A mum experienced her very own ‘glitch in the Matrix’ after being caught on camera in the exact same spot twice – in snaps taken a decade apart.
Leanne Cartwright was sent a Google Maps picture of herself standing at the crossing clutching a bag by her husband.
The mum-of-one thought it was a teasing email showing how the tech giant had caught her on camera in April 2009.
But the 41-year-old was ‘flabbergasted’ when he told her she’d appeared in the exact same spot, down to the same paving slab, in a near-identical shot nine years later.
The first image shows trouser-clad Leanne standing at a traffic crossing on the corner of Victoria Place with a carrier bag in her left arm and another bag over her shoulder.
Bizarrely a second image, shot in August 2018, shows her standing in exactly the same position holding two bags in the same style – with the only difference being her outfit.
The civil servant posted the ‘bonkers’ images to Facebook earlier this month [September 12th] where she says she’s been compared to a ‘time traveller’ due to the ‘one-in-a-billion’ coincidence.
Leanne Cartwright, 41, was amazingly pictured in the same spot in Carlisle in 2009 (left) and 2018 (right), striking almost an identical pose nine years apart
Leanne, from Carlisle, Cumbria, said: ‘It’s like I’m frozen in time.
‘I’m standing on exactly the same paving slab and I’ve still got a bag on my shoulder. It’s so funny but so bizarre.
‘People probably think I’m a time traveller. I could be the only person in the world who they’ve caught in exactly the same place almost a decade later.
‘I did see the car the first time, so when it got published we went on and had a look. Everyone thought it was quite funny and I didn’t mind at all.
‘Richard found the second one while he was at work because he was looking for the first one. He was going to send it to me and then he realised I was back on it.
‘When I saw it, I thought it was really bizarre. I hadn’t even seen the car at the time, so I was flabbergasted.
‘We told everyone at work and they found it funny. I thought I’d put it on Facebook because I don’t know anyone else it’s happened to.
Leanne back at the spot in her hometown in Cumbria where the Google car snapped her twice
‘I’ve had loads of likes. Someone mentioned about me being a time traveller.. It’s been funny reading the reactions.
‘I’ll be looking out for the car in future and if I see it, I’ll have to jump on the same spot. You never know, I might be there next time. It’ll make me smile when I walk past.’
Leanne says the first image was taken during her one-mile walk to work at around 8am whereas the second was on a lunchtime break – and discovered by hubby Richard in January 2019.
Unfortunately, she didn’t make an appearance on the most recent Google Street View shot in September 2020 as she was working remotely during the pandemic.
However, Leanne has returned to working two days in the office a week and says the uncanny coincidence will make her smile ‘every time she walks over the crossing’.
The self-professed ‘creature of habit’ said she wouldn’t wear any of the clothes she wore in the first image now, and jokes the comparison shows how her personal fashion has changed since 2009.
Leanne, who lives with 41-year-old Richard and son Zach Cartwright, five, has attracted more than 700 likes and 20 baffled replies to her post.
One commented: ‘that is actually crazy and cool at the same time.’
Another agreed and said: ‘Sorry, that’s absolutely bonkers!’
A third questioned: ‘Is this not one of those one-in-a-billion chances? Amazing!’
One observant user said: ‘Bag in the same hand and also on the shoulder.’
Leanne replied: ‘I’m a total creature of habit.’