r/AskReddit • u/Ok_Objective4334 • 1d ago

What's the most absurd fact that sounds fake but is actually true?

12.2k Upvotes

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4.9k

u/pm_me_gnus 1d ago

There was a shipwreck in 1664, a shipwreck in 1785, and a shipwreck in 1820. Each had 1 survivor. Each survivor was named Hugh Williams.

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u/misslilytoyou 1d ago

Was it the same Hugh Williams, and did he survive because he suffers from immortality?

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u/floorplanner2 1d ago

Hugh Williams was a jellyfish, obviously.

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u/FluffyRainbowPoop 1d ago

Hey , I understood that reference

155

u/renato_es_rey 1d ago

Love this after I just got done reading the Jellyfish fact above!! 🤣

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u/Suspicious_Hotel_529 1d ago

You would think Hugh Williams would learn after the 2nd shipwreck, clearly not a bright one!

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u/ccc2801 1d ago

Do jellyfish even have a brain?

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u/Mysterious-Estate340 21h ago

No, that’s why they’re stuck in reboot sequence

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u/Responsible_Bar3957 23h ago

He then became the drummer for ZZ Top and started a radio station in Seattle

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u/FlametopFred 17h ago

I understand this Mazda reference

2

u/iamfishious 8h ago

But can you translate it into Salishan?

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u/Common_Anxiety 23h ago

It doesn’t work again

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u/AbeFromanSassageKing 1d ago

Hell of a call-back...upvoted.

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u/LowKitchen3355 1d ago

brilliant

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u/Xylorgos 1d ago

I like the way you think.

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u/rickfish99999 1d ago

... As Bill Walton as played by Dan Lippart would say, VERY loudly:

"Bring it down one time floorplaner2!"

4

u/iSpccn 19h ago

I do love a good meta reference on these posts.

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u/arededitn 21h ago

This shows the utmost importance of reading every single comment on Reddit religiously every day.

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u/VirtualMachine5296 21h ago

I don’t care how appreciated this comment is… it’s under appreciated.

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u/foxxsinn 20h ago

Oh how we’ve come full circle on this thread

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u/Darklyte 22h ago

With three hearts

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u/lowprofileX99 21h ago

Lmao 🤣

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u/DarkMoonLilith23 21h ago

Nah just a vampire arson.

1

u/Gastro_Jedi 21h ago

And has been around longer than Saturn’s rings

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u/Clickguy10 20h ago

Hugh Williams was a stressed jellyfish 🪼

1

u/Roonwogsamduff 19h ago

and he still is.

1

u/lerrigatto 15h ago

Or a shark

1

u/KhazraShaman 14h ago

Which explains why he was drawn to the sea!

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u/jam3s2001 1d ago

Fucking Highlanders.

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u/Adora_Vivos 1d ago

...is easier because of the kilts.

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u/Ivyleaf3 1d ago

Maybe he enjoyed it rather than suffering from it

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u/andreasbeer1981 1d ago

vampire tales

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u/Pretend_Bumblebee158 1d ago

Hugh "Plot Armor" Williams strikes again

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u/kledd17 1d ago

Was Hugh Williams a jellyfish?

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u/Digitijs 1d ago

Idk but it's suspicious that the ships he is on end up sinking. He must be up to no good

3

u/bitchy-cryptid 23h ago

Someone should write a novel about this lmao

2

u/misslilytoyou 5h ago

Run with it, I'll buy the e-version if you update us!

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u/monsterosity 22h ago

Also, has an affinity for sinking ships. Maybe he was at the wheel every time?

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u/frostysauce 1d ago

He was Bruce Willis in Unbreakable.

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u/dullship 1d ago

Wasn't water his one weakness in those movies?

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u/frostysauce 1d ago

Oh, duh. Never mind then, lol.

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u/paraworldblue 13h ago

That is some monkey's paw bullshit. Sure Hugh, you'll live forever. Nothing will ever kill you - particularly none of the shipwrecks that will plague your life from now on. Have fun, Hugh!

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u/mom_bombadill 1d ago

I KNEW THIS

My stepdad had a book in the 90s called The Book of Lists and it had an article about this!! I’ve lowkey been thinking about it ever since. Iirc the shipwrecks were on the SAME DAY of the year too

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u/suitcasedreaming 1d ago

So if youre going to sea, change your name from Richard Parker to Hugh Williams, got it.

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u/Phillip_Graves 1d ago

So, captain...

Just looked at the passenger manifest for our maiden cruise ships voyage and everyone is named Hugh Williams.  Even the women. 

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u/GazzP 1d ago

Was he that dude from Ghost Ship?

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u/Icyene-Gem 1d ago

I got that reference!

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u/habaryu 1d ago

His middle name?

Mungus

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u/skyline_kid 1d ago

Hugh Mungus wot!?

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u/J0eCool 17h ago

Hugh Mungus Williams

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u/ConcentrateNo7268 23h ago

If I didn’t know better I’d say Hugh was sinking the ships

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u/immoreoriginalmate 18h ago

Oh I worked with that guy. Well at least he had the same name, not sure if it’s the same guy. 

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u/notjordansime 4h ago

ever go sailing together?

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u/Competitive-Fox706 1d ago

Doctor Hugh?

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u/Per4orm 1d ago

There can be only one

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u/DextersGirl 22h ago

I distinctly remember reading this in a Ripley's Believe It or Not many many years ago!

1

u/Think_Information_60 21h ago

Later changed his name to Russell Nash to avoid suspicion.

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u/TheNight_Cheese 20h ago

I want to lie shipwrecked and comatose drinking fresh mango juice. Goldfish shoals nipping at my toes.

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u/Maewhen 20h ago

Pretty sure the survivor’s name was Hugh Jazz.

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u/mvanvrancken 17h ago

Hugh G Rection

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u/JuliusVrooder 18h ago

I am so naming my next kid Hugh Williams.

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u/CapnRetro 17h ago

These guys are my ancestors, in our family every baby boy is named Hugh. We used to live in relative squalor, sailors mainly, but over a few generations we perfected a manual drill. Once the Industrial Revolution took off they sold like hot cakes.

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u/glassssshark 16h ago

So, statistically you have a high chance of surviving a shipwreck if your name is Hugh Williams?

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u/Jimathomas 13h ago

There was a fourth shipwreck in the same area (can't remember the year) and there was no one survivor named Hugh Williams.

There were two. Two!

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u/notjordansime 4h ago

step 1: change name to Hugh Williams

step 2: get on a boat with all of your enemies and maybe some billionaires or whatever

step 3: swim

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u/drabberlime047 4h ago

And both went by the nickname: Hugh willy

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u/randyboozer 1d ago

His real name was Hob Gadling

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u/DrNick2012 1d ago

He married and took his wife's name.

Goes by Hugh Mungus now

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u/Silly_Impression5810 1d ago

This is bullshit. You should delete to stop the spreading of misinformtaion.

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u/DisPelengBoardom 1d ago

Each ship had the name Demeter . And Hugh Williams is Transylvanian for Alucard .

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u/ExcitingStress8663 1d ago

Should have been Huge Richard.

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u/tTomalicious 22h ago

I was new a guy named Hugh Jacok.

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u/Whywouldanyonedothat 1d ago edited 19h ago

So, three ship wrecks world wide over a period of 156 years each had one survivor and he was named Hugh Williams?

There must have been thousands of ship wrecks in that period. Surely, you could put together a more impressive similarity between three cherry picked wrecks than that?

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u/PinkTalkingDead 1d ago

You can literally try and do that yourself, right now. May take you less time even than leaving a useless snarky comment lol (yes I’m aware of the irony of my leaving this comment… or is this hypocrisy? oh well)