what the Mandela effect really is

the Mandela effect is NOT something changing in the physical world (example: names and words change in printed books, a person once thought dead turns out to be alive).

the reality is that alternative physical dimensions/realities exist and for some reason peoples CONSCIOUSNESS (which is separate from the physical body) keep hopping across these worlds.

All that's happened is that your non physical consciousness has somehow shifted to your replica in another physical world where the name you're scratching your head about was always spelled that way and the person you thought was dead is actually live.

in other words, its not them, its you. you're the stranger from another world that's in a new world that you were not born into.