Far more frequently than chance would dictate — perhaps 3-4 times/year — I find something I thought was lost only after ordering/buying a replacement.
There's usually a lag lasting anywhere from an hour to a couple weeks before I finally throw in the towel and give up on locating the lost object.
I've tried to figure out why this has been a constant feature of my life for as long as I can remember and have come up with two explanations; here they are, in no particular order of likelihood:
1) After ordering* the replacement, the missing object is super-fresh in my mind from having seen it on my computer screen as I go through the rigamarole of finding it and identifying the best price; thus, as I go about my business, my unconscious mind/eye has been refreshed by its recent presentation and thus when I return to my everyday activities, I'm more likely to spot the thing thought lost.
2) Hugh Everett III's many-worlds theory, first published as his Princeton University doctoral thesis in 1956, isn't just a topic for theoreticians: rather, it's a fact that's only accepted by a tiny fraction of people who, like me, believe the missing object vanishes into a parallel world/timeline which then may or may not disgorge the missing item, always with a frisson of excitement at its apparent reemergence.
*It's been many years since I've physically gone out to buy a replacement: the likelihood of success is minuscule compared to the speed, ease, and effectiveness of an online search for the best price and the convenience of having it placed in front of my door in a day or two.
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