Doppelgängers with same name sit next to each other on plane and similarities get even weirder
Everyday, millions of people pass through airports all over the world.
Who knows, you might be this minute scrolling through your phone, reading this story as you settle in for your pre-holiday bev.
But what are the chances, with all the different faces bobbing around the various terminals, that someone there is your twin? I think it's fair to say pretty remote.
Well, that's exactly what happened to the Mark Garlands who set off from terminal 2 at Heathrow on their flight to Bangkok, Thailand, recently.
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Yep, you read that correctly, there were two men sharing the exact same name on the same flight. And the similarities get even stranger.
As well as having the name, they both have four kids, and even look remarkably similar.
The 58-year-old Mark realised what was going on when he went to check in and was told that he had already done so.
Eventually, staff spotted that there were two passengers with the same name on the flight to Thailand.
And as luck would have it, after meeting up in departures, Mark discovered that he was sat next to his 62-year-old doppelgänger.
The younger of the pair, a bus driver from Wiltshire, and the builder from Bristol spent the entire Eva Air flight chatting about their lives, discovering they live about 15 miles from one another, with Mark sometimes catching the other's bus.
The pair even have a friend in common - who drinks with Mark, 62, at his local.
And, as their destination might suggest, they've both got a shared passion for Thailand, having visited the country over a dozen times each.
"We were so shocked by how strange it was," said Mark the younger. "We both kept laughing and smiling about it, it made me happy.
“I said, 'You have caused me so much problems’, and he said, ‘You have caused me so much problems’.
“I said, ‘Look, I’m Mark Garland’, showing him my passport, and he started laughing and opened his passport and showed me his name, and it was banter."
'Other' Mark added: "It was crazy - I have never known anything like it.
"They said there was another Mark Garland. They came to the bar, and asked to see my passport.
"I was thinking, 'What is going on!'.
"My name was coming out of the antenna, and my phone was going. I thought someone was winding me up.
"I go to the desk and there’s a bloke who looks just like me, but he’s a bit bigger than me.
"I’m better looking and older.
"He’s like me, I’ve got a character and I love winding people up - we’re the same.
"He’s actually a nice bloke, I’ve got to say."
The pair now say they've made a 'friend for life' and intend on keeping in touch.
"One of my colleagues knows him and goes for drinks in the pub with him," said Mark. “It’s crazy. What are the odds on that?
“I’m a bit taller but people have said we could be brothers."
"I’ve made a friend for life," added the elder Mark.
Dominic Smithers