Strangers Look Like Twins, But These Doppelgangers’ Nearly Identical Lives Are Just As Spooky


When strangers look like twins, you have to wonder what the back story is all about. John Jemison, 74, and Neil Richardson, 69, may look like identical twins, but they were both perfect strangers. Once the doppelgangers began to talk, it was almost spooky since their lives seemed to mirror each other in many ways.

In a related report by the Inquisitr, a rare set of identical triplets were conceived naturally and the parents didn’t have a clue they were about to have a “one in million” birth. Even more rare was when identical triplets married on the same day wearing the same dress (just not to the same guy).

The two identical strangers only found each other because Neil Richardson moved into Braintree, Essex in England where John Jemison had lived for half a century. While the two men had not met in person, they also happened to frequent the same locations and other people in the community could not tell them apart.

“Twice a month I would have someone pass me in the street and say ‘Hello John’. I brushed it off at the time but then I realized that the cafe owner always referred to me as John, as well,” Neil explained, according to Express. “One day I took him to one side and said, ‘Can I have word with you please?’ He was really worried as he thought I was going to complain about the food. But when I explained my name wasn’t John he just wouldn’t believe me.”

Neil says the cafe owner could not believe there could be strangers who look like twins, and so he had to whip out his driver’s license and credit cards in order to prove his identity. Neil also tried Google searching the name of his missing twin, but could not find the identical stranger until they happened to board the same bus on a trip to London.

“I didn’t instantly notice our resemblance but as I boarded the bus, Neil greeted me with ‘Are you John Jemison?'” said John, according to Mirror. “I was distracted with the thought, ‘Oh dear, it’s someone else who wants me to do something.’ My wife, however, did a double-take and we began to look forward to the opportunity to meet at the end of our journey.”

It turns out that when strangers look like twins, their lives also happen to share many similarities. Both identical strangers attended the College of St Mark and St John in Chelsea in the 1960’s. Both proposed to their wives only after a week of dating. Both use the same bank. Both used to be religion education teachers. Both still sing in choir.

Still, especially when strangers look like twins you would expect there to be some differences. John Jemison’s career went a different direction, and he became the head of Silver End Primary school. Neil Richardson became an Anglican priest. Their wives also swear they can both tell the difference instantly after being married for so many years, but their physical appearances are still close enough for a doppelganger double take.

[Image via Colchester Gazette/Cascade News]

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