In 1997, I was National Sales Manager for a natural products company. I traveled a lot for the business: New York every other week, Boston every week, and once a month, to meet with key accounts in other states. I would drive down to Bradley Airport and fly to some city somewhere, rent a car and drive to a meeting with some store owner somewhere. What fun! No seriously, I enjoyed it.
On one of these trips, I flew into Denver Airport, rented an Isuzu Trooper and drove up to meet with some key accounts in Boulder and Aspen. I had an appointment the next day in western Colorado, so I decided to stay over in Aspen and get an early start the next morning.
Outside of Glenwood Springs, I picked up I70 on the way to my meeting in Grand Junction that afternoon.
There was a long tunnel through the mountain that I passed through. On the other side, the highway sloped down in a long straight line off towards the distance.
I saw one of those Airstream campers, you know the stainless steel cylindrical trailer, coming towards me. I didn't make much of it because there were a lot of campers in this part of Colorado, it was a common sight. As it approached though I began to notice something weird. There was no vehicle pulling it, at least I couldn't see anything. I though, well it must be an old-fashioned bus-camper.
But then it got even closer and I saw that it wasn't even on the road! It was climbing up I70 about 25 or 30 feed over the road! I pulled over to the shoulder and got out of the Isuzu. I was flabbergasted and a little bit in shock. This was before cell phone cameras or even digital cameras and I'd left my disposable camera in my backpack. There wasn't time to take a picture!
The object went slowly overhead. It had no windows, no lights and made no sound. In retrospect, there was no passing sound or wind as it went overhead.
I chalked it up later as an illusion. The heat was almost unbearable that morning and the ground was shimmering in the way it does in the heat.
The object kept going up I70 to the tunnel, then quickly flipped up over the mountain and that was the last I saw of it. I never saw anything like that again.
I wasn't hungover or stoned, I wasn't sleepy, and I had had 4 days to acclimate to the elevation. What could it have been?
Perhaps I will never know
