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So I had a strange encounter in
the mid eighties that still makes me wonder

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to this day. I was in
my early twenties and I managed to move

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out of mom and Dad's basement into
a place of my own. Honestly,

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I hadn't gone that far. I
lived three quarters of a mile due north

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of my folks place as the crow
flies. However, if you were sensible

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and decided to drive there, it's
quite a bit further. My parents' house

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was set back from the road,
and once you left their driveway you were

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going north, and then the road
curved to the west. The little farm

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I was renting was right there on
the north side of the road. There

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was a little bit of a neighborhood, but the best part or the houses

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weren't grouped tight up close together.
We were all spread out and we had

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elbow room. The privacy was great
and improved when the crops grew tall.

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That part of Illinois wasn't just flat, tillable farm ground. There were acres

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of rolling timber that began about five
hundred yards behind my parents' house, and

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it spread out to the west and
south. A small narrow stand of trees

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grew between our houses separating the two
farm fields. I was at the age

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when a country boy was in his
prime and was sure to have himself a

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big, old four wheel drive truck. My truck was a one ton that

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heavy suspension was great for getting me
places I probably shouldn't have been going.

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It wasn't overly tall like some of
my friend's trucks. But that old pickup

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truck wasn't just a toy. I
used it for work too. Tall trucks

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are well and good, but when
you're throwing hay on it, it gets

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tiring having to throw those heavy bales
that much higher. I had a pretty

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nice light bar, and I had
it built especially for this truck, and

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when we were going places in the
mud that we shouldn't A lot of the

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time it happened under the cover of
darkness. I like to see what I

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was getting into, so I had
a stadium lighting across the top of my

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cab. I also had a switch
that could kill the lights instantly. Anybody

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that goes to those backwood parties knows
that too much light can kill the mood

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where we were located. I could
also signal uninvited intruders, such as the

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law enforcement. The cops could be
such killjoys. I was far enough removed

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from home that getting invited for supper
was a pleasure. A guy gets tired

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of Spaghettio's and Beloney and other bachelor's
staples, so when mom says she wants

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to cook for you, you definitely
make sure that you're there. My dad

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worked second shift, so that night
it was just the two of us.

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We had a great time hanging out
and catching up. I'd been busy working

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and hadn't seen mom and at least
a day. That's right, I'm a

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mama's boy, but my mom was
pretty cool. I could tell some great

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mischievous stories that she was in,
but I'm rambling. She was ready to

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retire for the evening, but told
me that she would be up for a

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little while reading. That was her
routine. I wasn't getting the shove off,

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but I did have my own place
to go to, so that's where

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I went. The evening was pleasant. At thirty miles per hour, the

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air coming in the windows kept the
truck bearable, and I wasn't in any

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particular hurry, so I took my
time driving the mile and a half home.

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I never took the time to become
an avid stargazer. Back then,

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my mind was on typical country boy
things farm tractors and trucks and making money,

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and of course girls, really mostly
girls. I may lay on a

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blanket with a girl under the night
sky at times, but I must confess

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I wasn't paying all that much attention
to the sky above. That night,

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as I drove north and curved westward, I looked up and one star got

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my attention. It was acting very
pecul ueler for a star. It was

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bigger and brighter than the rest of
the stars, and sometimes it changed colors.

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It would be blue or white,
and then changed to gold and yellow,

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and then turned paler yellowish shades.
The changes didn't occur in any set

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pattern either. I began to intently
watch the sky, taking special notice of

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the abnormal star, and after closer
inspection, I finally realized that it wasn't

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a star. It didn't remain in
a fixed point in the sky. It

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was moving. It was also getting
bigger, which meant it was either growing

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or getting closer to me. I
stopped just at the entrance to my driveway,

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expecting the moving star was only an
optical illusion, and if it was

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a star. It would have stopped
too, but it didn't. It kept

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coming closer. I backed out into
the road so I could see up without

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the overhanging bra branches I was under
interfering with my view. My yard was

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well shaded under mature stand of assorted
trees. The foreign object above me was

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obviously not a star. It moved
into a ten o'clock high position, and

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then it began to hover well.
I had an eerie feeling that I was

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being watched, and as intently as
I was watching, I felt an electric

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tingle and it was getting creepy.
Sitting in the road with my headlights on,

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the most unexpected thing happened, a
strange kind of stand off. The

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great big light blinked on and off
twice. I don't know what possessed me

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to do the next stupid thing on
my part, I flipped on my off

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road overhead lights. Realizing that wasn't
a real smart idea, I pushed the

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switch right back off again. I
wasn't et and I didn't need to call

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home. The big light again moved
closer, and this was when I decided

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I wasn't sticking around to get abducted. I threw the truck into gear and

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I peeled out. Maybe drawing it
toward my parents' house wasn't the wisest maneuver,

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but I wanted someone else to see
this weird thing. Cellular phones were

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not around then, and I couldn't
call Mom, but by this time I

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really wanted to phone home. I
went back the way. I came a

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whole lot faster than I had come, and I liked to use my off

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road lights to see even when it
wasn't legal on the road. The light

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barb came back on again, and
maybe that wasn't the best plan. It

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wasn't like I was going to attract
the UFO. I seemed to have already

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managed to get its attention. I
couldn't see it directly, and I wasn't

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completely sure where it was, but
I sensed that it was following me.

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The road was brighter on my return
to Mom and Dad's house, and the

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back of my truck was lit up, almost like daylight, and I looked

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into the mirrors. After a quick
check, I noted my rear facing lights

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were not on. I was being
spotlighted like a raccoon in a tree.

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Mom must have seen my off road
lights from her window, and I'm sure

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the dog sounded the alarm. I
was coming back in a hurry. Mom

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was coming out the back door as
I flew down the lane to the house,

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and she rushed over to my truck
as I skidded to a stop and

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I motioned upward excitedly before her,
what's wrong escaped her lips. I watched

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her eyes grow wide with wonder,
and I looked up and we watched the

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alien craft pass slowly and directly overhead. It continued west until it was out

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over the timber. And whatever this
thing was, it was big, as

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in huge. It was hard to
discern any shape. The light was too

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bright. It was pretty close to
the ground, though, and it moved

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like a helicopter, a great big
one, if that's what we were actually

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looking at. The technology was advanced. If it had rotor blades. There

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was no telltale thump sounds like a
rotary wing craft. Mate. There wasn't

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any sound at all. Mom and
I watched the craft move around over the

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trees to the west for what seemed
like hours, but in reality it may

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have only been for a few short
minutes. The UFO moved back and forth,

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then it would hover and all the
while it was close to the treetops.

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The lights continued to change color,
but in no certain pattern. Finally,

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the craft gained altitude and at hell
for a moment, and the lights

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blinked on and off again. Maybe
it was saying farewell to us. And

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then it moved upward again and slowly
at first, it increased momentum and suddenly

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shot straight upward out of sight,
launching itself into the heavens, far quicker

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than our rocket. Good. That
was the last time we saw it.

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Mom and I looked at each other
in amazement. The only thing I could

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say for a few minutes was wow. We talked about it for a little

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while, wondering if anyone else had
witnessed the strange occurrence. Now I finally

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went back to my place, and
it took a little while for the excitement

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to pass, and I don't remember
going to bed. I awoke the next

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morning with no sense of time lost, and my rectum wasn't sore. Okay,

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you were You made it through that
one. At least you weren't okay

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enough of that. It was an
unidentified flying object? Or was it otherworldly?

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Maybe? Maybe not? When I
think back on it, other than

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the creepy feeling when it stalked me. It still intrigues me. Whoever or

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whatever it was, they probably had
fun shaking me up. Larry the Cable

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Guy has pointed out to many the
UFOs like redneck Fellers, I firmly believe

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we as a society are pretty arrogant. If we think there is no other

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intelligent life, how do we know
that we're all that advanced? How do

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we know that our planet isn't avoided
the same as we avoid a rough city neighborhood.