A SCOTS photographer’s amazing snap of him sitting with his doppelganger on a plane has gone viral.
Neil Douglas was shocked to discover his identical twin, Robert Stirling, sat in his seat on a flight from Stansted to Shannon, County Clare.
The 32-year-old from Glasgow took a selfie on board and shared the amazing likeness on Twitter, resulting in over 800 shares in less than three hours.
Even more remarkable, when the pair arrived in Galway – over 50 miles from the airport and over an hour’s drive away – they discovered they were booked into the same Jury’s Inn hotel and then ran into each other for a third time that night in a nearby boozer.
The picture on the plane shows the two complete strangers with stunning similarities – from their bushy ginger beards to their broad smiles and even hairstyle.
In a later snap, taken in a pub, one stark difference is evident between the two – their height.
Neil said: “It happened yesterday, I work as a photographer so flew down to shoot a wedding in Galway.
“The funny thing is I went down to get my seat and he was actually sitting in it.
“I’m sure I said something along the lines of ‘Hey brother’.
“He ended up sitting right next to me. It was all good fun. We had a laugh about it so I had to take the photo.
“Then to make it even crazier, when checking in the Jury’s Inn Hotel in Galway, he was in the same hotel!
“And then I went for a pint in a pub called the Quays and he was there again. We had a pint together and took a photo where you can see the most noticeable difference is the height.
“I don’t even know his name but i know he’s 35 and from London. He was over with his friends for a lads weekend. The guy in the background of the photo laughing is actually one of his friends.
“My wife was in Glasgow at the time but when she seen it she just finds it all amusing.
“I’m down here until Monday. I’ve not seen him today yet but you never know.”
Father-of-one Robert from Redbridge, north-east London travelled to Galway for a “weekend booze up” and after a random act of kindness ended up ended up his doppleganger.
The civil servant said: “I had actually swapped my seat on the plane so that a couple could sit together.
“Neil suddenly appeared next to me and all my mates started shouting, saying that we had to take a picture.
“We chatted on the flight for just over an hour, he was a very nice guy.”
He added: “It turned out that we were staying at the same hotel, and we saw him in a few pubs that night. We ended up socialising and quite a few people pointed out that we looked very similar.”
Rob is staying in Galway for a few days with his friends to “get away from London for a bit”.
Since their night out last night, he has not seen Neil – though the pair could bump into each other again over the weekend.
He added: “I just wanted a quiet trip away and this happened – it’s a bit ridiculous how mad it has gone online.
“It’s just funny really – it must be a ginger beard thing. There is a bit of Scottish ancestry in my family, hence the last name, but it goes way back.”
Twitter exploded with comments from amused users, who dubbed the pair “identical twins”.
British cartoonist Jamie McKelvie said: “They could have swapped passports, and committed the perfect crime.”
One user named Tanya wrote: “They need a DNA test. They’re related!”
Steve Bradshaw added: “Must be a long lost twin!”
The story has even inspired another doppelganger to join in the Twitter conversation.
Fellow Scot Nathan McKeown uploaded a picture of himself showing a large, bushy ginger beard, sideswept hair and straight, white teeth.
He uploaded the selfie underneath the original Twitter post, after one of his friends said to him: “I thought it was you, I am too confused now.”
To which Nathan replied: “You’re the third person to say this!”
