WEBVTT 1 00:00:03.240 --> 00:00:06.240 The lane was merging into Highway one fifty two up ahead, 2 00:00:06.799 --> 00:00:08.880 and I could see the signs like I had a 3 00:00:08.919 --> 00:00:12.320 thousand times before, but this time there were glowing. I 4 00:00:12.320 --> 00:00:14.240 had never been around there at that time of night. 5 00:00:15.439 --> 00:00:17.800 My dad useduld tell me stories of that road, and 6 00:00:17.839 --> 00:00:20.640 no matter what, he would always suggest a detour. But 7 00:00:20.719 --> 00:00:23.879 way are round that highway. Take the Coastline road, he 8 00:00:23.920 --> 00:00:26.719 would say. Or keep going towards Lyon in County, and 9 00:00:26.760 --> 00:00:31.280 then drive the ten minutes back. He understood wrote he 10 00:00:31.320 --> 00:00:33.600 had those old maps, the books you would buy at 11 00:00:33.600 --> 00:00:36.600 the gas stations or car repair shops. He would be 12 00:00:36.600 --> 00:00:38.920 out in the car by himself with a pencil on 13 00:00:38.960 --> 00:00:41.560 his ear, flipping through the index and then back to 14 00:00:41.640 --> 00:00:45.079 the mac. He was drawing out the route and signs 15 00:00:45.119 --> 00:00:49.320 to watch out for. But not me. I relied on 16 00:00:49.359 --> 00:00:51.560 the voice that would tell me where to go, and 17 00:00:51.560 --> 00:00:53.240 I would turn it on, even to go to places 18 00:00:53.240 --> 00:00:57.840 I knew and had been to many times before, like 19 00:00:57.920 --> 00:01:00.439 this way back to my college apartment in the six 20 00:01:00.479 --> 00:01:04.959 hour drive. Had I left the phone off, things would 21 00:01:05.000 --> 00:01:11.400 have turned out completely different. My name is Edwin and 22 00:01:11.519 --> 00:01:19.359 here's a scary story. It was late December when I 23 00:01:19.439 --> 00:01:22.319 was taking that drive. I figured nobody would be out 24 00:01:22.359 --> 00:01:25.000 on the road so close to Christmas, but I was wrong, 25 00:01:25.920 --> 00:01:27.799 at least for the parts near the city before the 26 00:01:27.840 --> 00:01:31.560 first mountain Ridge had stayed on my hometown a little 27 00:01:31.560 --> 00:01:34.200 bit longer than expected because some old friends came home 28 00:01:34.239 --> 00:01:36.680 for the holidays. We spent some time hanging out with 29 00:01:36.719 --> 00:01:40.200 each other, but even on that day, I left much later, 30 00:01:40.719 --> 00:01:45.040 around eight in the evening, against my dad's advice. That 31 00:01:45.200 --> 00:01:48.239 road's crazy, we go around to Lyon in County. Listen 32 00:01:48.239 --> 00:01:52.799 to me, I nodded, grab the car keys. I knew 33 00:01:52.879 --> 00:01:56.439 Dad's story. Well, actually the whole family knew it. And 34 00:01:56.480 --> 00:01:58.760 it's not like we don't trust Dad or anything. He's 35 00:01:58.760 --> 00:02:01.280 always pulled through for us. But it was his story, 36 00:02:02.040 --> 00:02:04.840 this insignificant part of the trip he did out there 37 00:02:04.879 --> 00:02:07.359 when he was younger, that really left him shaken up. 38 00:02:08.680 --> 00:02:11.000 Mom said that he even stopped driving for a bit, 39 00:02:11.680 --> 00:02:15.400 a thing that he normally loved to do. I thought 40 00:02:15.439 --> 00:02:17.560 of this as I started on that long path up 41 00:02:17.599 --> 00:02:21.159 north and the car started spreading out way out in 42 00:02:21.199 --> 00:02:23.639 the distance. I could see maybe two or three pairs 43 00:02:23.639 --> 00:02:26.400 of tail lights, no white lights coming back on the 44 00:02:26.400 --> 00:02:30.199 other side of the divider. I often wondered where all 45 00:02:30.199 --> 00:02:34.039 those cars went after that hill. The car was dark, 46 00:02:34.360 --> 00:02:36.280 and the only sound I heard was the humming of 47 00:02:36.319 --> 00:02:39.520 that engine of that old Chevy suburban making its way 48 00:02:39.560 --> 00:02:43.439 across the state. Again, I could almost hear Dad's voice here. 49 00:02:44.000 --> 00:02:47.520 His story turns out that when he was nineteen, he 50 00:02:47.560 --> 00:02:50.800 had gotten a job for a car salesman. Whenever there 51 00:02:50.840 --> 00:02:53.319 was a buyer out of state, Dad would be called 52 00:02:53.400 --> 00:02:55.199 up to drive it to them, and then he would 53 00:02:55.199 --> 00:02:58.479 get a bus to get back. Three hundred bucks for that, 54 00:02:58.560 --> 00:03:02.439 he would brag. He started saving for his first car. 55 00:03:03.159 --> 00:03:05.360 But there was one time when he had gotten a 56 00:03:05.360 --> 00:03:07.919 gig to take a truck up north. He was to 57 00:03:07.919 --> 00:03:10.240 be delivered to a ranch. The key used to be 58 00:03:10.319 --> 00:03:13.199 left on the dashboard. He was supposed to take out 59 00:03:13.199 --> 00:03:16.280 his camera, one of those disposable ones, take a picture 60 00:03:16.319 --> 00:03:20.039 of everything before leaving, and on his way back, no 61 00:03:20.080 --> 00:03:22.560 one would be signing for the car on arrival like 62 00:03:22.599 --> 00:03:27.879 they usually did. He didn't find it strange. I wasn't 63 00:03:27.919 --> 00:03:29.960 sure what the name of the town was, but he 64 00:03:30.000 --> 00:03:32.319 had to take Highway one fifty two to get to it, 65 00:03:32.759 --> 00:03:35.000 branch off into one of the side roads, and then 66 00:03:35.080 --> 00:03:36.960 hitch a ride to town in order to get to 67 00:03:37.000 --> 00:03:40.400 the closest bus station on his way back. He was 68 00:03:40.439 --> 00:03:44.319 supposed to take another photo there and along the way 69 00:03:44.639 --> 00:03:47.319 that had his maps with him. Bus schedules he would 70 00:03:47.400 --> 00:03:50.199 jot down after calling the stations in different cities, So 71 00:03:50.240 --> 00:03:53.479 he wasn't nervous about that. And you would think hitchhiking 72 00:03:53.520 --> 00:03:56.439 would scare him, but it didn't. I guess it was 73 00:03:56.560 --> 00:04:01.360 much more common back then. So he goes out there, 74 00:04:01.520 --> 00:04:04.360 delivers a truck at the entrance of a ranch. Not 75 00:04:04.439 --> 00:04:07.439 the typical ranch you were imagining, though, but a large 76 00:04:07.479 --> 00:04:10.719 place with its own roads and what appear to be shops. 77 00:04:11.240 --> 00:04:14.680 He pulls over, leaves the keys on the dashboard, grabs 78 00:04:14.680 --> 00:04:16.759 his maps in a duffel bag he had brought with him, 79 00:04:17.519 --> 00:04:21.000 takes the pictures. Mind you, this was in the afternoon, 80 00:04:21.199 --> 00:04:23.839 so he had time to get back in everything, but 81 00:04:23.879 --> 00:04:25.639 he still said that there was something in the air 82 00:04:25.720 --> 00:04:30.079 that made him feel uncomfortable. He snapped another photo of it, 83 00:04:30.480 --> 00:04:33.360 started walking back to the town. It would be around 84 00:04:33.399 --> 00:04:35.560 an hour back to the main road where he would 85 00:04:35.600 --> 00:04:37.680 hitch a ride for about half an hour to his 86 00:04:37.720 --> 00:04:41.759 next stop. So he's walking back along this lonely road 87 00:04:42.079 --> 00:04:44.920 a few hills and rock formations along the way, but 88 00:04:45.000 --> 00:04:47.160 he was guiding himself on the fence of the property 89 00:04:47.639 --> 00:04:49.600 what he believed was still a part of the ranch. 90 00:04:50.959 --> 00:04:53.040 At a certain section, he noticed that there is this 91 00:04:53.199 --> 00:04:56.160 huge stitch on the road, a thing that he must 92 00:04:56.160 --> 00:04:59.399 have driven past without noticing, but it made him double 93 00:04:59.439 --> 00:05:03.199 check his round so right there, takes out his map, 94 00:05:03.439 --> 00:05:07.160 begins referencing different places around him, and that's when he 95 00:05:07.240 --> 00:05:10.120 notices a man, or what he thinks is a man, 96 00:05:10.560 --> 00:05:12.680 lurking on the other side of the trees that divide 97 00:05:12.680 --> 00:05:16.160 the road from the property line and the fence. He 98 00:05:16.199 --> 00:05:21.199 moves slowly, acting as if my dad couldn't see him. Now, 99 00:05:21.279 --> 00:05:24.360 that always makes it a point to emphasize how away 100 00:05:24.759 --> 00:05:27.560 he was from everything. At that point, in the middle 101 00:05:27.600 --> 00:05:31.480 of nowhere, the sun was still loud, but because of 102 00:05:31.519 --> 00:05:34.120 the time of the year, winter or spring, I can't 103 00:05:34.120 --> 00:05:37.120 remember that part. He found it strange to see someone 104 00:05:37.279 --> 00:05:42.319 standing out there. Hey, how you doing? Spoted this ditch? 105 00:05:42.560 --> 00:05:44.759 They didn't see it on my way here, Dad yelled 106 00:05:44.800 --> 00:05:48.560 through the trees, trying to make small talk. The man 107 00:05:48.600 --> 00:05:52.319 stopped completely and stared in his direction, and Dad, sensing 108 00:05:52.360 --> 00:05:56.120 the unease of the whole situation continues. I came to 109 00:05:56.120 --> 00:06:00.399 deliver a car, just making my way back just and 110 00:06:00.480 --> 00:06:03.079 my dad doesn't get to end his sentence. Upon seeing 111 00:06:03.120 --> 00:06:06.439 the man begin to move toward the trees and the 112 00:06:06.480 --> 00:06:12.560 property line, the way he looked, skinny, tall, white eyed 113 00:06:13.560 --> 00:06:16.160 made him think that maybe this man didn't belong there, 114 00:06:16.680 --> 00:06:19.360 and that it was that man who was the intruder. 115 00:06:21.680 --> 00:06:24.720 He was crouching down between the trees and slowly making 116 00:06:24.720 --> 00:06:27.879 his way toward my dad, and that's when his survival 117 00:06:27.920 --> 00:06:30.839 instincts kicked in and he started running across a ditch 118 00:06:31.000 --> 00:06:35.120 and down along the road. There was something off about him, 119 00:06:35.399 --> 00:06:38.240 he says every time while telling the story, and it 120 00:06:38.279 --> 00:06:41.879 was only going to get worse. So he makes it 121 00:06:41.920 --> 00:06:44.600 to the main highway one fifty two, and the fourth 122 00:06:44.680 --> 00:06:47.680 or fifth car he sees picks him up. The kind 123 00:06:47.680 --> 00:06:50.000 couple in that car say that they're going back home 124 00:06:50.120 --> 00:06:53.519 from visiting some relatives to happen to live down at Grassborough, 125 00:06:53.879 --> 00:06:56.040 the place where my dad needed to get to, because 126 00:06:56.079 --> 00:06:59.519 that's where the bus station was. The point is, they 127 00:06:59.560 --> 00:07:03.279 agreed to take them all the way there, so they 128 00:07:03.319 --> 00:07:06.240 make small talk as strangers did back then, and Dad 129 00:07:06.279 --> 00:07:08.480 explains to them what he was doing out in that 130 00:07:08.560 --> 00:07:11.439 part of the highway. They both looked at each other. 131 00:07:12.519 --> 00:07:15.439 The reds Ranch. Is that where you were going, they 132 00:07:15.480 --> 00:07:18.199 asked him. My dad confirmed the name based on the 133 00:07:18.240 --> 00:07:21.959 signage she had seen along the way. Glad you made 134 00:07:22.000 --> 00:07:24.879 it out. That place has been out in the news lately, well, 135 00:07:24.959 --> 00:07:28.279 not the official news, but the town news, right word 136 00:07:28.279 --> 00:07:32.040 of mouth, if you will. It turned out to be 137 00:07:32.120 --> 00:07:35.639 the focus of an investigation in recent months talks of 138 00:07:35.680 --> 00:07:40.439 people disappearing in those areas. Some especially the ranchers from 139 00:07:40.480 --> 00:07:42.399 the other side of the highway, have said that they 140 00:07:42.439 --> 00:07:45.600 had seen strange lights in the sky. Oh there was 141 00:07:45.639 --> 00:07:48.480 another group of serious developers who had scouted the area, 142 00:07:49.160 --> 00:07:51.759 saying that they knew for a fact that had belonged 143 00:07:51.759 --> 00:07:56.079 to a well known cult. Dad has always been a 144 00:07:56.120 --> 00:07:59.199 skeptic ever since he was young, and this was no exception. 145 00:08:00.439 --> 00:08:02.759 But he's able to talk about anything with anyone. So 146 00:08:02.839 --> 00:08:07.879 he entertained the idea. You know there are ghosts out there, 147 00:08:08.120 --> 00:08:11.920 the woman said from the front passenger seat. He don't say, 148 00:08:12.240 --> 00:08:16.160 Dad replied, there's a man who disappeared out there not 149 00:08:16.240 --> 00:08:19.920 long ago. Turns out there it's likely they have some 150 00:08:19.959 --> 00:08:23.480 secret operation or something. It happened to the mail carrier. 151 00:08:23.839 --> 00:08:25.560 He lives right along the way. We can stop and 152 00:08:25.600 --> 00:08:28.800 ask him. Plus, this lady here has been begging for 153 00:08:28.879 --> 00:08:33.600 a toilet for two hours, she yelled, laughing. My dad 154 00:08:33.679 --> 00:08:35.639 checked the time. He was a couple of hours ahead 155 00:08:35.639 --> 00:08:39.559 of schedule. Plus he had no choice. And even though 156 00:08:39.559 --> 00:08:41.159 it feels like he's going to get to the good 157 00:08:41.200 --> 00:08:43.279 part of the story here, when they arrive at the 158 00:08:43.279 --> 00:08:46.399 mail carrier's house, it turned out to be quite literally 159 00:08:46.440 --> 00:08:49.519 a pit stop. The mail carrier didn't even want to 160 00:08:49.559 --> 00:08:53.039 talk too much about the situation, but he was relaxed 161 00:08:53.399 --> 00:08:55.799 and offered all three of them a cold bottle of coke. 162 00:08:57.960 --> 00:08:59.759 Dad says that maybe the guy thought that he was 163 00:08:59.799 --> 00:09:03.600 a because as soon as they arrived, he ushered them inside, 164 00:09:03.919 --> 00:09:07.000 looked around his property, and locked the door behind them. 165 00:09:07.519 --> 00:09:09.320 If it wasn't for the couple that was giving him 166 00:09:09.320 --> 00:09:11.480 the ride, Dad would have tried to get out of 167 00:09:11.519 --> 00:09:15.519 there by any means necessary, he says, And I believe him. 168 00:09:16.399 --> 00:09:19.519 Dad doesn't joke around with stuff like that. Nobody has 169 00:09:19.559 --> 00:09:21.960 ever stolen anything from him, and he has a sixth 170 00:09:21.960 --> 00:09:26.200 sense that tells him when something's not right. I always 171 00:09:26.200 --> 00:09:27.879 tell him that he would have made a really good 172 00:09:27.919 --> 00:09:32.840 detective or a spy. He has that eye. But anyway, 173 00:09:33.519 --> 00:09:36.559 they asked him about that area around Red's Ranch, and 174 00:09:36.600 --> 00:09:41.799 Gary the mail carrier immediately stared that down. I don't 175 00:09:41.840 --> 00:09:44.399 go to that place. We leave their mail at a 176 00:09:44.399 --> 00:09:47.799 complimentary box at the post office. He said. They get 177 00:09:47.879 --> 00:09:51.720 envelopes and boxes from all over the world. He stared 178 00:09:51.720 --> 00:09:56.080 at Dad again and then changed his topic. It wasn't 179 00:09:56.120 --> 00:09:59.000 long before they were on their way again. For some reason, 180 00:10:00.000 --> 00:10:02.440 that story always include this part about the mail carrier, 181 00:10:03.679 --> 00:10:07.960 with details the dusty house, the man's miniature city that 182 00:10:08.000 --> 00:10:10.039 he was working on that was on the coffee table, 183 00:10:10.879 --> 00:10:16.200 yellow coffee stained teeth, and the strange sense that he 184 00:10:16.279 --> 00:10:21.399 was being followed. As soon as they left, he shut 185 00:10:21.399 --> 00:10:24.440 the door and heard the dead bolt snap loudly. Then 186 00:10:24.440 --> 00:10:27.240 the man rushed to the window to look, not to 187 00:10:27.240 --> 00:10:29.879 over them, but around the car and off toward the road. 188 00:10:31.200 --> 00:10:33.960 Him and Dad made eye contact for the last time 189 00:10:34.360 --> 00:10:38.120 just before he was getting into the back seat. People 190 00:10:38.200 --> 00:10:41.440 had a reason to not trust anyone out there, but 191 00:10:41.559 --> 00:10:47.840 Dad didn't find that out until later. In all the 192 00:10:47.879 --> 00:10:50.799 times he told the story, I've come to understand why 193 00:10:50.879 --> 00:10:54.039 such a skeptic. The typical logical man that my dad 194 00:10:54.159 --> 00:10:57.600 is would be terrified of that area where that highway was, 195 00:10:58.120 --> 00:11:01.919 and would refuse to cross it and discourage anyone else 196 00:11:01.960 --> 00:11:06.679 from doing so for the rest of his life. Detour ahead, 197 00:11:07.240 --> 00:11:10.519 I heard the app blasted on my truck speakers. I 198 00:11:10.519 --> 00:11:13.440 had configured a cassette tape box player and hadn't figured 199 00:11:13.440 --> 00:11:17.840 out the volume settings yet. Re routing, it said much 200 00:11:18.080 --> 00:11:21.720 lower this time. I looked at the map and then 201 00:11:21.720 --> 00:11:25.080 straight ahead that road, tail lights in the distance and 202 00:11:25.120 --> 00:11:27.600 what appeared to be a clear path up ahead in 203 00:11:27.639 --> 00:11:31.840 the straightest road you could imagine. I thought about ignoring 204 00:11:31.879 --> 00:11:35.360 the phone's instructions, but I don't know. I felt like 205 00:11:35.399 --> 00:11:37.720 it knew more than I did, and I would regret 206 00:11:37.879 --> 00:11:41.679 not listening to it. So I slowed down and watched 207 00:11:41.720 --> 00:11:46.039 for Exit forty eight in two and a half miles. 208 00:11:47.080 --> 00:11:49.360 The sign didn't glow like the others did, but my 209 00:11:49.440 --> 00:11:52.360 high beams caught it. Just as the off ramp became visible. 210 00:11:53.679 --> 00:11:57.120 I saw the stop sign and blew right past it. 211 00:11:57.240 --> 00:12:00.840 Make a U turn, the APP yelled. I stopped the 212 00:12:00.840 --> 00:12:04.279 truck put it in reverse, looking behind me. The only 213 00:12:04.360 --> 00:12:06.320 real risk there was that I would fall into the 214 00:12:06.320 --> 00:12:09.679 bushes just off the road. There were no other cars around, 215 00:12:10.919 --> 00:12:13.759 and through the dim white reverse lights, I saw the 216 00:12:13.879 --> 00:12:18.039 dried up bushes get closer and closer until the red 217 00:12:18.120 --> 00:12:21.960 brake light took over. I turned my head back to 218 00:12:21.960 --> 00:12:25.720 the front, and that's when I saw a figure dash 219 00:12:25.759 --> 00:12:29.480 across the road. Everything was dark around the car except 220 00:12:29.480 --> 00:12:32.360 for that area in front of me. I felt my 221 00:12:32.440 --> 00:12:35.480 hands broke cold as I shifted the car back into drive. 222 00:12:36.200 --> 00:12:38.960 I tried to turn the truck around, and it was 223 00:12:39.000 --> 00:12:44.440 then when I realized that my hands were shaking. This 224 00:12:44.559 --> 00:12:47.080 thing must have been an animal, I thought to myself, 225 00:12:47.960 --> 00:12:51.799 even though it moved nothing like one, it seemed to 226 00:12:51.799 --> 00:12:56.399 have flown or floated down the road before disappearing. I 227 00:12:56.440 --> 00:12:58.679 finally turned it around and was heading back to the 228 00:12:58.879 --> 00:13:04.799 Enwrap when make A left the app scared me. I 229 00:13:04.840 --> 00:13:06.919 looked at the ramp and then craned my neck to 230 00:13:07.000 --> 00:13:09.960 the road the map wanted to take me. It was 231 00:13:10.039 --> 00:13:12.240 leading up to the hills, in the opposite direction of 232 00:13:12.279 --> 00:13:16.000 the main highway. I grabbed my phone while keeping my 233 00:13:16.080 --> 00:13:18.720 eyes wide open in case something else showed up around me. 234 00:13:20.039 --> 00:13:22.039 I pressed a lock button twice to make sure that 235 00:13:22.159 --> 00:13:25.759 everything was closed in the car. The map seemed to 236 00:13:25.759 --> 00:13:28.240 want to take me down the road, loop around one 237 00:13:28.279 --> 00:13:32.159 of the hills, and then stop it. That changed my destination. 238 00:13:34.399 --> 00:13:36.080 I took it out of the phone holder and went 239 00:13:36.120 --> 00:13:39.919 to change it, but it was impossible. The map wouldn't load, 240 00:13:40.360 --> 00:13:43.919 the signal was weak. But I knew how to get home. 241 00:13:44.240 --> 00:13:46.759 I had taken that route many times before, so I 242 00:13:46.799 --> 00:13:49.240 took my foot off the brake and started going forward 243 00:13:49.960 --> 00:13:53.360 when the thing, the same figure from before, appeared right 244 00:13:53.399 --> 00:13:56.000 in front of my truck. It was a man who 245 00:13:56.080 --> 00:14:00.799 would appear to be a man, thin, pale, wide eye, 246 00:14:01.159 --> 00:14:05.759 staring right at me and bothered by my high beams. 247 00:14:06.440 --> 00:14:09.559 What I did notice was the steam coming out of 248 00:14:09.559 --> 00:14:12.240 his body in all directions, giving it a way that 249 00:14:12.320 --> 00:14:16.879 it wasn't wearing tight fitting gray clothing, was wearing nothing 250 00:14:16.919 --> 00:14:21.559 at all. It was Dad's phrase that I remember at 251 00:14:21.559 --> 00:14:25.440 that moment, When it comes down to it, you gotta move. 252 00:14:26.600 --> 00:14:28.759 It was Dad's quick thinking that had saved us all. 253 00:14:28.840 --> 00:14:32.039 Sometimes he was ruthless when it came down to making 254 00:14:32.080 --> 00:14:35.039 a choice. He would say that not choosing something was 255 00:14:35.120 --> 00:14:37.320 also a choice, and that's the one that would get 256 00:14:37.360 --> 00:14:41.120 you in trouble. So, almost shutting my eyes completely. I 257 00:14:41.120 --> 00:14:44.080 stepped on the accelerator until I saw the thing up close, 258 00:14:44.320 --> 00:14:48.320 almost on my windshield. I opened my eyes wide this 259 00:14:48.399 --> 00:14:51.320 time and got a clear look. It was a man, 260 00:14:51.799 --> 00:14:55.879 wrinkles everywhere. He had no expression with this big vehicle 261 00:14:56.000 --> 00:14:59.240 coming toward him. It was only a split second after 262 00:14:59.279 --> 00:15:02.360 that when he appeared right in front of me, just 263 00:15:02.399 --> 00:15:07.039 as the headlights struck him. I heard nothing, the car 264 00:15:07.360 --> 00:15:11.919 hit nothing. I kept going past the same crooked stop 265 00:15:11.919 --> 00:15:15.000 sign by the on ramp, and soon I was back 266 00:15:15.039 --> 00:15:18.720 on the highway. I kept going for almost an hour 267 00:15:18.799 --> 00:15:21.240 before I spotted the truck stop with the McDonald's, the 268 00:15:21.279 --> 00:15:23.240 same one I would always stop at on my way home. 269 00:15:24.279 --> 00:15:27.039 I pulled over, getting a strange sense once I saw 270 00:15:27.080 --> 00:15:30.279 the stop sign by the ramp. As I looked to 271 00:15:30.279 --> 00:15:33.840 the last for uncommon cars, I saw it the same 272 00:15:33.919 --> 00:15:37.679 man again. I stepped on the gas and pulled over 273 00:15:37.720 --> 00:15:40.120 to the drive through, looking around. It was the first 274 00:15:40.200 --> 00:15:42.799 time I felt paranoia like that, the same thing Dad, 275 00:15:42.840 --> 00:15:45.279 I tried to explain to us every single time with 276 00:15:45.320 --> 00:15:49.679 that story. I ate in the parking lot, my eyes 277 00:15:49.759 --> 00:15:53.320 scanning everything around me the whole time. There was no 278 00:15:53.480 --> 00:15:57.480 way that that thing had followed me this far. I 279 00:15:57.559 --> 00:16:00.080 finished up, started up the truck, and got back on 280 00:16:00.120 --> 00:16:03.279 the highway, lost in thought about this thing that I 281 00:16:03.320 --> 00:16:07.679 had seen, just as Dad had described it many times, 282 00:16:08.840 --> 00:16:13.960 A pale man, unnatural expressionless face, and a lingering thought 283 00:16:14.279 --> 00:16:17.879 telling me that it wanted to say something to me. 284 00:16:21.320 --> 00:16:24.360 It was around mark seventy when the first junction came up, 285 00:16:24.840 --> 00:16:28.480 and just there, right after the bridge, I saw the 286 00:16:28.480 --> 00:16:32.399 familiar blue and red lights behind me. I must have 287 00:16:32.399 --> 00:16:35.360 been driving distracted or swerving or something. I looked at 288 00:16:35.360 --> 00:16:37.440 the time on my phone. There was almost one in 289 00:16:37.480 --> 00:16:42.159 the morning, but I wasn't feeling tired. Once I pulled over, 290 00:16:42.200 --> 00:16:45.159 the police officer rushed up to the car, his flashlight 291 00:16:45.200 --> 00:16:46.840 by the side of his face, and then he ran 292 00:16:46.919 --> 00:16:49.240 toward the right side of the road, an area with 293 00:16:49.440 --> 00:16:54.039 nothing but a ditch and dried up weeds. A couple 294 00:16:54.120 --> 00:16:56.279 of minutes later, I saw his lights coming up toward 295 00:16:56.320 --> 00:16:58.639 the car, and almost out of breath, he signaled me 296 00:16:58.679 --> 00:17:00.600 to roll down the window and shot off the truck. 297 00:17:02.120 --> 00:17:04.599 He asked me if I was traveling with anybody. I 298 00:17:04.640 --> 00:17:07.279 shook my head no. He asked if I knew that 299 00:17:07.319 --> 00:17:09.519 there was someone latched onto the back of my truck 300 00:17:09.720 --> 00:17:13.440 by the license plates. I could tell he was realizing 301 00:17:13.480 --> 00:17:15.880 as his words were coming out that it made no sense. 302 00:17:17.240 --> 00:17:19.839 The truck didn't have a bed, there was no space 303 00:17:19.880 --> 00:17:22.960 for anyone back there on the bumper. They'd have no 304 00:17:23.039 --> 00:17:26.920 word to hold on to. In a near panic, now, 305 00:17:26.960 --> 00:17:29.319 I asked if it was a pale, thin man, and 306 00:17:29.359 --> 00:17:32.680 that I had seen him near the car two times. 307 00:17:33.240 --> 00:17:36.039 He stood still for a moment, then turned on his 308 00:17:36.079 --> 00:17:40.240 flashlight around and behind him toward the darkness. He looked 309 00:17:40.240 --> 00:17:46.039 at me. Are you going home, he asked quietly. I nodded, 310 00:17:47.559 --> 00:17:51.000 be on your waist on. He turned around, grabbing his 311 00:17:51.079 --> 00:17:53.440 radio from his shoulder, and walking back to his patrol car. 312 00:17:57.079 --> 00:17:59.720 I made it home around three in the morning, carefully 313 00:17:59.720 --> 00:18:02.279 looking around the truck. When I arrived and took out 314 00:18:02.279 --> 00:18:07.599 my bags, something felt different then, a strange, peaceful stillness 315 00:18:07.599 --> 00:18:12.680 of the night, and I thought of Dad's experience. Dad 316 00:18:12.720 --> 00:18:15.680 and that delivery to Red's ranch and his encounter with 317 00:18:15.759 --> 00:18:20.119 a strange, thin, pale man. He had always said that 318 00:18:20.119 --> 00:18:22.720 there was something going on there, a group of people 319 00:18:23.000 --> 00:18:26.759 or beings, aliens maybe that were in disguise trying to 320 00:18:26.839 --> 00:18:30.519 establish a settlement among them. Another theory was that it 321 00:18:30.559 --> 00:18:33.759 was a government installation with technology that could lure in 322 00:18:33.839 --> 00:18:38.119 potential recruits. The cult was also an idea that he floated. 323 00:18:38.480 --> 00:18:40.400 But it was around then when he would think that 324 00:18:40.480 --> 00:18:44.160 his story was just that, a story, something that is 325 00:18:44.240 --> 00:18:47.000 mine morphed. That's the years went by and his brain 326 00:18:47.119 --> 00:18:52.079 tried to combine it into this logical, coherent experience, like 327 00:18:52.160 --> 00:18:55.160 what happened with me. I think of it as a 328 00:18:55.160 --> 00:18:57.240 crazy man trying to hitch a ride on the back 329 00:18:57.279 --> 00:19:01.920 of my car, and that's it. Now. I could leave 330 00:19:01.960 --> 00:19:04.920 it at that and look no further into it. But 331 00:19:05.000 --> 00:19:08.400 I still wonder if that thing was even human, if 332 00:19:08.400 --> 00:19:12.279 the police officer knew it, if everyone around there did 333 00:19:12.359 --> 00:19:17.680 as well, Because that story, like the mail carrier's experience, 334 00:19:18.640 --> 00:19:21.079 all felt like pieces of an odd puzzle he was 335 00:19:21.079 --> 00:19:24.960 trying to put together, but now they all fit. His 336 00:19:25.000 --> 00:19:30.240 story felt real now, But answers those were not likely 337 00:19:30.319 --> 00:19:35.119 to show up anytime soon. Because remember that disposable camera 338 00:19:35.200 --> 00:19:38.720 he had taken as proof of delivery. He developed the 339 00:19:38.720 --> 00:19:40.839 photos in order to get his money from his boss, 340 00:19:42.039 --> 00:19:44.480 and in the photo of the hitchhike ride to the 341 00:19:44.480 --> 00:19:48.039 bus station, you could see the same figure in the 342 00:19:48.079 --> 00:19:52.279 trunk of the hatchback, and then at the bus station 343 00:19:52.400 --> 00:19:54.960 when he was sitting on the benches, it was out 344 00:19:55.000 --> 00:20:00.880 by the security guard booth, and then once again on 345 00:20:00.960 --> 00:20:02.680 the rear seat of the empty. 346 00:20:02.359 --> 00:20:37.799 Bus just as Dad got to a spot. 347 00:20:38.079 --> 00:20:40.720 Now that's where the story ends. But I have a 348 00:20:40.759 --> 00:20:44.759 short commentary little section here, because this story is based 349 00:20:45.000 --> 00:20:47.839 on trips that I used to make from southern part 350 00:20:47.880 --> 00:20:50.640 of California to the northern part where I went to college, 351 00:20:51.480 --> 00:20:54.839 and most of those rides were at night or early 352 00:20:54.880 --> 00:20:59.000 in the morning. One time, the GPS, it was Google 353 00:20:59.000 --> 00:21:01.599 Maps that I was using at the time time, rerouted 354 00:21:01.640 --> 00:21:06.119 me to this dirt trail, like this dirt road along 355 00:21:06.200 --> 00:21:09.599 some hills and stuff. Some other cars were also following blindly. 356 00:21:09.759 --> 00:21:12.839 We're all following the path of the GPS. And then 357 00:21:13.000 --> 00:21:16.160 once we got back to the regular highway, I saw 358 00:21:16.200 --> 00:21:18.480 no construction or anything like that, and I actually saw 359 00:21:18.559 --> 00:21:24.759 cars passing by, and it really made me wonder, what if, like, 360 00:21:24.799 --> 00:21:29.039 how easy is it for a GPS system to i 361 00:21:29.039 --> 00:21:31.480 don't know, be tweaked somehow so that it could just 362 00:21:31.640 --> 00:21:34.440 change where you're going and you would just blindly follow it. 363 00:21:36.160 --> 00:21:38.079 This is where it was based because this was also 364 00:21:38.240 --> 00:21:41.799 late at night when I got rerouted. It was a 365 00:21:41.920 --> 00:21:43.920 very interesting night, and I always thought like, what if 366 00:21:43.920 --> 00:21:46.000 we encountered something else that night. 367 00:21:47.240 --> 00:21:48.839 But also the. 368 00:21:48.799 --> 00:21:54.640 Story also deals with inherited fear right. The father has 369 00:21:54.680 --> 00:21:59.960 this instinct, this way of looking back or sensing something 370 00:22:00.119 --> 00:22:04.079 thing and being able to completely ignore a situation, like 371 00:22:04.519 --> 00:22:08.160 not investigate into a thing, but instead avoid it. That's 372 00:22:08.160 --> 00:22:10.519 what I'm trying to get to here, And this is 373 00:22:10.519 --> 00:22:13.839 what everybody in the story also did. They knew something 374 00:22:13.960 --> 00:22:17.400 was there, they say, hey, let's go ask the mail carrier, 375 00:22:17.400 --> 00:22:21.039 but really was to use the bathroom, and then the 376 00:22:21.680 --> 00:22:24.319 know the mail carrier also has answers, but doesn't really 377 00:22:24.359 --> 00:22:27.200 want to investigate into it. They actually now send the 378 00:22:27.200 --> 00:22:30.400 mail somewhere else for them. This is all about avoiding right, 379 00:22:30.440 --> 00:22:32.960 which brings in the idea of roads and what they 380 00:22:32.960 --> 00:22:37.880 are liminal spaces also places you just transit through. You 381 00:22:38.079 --> 00:22:41.240 just go through it. That's it. You don't need to 382 00:22:41.279 --> 00:22:45.200 go into anything else into it, don't stop, don't investigate anything, 383 00:22:45.279 --> 00:22:48.960 just get through it. So that was kind of like 384 00:22:49.119 --> 00:22:52.400 the main idea, how many things are we ignoring? How 385 00:22:52.400 --> 00:22:55.640 many things are we not searching? Through or just because 386 00:22:55.640 --> 00:22:57.920 we're not supposed to do that, or it would be 387 00:22:58.160 --> 00:23:01.960 a bad idea to do so. So that was the 388 00:23:02.000 --> 00:23:05.559 main central point of the story. Now about this figure, right, 389 00:23:05.599 --> 00:23:08.000 this figure thing that showed up. 390 00:23:08.480 --> 00:23:09.440 What could it have been? 391 00:23:10.640 --> 00:23:13.279 Now, when I think about it, there's a lot of 392 00:23:13.319 --> 00:23:15.720 strange things out there that we don't know, right, things 393 00:23:15.759 --> 00:23:21.119 about forests, the bigfoot, skin walker ideas and aliens or 394 00:23:21.440 --> 00:23:23.720 little beings that are spotted out into the woods, and 395 00:23:23.799 --> 00:23:27.240 you hear about these often. This is what it's supposed 396 00:23:27.279 --> 00:23:30.480 to be, at least in my opinion, although this can change. Right, 397 00:23:31.160 --> 00:23:34.359 what was this figure that was appearing? There are hints 398 00:23:34.400 --> 00:23:39.480 there at a government operation, government installation that might have 399 00:23:39.559 --> 00:23:43.160 hinted something from out of this world, but we don't know. 400 00:23:43.440 --> 00:23:46.200 All we know is that it didn't harm anybody, but 401 00:23:46.279 --> 00:23:49.039