Along Highway 18, in the Van Duzer Corridor in the Coast Range mountains -- between Salem (the state capitol) and Lincoln City, OR, on the coast -- there are rampant rumors of "paranormal" activity and of a secret government base conducting experiments there. Many coastal and valley residents tell stories of encountering people in the middle of the road who abruptly aren't there, weird lights or a strange sense of being taken over by something else. Some have even told of hiking in the forest and running across what looked like an army base in the mountains.
Who knows what this really means? But the fact remains there is an exceptionally large amount of people claiming experiences they can't explain on this winding, dark and often steep section of state highway. We enjoyed beautiful trips through the woods without anything unusual happening. Others, not so much:
"This is the same area where my husband and I both saw a man wearing prison attire carrying a heavy metal ball connected to a chain fastened to his ankle. It was a black and white uniform, like someone might have worn 100 years ago. This was in broad daylight. We always thought it odd. That was around 20 years ago." ~M.Oshea
"My wife and I regularly travel this section of road, to and from work - often at night. We know from Lincoln City to home is a 45 minute drive. One night, we left after a bite at Maxwell's, and headed home. The band was playing their last song - the time was 2:00 am. We both noted that, and calculated to ourselves the arrival home time at about 2:45 am. (we're musicians, and had finished our evening gig earlier that night). Upon arriving home, I stepped into the kitchen, and glanced at the clock - 4:30 am! I turned to check the battery operated one on the opposite wall - it also read 4:30! My wife had yet to make it in the door - she was visiting with the dog on the porch. I stepped back out and inquired "Honey, what time do you think it is?" "About 2:45ish" she replied... "How about 4:30?" "No way" "Yes, way, it's 4:30 in the morning", I told her... We both stood and stared at each other, as cold chills ran up our spines. We left Lincoln City at a known time (I had checked the clock), and arrived home, having made no stops, almost 2 hours late. This would have had to be around the year 2000. To this day, we have no explanation. Neither one of us had been drinking, or doing drugs. It is one of the strangest things to ever happen to me - totally unexplainable." ~J.Justin
