You may remember reading The Berenstein Bears books or watching the cartoon when you were little. The book series launched in 1962 and became a popular TV series in the 80s.  Everyone remembers the beloved bears, but somehow no one can agree on the spelling of their name. The Berenstein Bears we all grew to love are actually The Berenstain Bears, with an “A”!

Not even the world’s greatest magician could manage to replace every single copy of the book, refilm every single episode and change the spelling of the authors’ last names. There must be an explanation for this phenomenon that has taken our generation by storm.  The answer: the Mandela effect. This effect was created by Fiona Broome, and derives from the numerous amount of people who believed that Nelson Mandela died in prison when in reality he was released from prison and became the president of South Africa.  The theory states that if a large group of people have the same false memories, then the memories are related to parallel realities. Recent St. Dominic graduate, Madigan Schulte, agrees that the book’s current spelling is incorrect.

“I do not believe in parallel or alternate universes, but something went wrong somewhere because it is spelled Berenstein. That is how I remember it. That is how the majority of people remember it being spelled. The only answer to this controversy that makes sense to me is the Mandela Effect coming into play, but it just really bothers me because I know that it is spelled with an ‘E’,” said Schulte.

Just like Schulte, many people are convinced that the spelling is with an “E” and somehow magically turned into an “A”. The controversy continues to spread as confused teenagers and young adults try to come to grips with reality; was it “Berenstein” or has it always been “Berenstain”?  Are there people in a parallel universe somewhere who are just as confused as we are?  We may never know.