Alternate Perceptions Magazine, October 2024
The Tote Road Boys
by: Nomar Slevik
The Passagassawakeag River in Waldo County is 16 miles long and flows south to east, 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 primarily 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 would become more of a party scene where young adults would meet to talk, drink, and stargaze.
The website UFO Case Book reported a peculiar series of events on Tote Road that started in October of 1968. A few teenage boys saw something among those stars, and it would change one young man’s life forever.
Tom was with his friends up on the old Tote Road in the middle of October. He was still proud of the 1967 Ford he’d bought by earning his own money all summer. As Tom 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. Tom explained, “We noticed a lighted object coming along approximately 100 feet above the power line. The object came from the east … it halted, still above the power lines.” All occupants were silent and stared at the oddity. Tom continued, “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 stranger when the UFO released tiny bright objects from underneath it. These objects seemed to float down and touch the power lines; no one observed them ascending back; they just disappeared. The boys watched this strange activity for about an hour until the UFO accelerated off to the west, leaving the teens alone and uncertain as to what happened.
They continued to talk about the encounter days later at school and eventually made plans to return to Tote Road to see if they could witness the oddity again. Tom recounted, “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. 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, Tom and his friend Steve 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 and headed toward their cars. They could see windows and watched the ship slowly rotate while it flashed red and blue lights. It was so low and large that they could see inside the strange aerial vehicle. Tom 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 were eager to leave, but they were fascinated at the spectacle before them. Then abruptly, all the objects sped off, even the tiny, floating lights released by the giant UFO. Once again, the boys found themselves alone, frightened, and even more fascinated than before.
They continued their nightly vigils and took their dates there one evening. They parked in their usual spot and pulled out some alcoholic refreshments they’d brought. 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, Tom and Steve decided to get out of the vehicle and walk toward the object. Tom explained, “We decided to leave the car and walk down toward the object.” Tom decided to hide their beer first; “Before leaving, we made sure to put our beer on the floor in the 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 hovering 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 Tom got up the following day, 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 Steve was to blame, so he called him to discuss it. Their conversation escalated into an unresolved argument, and the friend group felt that Tom had overreacted. This led to everyone refusing to return to Tote Road.
Despite being frightened, Tom couldn’t help himself, so he went back—alone. Pulling up to the parking area, he noticed something in the road. He thought it might be a dead animal and swerved his car to avoid driving over it. He parked, got out, looked back at the animal, and realized he had been entirely 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 around the coat. Tom 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.” Tom said 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 Tom said and grabbed the coat and used it as additional cushioning for their dog’s bed. Immediately following this, the dog backed away and growled. His grandfather hollered at it to stop barking, but it wouldn’t until the coat was removed from the house. After this, the grandfather looked at Tom with a hint of fear, burned the coat, and refused to speak about it.
Days and weeks turned into months and years and Tom and his friends graduated high school; the transition to adulthood had begun. Tom stayed behind and made a life for himself in Waldo County. Steve joined the Marines, eventually moving out of state and lost touch with Tom.
Years later, Steve visited Maine with his family and looked up Tom to have a drink and talk about old times. Tom thought this would include a thrilling discussion about UFOs but reported that Steve “does not remember ever going to the Tote Road or seeing any UFOs back in 1968 or any other time.” While Tom was disappointed, he didn’t push the issue. He still thinks about those days; the ’67 Ford, the girls, his pals, and the UFOs.
Tom also stated that he is considering 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 an acknowledgment of the events he and his friends observed or maybe just closure to it all. Whatever it is, I wish him well.
Editors Note: This article is from UFOs Over Maine: 10th Anniversary edition (2024) with the author’s permission.
