Chris Dutton said:

Not infrequently when my wife and I purchase sweet bell peppers, we'll
cut them open only to discover that there's what appears to be a tiny
little pepper growing inside.

Does anyone know what causes this to happen, and perhaps more
importantly, are these little pepperlets edible?

Oh yes, they are edible. Sometimes very weirdly shaped, though.

Oh, sometimes they're the same color as the "main" pepper, but
sometimes they're rather different (usually green in a red or orange
pepper). Are there maybe two different phenomena going on here?

The 'inner twin' may not be as ripe as the outer pepper, thus the different
color.

--
Pat in Plymouth MI ('someplace.net' is comcast)

Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced.
(attributed to Don Marti)