A journey through Montana at the tender age of sixteen brought about encounters with tales of aliens, a murderer's sister, and natural disasters. This narrative weaves together the peculiar experiences of hitchhiking through a landscape where truth seems stranger than fiction, including a grizzly encounter, a chilling murder story, and alleged UFO sightings.
My journey into the extraordinary began two and a half decades ago when, as a sixteen-year-old, I found myself thumbing for a ride on Interstate 90 after a harrowing night in Yellowstone's backcountry. A grizzly bear's presence outside my tent during a freak May blizzard was just a prelude to the surreal experiences that awaited me.
As the sun dipped below the horizon, my wet sneakers and I were finally noticed by a passing motorist. This is how I came to meet Violet, a woman whose age was as mysterious as the stories she shared. She was returning from her brother's trial in Bozeman, where he was convicted of a gruesome murder—a fact she disclosed with unsettling nonchalance, pointing to a newspaper headline that read, "Sister Says He Should Be Hanged."
Violet recounted how hitchhiking had become more difficult due to a past incident where a hitchhiker murdered a man and was later found cooking the victim's heart. She also shared her own close call with a knife-wielding hitchhiker, which she diffused by drawing her own firearm.
Violet's stories extended into the realm of the inexplicable. She described a camping trip in the 1950s when she and her husband witnessed a missile strike a mountain, triggering an earthquake—a claim corroborated by a USGS report of a significant earthquake in Yellowstone that formed Quake Lake. She also spoke of a UFO encounter where their trailer was allegedly lifted by a "tractor beam," an event supposedly witnessed by a local sheriff.
Violet's hospitality extended to offering me a night's stay and her brother's belongings, which he would no longer need. Months later, a Christmas letter from Violet arrived, adorned with a whimsical drawing of "Space Dog," a testament to her unique perspective on life.
While the killer hitchhiker story seemed far-fetched, it was later confirmed by news reports detailing the murderer's release upon regaining sanity. However, the UFO tale remains unverified, leaving one to wonder about the many enigmatic stories that Montana might hold.
Montana's vast landscapes are not only home to natural wonders but also to narratives that challenge the boundary between reality and the bizarre. Whether these stories are true or simply part of the state's folklore, they add a layer of intrigue to the already captivating terrain of Big Sky Country.
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