Psst. Come closer and act natural. I’m being followed. It all began way back in January while on a hike at one of my favorite places, when we actually were followed. Despite the fact the preserve consists of hundreds of acres, and no one else was there, two women followed our every twist and turn the entire hike. Even when we went down the muddiest trail, And Yet They Followed Us with their little white dog. At the time Mom dismissed it as they didn’t want to get lost, while I assumed it was because they couldn’t resist my magnetic personality, and had no choice but to follow me.
Then a few weeks later we were followed again at that same place. On that day, despite the trail being for hiking and ATVs only, a family decided to drive their SUV down the bumpy, heavily rutted trail. Again, at the time we simply assumed they were either lost, or had really bad GPS directions. Yet when they slowed down and as they approached, rather than ask for directions, a child in the backseat snapped our photo, while a voice from deep within the vehicle shouted, “Your dogs are beautiful!” And with that they continued driving down the trail! Once again I didn’t think too much about it, fans take my photo all the time, so I only commented that it was The Trail They Shouldn’t Have Taken.
Months went by and I forgot about these two incidents, in fact we hadn’t been back since the photo incident. Then this week we returned and yet another odd incident of being followed occurred! When we arrived the main parking lot was full, so we parked at a less trafficked trail head instead. We wanted a relaxing hike, and didn’t want to deal with adorning fans. Therefore, we didn’t mind being the only car in that lot, as we set off to explore this quieter side of the nature preserve. But it didn’t take long for us to notice it wasn’t quiet. There was a helicopter hovering overhead. Oh sure it was very far in the sky, too far for Mom to snap a photo, but there it was hovering while Mom and Dad applied bug spray before setting off on our hike. At first we dismissed it as coincidence, and continued on our way, but the helicopter started to follow us!
Follow me once, shame on you. Follow me twice, shame on me. Follow me a third time, and we have the makings of a conspiracy theory here! As we walked, the helicopter continued to follow our every move. Dad even joked that he felt like we were in some sort of action movie, where at any moment the helicopter will come swooping down and the enemy would jump out to capture us! But who were these “enemies?”
That’s when I started to put two and two together. I realized the date. Normally we’d be spending Labor Day Weekend attending the Exeter UFO Festival, and I’d be sharing my vast knowledge as a Dog Ufologist. Not to brag, but in 2019 I was even interviewed for a podcast! Foolish me thought the festival was canceled yet again this year due to Covid-19, but perhaps it was canceled because “they” want to stop me from sharing my knowledge? Those weren’t lost hikers back in January. Nor was that a fan simply snapping my photo. These were Aliens, or perhaps infamous men in black government spies, capturing my every move, as a renowned Dog Ufologist! I must be getting closer to the truth!
Disturbed, I started pulling Mom back towards our car. I knew we had to get out of there immediately! Oh sure as we drove past the nearby airfield Dad pointed out a sign promoting helicopter lessons, but I knew the truth! So now if you’ll please excuse me, I need to lay low and hide until the coast is clear.
