People Who Believe They're Reincarnated

#1 The Russian Traffic Officer Who Claims To Be Jesus

He goes by the name Vissarion, but his birth name is Sergey Anatolyevitch Torop, and he believes he is the reborn Jesus Christ. Torop was working as a patrol officer in 1989 when the police department had to let him go due his mental stability. It was at that time that he insisted he was Jesus Christ, reborn as Vissarion. In his belief system, this does not make him God, but instead the word of God. His religion combines elements of the Russian Orthodox Church with Buddhism, apocalypticism, collectivism, and ecological values. He has appeared on many television shows and in news articles since telling the world in 1989 that he was the reincarnation of Jesus, and as a result, he has of 5,000 worldwide followers. The aim of the group is to unite people, cultures, and religions from all over the world. His followers observe strict regulations, are vegans, and are allowed no vices such as smoking or drinking alcohol. Money is also banned.

#2 The Shop Assistant Who Claims To Be The Reincarnation Of Marilyn Monroe

Extensive therapy and regression hypnosis has led Chris Vicens, a 26-year-old store assistant, to believe he is the reincarnation of model, actress, and singer, Marilyn Monroe. The man claims that through dreams and finally his therapy, he has learned that he was in fact, the blond bombshell in another life.

"When I first awoke from my session and the therapist told me who I'd said I was, I thought: No, that's not possible, what are the odds of that happening?" said Vicens, adding, "each time I regress, I learn a little more about Marilyn. I like to think I am a sane and rational person. I am definitely not making this up. Why would I open myself up to ridicule?"

He says that during just five sessions with regressional therapist Fiona Childs, he has learned many details of the life of Marilyn Monroe, born Norma Jean Baker, that he simply "did not know before." He says that some of his flashbacks and dreams include things that nobody knows about Monroe, and is going to start writing a book about his experiences when his therapy has concluded.

#3 The Thailand Buddhist Who Believe Steve Jobs Is Reincarnated As One Of Their Gods

Believing in an afterlife, Apple software engineer, Tony Tseung, wrote to the Buddhist monks in Thailand shortly after Apple founder Steve Jobs death, to ask if they could give any insight about his passing. To his surprise, they answered him immediately. In their reply, they say that Jobs is now a celestial philosopher, in a glass palace that hovers over the Apple headquarters in Cupertino, California.

In Malaysia, a group of Jobs' admirers performed a religious ceremony after his funeral. During the ceremony, the group each took a bite from an apple before throwing it into the sea to speed up the process of reincarnation. Phra Chaibul Dhammajayo, one of the abbots at the Dhammakaya Temple, is convinced that Jobs has already been reborn. They say that he is now a divine presence with a specific interest in science and art. Followers have received this information through a special message that was broadcast worldwide. Apparently, more specific details will be communicated when Jobs feels the need to pass on any knowledge or messages. They believe his is the God of Technology.

#4 The Australian Couple Who Claims To Be Jesus Christ And Mary Magdalene

They run a religious movement called "The Divine Truth" from their home and attract seminars of up to 200 people every week. The reason? They believe they are Jesus and Mary Magdalene, and their followers believe it too. Alan John Miller, a former IT specialist in Australia, claims to be the reincarnation of Jesus Christ, while his partner says she's the repentant prostitute Mary Magdalene.

"My name is Jesus and I'm serious. Just a little over 2,000 years ago, we arrived on the Earth for the first time," says Alan John Miller. "I have very clear memories of the crucifixion, but it wasn't as harrowing for me as it was for others like Mary who was present," says Miller. The carpenter, his new trade, is the father or two children by his previous wife. She left him after he began his claims to be Jesus and started recalling details of his past life. He says that he recalls performing miracles in his past life, but for now, he is happy just spreading the word of God.

#5 The Toddler Who Claimed To Be The Reincarnation Of A WWII Fighter Pilot

Six decades ago, a 21-year-old Navy fighter pilot on a mission over the Pacific was shot down by Japanese artillery. His name might have been forgotten, were it not for a toddler named James Leininger. At a very young age, James Leininger started to remember his life as a navy fighter pilot. Airplanes were the only toys he would play with, and after a time his plane obsession turned into a nightmare. At first, the parents of the boy were puzzled, then disturbed, when their two-year-old son began screaming out chilling phrases such as, "Plane on fire! Little man can't get out!" during recurring nightmares since the boy was a regular toddler who had only just begun stringing together sentences.

He lost a lot of sleep and kept talking about flying planes, about the weapons, and the scary accident with his plane. James, who only watched kids' programs on TV, showed his mother what a fighter plane drop tank was, and was able to check a plane over as a pilot would during a pre-flight check when he was just three years old. The child was able to tell his father that he used to take off from a boat called the Natoma and knew the name of a co-pilot, Jack Larson. The Natoma was indeed a Pacific ship and Larson was still alive. After James told his father that he had been killed in his plane at Iwo Jima, his father discovered a pilot called James M. Huston Jr. who had died there. This was especially strange, as James had started to sign his drawings "James 3." James' family contacted Huston's sister, and she sent James a bust and a model airplane that had been returned to her by the navy after her brother's death and people began to believe that the boy was actually reincarnated. In 2010, he published a best-seller called "Soul Survivor."

#6 Musician Phil Collins Believes He Is The Reincarnation Of An Alamo Survivor

Popular rocker Phil Collins believes that he is the reincarnation of an Alamo survivor, according to an interview he gave The Daily Mail. It all began when he met a clairvoyant in Texas while on a trip four years ago who convinced the singer of his rebirth and he started studying the history of the Alamo, collecting artifacts from the battle until it became an all-consuming passion. Collins remains a little defensive about his reincarnation, though, telling Rolling Stone magazine that he is not a "weirdo" for believing it is possible, producing pictures showing orbs of light and claiming that it is paranormal energy. The battle in 1836 saw 1,500 Mexican troops lay siege to 200 Texans, including Davy Crockett and Jim Bowie, at the Alamo mission in San Antonio. All but a handful of the Texans were killed. Collins believes he is one of those Texans killed in that battle.

#7 The Swedish Poet Who Claims To Be The Reincarnation Of Anne Frank

Even as a child, Swedish poet and author Barbro Karlen had recurring nightmares with Holocaust themes. Over the years she had convinced herself that she was, in fact, the reincarnation of Anne Frank. In 1995 she went live on an Amsterdam television program and made her discovery announcement to the world. This startling news, coming out of the very city where the Franks had once lived, left Dutch viewers both amazed and shocked. She later published a book about her experiences, And the Wolves Howled, which caused angry protests, as well as attempts to stop its publication, from a small section of the Jewish population.

#8 The Grandpa Who Came Back As His Own Grandson

Gus Taylor was 18 months old when he started to say that he was his own grandfather. Young children can be confused about their own identity and those of their family members, but this was different. His grandfather had died a year before Gus was born and the boy totally believed they were the same person. When shown some family photographs, Gus identified "Grandpa Augie" when he was four years old.

There was a family secret that nobody had ever spoken about in front of or around GusAugie's sister had been murdered and dumped in the San Francisco Bay. The family was perplexed when the four-year-old child started to talk about his dead sister. According to Gus, God gave him a ticket after he died. With this ticket, he was able to travel through a hole, after which he came back to life as Gus.

#9 The Woman Who Believed She Was The Reincarnation Of A 19th Century Irish Woman

People at the time believed she was possessed by a demon, but one of the best-known reincarnation stories is that of Virginia Tighe given a pseudonym of Ruth Simmons. In 1952, the Pueblo, Colorado woman underwent a series of hypnosis sessions during which her therapist, Morey Bernstein, regressed her back to her birth. She suddenly started to speak with a heavy Irish accent and remembered many specific details from her life as Bridey Murphy, who had lived in Belfast, Ireland in the 19th century. Not many of the things she mentioned could be verified. However, she recalled two people from whom she used to buy her food, a Mr. John Carrigan, and a Mr. Farr. The town directory for 186566 lists the two individuals as local grocers. The story is shown in a film from 1956 called 'The Search for Bridey Murphy'.

#10 Salvador Dali, Who Believed He Was The Reincarnation Of His Dead Brother

Famous artist Salvador Dalí's older brother, also named Salvador, died of gastroenteritis nine months before his birth. When he was five, Dalí was taken to his brother's grave and told by his parents that he was his brother's reincarnation, a concept which he came to believe.

Of his brother, Dalí said, "We resembled each other like two drops of water, but we had different reflections." He "was probably a first version of myself but conceived too much in the absolute." Images of his long-dead brother would reappear embedded in his later works, including "Portrait of My Dead Brother" (1963). In many of his writings, he claimed that he experienced deep stress from the pressure of living as both himself and his dead brother.