Could ex be truly calling me by mistake?

[ffspls]

In the last 3 months, my ex has left me missed calls but when I called back, he says it's a mistake.
First time he said he was returning a missed call he thought was from me and the second time, he said it was a mistake.
He doesn't try to talk to me further e.g. light chat such as to ask how I am; he just then rushes off to say goodbye.
He left me 5 years ago and a few efforts of mine to rekindle last year were unsuccessful. I realised I was already put in a friend zone, so I backed away.
Has anyone experienced their ex calling them?
Could these calls be genuine mistakes?

Who knows? I would block him so he can't call you, either by mistake or "by mistake".

I think he's doing it to see if you call him back. It's probably a big ego stroke for him when you do. Next time he does it don't call back.

Its6a control thing. He's just checking you're still interested enough to return his calls.
Burst his bubble by blocking him.

Thank you very much. I suspected it could be mind games. If so, it's an unkind thing to do considering my circumstances. He knows I don't have friends or family.
I intend to change my number soon.

This. I don't understand why you haven't blocked him already.

I never saw the need to block them since they never used to contact me. So, I just deleted their number and let it go.

Feel like giving you an almighty hug for what you wrote. Don't go making yourself sad over this pathetically insecure, moronic emotional abuse tactic. He's (rather clumsily) "heat checking". Sniffing around for random hits of validation. You chased him hard in the past and his ego misses that.

The appropriate answer for a fool is silence love. Took me a long time to learn that. Pease don't allow yourself to entertain this buffoon again.