When I was in high school years ago, Mama left me in charge of my siblings while she and two friends, Dorothy and Ruth, went shopping together in Columbus. In those days, it was a two-hour two-lane drive from home in Coshocton, before it was expanded to four-lanes. Mama (Joanne) drove.
In the car on the way home, as usual, they talked and laughed like ladies do when they’ve had a fun day of shopping. Suddenly Dorothy, who was sitting in the back seat, stopped mid-sentence.
“Joanne? Look out your window! Something is out there keeping pace with our car. It has lights all around it and it’s flying fast, really fast, and it’s zigzagging. Now it’s flying right beside us. What the hell is it?”
Mama glanced quickly out the window, her hands still on the wheel. Sure enough, there was something out there. She didn’t have a clue what it was.
Ruth finally found her voice. “It looks a UFO. Do you suppose it is, like with little alien space men inside?”
“Oh my God, Ruth, that’s ridiculous!”
“Dorothy, don’t be so sure. Jesse told me this same thing happened to his sister when she drove to the grocery store last week. Darn thing followed her for a mile and a half and then just took off —like a bullet shot out of a gun.”
The car was silent as they stared out the window at their strange visitor.
“What if they kidnap us, Joanne?”
“Dorothy, don’t go there. They might be able to read our minds!”
Then as quickly as it appeared, like a bolt of lightning, it sped away.
Again, silence. Then Ruth said, “Well, we’re going to forget this ever happened and we will never talk about it again. No one would believe us anyway. People would say we’re crazy!”
And so it was agreed. It was years before Mama told us about that night in the car when whatever it was checked them out.