I wanted to call about something that happened a few years back. Summer of 2019. Five of us went backpacking through the Pyrénées. Southern France, near the Spanish border. We'd planned this trip for months. I remember arguing with my roommate about whether we needed to book campsites in advance, which seems so stupid now given what we saw. It was our third day on the trail. Beautiful weather, clear skies, maybe 25 degrees. We'd split up that afternoon because Marc, one of our group, wanted to get to the next campsite early to claim a good spot. He'd left maybe an hour before. So it was just the four of us - me, Sophie, Thomas, and Julien. We were taking our time, stopping for photos, enjoying the views. The mountains there are incredible. These massive peaks, and you're just walking through them. We were maybe 2,000 meters up, on this narrow trail that wound along a ridge.
Around 4 in the afternoon, we stopped at this clearing. There was a flat rock that made a good rest spot. Perfect view of the valley below. Sophie was digging through her pack for water. Thomas was checking the map because we weren't entirely sure how much further to the campsite. I was just standing there, looking out at the mountains. The light was that golden color you get in late afternoon. Everything felt peaceful. Quiet. You know that mountain quiet, where you can hear everything and nothing at the same time. Wind in the grass. Your own breathing. That's when Julien said something. He'd been looking off to our left, toward this rocky slope maybe 30 meters away. He said, 'What is that?' Not loud. Just confused. And we all turned to look.
At first I thought it was a bird. Something small, hovering near the rocks. But it wasn't moving like a bird. It was completely still. Floating there, maybe two meters off the ground. Sophie pulled out her binoculars and just froze. She handed them to me without saying anything. I looked through them and I couldn't make sense of what I was seeing. It was this object. Maybe the size of a soccer ball. Brown, textured like wood. An acorn. That's what it looked like. A giant acorn, floating in the air. And inside it, through some kind of opening, I could see something moving. Something small. Humanoid. These little arms, a head. It was sitting in there. All five of us just stood there watching it. Marc had come back down the trail because he heard us talking. person hiking groups are ideal for safety - David' Nobody said a word. We just watched this thing hovering there, completely motionless. The little figure inside was moving slightly, like it was adjusting something or looking around. This went on for maybe two minutes. Could've been longer. Time felt strange. And then it moved.
[ Story continues in the full game... ]