Butch Recalls Strange Visitors From Another Planet

  During most of the years that I was a police officer, I worked the night shift. Even after I was elected Sheriff, I worked that shift, as that is when most of the serious situations and accidents occur. In addition to all of the administrative duties, I worked the road and responded to all types of crimes and incidents.

   One thing is for certain. At night, you meet all types of people. Here is one example . . . As I patrolled through New Ross late one night there was a fellow standing in front of the post office. He was tall and had on bib overalls. I stopped, rolled down my window, “What are you doing?”…to which he replied, “Hitchhiking.”

“Well, I don’t think anyone is going to pick you up at 2 o’clock in the morning . . . Get in . . . where do you want to go?”

“Home, on down the road.”

The fellow hopped in the front seat of my patrol car, and I headed north out of town.

A few seconds later, the man pulled out a large switchblade knife and held it in front of me, “See this knife? Sharp, ain’t it?”

I slowly eased my right hand down on the grip of my Smith & Wesson revolver.

“You know what I’ve been doin’ Sheriff? Cuttin’ the heads off copperhead snakes.”

“Uh…that’s nice.”

“You got any child molesters in jail right now, Sheriff?”

“Well, I’m not sure. I’d have to check.”

“If you do, I’ll be glad to castrate ’em.”

“Well, I don’t think the judge would go for that.”

“I could just shoot ’em instead. I was a sniper in the army. I’ll be happy to do it. Just let me know.”

“OK, yeah, I ‘ll keep you in mind.”

I pushed on the gas pedal a little harder. Soon I arrived at his house in a wooded area. I shined my spotlight toward the front door, which was open. It looked bare inside. I don’t think the house had electricity. When I left, I had mixed emotions. I felt sorry for the guy, but was relieved that my good deed that night had ended safely.

A few weeks later, I saw this same fellow rummaging through a dumpster behind Burger King . . . perhaps looking for discarded food scraps . . . very sad.

A few weeks later I took my patrol car to an auto repair shop to have some work done, and told the owner about this strange fellow. “Oh, he’s OK, just a little different. He hangs around here quite a bit . . . doesn’t have a car, but he gets around pretty good. One time some of us had planned a fishing trip to Minnesota and were leaving the next day. He overheard us, and wanted to know if he could come along. We told him that we already had made reservations for a certain number, and he couldn’t go with us. After several hours of driving, we arrived at our destination. Guess what? Lo and behold, he was there to greet us!”

Well, I never had an occasion to deal with that fellow again. Our department never had any problems with him, except for a few calls from people who had observed his strange behavior.

There were a few other “unique” persons who I encountered on the night shift . . . a man who told me he was hitchhiking to China to join the Communist army (he intended to wade across the Pacific Ocean) . . . An elderly fellow in his pajamas, walking down the middle of Country Club Road at 3 a.m., stating that he had walked here from Dayton, Ohio to grab a sandwich at Joe’s Diner (which did not exist) . . . and a lady who claimed she had just witnessed a flying saucer take off from her yard and head toward the Big Dipper. She also swore that aliens had knocked on her door, but she had not let them inside.

A wise decision.

I could tell you about many more people like these individuals, but you get the idea.

I have no idea whatever happened to the hitchhiker in bib overalls. Perhaps a copperhead snake bit him while he was doing his thing. And you might wonder if that one fellow ever made it to China. No . . . the next year I picked him up late at night on I-74. He had changed his mind. He was now headed to the Montgomery County courthouse. He wanted to file his paperwork to run for Governor of Indiana.

After meeting several people like these, it is my opinion that the lady who saw the flying saucer may have been telling the truth. I believe the spaceship did take off, but left a few aliens behind . . . and these strangers from outer space only appeared in public . . . during my night shift.

John “Butch” Dale is a retired teacher and County Sheriff. He has also been the librarian at Darlington the past 36 years, and is a well-known artist and author of local history.