Highway Back in Time
Another jaunt back with mysteries of time travel accounts.
This one takes place in a small Southwest Louisiana town of Abbeville. The tale was originally recounted by a character with the initial's L.C in Ken Meaux's High Strangeness column in Strange Magazine 2, Spring 1988.
L.C. and a business associate, Charlie let's call him, had just finished their lunch. Whilst still discussing their work, they began their usual short drive along Highway 167 towards the Oil Center city of Lafayette about 15 miles away. The date was October 20, 1969, and the time was about 13:30. The day was picturesque for Fall--clear blue skies and a nippy 60 degrees, just the right conditions for cruising with the windows down.
The highway was practically traffic-free until in the distance they spotted what appeared to be an old turtle-back-type car travelling very slowly. As they closed the gap between the odd looking car their discussions changed from their insurance work to the old car ahead of them. The closer they got, the more details were revealed of the car. It looked to be decades old yet still had the factory finish straight out of the show room. This invoked words of admiration from L.C. and Charlie. With the car going so slow it allowed the two men to pass it, but before doing so slowed to appreciate the beauty and mint condition of the vehicle. In doing so, L.C. noticed a very large bright orange license plate with the year "1940" clearly printed on it. This was most unusual and probably illegal unless provisions had been made for the antique car to be used in ceremonial parades.
Passing the car slowly to its left, L.C., who was sat in the passenger's seat, noticed the car was been driven by a young woman in some very curious apparel. It appeared to be vintage 1940's clothing and a woman wearing a hat complete with a long coloured feather and a fur coat was, to say the least, a wee bit unusual. Next to her stood a small child, possibly a little girl. The child was dressed in a hat and heavy coat which made it hard to determine the gender of the child. Her windows were rolled up, which puzzled L.C. some as the temperature was nippy, but it was quite pleasant and a light sweater was sufficient to keep you comfortable. Getting closer to the car, their study turned to alarm as their attention was riveted to the animated expressions of fear and panic on the woman's face. The woman appeared panic stricken frantically looking back and forth as if lost, or in need of help.
L.C. was on the passenger's side, so he called out to her and asked if she needed any help. The woman nodded "yes" all the while looking down with a puzzled look at their vehicle. Older cars from that time had a much higher profile to the later models made in the 60's. L.C. motioned to her to pull over and park up at the side of the road. He had to repeat the request several times with hand signs and mouthing the words because her windows were rolled up and it seemed she had difficulty hearing them. They saw her finally starting to pull over so they continued past her as to safely pull over in front of her. As they came to a halt on the shoulder of the road, L.C. and Charlie looked back in complete bewilderment and astonishment. The car... had vanished!
L.C. and Charlie looked back at the empty highway as they sat in their car, spellbound and bewildered, it was obvious to them that a search would prove futile. Remember this was an open highway with no side roads nearby, no place to hide a car at all.
Meanwhile, the driver of a vehicle that had been behind the old car pulled over behind them. He ran to L.C. and Charlie and frantically demanded an explanation as to what had become of the car ahead of him.
He was driving North on Highway 167 when he saw, some distance away, a new car passing up a very old car at a slow pace, so slow that they appeared to be nearly stopped. As he saw the new car pull onto the shoulder and the old car starting to do the same it momentarily obstructed the new car and then suddenly disappeared. All he could see ahead of him was the new car on the shoulder of the highway. Desperate to associate logic to this incredible sight, he immediately assumed an accident had occurred. Indeed an accident had not occurred, but something more haunting, perhaps as tragic, and certainly more mysterious had.
The three stood discussing each other's perspective for about an hour, walking the area and generally feeling perplexed at the situation. They even suggested reporting this as the third man felt it was a "missing person" situation and that they had been witnesses. L.C. and Charlie both refused to do as they had no idea where the car along with the woman and child had gone. They doubted that police on this plane of existence had the power to find them. The third man concluded not to report the situation as his sanity would be questioned been the only one reporting the strange situation. For years the 3 kept in touch with each other, calling just to talk about this incident the third man would check up on what he had seen.