A family’s beach photo mystery inside their San Diego Airbnb went viral. Then the host revealed how it actually got there

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Two sisters from Utah recently discovered something strange during a family trip to San Diego. Hanging on the wall of their Airbnb rental was a framed beach photo, and inside it were pictures of their own family members. Aubrey Birrell and Libby Birrell shared the moment on TikTok, and the video quickly went viral, gathering 1.2 million views, 159,100 likes, and over 3,600 comments. The sisters, along with about 30 relatives, were shown staying at the rental home in Oceanside to celebrate their grandfather’s 80th birthday in early July. In the original video, Aubrey said, “Okay guys, the weirdest thing happened,” before explaining that they had just arrived at their Airbnb. Libby called the situation “Unsettling. Unsettling.” The family recognized relatives in the framed beach picture In the video, Aubrey turned the camera toward a large framed picture on the wall. It showed an aerial view of a crowded beach, with people scattered across the sand and in the water. She said her father looked at the photo and remarked, “This looks like me.” At first, she brushed it off, but then pointed to specific people in the picture. @aubsbirrell We can’t make this up….. this is the craziest thing @libby_birrell #fyp #sandiego #creepy #tf ♬ Blue Danube Waltz – The London Symphony Orchestra “No, this is my dad,” she said, pointing to a man standing in the water. She then pointed to two children nearby, adding, “that’s my sister Libby when she was 10 years ago,” and “that’s Brady my brother 10 years ago.” Libby responded with shock in the video, saying, “He is lit. They’re literally in the Airbnb picture.” She added, “We have those swimsuits. We are literally in this picture.” Aubrey called it “the craziest thing,” while Libby said, “We are on our Airbnb wall.”  In an interview with Fox News Digital, the sisters said they were “creeped out” when they first saw the photo. “The moment we saw it, we made everyone come up and look, and they were all in awe,” Aubrey said. She added that she began FaceTiming friends who reacted with shock as well. Aubrey, 26, told Fox News Digital that during their first night sleeping in the rental, “we were creeped out.” She said the experience felt “really strange” and left them wondering, “Did they know we were coming?” The sisters said they believe the photo was taken about 10 years ago at either Mission Beach or Imperial Beach, during a family trip for their brother’s soccer tournament. “We remember the swimsuits. We remember the time. We’re pretty confident,” Aubrey said. The mystery was resolved after the family asked the property host about the photo. According to the sisters, the host explained that the home’s decorator is a San Diego photographer who takes aerial shots of the beach and enlarges them into artwork for vacation rentals. In a follow-up TikTok video, Libby confirmed the family had made it home safely and thanked the company they booked through, Beachfront Only. “They were the ones that we booked our stay from and they were awesome. We had the best day. We were there for about a week and the Airbnb was beautiful,” she said.  @aubsbirrell Replying to @Denise Lopes We finally have an update!! #sandiego #airbnb #Beachfrontonly @airbnb @Vrbo #fyp @libby_birrell @jenna @Brady Birrell #updates ♬ BIRDS OF A FEATHER OFFICIAL INSTRUMENTAL – Dan Swift Del Rey She explained that Beachfront Only told them “the decorator is a photographer in California,” who “just take aerial shots of the beach and must have taken an aerial shot of us that day and put it up into a canvas.” Some social media users commented that they had seen what appeared to be the same beach photo hanging in other rental homes in different states, including Florida. These claims have not been confirmed. In the follow-up video, Libby said, “We saw some in Florida and then California, but we want to see if it’s anywhere else.” Aubrey told Fox News Digital that the viral video led to mixed reactions. “A lot of people were telling us we should leave, that it was like the start of a horror movie,” she said. She added that others shared similar experiences, such as spotting themselves in a picture frame at a store or on a pamphlet in another state. Not every viral Airbnb story ends on friendly terms, as shown by one guest’s experience after leaving a review that sparked a host dispute. The sisters said the Airbnb host offered to give them a copy of the beach print. In the follow-up video, they said they were working on obtaining a print of the canvas and would post an update once they received it. Aubrey told Fox News Digital she feels positive about the discovery. “I feel all right with it. I was telling [our host] that if we could get a print from the photographer, that would be so cool, just so we could always remember it. I think it’s fun,” she said. She added that anyone who stays at the same rental and sees the picture should look for it. In the comments section of the follow-up video, one user wrote, “Someone once told me that we are probably in thousands of people’s photos. Any sporting event. Graduation. Vacations. People are constantly taking photos. You just never know.” Another commented, “It makes sense it you guys are frequent travelers in CA, But still wild! Small world.” A third simply wrote, “That’s weird. Soooo weird.”