Conspiracy Theory

Memories - Death Valley

Close your eyes and imagine. You’re riding in the passenger seat of a fast moving SUV through the moonless desert night. The only light visible on the dark stretch of highway is coming from the high beams of your own car. You hope, as you hurtle through the black, that no stray nightlife, or cows stray onto the road.

Just as the sun was setting, several hours before, your driver motions out to the great expanse of desert beyond to low-lying hills and informs you that this is where Area 51 is. The same Area 51 that holds the remains of aliens and spaceships. You find the thought interesting and watch as the hills become more inky in the darkening light. Soon the only movement you see is the jostling desert weeds as they are pushed to and fro by the gusty evening winds.

A few more hours pass and the only thing you can find in the radio is some conspiracy nut-job and his theories about extra-terrestrial life. Time and movement seem to halt, as your eyelids get heavier. You hope that your destination soon arrives, for you know you can’t stay awake much longer to help look for obstacles in the road. Then it appears. You think it is only a reflection from a light in your car. Then it disappears. You glance around the dash to see if you can distinguish which light was momentarily reflected in your window. You look out again and there it is; a tiny spot of light at eye level traveling through the darkness at the exact speed you car is traveling. Then it flicks out again only to reappear a few seconds later.

Your heart starts to race. You are now wide awake, searching the darkness for any clues to this hovering light, listening to the static-y talk radio and alien cover-ups. You look out the driver’s side window and there’s another light! You start to panic. Holy **** you’re surrounded! Another appears. And another! And, wow, that one looks like a four-pane window.

That’s when you realize, that you’re driving through ranch country. The floating lights in the darkness are no more than lights from a ranch house or barn. You feel kind of silly but you let out a long calming breathe and laugh a little at yourself. At least you’re awake now. Your destination, a campground inside Death Valley National Park, is getting closer. You’ll have a few hours of sleep before sunrise.