You’re having a casual conversation with your friends at lunch. You start to talk about a memory from your childhood, a scene from an old movie or a historic event that happened. They all chime in, remembering the same things you do. Someone decides to search it on their phone, only to find out that everything you guys have been talking about is technically wrong. But you’re so confused—how could it be that you all were wrong about the same historical event?

It’s called the Mandela Effect. Mandelaeffect.com, a website on the conspiracy theory run by Fiona Broome, defines the Mandela Effect as “what happens when someone has a clear memory of something that never happened in this reality.” The name originates from many people remembering Nelson Mandela’s death being in the 1980s, when in reality, he didn’t die until 2013. It plays off the idea that these occurrences happened in an alternate reality that has since changed (which is why so many people remember the events happening), or that time traveling has something to do with it.

Since then, various Mandela Effect theories have paraded around the Internet; there’s now even a subreddit full of various conspiracies pitched by redditors. If you’ve never heard of the Mandela Effect before, here are some of the more popular ones that might convince you:

The Berenstain Bears

Many people seem to remember this popular children’s book and television series with a different spelling. The common remembered spelling is "Berenstein," with an e instead of an a (I myself even remember it being spelled this way). In one of her podcasts, Youtuber Jenna Marbles even talks about how she distinctly remembers it being spelled with an e, but her mother only found copies of the books with Berenstain spelled with an a. The Berenstain Bears Wikipedia page claims that this misspelling was common, as the author’s son remembers a teacher arguing with him over it, because –stein was a more common spelling than –stain.

Chick-fil-a

This popular southern fast food brand is also believed to be an example of the Mandela Effect. Many remember the spelling of the brand to be “Chic-fil-a,” but now it appears the brand has always spelled “chick” with a k. The company also claims that they’ve never changed the spelling of their name, leaving many people baffled.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

This one is probably the most convincing theory I’ve seen and has many people on the Internet freaking out. In the scene where the wicked witch is looking into the mirror, many remember her saying, “Mirror, mirror, on the wall; who’s the fairest of them all?” Now, if you were to go back and re-watch the movie, you would hear her say, “Magic mirror on the wall; who’s the fairest of them all?”

While I’m not going to say I completely believe in the Mandela Effect, these couple of instances have definitely made me consider the possibility of this conspiracy theory being true. So, what do you believe? Do you think the Mandela Effect is real?