1975-06-01 - Cerritos, CA

A car struck an invisible object causing the car to come to a complete stop.

Around 1975 while living in Southern California I encountered a very strange occurrence. Like the Northbrook, Illinois incident I witnessed a vehicle hit an invisible object. I was sitting at a stop light with one other car that was directly across from me, also waiting for the light to change. I heard a crash and looked up to see a car that was traveling from right to left had come to a complete stop just short of the intersection. Steam was spewing from the radiator and it had a large dent in the grill. It was like the car hit a pole but there was no pole. I saw nothing that could have caused this.

The next thing I knew the light had changed and I proceeded through the intersection slowly. It felt like a dream and I was just along for the ride. I remember starring at that car and even looking over at the other car that was proceeding through the intersection across from me. Very strange was the thought in my head that said "keep going." Not an audible sound but more like a thought. What makes it so weird is that I was a Vietnam vet and knew how to react to all kinds of stressful incidents but found myself just as an observer and unable to react. I never reported that accident to anyone and that was also strange because I was a Security Policeman in the Air Force and worked with the Arizona State Troopers and the California Highway Patrol with accidents involving military personnel. I was no stranger to accidents and accident reports but never reported this one.

Over the years I’ve felt badly that I didn’t help that poor person explain the weird accident to the police but who’d believe such a thing? I have told very few people about this but who would? I saw a car hit an “invisible” object!! Reading about the poor lady from Illinois brought back this memory and I truly sympathize with her. I’m almost glad that I haven’t been the only person to experience such a weird event.