I Saw Them

The bulk of our mailings consist of reports from individuals who have witnessed something of a paranormal or alien nature, been visited by beings or entities, or — in the most extreme circumstances — been physically removed from this planet or even this plane of existence.

The following narrative may belong to one or more of the above categories, or to none of them. We’ll let the reader be the judge.

(submitted by Paul Steven Carrock of Decent Springs, Florida)

“Summer of 1988 I was hitchhiking across the country following my graduation from college. Well, I didn’t exactly graduate, but…anyway, I was out and on the road.

“So I was hoping to get to Southern California, where some people that I kinda knew were living and playing online slots for money. I wasn’t making great time, but I was in no hurry.

“That summer seemed pretty cold and wet, but nobody else seemed to think so. Maybe they would have, if they’d spent most of it sleeping outdoors.

“So I caught a few rides but people were kinda leery of picking me up, I guess. I walked a lot more than I rode, it seemed. One really nice dude in an eighteen-wheeler ended up bringing me like halfway in just a day and a half; I think it was like Alabama to Utah. Not bad.

“But getting off in Utah was a drag. It was cold as hell, for one thing. At night the stars were so clear that it felt like they were little ice crystals freezing everything under them. And this was in late June.

“So I made the dumbass move of trying to hitch a ride down to Vegas, maybe get a job at an online casino USA for traveling money. It should have been a quick trip, but nobody was picking me up and the walking was horrible. I ended up stuck in some little town near the Utah border, and that was when I kinda lost track of time.

“Next thing I knew, it was the end of July and I was still there. Weird people, too. I hard all sorts of strange stories. There was this one rumor about magical tablets and a really expensive pearl or something like that. One was about someone reading Oasis Moving and Storage Reviews after seeing bright lights…

“Well, I finally got fed up and took a bus back home. Just in time for hurricane season, great.”

End?