A New Mexico mail carrier is stranded in the desert after blowing a tire. Unable to get cell service, he hikes to an elevated area. On his way, he encounters something best suited for a 1950s horror film!

I received the following account:

"I'm a mail carrier in Los Alamos, New Mexico. Folks here are spread out over long distances and they still need to get their mail so every day I take a long drive out through the desert to deliver mail to the residents.

In February 2023 I was out by the Valles Caldera National Preserve and I blew a tire. It was late afternoon it was going to be dark soon. The desert gets really cold at night year-round. Even worse, cell phone service is spotty around here. My reception was nil. My only options were to wait for a car to pass and hope they were willing to help. I could also hike up the hill and try to get a signal. Eventually, after I didn't report back, the post office would send somebody out to find me along the highway, but that could literally take hours and I didn't want to spend the night out here alone. I chose to hike. I could probably make it up and back just before dark. I just hoped that I would get a signal once up top.

I was about halfway up the hill when I decided to take a short rest and a water break. I was sitting on a rock and taking a few sips from the bottle when I heard some odd sounds. It was like loud chattering. It reminded me of cicadas that I remembered when living in the eastern US. It seemed like it was coming from behind a rocky outcropping directly in the path. I didn't see any other route so I decided to just move slowly and see what it was.

As I began to walk I stepped on a loose rock and lost my footing. I slid down a few feet before catching myself. The chattering stopped and I noticed something move out from behind a boulder. I saw a six-foot-tall thin 'insectoid' with the head of a grasshopper! It had two large antennas on its head and a pair of large pincers extending from its thorax. There was another smaller pair of pincers beneath that. It moved quickly left and then right and then left again stopping 20 feet away. It was horrible! I didn't know if running and standing my ground was the best option, but after I took another look at its pincers I decided on the former. I slowly backed away mimicking its movements. It stood still as it watched me.

Then my cell phone began to ring loudly. The creature's antenna snapped to attention and it quickly ran down the hillside. I instantly ran in the opposite direction, stumbling and falling as I moved. I eventually reached the bottom of the hill near the roadside, not far from my mail truck. I hopped into the truck and stayed put, hoping that the creature would stay away from me. I did catch a glimpse of the creature as it moved around the hill. I stayed put in the truck for several hours not daring to leave its safety. After what seemed like forever, a car came along and gave me a lift back into town.

What the hell did I see? I have heard a lot of stories of strange creatures in the New Mexico desert but this was almost impossible to imagine. Of course, I haven't mentioned this to anyone other than my girlfriend." H

NOTE: If I've learned anything about New Mexico, it's is to expect the unexpected. Lon