4-year-old boy tells his mother he remembers being a grown-up who drowned in the ocean. Then he repeats the exact same story when asked

A 4-year-old boy told his mother he remembers a time when he was a grown-up and dropped something in the water that sank. Cassie Scroggins, who posts on TikTok as @cassscroggins, shared the clip that has gained over a million views. She said in the caption that she was filming a time-lapse of putting pictures in frames for her content room makeover when the conversation happened two years ago.

In the video, the boy, wearing a grey T-shirt and brown shorts, said, “Uh, Mommy, when I was a grown-up, uh, I was dropping my pillow in water and it sunk.” On-screen text showed Scroggins looking confused at first. She later said in the caption that she immediately watched the video back, clipped it, and sent it to her sisters.

Scroggins asked the boy to tell the story again. He said, “Um, I dropped my camera in the water,” and added that it sank. He described trying to reach it, falling in, and then coming back as a baby before growing up again. On-screen text noted that she was checking if the story stayed the same while trying to stay nonchalant.

Viewers connect the boy’s story to a 2017 drowning at a Tennessee waterfall

In the video, the boy said, “You was right here, and I was over here, and this was the ocean,” while describing the scene when he was a grown-up. He confirmed that he fell in with his camera and then became a baby again. Kids give parents plenty to talk about this time of year, like when a mom sorted her son’s Halloween haul and complained about the economy.

Scroggins said in her caption that she tried to ask the boy more questions in the coming days, but nothing more came out of it. She added that she still thinks “this isn’t his first rodeo.” Stories about parents grieving a lost son have struck a chord online before, like when a grieving mom handed a lookalike doll of her late child.

One comment on the video pointed to a case involving 22-year-old Richard Ragland. A 2019 report from WLOS ABC 13 said Ragland drowned at Foster Falls State Park in Marion County, Tennessee, on June 4, 2017. The report stated that he was taking photos with a GoPro with friends when he was pulled under the water and never resurfaced.

According to the WLOS report, Ragland was eventually pulled out of the water, but efforts to revive him failed. Over two years later, YouTube vlogger Rich Aloha found the GoPro buried underwater. Aloha said that he strongly believed “God led me to this GoPro” because all that was visible was the tip of the thumbscrew.

The WLOS report said Aloha was informed of who it might belong to, found Ragland’s parents, and sent them the SD card, which was still intact and working. The parents said they have watched some of the video that shows their son living life to the fullest and will eventually watch the last of the video to fully understand what happened before he passed.

Viewers shared similar stories in the comments. One wrote, “My son told me around this age he tried to come to earth twice before he was born but said I kept sending him back I had 2 miscarriages trying to conceive him.”

Another commenter said, “So the real question is… how do we make sure we don’t come back here lol.” A third wrote, “For my own sanity, I hope all these stories are fake because I can not do this life s–t again bro.”

One person stated, “Mine confidently announced this is in fact his first time… on this planet.” Another shared, “meanwhile the kid i nanny told me he used to be an avocado waiting to be eaten.”