Don't stop at the Rest Area on US-23 just outside Carey, Ohio after dark. There's something out there.

I'll start off by telling you who I am. I'm a truck driver. I've been doing it a long time and I love it but I have to tell you, the other night was one of the first negative experiences I've had since I started driving in a long time, and it didn't even happen on the road.
I was hoping to get through Ohio before I had to stop and get some rest but I had hit some pretty bad traffic and ended up at a near standstill multiple times due to traffic accidents or construction. I decided to pull off at this rest stop from Hell around 9:00pm, I figured I could be up by about four or so and get some road to myself. This rest stop is on the northbound side of US-23 and it's a few miles away from Carey, Ohio, which is a small town that if you blink while you're driving through you'll miss it. The nearest large city is Findlay. I also chose this rest stop since even though it's a main highway, traffic seemed pretty light so the noise would be lower.
I pulled in and settling into the parking area designated for big rigs. I pulled right in and I parked next to the curb since I had the lot to myself. I didn't park in an actual spot because I thought this way I could just pull right out and get back on the road. I parked my rig straight as an arrow, perfectly parallel to the curb. I'm telling you this for later.
Now this rest stop isn't in the middle of the woods, but it does have quite a nice wooded area behind it. I used the facilities, enjoyed some fresh air, ate some dinner outside, then packed in as the sun was setting. The orange sky really did look great that night.
I readied my bunk and nestled in to do a little light reading before lights out. Now us truck drivers will leave the engine running over night while we sleep, and we do this for a variety of reasons. The most obvious is temperature control. Imagine trying to sleep in a vehicle when it's summer, especially if a driver is trying to catch some Z's during the day when it's 90 degrees outside. Another big one is that the engine idling is like white noise to some drivers and it helps them sleep. I know some guys that when they are home they have trouble sleeping without the sound of the idling. There's also some logistical reasons with the engine and mechanics that we'll leave the engine idle but I don't need to get in to that. The point is, my engine was running when I went to bed, that's another important point.
I woke up to my rig shaking, thinking it was an earthquake. I heard what I realize now was a metal grinding sound as well as what sounded like rubber scraping on concrete, like tires squealing after someone slammed on the breaks only it wasn't that severe and only lasted a few seconds. The quake lasted just as long, only a few seconds but it seemed longer.
I looked at my watch and it was 2:30am, I had been knocked out. I hadn't slept that well in a long time, so of course something stupid like an earthquake in Ohio would wake me up. I also noticed something else as soon as I woke up as well: I was hot. My t-shirt had small patches of sweat dampness on it and I could feel small beads of sweat on my forehead. It was at this point I realized my engine was off. It was dead quiet in my cab, something that is very rare. This is rare because not only is the engine on 99% of the time, but there wasn't even any other traffic driving by out on the highway.
I moved to the front of the cabin and looked out my passenger window, I had the whole place to myself. Usually that would be nice, but in just a few short minutes I would have longed for someone else to be there with me.
I stepped outside to make sure everything was ok with my truck after the earthquake. There was a light breeze that felt nice. There were streetlamps in the lot that provided the light, but not much. I looked around my rig and everything seemed ok. I thought for a second maybe the shaking from the quake stalled the engine somehow, but then I realized with the way I was sweating it must have shut off some time before that since the quake had just now occurred. I kind of put it out of my mind, figuring whatever happened I'll just restart her, get some more sleep, then head out. If it shuts off again maybe I can get her looked at in Findlay if I have to.
I did a little stretch outside my passenger door getting ready to head back in when I notice something that legit made me say "what the hell?" out loud to nobody. My trailer was cockeyed. I walked back to investigate, the son of a bitch was cockeyed, I estimated maybe as little as 10 degrees, but it was crooked. Remember when I told you I parked straight as can be? I looked at it and I found the source of not only the quake, but the sounds as well. There were fresh tire marks on the concrete where the trailer had initially been parked. The best I can describe it is my trailer somehow slid a couple feet to the right. The screeching tire noise were the tires on my trailer moving sideways, and the grinding metal was the movement from where the trailer is connected to my rig.
I realized at this point what I'm deducing in my head, that something pushed the back end of my trailer a few feet to the right. How on God's green earth could that happen? I couldn't think of a single animal outside of an elephant or a rhino that would have the power to move a semi trailer by say walking into it, to say nothing about the animal life in Ohio. Even then there were no signs of force or collision, like something had run into it to move it.
I suddenly get this terrible feeling my gut. One that makes me run as fast as I've ever run as an adult (I'm not young anymore, I haven't sprinted like that in about 15 years) back to my cab. I shut the door behind me and practically dive into the driver's seat, at this point I'm moving with "I'm gettin' the **** outta here" levels of haste.
I try to start my truck up, and guess what: she won't turn over. As much as it sounds like it wants to, the engine just won't start. Of-****in-course. There must be something going on if it shut off and now won't start. Normally I'd be ****** off about this because something like this could really put my delivery behind schedule, but this time I wasn't even thinking about that. I couldn't shake the bad feeling that I had to get out of there.
Something catches my eye over by the building. I couldn't tell if it was a person or an animal as the light wasn't very good. I had hoped it was an animal, as since there were no other cars around I didn't want to think about some guy creeping around a roadside rest area in the middle of the night. I'm not about to play that ****. It seemed like it must have known somehow I noticed it, since as soon as I tried to look it moved, and it was fast. I made sure my doors were locked at this point.
I'm looking outside, trying to see if I can see anything when I see movement again right out front my my truck. Something moved and quickly scampered away. I could hear its footsteps. I thought to myself "Ok, if it's some kind of wolf or something I'm safe inside here." No sooner did I think that I hear a soft thud on the roof of my cab. This was followed by what sounded like slow footsteps. They weren't heavy or anything, but they were definitely audible. Absolutely no way it was a wolf now. The footsteps stop for a second, then I hear them scamper away quickly behind me, like whatever it was jumped over to the trailer and ran down it away from the rig.
Now I'm freaking out. I pull the safe out from under my bunk and fumble with the combination for a few tries. I'm not an owner/operator, I work for a fleet, so I'm not supposed to be carrying while driving. I say to hell with it, I'd rather get fired for using it for protection then end up dead because I don't have it. I pull out my .357, thinking to myself "I've got something for your ass" for whatever is out there. It's just standard four inch .357, nothing Dirty Harry style .44 or anything.
No sooner do I get it out that I hear something even worse than footsteps. I hear the outside latch on my door get pulled, like someone was outside trying to open the door. Thank. ****in. God I locked the damn doors. Whoever, or whatever, is trying to get in tries again. About three seconds later they attempt to open the passenger door.
"**** off!" I yell. Everything is quit for a second. I muster up the balls to look outside and realize there's multiple "things" out there. I see at least two quick movements. I got the best look I was going to get at one of them. It was all white, like alabaster, and it stood upright like it was humanoid. It was gone in a quick, white blur.
I whip my phone out, not sure who I should call. I call my supervisor, knowing full ****ing well he isn't going to pick up at this time of night. I leave him a frantic voicemail saying I'm stranded and someone's ****ing with me. I'm sure it made no sense.
Next I call my wrecker hotline, thinking we can repair the damage and I can get out of here. She tells me she's paged the technician on call and she will call back when he's on the line. Fat chance, he'll call back in about five hours. ****.
I'm sitting there kneeling between my cab and sleeper berth wondering what the hell I should do when I hear another sound. It's like a light thudding almost. It took my awhile to try and figure out how I should explain it, but if you take your first two fingers, index and middle, and tap them on a table top alternately, that's what it sounded like. It was occurring at different intervals, sometimes slow, intermittent taps, some times rapid taps. It came from different areas outside my truck. I thought to myself it was almost like whatever was outside my truck, it was their way of communicating.
I tried my truck again, it almost turned over, I thought I was home free, but it didn't. I'm sitting in the driver seat cursing as I try it again, even hitting the hell out of the steering wheel like that's some kind of magic cure-all. I hear a thud from behind and my truck and it suddenly, violently lurches forward. It only moved about three feet or so before I slammed the breaks. I still have my beaks depressed when slowly, almost gently, the truck starts forward again. Since my wheels are locked by the breaks I can hear the tires again screeching. We move a solid two feet before it stops. I dive back into my sleeper berth and lay low.
After a few minutes I heard footsteps again on the roof, followed by some kind of scream. It was like scratchy and low pitched, almost like a harsh cough but lasted way too long to be one. I figured whatever it was was angry. A few seconds later I saw it peak in to the cab from on the roof. It was bald and it looked like it could have been a human-shaped head, but there's no way it was. It was only a second and it was gone but I did notice it's distinct lack of nose. I heard footsteps move away again quickly towards the rear. I know for a fact there was more than one of these things because at the same time the footsteps were fading I once again heard an attempt to open my driver's side door.
After more tapping/communicating, everything went quiet. I looked at my phone and saw it was 3:10. It had been 40 minutes and it had felt like 40 hours. I sat there clutching my gun, hunkered down near my bunk for another 45 minutes, listening, waiting to hear something else. It was quiet.
I was afraid to try my truck again, if they really had gone they might come back. It was going on 4:15 now and cars were slowly starting to drive by out on the highway more frequently now. I wished I could someone signal other vehicles to warn them "don't stop here for the love of Christ," but there was no way I was getting out of my truck.
I waited a little bit longer and once I saw the sun starting to peak over the horizon I figured it was time. I tried to start my truck again and it was the same thing. Almost. I tried one last time and it kicked over, I've never felt such relief in my life. Generally it's a good idea to let it idle for a little bit before hitting the road, but not today. **** no, I'm out of here, so I drive off. I call my boss on the road and leave another voicemail saying I'm ok and got it started and I'm headed to Findlay to get her looked at. The technician on call also finally calls me back. I tell him what was up and he tells me to head to a service shop in Findlay, he'll set it up. If you're wondering, they aren't sure what stalled it, but the rig I was driving had a faulty ignition system, hence why it was having trouble.
I've driven US-23 many times and that was the first time I'd ever stopped at that rest area, and you can bet your ass I'm not stopping there again even during the day. After I was out of there and was waiting for my truck repair, I got to thinking of a couple things. Whatever those things were, they seemed intelligent. In order to get inside the cab they simply tried to open the door. But at the same time, they seemed dumb as hell. Since I'm sure it was them who moved my truck, if they could muster the force to move 80,000 pounds they should have easily been able to smash their way inside. Why did they try the door so gently when they could seemingly just rip it off the hinges with ease? Or simply punch the windshield out?
One more thing that sent a chill down my spine. I was outside literally seconds before those things showed up. Hell, I went outside after they initially moved my trailer. I wonder if moving my trailer was simply bait and they underestimated how long I'd stay outside investigating. Thank God I trusted my gut and got back inside. I might have been killed.


Source.