AUGUST 2004

I’d lived in Medford for 38 years when this happened. Definitely know the area well, not a large place. I was on my way home from getting gas when I noticed a large number of buzzards circling the air currents pretty high up about 2-3 blocks ahead. There were a lot of them, 40-50, and they were circling in almost a tornado like pattern. I was driving a ‘96 Jeep Cherokee, old style odometer and gas meter, I had to roll the windows by hand. I noticed my gas gauge was on empty and my odometer had flattened to zero even though I was going a little over 20. I pulled over to see what was up. These gauges corrected and flattened several times, then seemed to go back to normal. I continued on my way, but quickly realized I didn’t know where I was. Nothing looked familiar. The street signs were right, but nothing looked familiar. I drove in big squares, turning left at each cross street, but nothing looked right. Mind you, even if I wasn’t familiar with this area, I shouldn’t have gotten lost. Within a turn or two I should have dumped out on one of our main streets. Again, the names were right, just not the place. I could see the birds circling the whole time. Just as I was thinking I should stop somewhere and call home (didn’t own a cell phone yet), I noticed the birds flying off to the east. I looked around and things were back to normal. What should have been a 30 minute trip for gas took me almost an hour and a half. I’ve driven those streets many times since and nothing strange has happened.

Submitted by Kimo