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Phantom Hitchhikers: Urban Legend or Paranormal Reality?
By Karen Smith Carr

Everyone has heard the story of the phantom hitchhiker. It has become part of the series of myths known as urban legends. But what if it isn't just a myth? Do these stories have validity as part of paranormal research?

Most know the story of Resurrection Mary. This young girl was struck by a car and killed while hitchhiking home after arguing with her boyfriend. A few years later, her apparition began to appear asking drivers for a ride either to her home or the cemetery. She would disappear from the car only moments later.

There are many variations of this story. Sometimes the girl borrows a coat because she is cold. It is later found draped over her tombstone. Sometimes, it is even a young boy spotted hitchhiking. He is picked up and taken to his home. The motorist returns the next day to retrieve something he loaned the boy ... only to find out his passenger was killed in an accident several years before.

Are these just entertaining stories created to warn us to the dangers of picking up a stranger? Or is there a different reason for the tales we have heard? Most phantom hitchhikers are thought to be spirits of those killed in tragic road accidents. This is also the most popular type of ghost sightings reported. Is it all a coincidence or is there a reason these haunting spirits are truly appearing? Most times, their deaths were truly sudden and traumatic. This often leaves a spirit with unfinished business. Also, truly horrific accidents can create a kind of spiritual imprint on an area.

Such sightings were even reported before the advent of the automobile. Over a century ago, reports of phantom hitchhikers even happened on horseback. Sometimes, it would be an unseen force that would jump on the back of the horse while traveling through a certain area, only to disappear after a few miles. I have even heard first hand accounts of such events. One isolated cemetery near Livingston, Tenn., is thought to have a phantom hitchhiker who jumps on the backs of horses as their riders pass through the area. The phantom then disappears the moment you have passed the cemetery. The story is that a young schoolmistress was brutally raped and murdered. Her body was found in that cemetery and her attackers were never known. A truly sad tale that continues because of the phantom hitchhiker.

There seem to be several types of phantom hitchhikers. One is the true hitchhiker that gets into the car. They are waiting by the roadside. Another type is a spirit that is in the road and appears to get hit, but no body is found. The final type is one that appears to warn the driver of a dangerous road. The spirit was killed on the same stretch of highway and appears to prevent other tragic accidents.

Perhaps there is more to these stories than just legend. Many hauntings center around tragic or traumatic events. Car accidents are no exception. They are sudden and violent, leaving lots of energy behind. Hauntings do not confine themselves just to houses. Many of theses cases of phantom hitchhikers have been reported over and over again by various sources, certainly lending them some credibility. We must learn that we cannot discount what we don't understand. I honestly believe that the phantom hitchhiker legends merit some degree of investigation. There is much evidence to support these claims. We do know that violent deaths often are associated with hauntings, so why not spirits of the roadways?

 

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