ChasFink
Justified & Ancient
- Joined
- Jan 22, 2016
- Messages
- 2,520
I've been meaning to post this story in the IHTM thread, but here seems more appropriate.
First, some background. This happened to me when I was in college on Long Island. I was not a Film major, but spent a good deal of time hanging out in the Film department, and took some classes there. When students shot 16mm film, they'd leave it with a payment for developing, and each night a department employee (usually a student) would drive the day's footage over to the nearby home of a film lab employee so he could take it to the lab in Manhattan for processing.
One quiet night I was working on a film I shot when the student manning the department asked if I wouldn't mind wrapping up so she could do the film run. She also asked me to go with her, as the house was on a dark street in a neighborhood with no street lights, and she often felt scared. I obliged (I think a ride home was part of the offer) and we soon departed.
As we neared the house, driving down a narrow tree-lined road, she said "Let me show you why I get scared" and turned off her headlights for a second. It was pitch black. When the lights came back on, I saw a large grey shape, apparently winged, pass from left to right through the trees about ten feet off the ground. We both fell silent for a few seconds until I could bring myself to ask "What the Hell was that?", to which she quickly and nervously replied "I don't know!" We soon agreed that it looked like a pterodactyl.
In retrospect, I now suspect it was a large owl, not unknown in these parts. But the pterodactyl image remains with me to this day.
First, some background. This happened to me when I was in college on Long Island. I was not a Film major, but spent a good deal of time hanging out in the Film department, and took some classes there. When students shot 16mm film, they'd leave it with a payment for developing, and each night a department employee (usually a student) would drive the day's footage over to the nearby home of a film lab employee so he could take it to the lab in Manhattan for processing.
One quiet night I was working on a film I shot when the student manning the department asked if I wouldn't mind wrapping up so she could do the film run. She also asked me to go with her, as the house was on a dark street in a neighborhood with no street lights, and she often felt scared. I obliged (I think a ride home was part of the offer) and we soon departed.
As we neared the house, driving down a narrow tree-lined road, she said "Let me show you why I get scared" and turned off her headlights for a second. It was pitch black. When the lights came back on, I saw a large grey shape, apparently winged, pass from left to right through the trees about ten feet off the ground. We both fell silent for a few seconds until I could bring myself to ask "What the Hell was that?", to which she quickly and nervously replied "I don't know!" We soon agreed that it looked like a pterodactyl.
In retrospect, I now suspect it was a large owl, not unknown in these parts. But the pterodactyl image remains with me to this day.