Pondering the existence of ghosts, demons and angels – Part 21

Do ghosts, demons, and angels really exist? So far scientific evidence has not been able to prove or disprove their existence. However, there are countless tales of these entities both current and those that predate written history. Most of us have either had experiences ourselves or have heard accounts by family or friends of unexplained occurrences pertaining to ghosts, demons, or angels. The most chilling story I have heard is as follows;

This is the true story of a highway haunting which happened to my friend Elliot years ago. Elliot is not the type of person who plays practical jokes or makes up stories. He is a serious guy by nature. Never into drugs and only drinks alcohol moderately. When he tells you something you can bank on it being the truth as he knows it. It was a Friday night in early summer when on a lark, Elliot and his friend Jimmy decided to take a road trip from Phoenix to Tucson. This is not a long trip, about two and a half hours on Interstate 10 from Elliot’s apartment to downtown Tucson. Since they had started out rather late they decided to stop at a little roadside diner near Picacho Peak for a cup of coffee to keep them awake. As they walked up to the entrance of the diner they noticed an unusually large German Shepherd Dog laying by the door. Elliot gave the dog a pat on the head as he walked past and on into the doorway. They were in the diner for about 20 minutes and when they came out the dog was nowhere to be seen. They got back into the car, wide awake from their caffeine fix and proceeded on towards Tucson. They had only been on the highway for about ten minutes with Jimmy at the wheel when out of the corner of his eye something caught Elliot’s attention. It was dark out but the object could be clearly seen in his peripheral vision as it was next to the car only at arms length away from his side window, which was down. As Elliot turned to look, it had caught up to the point where Jimmy caught a glimpse of it too. To their amazement and horror they saw what looked to be the same German Shepherd that had been laying in front of the diner. Jimmy was driving at approximately 65 mph. The dog was running on his back legs only and easily keeping up with them, right outside Elliot’s window! In shock and disbelief, both Elliot and Jimmy watched the dog for several seconds. The dog then turned his head and looked inside the car at them. At that point it grinned what Elliot described as a demonic grin. Then, in an instant it sped off, still on it’s back legs and disappeared from sight. They never saw it again. I heard Elliot tell his story one time and after that he refused to talk about it. He was clearly shaken by his experience.

Both Elliot and Jimmy witnessed the very same thing. Drugs and alcohol can be ruled out. And I don’t think it is likely that two people would for some odd reason hallucinate the same sight at the same time. I trust that their account was not a deliberate fabrication. So what was it? Did Elliot and Jimmy experience a close encounter of the demonic kind? Their perception was that it was an evil being. Yet it did no harm to them. Perhaps it was benevolent in nature. After all, aren’t German Shepherd Dogs considered to be guardians of people? Maybe the entity took on the image of a German Shepherd as a way of trying to gain trust from them. But for what purpose? The questions are endless and the answers are sadly lacking. Hopefully, one day science will be able to give us the answers we seek to the question of whether ghosts, demons, and angels really do exist. Until that day, I will always reflect on Elliot’s tale as an unexplained highway haunting.