The Black Dog. I get asked about this one a lot by every person who has seen the Patrick Swayze movie by the same name. They want to know if it is true, have I seen, why is it a dog, etc
Like all urban legends, I think, there is a grain of truth to this one as well. I know the Black Dog myth is much older then even cars and if you look it up, you can find this link here→→→https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_dog_(ghost)
Have I seen the Black Dog though? Sort of, but let me explain, for there is no "supernatural" element to it.
Usually, you will get very tired in the darkest part of the night, which is right before sunrise. Doesn't seem to matter what time you woke up or how much sleep you have gotten, one thing most us truckers agree on, that time in the morning, we all get sleepy, even if we are freshly up & showered and have our favorite form of caffeine in hand.
There is a thing called Highway Hypnosis & it comes from staring at the road for too long. (Look, another link!→→→Highway hypnosis https://g.co/kgs/oBrvbm )
So, now that we have those 2 things out of the way, let me start the explanation of my "Black Dog".
I have noticed that in the wee early hours of the morning, between 4-6 am, when it can be very dark (it depends where you are, the times ), you will notice in your headlights, black shadows moving across the road in front of you. Before you ask, yes, they do seem to move or undulate across the road in front of you and sometimes towards you.
I think this is caused by a bit of highway hypnosis, mixed with that tired feeling and a dash of the ripples/contours in the road. It can be a bit unnerving the first few times you see it, bit even if it is a dog, you have to train yourself to maintain your lane and not swerve, as your instincts warn you to do, as traffic can change so rapidly, that when you swerve, you might kill someone or a family, especially when driving a fully loaded semi.
I thought I would share this with ya'll. I hope you enjoyed it and yeah, molasses cookies, Bernthal the Great, assless chaps, etc, etc.
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That's some trippy sh*t. It seems like there's an optical illusion happening when the road hypnosis and fatigue hit. Then paired with the rhythmic motions of the truck on the road a strange phenomenon occurs with the drivers vision. Kinda neat.