I was working a nightshift at an oil field well site in east Texas when something very strange happened to me. The well site that I worked was several miles from the nearest house or road so intruders were never really an issue. The only other person anywhere near me was my day relief counterpart, who slept in a trailer about 100 yards from were I would be parked in my truck.
One night at 3 a.m., I got out of my truck to take my hourly pressure readings. This consisted of walking about 20 yards way from my truck to one side, taking a reading, then crossing in front of my truck to read some gauges about 30 yards on the other side, then returning to my truck to waste another hour. When I crossed in front of my truck, I heard what I thought was two radio announcers talking back and forth for a few seconds, as if I was walking down a hallway past an open door. I heard mumbling then distinctly heard a voice say, "Watch the red." Then there was more mumbling as I continued walking.
It seemed strange to me that I could hear my truck's radio outside over the roar of the diesel engine, but I didn't really think much about it until I got back in my truck and began reading my book. I only read about two lines when it occurred to me that I had been reading before I got out of my truck; this was significant because I never have the radio on when I read, and when I did listen to the radio, the volume was never very loud. The radio was in fact off when I got back in my truck, which meant that the voices I heard couldn't be from the radio.
I consider myself a rational person and therefore wanted a real explanation to what I heard. Like I said, I was very far away from any houses, roads or any other civilization, and the only other person within several miles was fast asleep. These voices worried me enough that I didn't get out of my truck the rest of the night.
In the morning, I asked my relief man if he was up any during the night. He said he had not been, which I had no reason to disbelieve because the door of the trailer is clearly visible from my location and I had noticed his emergence every other night if he left the trailer to urinate or otherwise. I never explained my reason for asking for fear that he would think that I was suffering from some sort of mental breakdown from too many lonely hours and late nights.
However, I did call my sister later that morning and expressed my concern. "I may have been on this job too long," I told her. "I swear I heard voices last night, and they sure as hell weren't in my head."
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