Have you ever heard of the phantom wrong way driver of I25? Or have you seen this crazy phenomenon yourself?
Starting in the 1990s, sheriffs started getting calls from concerned drivers about a wrong-way driver on I25 just north of Lemitar. Each time, they investigated to find nothing amiss. They chalked the whole thing up to some bored local teens pulling a prank.
Then cell phones became commonplace. Suddenly, dozens of calls would flood in at the same time, claiming a wrong way driver was coming down I25 in the exact spot! Again, law enforcement would investigate, only to find no evidence of a driver.
In the early 2000s, supposedly a wrong-way accident did occur just north of Lemitar. But I wasn’t able to find substantiation of that. it would be interesting if it did happen! Maybe the phantom was a premonition of what was to come?
This eerie ghost story does not have a satisfactory explanation. But it is important to note that I25 in New Mexico has a serious problem with wrong-way drivers. There have been multiple fatalities in the state due to the problem. The state is looking into the interstate’s design to find ways to reduce tragedy. Knowing how long everything seems to take at the state level, we’ll see if anything is done in our lifetimes.
I have not personally seen the wrong way driver of I25. But I have driven through this area at night and that’s why I generally avoid anywhere around Socorro after dark because of the oppressive, hair-raising, suffocating sense of latent harm that pressed in around me there. There is just the strangest feeling that you are not alone in the darkness… and whatever is out there does not like you, not one bit.
I thought I was alone in this feeling. But apparently others sense it too! Look up New Mexico on Reddit and you will find so many reports from people saying the state is creepy at night, the energy feels heavy or “off,” or it feels evil. There are many, many unexplained sightings and creepy experiences, too!
https://socorro-history.org/HISTORY/PH_History/201111_haunted_soc_2.pdf