I think you're taking one bit of science journalism boilerplate too broadly. Obviously it's not a "fluke" if it happens a lot, to a lot of people, but saying th

I think you're taking one bit of science journalism boilerplate too broadly. Obviously it's not a "fluke" if it happens a lot, to a lot of people, but saying that is just a stock (hackneyed, if you prefer) expression to build up to the explanation.