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Giant Flame


BrandonD

Skilled Investigator
Another weird story. This one may have a completely mundane explanation, because nothing "supernatural" occurred, but it was so freakin weird that it seems worth mentioning. It's interesting, and perhaps someone has an explanation.

Back in high school, 2 friends and I were out driving on a highway late at night (around midnight). To our left was a forest, and above it were low-hanging clouds. We could see from the road an enormous orange glow reflecting off the clouds in the sky. We all thought this was a forest fire, and we wanted to go see it. So we exited the highway and drove into the neighborhood that bordered the forest.

After driving in the neighborhood for a while, we realized that we couldn't get any closer to the fire in our car, so we actually parked it and walked into the woods (we were daring kids and did a lot of stupid things).

We walked through the woods for a really long time, blindly heading towards the glow in the distance. Eventually we came upon a makeshift road cut through the woods, made out of thin wooden planks lying side-by-side. This road curved off into the distance, and appeared to end where this forest fire was taking place.

We followed this road and eventually saw that it did end at a spot in the forest where there was some sort of huge fire. As we approached this spot, we veered off the road into the woods. My friends crouched on the ground and I climbed up into a tree.

In front of us was a huge clearing in the forest, like a hundred yards across. There were cars and trailers in the background. But in the center of this clearing was a gigantic crater, and an enormous flame was coming out of it. It was easily the biggest fire I've ever seen, at least a hundred feet across and as high as the tree-tops.

Occasionally, there would be a big roaring sound like metal grating against metal, and the flame would shoot up high into the air. In the center of this flame was a big black object that I couldn't make out.

Standing in a circle around this crater were men wearing what looked exactly like radiation suits, yellow jumpsuits with the big visor over the face. I felt this urge to run out there and ask them what was going on, but I couldn't bring myself to do it.

It felt so weird, what the hell were these guys doing out there? If this was a totally legitimate and normal thing to do, why were they out doing it at 1 in the morning?

Maybe someone in the forum recognizes this scenario and it's something totally normal and ordinary. But it sure seemed strange, especially since it was so hidden and late at night.
 
Can you pin point the location on google earth? That may help.

A mundane thought is a fuel truck might have lit on fire.
 
This story sounds really familiar, but dang if I can remember where I heard one like it.

By any chance have you described it elsewhere on the forums?
 
Can you pin point the location on google earth? That may help.

A mundane thought is a fuel truck might have lit on fire.

This is embarrassing, but I've actually never used google earth. I've only watched youtube videos showing it. I'll download it though and I'll tell you once I've figured it out.

In the meantime, here are some details: it was in the city of Humble, TX, a few miles north of where 59 intersects with 1960, in the woods about a mile to the west of the highway.
 
You should have stuck around. Would have been kind of boring I guess, but at least you would have some sort of answer when the sun came up.
 
You should have stuck around. Would have been kind of boring I guess, but at least you would have some sort of answer when the sun came up.

Ah I'm glad you mentioned that. 2 days later I was telling my friend about it, and he said we should go look for that area again. It was daytime, and we returned to the scene and went into the woods. We retraced the steps and found the road again.

When we got to the area, it was completely empty. No trailers, no cars, no crater. Just a huge empty clearing.

We looked around for some kind of evidence and all we found was a silver spoon lying in the dirt. So someone rich was definitely eating at the scene. :D
 
BrandonD;39687 It was in the city of Humble said:
Is that the area you're from? I'm from that general area and have experieced things that are very hard to comprehend. Humble is close to Splendora...I'm curious if you know Surls.
 
I told your story to a girlfriend yesterday, Brandon. She lives in Eagle Lake, Texas. It prompted her telling me something I hadn't known and I doubt many people know unless they live in less urban areas. It may not be relevant, but I thought I'd mention it anyway.

Eagle Lake used to be the goose hunting capital of Texas with wintering birds feasting on left over rice. Now the government makes rice farmers plow the remains underground and the geese and ducks are wintering elsewhere.

But she says ranchers in the area have been paid by God-knows-who to allow the burial of industrial sludge on their lands. It must involve a lot of money, but land fills are few and hard to find not to mention the incredible expense involved in procuring the land, public outcry and such. But large trucks carrying the waste are often seen entering and leaving some ranches.

She said recently that the whole town smelled awful for two days. And Eagle Lake failed it's water quality test this year. It's been bad for a while, but this is the first year it's failed safety tests. Needless to say, she even makes coffee with bottled water.

May not be related, but it's certainly possible.
 
Thanks, for the thanks, Mac, but I don't know how useful my last post really is.

After telling my husband the story, he said it's common for local municipal utility districts to hire farmers to take the sludge from sewer plants for fertilizer. (I was grossed out.) It explains why my friend said the whole town smelled like crap for two days recently. I'd forgotten that part altogether until hubby explained.

Maybe it's the other way around too. Maybe farmers buy sludge from the M.U.D.s, I don't know. Another question I'll have to ask, but it explains how E-coli might appear on spinach, doesn't it?

As far as the water test failing, he says that happens all the time too for very brief periods. The standards are so low that it's bound to happen.

I recommend a reverse osmosis filtration system. Got one last year and my filtered water reads 28 parts per million as opposed to 260 parts per million. The 28 parts are probably a type of arsenic that can't be filtered because of chemical bonding, if I understand that correctly. One does have to supplement his diet, with grey or pink sea salt, for the lack of minerals in the water though.

Still, when someone is in a type of hazmat suit and operating in the dead of night in a local forest, it seems pretty clear what's happening, even if the details are missing.
 
Is that the area you're from? I'm from that general area and have experieced things that are very hard to comprehend. Humble is close to Splendora...I'm curious if you know Surls.

Yea that's the area I'm from. My parents still live right near that area (in Kingwood).

What is Surls?
 
What is Surls?

He's a really awesome sculptor that used to live there. He moved to Colorado a few years ago. He had a huge property in Splendora, I think some of his daughters may still be there. He let me camp out on his land in the winter of '92 when I was pretty much homeless. I think the old man knows more than he'll ever say, I'm pretty sure he's experienced the 'other' reality.

James Surls
 
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