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Ever heard of this before? It's actually rather fascinating a topic. I've watched a few videos about it on YouTube, and it intrigues me... partly because I've experienced this myself actually before, even recently, and it got me to scratch my head...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/False_...false_memories
Collective false memories
Similar false memories are sometimes shared by multiple people. For example, a somewhat commonly reported false memory is that the name of the Berenstain Bears was once spelled Berenstein. Another reported example is false memories of a movie starring the comedian Sinbad, called Shazaam. One study examined people who were familiar with the clock at Bologna Centrale railway station, which had been damaged in the Bologna massacre of 1980. In the study, 92% falsely remembered that the clock had remained stopped since the bombing; in fact, the clock was repaired shortly after the attack but was again stopped 16 years later as a symbolic commemoration.
In 2015 this phenomenon of collective false memory was dubbed the "Mandela Effect" by self-described "paranormal consultant" Fiona Broome, in reference to a false memory she reports, of the death of South African leader Nelson Mandela in the 1980s (rather than in 2013 when he actually died), which she claims is shared by "perhaps thousands" of other people. Broome has speculated about alternate realities as an explanation, but most commentators suggest that these are instead examples of false memories shaped by similar factors affecting multiple people, such as social reinforcement of incorrect memories, or false news reports and misleading photographs influencing the formation of memories based on them.
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