Back Seat Specter

Upon reviewing this tale, I realize that it sounds as dubious as some others I have read. But, I testify that the following is a brief description of a real occurrence involving a discarnate automobile passenger. I haven't seen my fellow-witness in a decade or so, but I am certain that he, too, would vouch for the truthfulness of the following narration:

It was about 1990 or 1991 when the little historical towns around Denver, Colorado first began to have legalized gambling. The casinos hadn't been in Central City, Colorado (an old town known for having been a mining town) for very long when a friend and I went over to see the changes that had taken place there. I'm not a gambler at all but my friend Jonesy, an Englishman studying at the Uni. of Colorado at the time, spent a small sum on some of the slots in one of the new casinos. Incidentally, the building housing this particular casino would be familiar to a lot of people in and around Denver because it has the characteristic of a beautiful woman's face painted on the floor. It is rumored to be haunted, but that doesn't necessarily relate to my experience.

After a some light gambling, we went over to a little place that had a stage where live music was playing and a dance floor. We had a burger and fries and drank sodas. I can't remember if we danced a little bit or not, but I enjoyed the evening very much. It was late evening when walked back to my car, a little 1987 Toyota Tercel, with bucket style seats. We left Central City and headed back to Denver.

I don't recall when I first noticed the little man, but I was aware of his presence a few minutes after we were out of Central City. I didn't say anything, but I could see a little old man wearing a tattered hat with a wide brim around it and a long grey or white beard sitting behind us between our seats. Jonesy and I chatted along the way, and I noticed that the man looked at me when I spoke and looked at Jonesy when he spoke and the rest of the time he sort of leaned forward and looked at the road, as if he was very interested in where we were going. It was so strange, that I didn't mention it even though the presence was very strong and I could actually see him. Although, I can explain how I saw him. It's more like seeing someone with your mind rather than your eyes - yet that is not an adequate description, either.

This is how I, and only I know for sure this entity was in the car and not a figment of my imagination: After a time, Jonesy said something like, "There were a lot of spirits in Central City". I agreed. Then Jonesy said something like, "There's one in the car with us right now". And then he described the man's every movement, the leaning forward eagerly, the looking from left to right. The little man remained in the car with us. Continually, when I spoke, he would look at me; and when Jonesy spoke he would look at him. Jonesy commented on it and I merely agreed. We kept talking and however odd this might sound, we just sort of forgot about him at some point. We saw the Coors factory coming up, signaling that we were about to enter Denver again. About that time, I thought of the man again and realized that he was gone, but I said nothing about it. Right after I had that thought, Jonesy must have also noticed because he said, "He's gone".

I have told people this story before and they usually laugh and ask how much we were drinking. I assure you that I drink very little now and at that time in my life I didn't drink at all. Neither did Jonesy have a drink or, for that matter, any other mind-altering substance that evening. I have seen and experienced other peculiarities of this nature before, but this time was different because I had a witness who saw every detail of what I saw. Often people will say that it was the power of suggestion. But, I saw the little man before Jonesy mentioned him. I saw every detail that Jonesy saw before it happened but I kept quiet. The miner was perfectly harmless, in fact, we were delighted to have him as a passenger. I liked that he was so interested in us and what were doing and saying. I don't think a bad spirit would have taken such interest. I would like to see him again some time.