Year 10 work experience student Caitlin is a massive fan of supernatural phenomena and the unknown. While watching a YouTube video on conspiracy theories, Caitlin stumbled onto the ‘Mandela effect’. She writes more about the topic for us below:

Have you ever been convinced something is set a particular way but it turns out you were completely wrong? Chances are you have. This is referred to as false memory or “The Mandela Effect.” The Mandela effect is a psychological phenomenon and it is a collective of misremembered facts or events. Some believe it is just our mind weaving a lie but others speculate this is evidence you have experienced events from a different reality.

Don’t worry though, you are not alone. Many people experience similar Mandela effects. The human memory is a complex thing and although we do know a lot about it, there are still some holes in our research. These past events that people remember feel so real and vivid, most refuse to believe the evidence. Various theories have been speculated and proposed – some are sensible but others still have many confused.

If you are still confused let me give you an example:

In the popular and iconic movie Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope (which if you haven’t seen it, were you raised under a rock?) Luke finds out Darth Vader is his father. Darth Vader says to him, “Luke, I am your father.” Well at least that’s what most of us remember. In fact he actually says “No, I am your father.” If you remembered it correctly, well done, but if you believe it to be the other way around you’re in the same boat with thousands of other people. It gets even more confusing because there is various evidence complementing both sides of the story.

The Mandela Effect began in 2010 when American paranormal enthusiast, Fiona Broome, posted on her website about Nelson Mandela. She claimed she remembered seeing news coverage of Nelson Mandela’s death in late 1991 in a South African prison. It wasn’t just something small and hazy – Broome clearly remembered news clips of his funeral, the mourning in South Africa, rioting in cities, and the heartfelt speech by his widow.You may be thinking she’s crazy, due to the fact Nelson Mandela died in 2013.

Fiona Broome                                                 Image source:     https://cynthiasuelarson.wordpress.com/2015/08/31/berenstain-bears-mandela-effect-thanksgiving-thursday/

When she heard the official news in 2013, Broome believed she had just misunderstood the previous information but when she attended Dragon Con she learnt from a member of security there were a number of people at the event who also remembered that Nelson Mandela died in prison.

But did he really die in 2013?                                                                                                                                   Image source: https://www.rte.ie/news/2013/1205/491152-nelson-mandela/

This notion spiralled and Broome found thousands of people who were in the same boat as her. When she started posting about it online, she got hundreds of response messages. One person who remembered Nelson Mandela dying in prison was with their mum and when hearing of his death in 2013, both were confused. Both remembered the Oprah show dedicated to Mandela and a specific concert that was live and shown on multiple channels in memory of Nelson Mandela. There is even proof of a Time magazine article stating he died in 1991, 22 years before his reported 2013 death. Many remember discussing Nelson Mandela’s death with family and friends and one even had a notebook where they documented his death prior to 2013.

Here’s the newspaper ‘proof’

Image source: https://in5d.com/the-mandela-effect-proof-that-negative-timelines-are-collapsing/

Maybe you’re skeptical. But if you are someone who remembers Nelson Mandela’s death prior to 2013, then go to this link to discuss with others:

http://mandelaeffect.com/nelson-mandela-died-in-prison/#comment-4891

If you still are completely turned away by this, then let me give you even more evidence:

Remember the ever-so-popular line from Disney’s rendition of Snow White by the Brothers Grimm. The line goes “Mirror, Mirror on the wall, who’s the fairest of them all?” You would think this line would be easy to remember, seeing as IMDb actually describes this film as “by far most memorable full-length animated feature from the Disney Studios.” What if I told you the Queen never says ‘mirror, mirror’ but instead says ‘magic mirror’. In earlier written copies of Snow White, each has the stated line “mirror, mirror”. Snow White was written around 100 years prior to the film and each rendition uses “mirror, mirror”. Of course a logical explanation is that Disney just changed the wording – but why are there so many people who vividly remember the film version saying “mirror, mirror”? You can even see the line being used in pop culture references, appearing in TV shows, on t-shirts and even a movie having it as its title.

I could go on and on about this topic with hundreds of other Mandela Effect examples but I’ll leave you to explore and make your own judgements.