26-year-old Maine man discovers 'lookalike portrait' of him in a thrift store. Except, it's dated 22 years before his birth

Mitchell Carey (u/soldierzombie), a 26-year-old man from Maine, was at a local thrift store when he stumbled upon a painting that looked exactly like him — except for one thing: he didn't have a mustache. "The thing was uncanny, especially considering how long my hair was at the time," Carey told Newsweek. The painting, described by Chris Cunningham as an "original" from 1978, coincidentally predicted his birth 22 years before it actually happened. The person shared the story on Reddit on February 10. 

Carey's partner loved visiting thrift stores, so they visited one called the "Big Chicken Barn." They went straight to the art section because that's what fascinates his partner the most; there, Carey's boyfriend noticed the painting that looked exactly like him. It was about a man with a very similar facial structure and hairstyle to Carey. However, the man in the painting had a thick mustache, unlike the Maine man, and was depicted gazing off while smoking a big pipe. Interestingly, Carey had discovered the painting in 2024 but shared it online only after seeing several other Reddit stories of people with paintings, photographs, or objects that appeared to look like themselves. "Thrift store drawing made 22 years before I was born that looks like me with a broody fisherman," he captioned his post. Carey also shared that he bought the painting home because he felt he would be cursed if he didn't. "Also weird to think someone else might have a photo that looks like me in their house," he added.

There is a popular saying that everyone has seven lookalikes or doppelgängers. However, there is no scientific evidence for it. A 2015 study by biologist Teghan Lucas (from the University of Adelaide) investigated 4,000 faces using data from the US Anthropometric Survey to calculate the probability of two people matching exactly across all of them. She compared eight important facial features on each face and found that there is about a 1 in 135 chance that at least one pair of exact lookalikes exists somewhere in the world. However, the chance that someone out there looks exactly like you in all eight features is only about 1 in 1 trillion. That means, although there's definitely a chance that two lookalikes exist, it is highly unlikely.

Meanwhile, reacting to Mitchell Carey's unusual discovery, u/voice_of_the_future commented, "You didn’t find a drawing; you found a character preset from the 1970s version of the simulation. It looks like you haven't unlocked the pipe or mustache DLC yet, but the base model is a perfect match." Similarly, u/nashbrownies shared, "Lmao, dude, we look almost identical; it's wild. Same glasses, hair, and smile. On that note: looking good." u/no-schedule-2813 asked, "Could it be a family member you knew nothing about? I'd try to find out more about it. Perhaps unlock a history you never knew existed." u/steventhewicked, who saw no resemblance between the two, wrote, "It's just your goofy haircut and large-rimmed glasses. Otherwise, no resemblance at all."

More on Scoop Upworthy

Fargo resident gets an eerie feeling while touring new house — his mom’s photo under the floorboards proves him right

Their 3-year-old boy didn't look anything like them. Their jaws dropped when they stumbled upon a 100-year-old photo

Man posts 58-year-old unreleased record he found at thrift store — and the band, now in their 70s, finally realized their teenage dream