and mathematically, it's just more than one. but that isn't very satisfactory for obvious reasons. At the other end too, it's hard to say just how many trigger it - is it more than 100? More than 1000? Who defines all this anyway? Whilst there's certainly no "Mandela Effect police" regulating this, it's also true a consensus has been obtained which is generally understood.
Real numbers
To address this, the online survey was started in Jan 2018. This randomly asked a simple "current" or "alternate" ME question, collected the anonymous data, and performed analytics. At the least this would collect some hard numbers on that group problem, and there might be a bonus as more trends/patterns might be spotted.
The analytics were published from January 2019. Already some interesting results came out, but the real excitement came in January 2020 when the 1 million question count was passed.
Recognising there are other ways and tools to perform analytics than we have at our disposal, it was decided to release this 1 million question data set into the public domain. The hope is that others can process it with a greater change of finding a pattern than we could alone. Conveniently, this data set cover the two years from 2018 to 2019.
When did the Beatles split up?
- Bill Perez 0 Comments
The long and winding road came to an end
MMDE: Late 1960's
Current: Early 1970's
When exactly did The Beatles split up?
Most people say the late 1960's, and some say the early 1970's. It turns out the truth is a little more complicated than either of those. For a start, if we're talking officially then it's 1975. That's because there was a long and drawn out court battle which wasn't settled until that date - January 9th, 1975.
The generally accepted break-up date isn't so clear either, because it wasn't a single event but more of a series of separate acts. The last time they played live together was from the rooftop of the Apple building in Saville Row, London, in January 1969, the last time they recorded together was in August 1969, and the last time they were all in the same room together was September 1969. By then the cracks in the band had become too wide to repair, and they were involved in solo projects as well as already gearing up with their lawyers over contracts and recording rights. In April 1970 various press releases were issued which, whilst strongly hinting at the break up of the band, did not explicitly make it clear it had happened.
