Odd Chase Encounters/Stories

[Marc Austin]

Anybody have any crazy/odd storm chasing stories? Just curious. I have a few of my own, but I'll see if anyone posts anything before posting them.

 

[Shane Adams]

May 6, 1998 - We drove through the town of Kingfisher, OK on our way westbound to meet a storm. Not thirty minutes later, we drove back through Kingfisher the exact same way we'd come earlier, except the second time through there was a dead, bloated cow lying next to the road. It hadn't been there before, and it was obvious the cow had been dead at least a few days. So someone had to have dumped it, although I have no clue how they got away with dumping a dead cow in broad daylight in the middle of town.

 

[Susan Strom]

The first few are from the deserts, they're kind of spooky. Whoever said the West wasn't wild anymore doesn't get out very often.

At the Texaco in the small tumbleweed town of Maricopa, Arizona, I ran into an wildlife illustrator who I knew from work. He looked at me with surprise... "What are you doing out here?" "Shooting lightning..." I said. Then I looked at him, "What are you doing out here?" "Gathering snakes" he said. (?) I knew he drew wildlife, but I didn't know he went out to gather live models.

Another time, in the mining town of Globe, Arizona, I pulled up to a red masonry wall and shined my headlights on it. The wall looked funny, it was moving in waves :shock: I thought I might be hallucinating. Instead as I got closer, I realized a hundred scorpions were coming out.

While chasing monsoon in Apache Junction, Arizona in 2003, something blue and very large flew across the road and almost hit my front fender. Now I need a new bumper sticker..."I brake for flying kiddie-pools!"

Last year, I'm in the desert near the western town of Cave Creek, Arizona. I was shooting lightning to the north, and suddenly a carload of drunk guys see me. They start hooting and hollaring as they drive past. But then, they did a quick U-turn, made a rooster tail, and started to chase me down this dirt road. Sh :shock: I threw my tripod onto the back seat, dove into the car and punched it with the back door open and the tripod hanging halfway out the back. I think I might have hit 90mph. I drove about 10 miles up the Carefree Highway, stopped and called a friend, coworker Mike, who I thought might also be out shooting lightning somewhere. I told him what happened. He was in the ghost town of Congress about 50 miles away, shooting lightning from Bradshaw mountain backcountry en route to Prescott. He was inside his truck as CGs where coming down all over the desert. "Someone's firing a gun closeby here..." his voice said nervously. Mike does not frighten easily either, his specialty is underwater shark and shipwreck photography. And yet, he sounded nervous and felt like he should bail. (Who'd be out shooting firearms in the dark during torrential monsoon storms??). A couple days later, they found a body out there where he had been chasing. :shock: What a freaky night!

And here's some weirdness from Liberal, Kansas. At about 4:30am one night, I'm using the brick wall of an abandoned Enterprise Rent-a-Car building as a wind protector. Lightning was firing over these newly painted grain elevators across the street. I couldn't resist the scene, plus, I thought because of the hour nobody would bother me. I'm set up shooting in extreme wind and torrential rain (which was flooding Hwy 54) and along comes a cop. He gets out and stands next to me, maelstrom and all, and quietly says..."Do you mind if I have a cigarette?" (Whaaaa.....) I politely left...immediately.

I am convinced now that Hwy 54 through Liberal, Kansas is the unrefuted Corridor of Weirdness. June 2004, I'm in the Plains and starting to head back toward Arizona. I had to make a gas stop before hitting the road. Suddenly, two men dressed in long monk's robes...with striped socks...started walking out of the Circle K (ROFL!!) Apparently, they were "wicked witches", employed by Dorothy's Wizard of Oz house, and were headed back to the Yellow Brick Road (no kidding, there really is one). I see the sign, and I have to follow it (of course!). It leads me to this boxy white house, but no one is around, all is quiet. I walk around the grounds but no one is there. I went up to the door, and a girl with braids and a blue gingham dress really does open the door "Hi, I'm Dorothy!". I was the only visitor to Dorothy's House, it was a delightful but weird experience.

And the Height of Weirdness comes from Amarillo, TX. I'm passing through town in June of 2004 and went to dinner late. It was the day after the big hail storm blew out all those hospital windows in AMA and damaged the motels on I40 so I had a bit of trouble finding a room. The steak place next to the Red Roof Inn, where I finally stayed, was open so I went inside and sat down. I was alone minding my own business, and the waitress comes up to me, sits down, and whispers in a caring voice close to me, "Mind if I ask you something?" I was just about ready to say "Sorry I'm not gay", and she said "Are you in the AB?" I cocked my head..."The what? What's the AB?" She said "The Aryan Brotherhood". :shock: :shock: :shock: "WHAT??" (I'm blonde but come on!) She said she had been in prison, and in prison the logo for the "AB" was a lightning bolt, similar to the necklace I was wearing!" I said "I'm just a lightning photographer, that's all!" Learn something new about graphic design every day!!

I have many more, but I should end this novel But remind me sometime to tell you the story of St. Anthony's Church!

 

[Marc Austin]

Wow! I think I'm going to find it hard to top some of those stories. It's a bit too late tonight to do any storytelling. I will post some within the next day or so! Thanks for sharing! Great stories!

 

[Rob Satkus]

Val Castor and I were on a marginal storm in southwest Ok. A farmer pulled up in an old, beat up truck and called us over to find out about the storm. We walked to the window only to see Mr. farmer wasn't wearing any pants. At that point he said " Storm scared me so bad I guess I forgot my britches." Yikes. We left.
Had another farmer near Manchester Ok pull a gun on us because he thought we were vandals.
Found $10 out in the middle of absolute nowhere Ok.
Saw the same dead cow Shane mentioned...

Rob

 

[Brian Stertz]

This was quite a sight. A chase which was during one of those "Trans-Pecos" storm seasons, Jeff Piotrowski, a good friend from OKC , and I were in route to some "action" down towards Marathon TX. First of all your probably saying...Marathon TX....action??!! Well yes, things were a bit lean that year. Anyway, we were at this intersection of a TX Highway and I-10...or basically in the middle of freakin' nowhere. Well, we were about to jump on I-10, and there is this "creature" off on the entrance ramp. W.Texas and creatures...come on now!! As we get closer to this creature, we notice this creature is in a polka dot dress. Growing ever closer, this creature is this hairy dude in a dress and cowboy boots (smiling at us), and this "thing" looks like Tiny Tim from the 70's. Out of nowhere, our good friend dead pans...Beam me up Scotty!! The Blazer erupted in the strongest round of laughter I can ever remember during a chase. It was amazing the car stayed on the road. Now it gets even wierder. About 2 years ago...and this is no lie. Rich Thies and his son and I are eating "dinner" after a bust chase in Amarillo at the Denny's. We sit down and get our coffee. Over in the booth, it could not be but it had to have been...have you guessed it yet(??) ...it was the creature from the Trans Pecos or it's doppleganger twin. Oh my god was this freaky. And sick too. Keep your eyes out for the Trans Pecos creature...and you'll see what I am talking about. It lurks somehwere between I-40 and I-10 !!

 

[Brian Stertz]

I hear the banjo music playing right now Rob. Good move getting away from farmer with no britches. Sure he wasn't the same guy from that Columbus Nebraska famed video??

 

[Rob Satkus]

I hear the banjo music playing right now Rob. Good move getting away from farmer with no britches. Sure he wasn't the same guy from that Columbus Nebraska famed video??

If not, maybe at least a "cousin" if you get my drift!
Yee haw, y'all!

Rob

 

[Tony Laubach]

I was once stuck behind a truck filled with Ostriches on my way to a target in 2002.

 

[Jay McCoy]

Back in May 2002 I and my chase buddies had been chasing in SW oklahoma and was staying in Altus, Ok. (never EVER stay at the days inn in Altus!!). We decided to go to the local "boot scootin" joint for a few drinks since the next few days were down days. As we headed back to the hotel at 1am we passed a few OHP offricers in a parking lot who eyed us the whole time we passed. Nothing out of the ordinary considering what chase vehicles looks like except we had just left a bar and a few of us were bombed (not driving though). About an hour after we turned in one of the guys came and woke me up saying 2 OHP officers were downstairs and my partner Phil Henry was being arrested. I scrambled to get dressed and ran down to see 2 officers by their car talking to phil. He wasnt being arrested. Turns out about 5 years previous that Phil had run into this officer who found out Phil was the designer of the Beartcat and beartracker scanners and had told Phil that the OHP didnt even have scanners because they couldnt afford them. When Phil got home he had sent the officer a radio from Uniden free. The officer remembered Phil and had been trying to find him for 5 yrs checking most of the chasers he encountered to thank him. But to search for 5 yrs and then come yank Phil out of bed at 2am just to say thanks was a bit wierd. he gave us his name and number and said if we ever get stopped in SW oklahoma to call him and he would come save us

 

[Verne Carlson]

I was chasing up in Wyoming in the late 90's near the old MX missle bases setting up my DirectTV satellite dish when a couple of military jeeps started down the road towards us - we got the heck out of there fast! Didn't want to try and explain what the heck we were doing in the middle of nowhere with all that equipment.

Interestingly enough I could never get a picture in that area, but just across the border in NE - no problems at all.

 

[Adam Atkins]

4/5/03

The April 5, 2003 ice machine (HP hail monster) pounded endangered pelicans west of Dallas and deposited them on and near the highway, hard to see because of all the hail fog...sad, but true.

 

[Marc Austin]

Wow! I knew us storm chasers had our share of crazy stories. I mean, after all that time on the road, something odd is bound to happen. Alright, so because I posted this thread originally, I guess I should tell some of the odd things that have happened to us while travelling the plains.

- On one particular day in 2004 I remember waking up and going through the usual motions to prepare for another day on the road. We (me and my brother, sister, and girlfriend) all took showers and loaded our luggage so we could get to our target area by early afternoon. Well it's about the time I bring my bag out when I notice something stuck to the front of the car. It looked kind of like a piece of cardboard or paper that got stuck between the hood and the grill. As I got closer and closer, more and more detail was obvious, small... brown and white... two little feet...and lots of feathers. There was a small bird jammed in between the hood and the grill of the car. The most humorous, or perhaps disgusting part of it was the fact that the animal was lodged in such a way that I could see both it's head and beak, and it's feet sticking out at the same time. I know it's cruel, but I could do nothing but laugh. The real oddity to this story is that a year later, in 2005, my girlfriend was driving and she hit a bird large enough to damage the grill of the vehicle. This bird must have been about as big as an average hen. It was unbelievable! I even thought about posting a poll to see how many people had run into birds on their storm chases. I didn't how common it was, especially to have a run-in two years in a row.

- Last year, after a particularly long day of chasing, we decided to check into a motel for the night and watch as an MCS drifted over our location hoping to get some good lightning or perhaps a damaging wind gust or two. After checking in, me and my girlfriend went out by the stairwell to watch as the storm moved in. I forgot to mention we were on the second floor. Anyway, the hotel rooms adjacent to the stairwell all had windows that faced the stairwell for some odd reason. So I was just standing there gaping at the beautiful bolts hitting the ground when all of a sudden I hear my girlfriend laughing and backing away from me. I thought something was wrong with me. When I finally went to where she was standing and asked her what she was laughing at, she told me that when she glanced into the room we were standing next to while watching the storm, the curtains on the window were wide open and the light was on. I asked her what was so odd about that and she told me that when she glanced over, there were two people totally naked and having sex. I couldn't believe it! And all the while, I was standing right next to them and watching a storm.

I have a couple more, but I have to think about it for a while and come up with some good ones. I hope to hear more from you all!

 

[Dan Robinson]

Originally posted by Marc Austin
As I got closer and closer, more and more detail was obvious, small... brown and white... two little feet...and lots of feathers.

I had this happen on my Ranger during my 2004 chase trip. The poor bird was wedged in there so tight that it was hard to get it out. It was actually jammed into the radiator fins. I ended up having to get a stick and pry it out.

Last year I killed a bird with one of my antennas near Dalhart, Texas. It knocked the antenna over and we looked back to see the poor bird on the ground. Had a couple of close calls with pheasants in South Dakota last year.

 

[Dick McGowan]

On November 12th, somewhere in NW missouri, Darin Brunin and I witnessed an old old man come out of nowhere in the BFE woods and wave with a strange smile. Almost ghost-like. Not strange, but hilarious to watch, Bethany MO, something always happens, whether it be 15 year old kids flashing gang signs (We just laughed on july 25th) in their multi-colored POS monte carlo with wal-mart spinners, or a teen doing the "worm" on a john deere mower. Don't stop in this town, replace the "B" with an "M" . Seems like every chase we are on, we have a great time and laugh our asses off at something.