Continuous ‘time loop’ and bizarre ‘lost time’ while driving home

The eyewitness and her father were driving home. As they were driving through a neighborhood observing Christmas lights, they were caught in a continuous time loop.

The following account was forwarded by Cam & Kyle at Expanded Perspectives:

“It was the night before Christmas Eve in 2000 or 2001. My Dad and I were driving about 10 miles to a grocery store. I can’t remember why we went to one that far away from home, as there were closer stores, but for some reason, we were on the other side of town at this grocery store. We needed to buy some supplies for the next day, as we were hosting Christmas Eve for our large extended family.

When we were done, we loaded up the car and moved a little quicker than normal because it was starting to snow. At that time, we had a cheap car that was not ideal for snow travel, so we wanted to get home as quick and safely as possible. I checked the time and noted that it was just before 8 PM. I remember that, because I really wanted to get home, help my mom make cheesecakes. My Dad thought he would be able to shave some time off the commute back home if he cut through the residential area behind the grocery store. So, that is what we did.

We began to navigate through the neighborhood. My Dad had taken this way before, so he knew where he was going. We came to our turn and made a right onto a street and we were looking at Christmas lights and commenting on the decorations. Dad made a left at the next street and we saw the same decorations on the same houses. Dad even said out loud, “Didn’t we already see that house?” I agreed and even pointed out an “ugly” house that I remembered. It was really memorable. I can still remember it actually.

When we came to the end of that street, my Dad knew he needed to make a left, but last time, when we made a left, we didn’t end up where we wanted to be. So, he made a right. Again, it was the same street. When we were sitting at the stop sign, looking ahead onto the street where we were going to go, it didn’t look like the same street. But when we drove onto it, it changed. Just like before, we recognized the houses and Dad stopped the car. He looked at me and I looked at him. Somehow, we were stuck on a loop.

The snow was starting to accumulate, and Dad didn’t want to put the car in reverse, for fear that we’d slide. So, we kept pushing forward. I have to mention, that as we are making numerous passes on the same street, a straight street by the way, it wasn’t a curved road, there were no tire tracks in the thin layer of new snow. If we were traveling the same road a minute ago, our tracks should have been there. Moving on, we passed all the same houses again and came to the same stop sign again. This time, Dad made a left like he had the first time. This time, the street changed and it was the street he wanted to be on. But we noticed that in the last few minutes, the snow had gotten really deep. Probably 2 or 3 inches in a matter of, what we thought was 10 minutes. I glanced at the time and noted that it was 9:14. I said, “Dad, it’s after 9.” He hit the brakes and looked at the clock.

My Dad was a Vietnam vet. He wasn’t afraid of anything and I never really saw him display anything other than calm stoicism. Except that night. That night, I saw actual confusion and fear pass over his face. He stomped it down pretty quickly, but for a moment, I saw it. He was freaked. We finally made it to all the familiar routes to get home.

When we pulled into the driveway, we both just sat there for a minute. Then, Dad said “That was weird.” We got out and brought our groceries in the house. For being in the trunk for over an hour, the frozen items were still frozen. When we walked in, my Mom and Brother both said, almost in unison, “Where have you been?” We didn’t know.”

yogaesoteric
October 10, 2023