Buzz
In the second season of Grey’s Anatomy, Meredith Grey wakes up at the start of episode 16 and decides not to go to work. When her roommates and best friend, Cristina Yang, inquire about her unusual behavior, she reveals a foreboding feeling that she might die that day. Ironically, she later finds herself with her hand inside a patient’s body cavity containing a live bomb. While her premonition seems validated, it’s not her who dies. Instead, the bomb squad leader loses his life when the device detonates in the hospital hallway.
In the subsequent season, Meredith’s unsettling预感 becomes reality when she nearly drowns in Elliott Bay. She is resuscitated but not before experiencing a surreal near-death encounter with characters who had passed away in earlier episodes. This list includes individuals who, much like Meredith, harbored a constant sense of impending disaster. Their fears were tragically confirmed by large-scale calamities. However, unlike fiction, these accounts are entirely真实.
10. “A sniper positioned above the crowd could easily carry it out.”
On the morning of November 22, 1963, John F. Kennedy woke up at the Hotel Texas to a crowd gathered outside. He greeted them with the words, “There are no faint hearts in Fort Worth!” Later, inside the hotel, he told Jackie that the previous night would have been an ideal time to assassinate a president. His next statement would become a haunting预感 of the day’s tragic events. Turning to Jackie and aide Ken O’Donnell, he remarked, “A sniper positioned above the crowd could easily carry it out.”
Whether JFK genuinely had a premonition of his fate or merely a fleeting thought remains a mystery. What is certain is that at 12:30 pm that day, a bullet struck the U.S. president near the upper back and neck as his motorcade slowly passed through Dealy Plaza. Two more shots followed, one of which shattered the upper right side of his skull. John F. Kennedy was declared dead at Parkland Memorial Hospital by 1:00 pm.
The premonition remains a topic of debate, with some arguing JFK had no inkling of his impending fate and would never have made such a statement. However, others, including Irish president Eamon de Valera, shared similar预感. In a 1966 interview, de Valera recalled meeting JFK in Ireland in June 1963. He admitted to a fleeting thought that the young president would be an easy target, adding that no man could fully protect himself if he sought to connect with his people.
9. “My mother came to take me.”
On the night of April 5, 1936, Mary Hudgins Evans had a troubling dream. In it, her late mother appeared with a single message: “I’m coming for you.” Upon waking the next morning, Mary told her husband, “my mother came for me,” and expressed that he would now need to raise their only child alone.
Mary went to work at Wright’s Ice Cream Parlor in Gainesville later that day. Just after 8 am, a devastating series of 17 tornadoes struck the South, with one causing chaos in Gainesville. Moments before the tornadoes hit, Mary called her husband to bid him a final goodbye. Shortly after, Mary Hudgins Evans lost her life. The disaster claimed over 200 lives and left 1,600 others injured.
8. “I warned him we should avoid that place.”
On June 3, 2017, Christine Delcros and her fiancé Xavier Thomas were walking across London Bridge, heading to the Shard for a romantic evening Xavier had planned. He wanted to share the breathtaking city view from the skyscraper’s summit. While Christine was filled with love, an overwhelming sense of dread grew within her as they approached the bridge. Her fear became so intense that she begged Xavier to choose a different location.
Xavier, determined to proceed with his romantic gesture, ignored Christine’s growing anxiety about a potential attack. Moments later, a rented white van plowed into them from behind. The force of the impact threw Xavier over the bridge’s railing, sending him 30 feet into the Thames below. Rescuers found his body in Shadwell Basin three days later. Christine survived the attack, which claimed eight lives in total. The assault was carried out by three men who used the van and knives to terrorize the area before being fatally shot by police.
7. “A sense of foreboding overcame me.”
Edward and Pamelia Bowen tied the knot on June 19, 1893, in Ellsworth. By 1915, they had established themselves in Newton, with Edward thriving in the shoe manufacturing industry and earning a substantial income. His work often took him abroad to countries like Russia, Holland, Sweden, and Norway. In May 1915, Edward needed to travel to London for a crucial business meeting. Despite World War I raging for nine months, life and business continued. Edward booked tickets for himself and Pamelia on the next available ship departing from New York.
However, Edward felt increasingly uneasy as their departure date approached. He later recounted, ‘a growing sense of dread told me something terrible would happen to the Lusitania.’ After discussing it with his wife, they decided to cancel their trip. This decision likely saved their lives, as the Lusitania was torpedoed by a German U-boat on May 7, 1915, resulting in 1,198 casualties.
6. “Keiko, don’t go to school today.”
On August 6, 1945, eight-year-old Keiko Ogura was likely thrilled when her father told her, “Keiko, don’t go to school today.” He mentioned that “something might happen,” but the young girl, delighted at the prospect of skipping school, probably didn’t grasp the gravity of his words.
Around 8:15 am, Keiko was outside near her home when a blinding flash turned everything white. She lost consciousness and awoke to complete darkness. Initially, she thought it was nighttime and she had been out all day. Soon, she realized the sky was choked with ash and debris. Struggling to her feet, she ran home only to find it engulfed in flames. Hearing her little brother’s cries, she searched for him. When she stepped outside again, it began to rain—but the drops were black.
On August 6, 1945, at approximately 8:15 am, the world’s first deployed atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. Keiko Ogura’s father likely saved her life by trusting his instincts and keeping her home from school. The explosion instantly killed 80,000 people and destroyed 90% of the city. Thousands more would later succumb to the agonizing effects of radiation exposure.
5. “We’re cursed.”
On the morning of September 11, 2000, Monica and Michael Iken exchanged vows in a picturesque outdoor ceremony. As they were about to say their vows, a jet roared overhead, forcing them to pause the service briefly. Monica brushed it off, but Michael was deeply unsettled. He turned to his new wife and said, “we’re cursed.”
On September 9, 2001, the couple stayed at a hotel near Boston airport. Michael was unusually anxious and insisted they leave immediately. Monica was confused, but two days later, she understood why. On September 11, 2001, Michael went to work on the 84th floor of the South Tower and tragically lost his life in the terrorist attacks. Monica later discovered that the hijackers had been staying in the same hotel, planning their horrific act.
4. “I sense something terrible is coming, but I don’t know what.”
On March 10, 2019, Carol Karanja boarded Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 with her three children and mother, traveling from Canada to Kenya to visit her family. A week before the flight, Carol sent a WhatsApp message to her younger sister expressing her unease: “My heart isn’t at ease. I feel like something bad is ahead, but I don’t know what.” She shared similar fears with her father before boarding the plane.
Minutes after takeoff, Flight 302 crashed, claiming the lives of all 157 passengers, including Carol, her mother, and her children. In Kenya, Carol’s family received the heartbreaking news that three generations had been lost in an instant. This tragedy marked the second fatal crash involving a Boeing 737 Max within just five months.
3. “I had a sudden预感 I’d never see her again.”
One evening, schoolteacher Christa McAuliffe had a dream. Beyond teaching, her greatest aspiration was to travel to space. This dream came true when she was chosen from over 11,000 applicants to become the first teacher in space. Her mission included teaching two lessons and conducting experiments while aboard the spacecraft.
A few months before her mission, fellow teacher Mark Hampton spoke with Christa in the cafeteria at Concord High School, where they both worked. As they hugged goodbye, Mark felt an inexplicable chill. He later recalled, “I had a sudden预感 I’d never see her again.”
On January 28, 1986, Christa joined six other crew members aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger. Just 73 seconds after liftoff, the shuttle disintegrated mid-air, killing everyone on board. The shuttle lacked an escape system, and while the impact with the ocean surface was too violent for survival, it’s believed that most crew members likely survived the initial breakup of the shuttle.
2. “I’ll haunt him for eternity.”
Despite 16-year-old Shana Fisher repeatedly rejecting 17-year-old Dimitrios Pagourtizis’ advances in 2018, he persisted for four months. Finally, Shana confronted him in front of their entire class at Santa Fe High School in Texas. Before mustering the courage to do so, she confided in her mother, saying Pagourtizis would kill her and that she would “haunt him for eternity.”
A week after the confrontation, Pagourtizis stormed into the school’s art room, shouted “surprise,” and began shooting. He killed 10 students, including Shana Fisher, with some reports suggesting she was his first target. Another 13 were injured. Pagourtizis was arrested and held in custody. In March 2020, a Texas judge ordered him to remain in a mental health facility for a year to assess his competency for trial.
1. “London is safer.”
During WWII, evacuations from London to nearby towns and villages were common. Mona Miller and her young children were sent to Babbacombe in Devon. While the move was necessary, Mona couldn’t shake the feeling that they were in the wrong place. Although her children were happier there, Mona didn’t feel any safer.
For four months, Mona lived in Devon with a persistent thought nagging at her: they needed to return to London. Despite knowing the city was under bombardment, an inexplicable feeling told her London was safer at that moment. One morning, she woke up certain she could no longer delay the inevitable—she and her children had to go back. They departed on a Saturday in late 1942. Just days after their return to London, a letter arrived from Devon. Mona’s friend wrote that three bombs had struck the area the day after they left, destroying the house they had stayed in and killing neighbors on either side.
