Two men traveling to Thailand were shocked to discover they share the same name and face after an airport mix-up caused them to meet.
The men, both named Mark Garland, were on the same flight to Bangkok, Thailand, according to The Mirror. While the 58-year-old Mark Garland was checking into his flight, the airport staff at Heathrow Airport in the United Kingdom told him he already checked in. After a 40-minute ordeal, they realized there were two Mark Garlands on the same flight. He was then taken to the boarding gate, where he met his doppelgänger.
The pair noticed a resemblance in their appearance, noting their shaved heads, the outlet reported. The two joked about causing so many “problems” with checking in.
“I was shocked at how strange it was,” the younger Garland told the outlet. “People said we could be brothers.”
“I said, ‘Look, I’m Mark Garland,’ showing him my passport, and he started laughing and opened his passport and showed me his name, and it was banter,” he added. (RELATED: Viral Video Shows Snoop Dogg’s Doppelganger Soaking Up Fanfare After Being Mistaken For The Star).
The two were reportedly sat next to each other on the flight. They spent the long flight discovering more similarities, such as their hobbies, love for Thailand, family life, and shared friends, the outlet reported.
British doppelgangers sit next to each other on Heathrow flight and discover they are BOTH called Mark Garland, have four kids… and even have a mutual pal https://t.co/MYbb7rqMLZ pic.twitter.com/aJnIK2nNlg
— Daily Mail Online (@MailOnline) March 5, 2024
Both men are single fathers with four children, the outlet reported. The younger Garland noted one of his co-workers knows the other man and goes for drinks with him at a local pub.
The pair reportedly live only 15 miles apart. The younger Garland is a bus driver from Trowbridge Wiltshire, and the older one, a 62-year-old builder, is from Warmley, Bristol. The older man even occasionally rides the bus driven by the other, the outlet noted.
“It was crazy — I have never known anything like it,” the older Garland remarked to the outlet about the interaction. “My name was coming out of the antenna, and my phone was going. I thought someone was winding me up.”
“They said there was another Mark Garland. They came to the bar, and asked to see my passport. I was thinking ‘What is going on!'” he added. “I go to the desk and there’s a bloke who looks just like me, but he’s a bit bigger than me.”
The younger Garland will be in Thailand for four weeks, while the other is there for three weeks. They plan to meet up for a beer during their travels, they told the outlet.
“We both kept laughing and smiling about it, it made me happy,” the younger one told the outlet. “I’ve made a friend for life.”