In my ignorant youth I was shooting up a dead car we’d found out in the desert.
From 15 feet I fired a .38 Special wadcuttter (cylindrical flat-nosed all-lead bullet for non-shooters) at one of the wheels. I instantly felt a sharp whack at my sternum.
The bullet had hit the steel wheel, doing nothing more to it than chipping the paint. It had flattened out into a pancake about 1-1/4" in diameter and 1/8" thick, then bounced back and hit me in the center of my chest. It then fell to the ground at my feet. I still have it stored away with other mementos from a questionable youth.
I ended up with a small bruise and an large education. The vast majority of the energy went into deforming the bullet and so not much was left to power its return flight. Enough to sting like heck through two shirts and a light jacket, but not enough to do any damage.
The previous 6 rounds I’d fired into the car from that gun had been 158 gr JHP .357 magnums. Had the same ricochet occurred I’d almost certainly have been killed as the much stouter bullet would have retained vastly more energy on the return trip. We were waay out in the boonies, maybe 90 minutes from medical atttention.
So yes, ricochets are real and they are dangerous.