Highway Conspiracy Theories

[Beltway]

There are several eerie legends surrounding the VA-895 Pocahontas Parkway near Richmond, Virginia. Reports suggest that the highway was built over Native American burial grounds, which some believe has led to paranormal activity.

Some of the most common ghostly encounters include:
- Apparitions of Native American warriors seen along the roadway, sometimes holding torches.
- Unexplained drumming sounds and eerie voices reported by drivers and tollbooth operators.
- Mysterious flickering lights and objects moving on their own at the toll plaza.
- Truckers and state troopers have allegedly witnessed spectral figures wandering near the road.

While skeptics argue that these sightings could be tricks of light or environmental sounds, the stories have persisted for years, making the Pocahontas Parkway one of Virginia's most talked-about haunted roads.

Truck drivers and state troopers have allegedly witnessed apparitions of Native American warriors, sometimes holding torches, along the roadway. Others have reported hearing drumming sounds and distant voices, particularly near the toll plaza.

A 2024 article describes how the highway was built over sacred Native American burial grounds, which some believe has led to ghostly sightings. Another report from 2022 recounts stories from truckers and state troopers who allegedly heard mysterious voices and war cries along the road.

[Max Rockatansky]

Heh, I'm considering doing a podcast about California Highways which supposedly have ghosts and/or monsters on them.  Some of my employees were reading me road names off a list they found this week and got the WTF reactions from me they wanted.  A lot of roads they named are actually fun drives that have some element of haggardness (Morgan Territory Road especially).

In that line of thought when I lived in Orlando almost everyone was convinced I-4 east of Deland was haunted for some reason.  It was one of the last four lane portions of the freeway and didn't have anything notable going on from my observation.

[NE2]

There are several eerie legends surrounding the VA-895 Pocahontas Parkway near Richmond, Virginia. Reports suggest that the highway was built over Native American burial grounds, which some believe has led to paranormal activity.

Some of the most common ghostly encounters include:
- Apparitions of Native American warriors seen along the roadway, sometimes holding torches.
- Unexplained drumming sounds and eerie voices reported by drivers and tollbooth operators.
- Mysterious flickering lights and objects moving on their own at the toll plaza.
- Truckers and state troopers have allegedly witnessed spectral figures wandering near the road.

While skeptics argue that these sightings could be tricks of light or environmental sounds, the stories have persisted for years, making the Pocahontas Parkway one of Virginia's most talked-about haunted roads.

Truck drivers and state troopers have allegedly witnessed apparitions of Native American warriors, sometimes holding torches, along the roadway. Others have reported hearing drumming sounds and distant voices, particularly near the toll plaza.

A 2024 article describes how the highway was built over sacred Native American burial grounds, which some believe has led to ghostly sightings. Another report from 2022 recounts stories from truckers and state troopers who allegedly heard mysterious voices and war cries along the road.

New conspiracy theory: Beltway is an LLM ("generative AI").

[LilianaUwU]

In that line of thought when I lived in Orlando almost everyone was convinced I-4 east of Deland was haunted for some reason.

To be fair, considering the horror stories I've heard of drivers on I-4 pulling some Florida shit, it may as well be haunted.

[Max Rockatansky]

In that line of thought when I lived in Orlando almost everyone was convinced I-4 east of Deland was haunted for some reason.

To be fair, considering the horror stories I've heard of drivers on I-4 pulling some Florida shit, it may as well be haunted.

And to that end, that Florida Man brand shit happens everywhere.  The reason you hear about it more from said state is that Florida has a really strong freedom of information law.  The amount of criminal activity and public records one can easily view online is vast.  For me, it was the most boring place I've lived as an adult. 

[Beltway]

New conspiracy theory: Beltway is an LLM ("generative AI").

I live in Richmond and have used that highway many times, and what I said is an accurate locally reported history of the alleged (repeat: alleged) haunting.

[Beltway]

Someone posted this on Usenet newsgroup misc.transport.road many years ago.

I got a good chuckle from reading it.
And question all of it.
. . . .  .

I read about these two cases many years ago, and I am looking for more
information about them, if someone knows where to find it.

I think this was in the Readers Digest, a story called "The Thousand
Mile Grave". It happened in a northeast state in the US (NY), about 20
years ago. The syndicate ordered a hit on a road building contractor
executive, and his body was buried under the roadway on an interstate
highway that was under construction, it was buried in the dirt right
before the paving work was done overtop of the dirt. If true, his
remains are not exactly in a state of "rest in peace", with all that
interstate traffic of cars and trucks passing a few feet overhead, day
and night, 365 days a year.

I don't recall the publication (please help out here) that the second
one was in. It happened in a midwestern state, about 25 years ago. A
road building contractor was building an interstate highway, and they
had a concrete paving operation underway, and the contractor
superintendent was standing on top of the concrete paving rig, and he
accidentally slipped and fell into the concrete hopper, and his body
got ingested into the mixing device along with all the wet concrete,
and his body got ground up into tiny pieces and mixed in with all the
wet concrete, and the other workers couldn't stop the concrete paving
rig in time before the concrete slab was formed behind the rig, with
the superintendent's remains contained inside of the slab. The
workers called the police, but by the time that the police got there
to investigate, the concrete slab had hardened, and it was decided
that it was so important to get the highway opened to traffic soon,
that the slab with the remains was left in place, and later on, the
highway was opened to traffic with that slab section undisturbed.

The strange part happened later, as there were reports by various
motorists of weird occurrences at the place where the superintendent
died (easy to remember since it happened about a hundred yards from an
overpass), reports of unexplained lights and glowing plumes floating
above the highway at night, and reports of a ghostly figure walking
along side of the interstate highway, a ghostly figure dressed in work
clothes and a yellow hard hat, who had a serious look on his face, and
he looked like he was "checking out the pavement". This supposedly
happened many times over a period of years. One time late one night,
a state trooper saw this figure standing next to the highway, so the
trooper stopped to question the man, and the man told the trooper,
"This pavement is defective and needs to be torn up!". The trooper
started to ask the man how he knew that, and then the "man" vanished
into thin air.

[NE2]

New conspiracy theory: Beltway is an LLM ("generative AI").

I live in Richmond and have used that highway many times, and what I said is an accurate locally reported history of the alleged (repeat: alleged) haunting.

I note that you're not denying the allegation. That's the best way to help a conspiracy theory spread.

[Beltway]

New conspiracy theory: Beltway is an LLM ("generative AI").

I live in Richmond and have used that highway many times, and what I said is an accurate locally reported history of the alleged (repeat: alleged) haunting.

I note that you're not denying the allegation. That's the best way to help a conspiracy theory spread.

You can't deny a negative.

Besides, Google is your friend, there are many articles out there.

https://richmondmagazine.com/news/richmond-history/highway-to-the-sky/

https://rvaghosts.com/the-haunting-of-the-pocahontas-parkway/

https://supernaturalmagazine.com/articles/hitting-the-haunted-road-part-5-pocahatas-parkway.-henrico-county-virginia

I have never seen or heard anything of the such on Route 895, and it may be a bunch of baloney, but there have been reports from 2002 when it opened til the last few years.

[WillWeaverRVA]

New conspiracy theory: Beltway is an LLM ("generative AI").

I live in Richmond and have used that highway many times, and what I said is an accurate locally reported history of the alleged (repeat: alleged) haunting.

I note that you're not denying the allegation. That's the best way to help a conspiracy theory spread.

You can't deny a negative.

Besides, Google is your friend, there are many articles out there.

https://richmondmagazine.com/news/richmond-history/highway-to-the-sky/

https://rvaghosts.com/the-haunting-of-the-pocahontas-parkway/

https://supernaturalmagazine.com/articles/hitting-the-haunted-road-part-5-pocahatas-parkway.-henrico-county-virginia

I have never seen or heard anything of the such on Route 895, and it may be a bunch of baloney, but there have been reports from 2002 when it opened til the last few years.

The "curse" of Route 895 was mentioned in Weird Virginia, a volume of the Weird U.S. book series. I contributed photography to that book.

[NE2]

New conspiracy theory: Beltway is an LLM ("generative AI").

I live in Richmond and have used that highway many times, and what I said is an accurate locally reported history of the alleged (repeat: alleged) haunting.

I note that you're not denying the allegation. That's the best way to help a conspiracy theory spread.

You can't deny a negative.

Besides, Google is your friend, there are many articles out there.

https://richmondmagazine.com/news/richmond-history/highway-to-the-sky/

https://rvaghosts.com/the-haunting-of-the-pocahontas-parkway/

https://supernaturalmagazine.com/articles/hitting-the-haunted-road-part-5-pocahatas-parkway.-henrico-county-virginia

I have never seen or heard anything of the such on Route 895, and it may be a bunch of baloney, but there have been reports from 2002 when it opened til the last few years.

I'm not saying there aren't stories out there. I'm saying that your post about it has the stink of LLM.

[Max Rockatansky]

FWIW, I just assumed Beltway copied/pasted an AI generated result given how it was written.  Then again, I can't quite say I would put the effort into writing my own synopsis of a "haunted highway" story myself (in fact I didn't upthread).

[Rothman]

Saw a story years ago about NJ 55 being haunted/cursed.

[Beltway]

New conspiracy theory: Beltway is an LLM ("generative AI").

I live in Richmond and have used that highway many times, and what I said is an accurate locally reported history of the alleged (repeat: alleged) haunting.

I note that you're not denying the allegation. That's the best way to help a conspiracy theory spread.

You can't deny a negative.
Besides, Google is your friend, there are many articles out there.
https://richmondmagazine.com/news/richmond-history/highway-to-the-sky/
https://rvaghosts.com/the-haunting-of-the-pocahontas-parkway/
https://supernaturalmagazine.com/articles/hitting-the-haunted-road-part-5-pocahatas-parkway.-henrico-county-virginia
I have never seen or heard anything of the such on Route 895, and it may be a bunch of baloney, but there have been reports from 2002 when it opened til the last few years.

I'm not saying there aren't stories out there. I'm saying that your post about it has the stink of LLM.

What is LLM? And what does it smell like -- vomic?

[WillWeaverRVA]

What is LLM? And what does it smell like -- vomic?

LLM is a large language model, a type of generative AI learning routine. ChatGPT is a LLM.

[Max Rockatansky]

New conspiracy theory: Beltway is an LLM ("generative AI").

I live in Richmond and have used that highway many times, and what I said is an accurate locally reported history of the alleged (repeat: alleged) haunting.

I note that you're not denying the allegation. That's the best way to help a conspiracy theory spread.

You can't deny a negative.
Besides, Google is your friend, there are many articles out there.
https://richmondmagazine.com/news/richmond-history/highway-to-the-sky/
https://rvaghosts.com/the-haunting-of-the-pocahontas-parkway/
https://supernaturalmagazine.com/articles/hitting-the-haunted-road-part-5-pocahatas-parkway.-henrico-county-virginia
I have never seen or heard anything of the such on Route 895, and it may be a bunch of baloney, but there have been reports from 2002 when it opened til the last few years.

I'm not saying there aren't stories out there. I'm saying that your post about it has the stink of LLM.

What is LLM? And what does it smell like -- vomic?

Did you right the summary yourself or did you copy a result you requested a summary on?  The way your summary was written resembles something that would be obtained from a AI/algorithm.   

[Rothman]

Have to say, I'd be surprised if Beltway used ChatGPT to write it.

[Max Rockatansky]

That's what makes this oddly intriguing.

[Rothman]

That's what makes this oddly intriguing.

I don't know.  In his case, AIs probably learned to write in their style from him.  He's been around a long time.

Then again, he hasn't said he didn't use AI...

[Max Rockatansky]

Only one person has the answer to all the intrigue.  The question is, will he let us know or will the mystery (dare I say conspiracy) remain afoot?

[Beltway]

That's what makes this oddly intriguing.

I don't know.  In his case, AIs probably learned to write in their style from him.  He's been around a long time.
Then again, he hasn't said he didn't use AI...

Al ? Short for Alan? For Allen? Algernon?

[Quillz]

I guess on the lighter side of conspiracies, CA-96 (at least the majority of it) is part of the Bigfoot Scenic Byway. Supposedly has more Bigfoot sightings than any other highway in America. The famous 1967 Patterson-Gimlin film was filmed in the area (specifically Bluff Creek Road, itself an offshoot of CA-96). Having clinched the route in consecutive years (daylight in 2023, nighttime last year), it's a beautiful drive and does have the perfect character: dense forest, following a river, remote, low traffic. All the perfect ingredients for "spooky stuff," or at least the crypto normal. CA-169, which was historically once part of CA-96, is almost entirely within the Yurok Indian Reservation. There might be legends, stories, hauntings in the area that the tribe believes in. Especially if the highway encroached on native land in the first place.

Perhaps on a more somber note, the Maricopa Highway, while not known to be haunted, is an infamous dumping ground for bodies, largely for the same character reasons as CA-96: very remote. I've often heard stories of "free spirits" that live in the area, although Google Maps satellite imagery would seemingly disprove any of this. Back in the early 90s, the LA Times published a series of articles about the history of the highway going back as far as 1911, when it was the primary way to get from Ventura to Bakersfield. It mentioned how even back then, it was the spot you would dump bodies that couldn't be buried (or you didn't want people to know about). So it's interesting how it's been an open secret for over a century. (Although, as I've mentioned before with my Dalton Highway posts, I sometimes wonder if stories like this are sensationalized as a way to generate tourism in the area).

[pderocco]

Perhaps on a more somber note, the Maricopa Highway, while not known to be haunted, is an infamous dumping ground for bodies, largely for the same character reasons as CA-96: very remote. I've often heard stories of "free spirits" that live in the area, although Google Maps satellite imagery would seemingly disprove any of this. Back in the early 90s, the LA Times published a series of articles about the history of the highway going back as far as 1911, when it was the primary way to get from Ventura to Bakersfield. It mentioned how even back then, it was the spot you would dump bodies that couldn't be buried (or you didn't want people to know about). So it's interesting how it's been an open secret for over a century. (Although, as I've mentioned before with my Dalton Highway posts, I sometimes wonder if stories like this are sensationalized as a way to generate tourism in the area).

I never heard that before. But I have passed three fatal motorcycle accidents on that road over the years.

[Max Rockatansky]

There was a similar story about Dillon Road at the Palm Springs Wind Farm when I worked in Coachella Valley.  A lot of the locals called it the "Windmill Graveyard."  Tale was that gang members would dump bodies on the side of the road.

[WillWeaverRVA]

Al ? Short for Alan? For Allen? Algernon?

Alan, obviously.