None of this can be true....but....

[Highstool]

I have a new aquaintance. Practically the first time I had an actual conversation with him, he told me how he grew up in another country, but his family had to make a moonlight flit because of their involvement with the mob, when he was 14yo. His uncle eventually went to prison for attempting to murder his father.

This meant his sister had to give up a promising sporting career where she was already competing internationally.

His accent is "correct" for where he lives now because he was deaf until he was in his early 20s, when he had an implant fitted.

He cousin plays for a Premiership FC.

His Grandad is a very famous decorated war hero etc etc

Loads of really far fetched stories, that if they were true, he surely wouldn't have told someone he's only just met.

But it all checks out with stories in mainstream newspapers when you Google.

So is he pretending to be someone else? I just don't know why he'd be telling me!

This perfectly summed up how I’d perceive this too. I happen to know a few people like this and if it weren’t for other people in their lives verifying it, I’d assume they were fantasists but in fact they are just people who like attention with nothing of their own going on.

Remember the crazy woman in Twin Peaks who always talked about how curtains annoyed her and that she had invented better curtain rods and gliders? That is based on a true story.

The inventor was a woman who was committed to a mental hospital in Denmark. The people who worked there figured that her ramblings about curtains where just part of her mental illness until patent agents showed up. She got the patent approved and became quite wealthy.

Just because something sounds far out it isn't necessarily untrue.

It could go either way really, he might be oversharing just to brag or he could be oversharing out of anxiety to get it out of the way and see who sticks around to be friends with him.

I have a friend/acquaintance who is similar, not quite as dramatic as the mob but has had dealings with cartel etc. all true, she’s just had a crazy life and we will often ask her to tell us stories of when she was younger 🤣 we’ve tried to persuade her to write a book but she doesn’t see it as that interesting funnily

Robert Hendy-Freegard had a lot of tales too.

Whether it’s true or not, I would be sceptical of him. What drives him to reveal so much private information to people he hardly knows.

Get ready for your meals to be interrupted by a call from his New York office 😁

Sounds like a male version of Nessa from Gavin and Stacey

I haven't RTFT but why shouldn't any of it be true OP?

Not everyone has a dull as shit life.

If it all checks out in papers that's probably where he gets his material from. There's always a chance, the slimmest chance that's fine slim it's thinner than a cobwebs strand. But I don't think so.

I'm pretty sure if I was to tell you some of my family history/connections you wouldn't believe it either.

I think we are all very likely to have interesting things in our family, it's just that some people are more aware of it than others.

Ok but if he could partially hear and/or had had speech therapy then that would have been in his native language, which would mean if he only learnt to speak English as an adult there is no way he would be speaking it like a native speaker. He would have an accent. The fact he told her that he suddenly heard language (which wasn’t even his native language) for the first time in his 20s (which also suggests he was completely deaf until then) and just copied what he heard to form words that sounded just like normal people is by far the most ridiculous part of his story. The age after which it’s not possible to ever fully acquire a language if you’ve never heard it spoken (and if you don’t have a first language) is about 3 or 4 years old. Look at the case of Genie Wiley. She only ever learnt to speak like a toddler and that was after years of intense language therapy

Perhaps he prefers to get the facts out there early on, rather than someone he just met Googling him and thinking they are a super sleuth who has landed on a host of juicy secrets and gossiping about him to others in the club?

Was he called Uncle Albert? 😀

I am obsessed with the Cambridge 5.
What a family history.

If he has a CI then he has a coil with a magnet (the circle in the hair) and a processor (like a hearing aid) behind the ear. If he told you he had one but didn’t show you or tell you how it worked, I’d be unconvinced as it would seem to me that you probably haven’t seen one before or been exposed to the deaf/Deaf communities.

I have one - it’s not visible under my hair but I do show people if they ask.

(To a PP: it’s not true that someone born deaf cannot speak at all, it depends on the level of deafness, when diagnosed, and whether implanted or aided young, and each deaf person is as unique as hearing people. My best friend speaks with a strong regional accent characteristic of her region and has perfect spoken and written English but was born deaf. Also CIs are often implanted young to help with language acquisition! Sometimes people realise we’re deaf, sometimes they don’t. I’m very young deafened, in my toddler years but after some language acquisition.)

It could be that he’s from the deaf community as they do tend to overshare by hearing standards and it’s not uncommon to hear someone’s life story straight off - but that would be more typical of the signing deaf community, sometimes called Deaf community.

But if you can easily Google - so can he.

Both can be true - he can be deaf/Deaf and a Walter Mitty. I’ve met a few.

A new man joined a club I belong to. One night he sat next to me and told me his life story - jobs, relationships, hobbies, likes and dislikes, talents, pets etc. Two hours of him talking with me just mainly nodding along. When it was time to pack up, he said, 'Well, now you know all about me!' And I thought, 'And you know absolutely nothing about me.'

Those stories aren't even that outlandish, apart from the bit about fleeing the mob.

Two sporting talents and one war hero in a family isn't what I'd call eyebrow-raisingly implausible.

I genuinely don't understand what the issue is? You thought they were tall tales, did some sleuthing and found out it was all true? But you still don't believe him?

I can't see why it would matter about telling you. Just because there are countries he can't travel to doesn't mean it's not safe to tell you. It all sounds plausible to me and I'm not even sure why you'd doubt what he tells you is true.

I think this rings true to me.

Also it's very possible that much of the stories are true but he's embellishing or adding more interesting stories on top of his family history.

E.g if there is no visible implant could he have had something like gromits which aren't visible? So he had hearing problems but wasn't completely deaf? That might explain his speech being fine.

Some people are just really good with accents especially kids so I wouldn't be concerned with that side. He could be embellishing or it all happened as a child so he doesn't know the details or he's exaggerating for likes.

So is it that the stories must be true but you are annoyed that he feels the need to tell you?

Are all the people in the papers actually related for starters?

I am not keen on over sharers so for me I would be wary.

If someone tells you such personal stuff in the literal first cov ersation, you generally know it's bull, let alone that level of delusion he told you.

I worked with a guy who would tell people he met about his fiancee who died of cancer, he wore an engagement ring and flashed it about to make you glance at it and then use it as an opening. He had pictures of a Brazilian model he had downloaded and photoshopped himself in with, and it became clear he used this as a sob story to get female colleagues to go on a date with him. One said no thank you and he became obsessed with her, practically stalked her! Also had a bit of stolen valour issues where he said he was a pilot in the RAF and again, photoshopped himself in to parades and planes.

Not sure why people do it except for attention I guess, or escapism etc.

I'm not annoyed at all. I'm interested and curious. Something feels off, it isnt normal to share like this, I'd assume wild stories like this are untrue but they don't appear to be. But if that's the case you'd think he'd want to keep his whereabouts quiet.

The other thing is he always as cash on him. Lots of it, rolls of £50 notes. Ive no idea how or if that might be attached to the stories, but its another thing that's not "right". He's very generous with the cash too, often buying the drinks for everyone. There's just "something" that feels wrong.

I do believe him. I don't know why you'd share information that would put you and your family at risk so easily, which makes me wonder why he does.