The Tote
Road Boys
The Passagassawakeag River is in Waldo County, Maine. It is sixteen miles long and flows southeast, Brooks to Belfast. The beauty of this stretch of water is not lost on the locals, as it is used year-round for fishing, canoeing, bird watching, boat races, snowmobiling, and ice fishing. At the east end of the river is an old area of Waldo County called Toad’s End. This area is now mostly used for hiking and other summer recreation, but back in 1968, the kids called the area and road leading up to it the Tote Road. It was a private area, with power lines as long as the river stretched, where teenagers would gather to swim. Once fall settled in, the area became more of a party scene where young adults would meet up to talk, drink, and stargaze. The website UFO Casebook reported a peculiar series of events on Tote Road that started in October of 1968. A few teenage boys saw something among those stars—something that would change one young man’s life forever.
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Bill (pseudonym) was with his friends up on old Tote Road in the middle of October. He was still proud of the 1967 Ford that he’d bought by earning his own money all summer long. As Bill and his friends enjoyed the evening sky, they talked the night away. Unexpectedly, they all observed a star that seemed out of place. It was suspended in the sky lower than the others, then it quickly descended and hovered just above the power lines. As Bill explained, “We noticed a lighted object coming along approximately one hundred feet above the power line. The object came from the east and when a few hundred yards away from us, it halted still above the power lines.” All occupants of Bill’s vehicle were silent and stared at the oddity. Bill wrote, “We heard no sound … we saw the object spin about. It was of a basic, elliptical shape. It was lit with red and green lights and appeared to have windows.” Things got even more strange when the UFO released tiny bright objects from underneath it. These objects seemed to float down and touch the power lines; no one observed the objects ascending back; they just disappeared. The boys watched this strange activity for about an hour until finally the UFO accelerated off to the west, leaving the teens alone, fascinated and frightened.
They sped off as well, but continued to talk about the encounter days later at school. They eventually made plans to go back out to Tote Road to see if they could witness the oddity again; Bill recounts, “This became a regular habit, and we went almost every night. About half the time, we were rewarded by seeing similar objects acting in much the same way as during our initial sighting. In fact, seeing these things became routine and we became desensitized to it. In time, we began to bring others with us to see the objects. On some nights, we would see multiple objects. Each one followed the power lines. Never did one deviate from this pattern.”
On one November evening, Bill and his friend Samuel (pseudonym) were watching the UFO release its little lights when another, much larger object appeared above the first. The boys were startled and backed away slowly, headed toward their cars. They could see windows and watched the ship slowly rotate while it flashed red and blue lights. The object was so low and so large that they could actually see inside the strange aerial vehicle. Bill wrote, “We strained to see inside the windows but were unable to discern anything in any detail. We did see objects inside, but could not tell what they were.” The giant craft acted like the first in releasing small, lighted objects toward the power lines. The boys felt conflicted—they were frightened at the behemoth UFO and eager to leave, but it was impossible for them to do so since they were fascinated by the spectacle before them. Then abruptly, all the objects sped off, even the small, floating lights released by the giant UFO. Once again, the boys found themselves alone, frightened and even more fascinated than before.
They continued with their nightly vigils in the area and took their dates there one evening. They parked in their usual spot and pulled out some alcohol refreshments that they’d brought with them. The friends chatted and drank a bit, and soon talk of the UFOs came up. Just as their conversation started, the massive object suddenly appeared in front of them and hovered over the power lines. Once again, it released the tiny bright lights as the girls stared in awe. Due to some liquid bravado and the adoring girls, Bill and Samuel were feeling particularly brave that night and got the idea to get out of the vehicle and go toward the object. Bill explained, “We decided to leave the car and walk down toward the object.” Bill decided to hide their beer first; “Before leaving, we made sure to put our beer on the floor in back and I took off my coat and covered it, so anyone walking up to the car would not see it. We walked down toward the object and the girls became frightened and refused to go any further. So we stood there, watching this large object hover over the power lines. It was huge and the girls were speechless. This was the closest any of us had ever been to one of these. I was able to make out movement inside the craft, although again, the forms were vague and indistinct.” Everyone felt exhausted from the exhilaration of the encounter and left the area before the UFOs did.
When Bill got up the next morning, he remembered his jacket in the car and went to retrieve it. He remembered covering the beer with it the night before, but when he looked in the back seat, his coat wasn’t there. He looked under the seat, saw a sleeve of the coat, and pulled it out. Much to his surprise, it was only the sleeve! He said about the jacket, “This was a sheepskin-lined, corduroy coat, something like the Marlboro Man wore. And someone had pulled the arm off it … think it was the left arm. Little threads stuck out at different angles, which made me think that whoever did this was very strong.” He kept thinking about the ruined jacket and assumed his friend Samuel was to blame, so he called him to discuss it. Their conversation escalated into an argument that went unresolved, and the group felt that Bill had overreacted. This led to everyone refusing to return to the Tote Road with Bill.
Despite being frightened, Bill couldn’t help himself, so he went back—alone. As he pulled up to the parking area, he noticed something in the road. He thought it might be a dead animal, swerved his car around to avoid driving over it, and parked. He got out and looked back at the animal and realized he had been completely wrong. He ran over, knelt beside it, and picked it up in amazement. It was the rest of his coat! Seemingly dropped there from who knows where. A fresh dusting of snow had fallen, but no tire marks or footprints were present around the coat. Bill elaborated, “I was practically paralyzed with fear. I backed around and left as fast as I could. I have not been back to that place since, although I live only a few miles away.” Bill went on to say that he brought the coat home and told his grandparents about everything—the objects big and little, the girls, the beer, and now … the coat. His grandfather smirked, not believing a word Bill said. He grabbed the coat and used it as additional cushioning for their dog’s bed. Immediately, the dog backed away and growled. His grandfather hollered at the dog to stop barking, but it would not until the coat was removed from the house. The grandfather looked at Bill with a hint of fear in his eyes; he then burned the coat and refused to speak about it.
Months turned into years. Bill and his friends graduated high school and the transition to adulthood began. Bill stayed behind and made a life for himself in Waldo County. Samuel joined the Marines and eventually moved out of state and lost touch with Bill. But years later, Samuel visited Maine with his family and looked up Bill to have a drink and talk about old times. Bill thought this would include a thrilling discussion about UFOs, but reported that Samuel “does not remember ever going to the Tote Road or seeing any UFOs back in 1968 or any other time.” Bill was disappointed but didn’t push the issue. He still thinks about those days; the ’67 Ford, the girls, his pals, and of course the UFOs.
Bill did state that he is thinking of undergoing hypnotic regression therapy to try and elicit more information from his encounters. If he does, I hope it provides him with what he’s looking for—perhaps acknowledgment of the events he and his friends observed, or maybe just closure to it all. Whatever it is, I wish him well.