A Louisiana woman's account of a disorienting road trip through rural Alabama has gone viral on TikTok. The TikToker describes a stranger's repeated warnings, an unexplained gap in driving time, and a car that seemingly defied the laws of physics.
The video, as of the time of writing, has over 200,000 views and brought back the so-called "glitch in the matrix" experiences, popular in online paranormal discussions.
The story has been shared by Lauren, a Louisiana resident with the TikTok account @ashleeinc, a popular "Spooky Scary Storytime" channel which has more than 2 million followers. The account regularly features user-submitted paranormal and mysterious stories, like this.
According to Lauren, she drove from Louisiana to Fayetteville, Tennessee, in November 2025, for a relative's funeral. Around 4 p.m., she pulled into a rest area in Alabama and informed her best friend of it at 4:01 p.m. She said this rest stop was nearly deserted, but soon two other vehicles came in. She also said a security guard was inside the building.
After using the restroom, Lauren held the door for a man in his mid-to-late 50s and exchanged pleasantries at approximately 4:21 p.m. As she walked toward her car, the man asked where she was headed. She answered, "Tennessee, to visit some family." He replied, "It's gonna be dark soon, so don't get lost."
After that, she offered to help the man and a woman who was with him as she saw them having some car trouble. But the man declined assistance, and repeated the warning, "Promise me that you won't get lost."
As Lauren drove away with her window cracked, she said she heard him repeat, "Don't get lost."
@ashleeinc This Spooky Scary Storytime/glitch in the matrix story came from Lauren: “In November 2025, I stopped at a nearly empty Alabama rest area on my way to a funeral. A stranger looked me dead in the eyes and said: “Be safe. Don’t get lost.” I then lost almost 9 minutes of driving time with no explanation after seeing the same stranger fly by on the interstate in the opposite direction. My friend heard the phone distortion too. I still think about that warning.” #UnexplainedStories #paranormal #TrueScaryStory
♬ original sound - ashleeinc
Back on the interstate, Lauren called her best friend to tell her about this odd encounter. Her friend missed that call but called her back at 4:28 p.m. During the call, Lauren says the connection suddenly became distorted, and her voice started echoing back at her through static, and the call dropped despite her phone showing full bars. After multiple such failed attempts, they reconnected. Her phone had also somehow disconnected from her car's Bluetooth system. But then came the detail that has TikTok on a roll.
After reconnecting with her friend, Lauren spotted the same red car (with the same man and woman inside) speeding in the opposite direction, which means they were going back toward the rest stop. She estimated they were going at least 90 mph while Lauren had her cruise control set at 70 mph. She was baffled as the couple had been standing in the parking lot when she left, and she said she could not explain how they appeared ahead of her, and then looped back.
She further claimed, she was then looking at the highway and noticed the stretch of interstate she was traveling appeared almost entirely devoid of exits, signage, and gas stations. She recalled only seeing a Love's Travel Stop. Yet when she passed through the same area on her return trip, the road was lined with billboards, exits, and gas stations, as expected on such a highway in any other part of America.
Lauren said her call logs also proved this timeline, as the call had dropped for three minutes before reconnecting. Except that she had lost approximately nine minutes of driving time, which, no matter what, she could not account for. "I know I wasn't speeding," she reportedly said. She said her best friend could also hear the phone distortion during the call.
The story drew hundreds of comments on TikTok, with a viewer comparing the incident to the television series "From," which depicts travelers becoming inexplicably trapped in a strange location. "He already got lost, and now he's stuck in the loop," wrote another user.
The project, dubbed the West Alabama Highway, will add lanes to U.S. Highway 43 and State Route 69 from Thomasville to Moundville and will complete the roughly 200 mile four-lane highway corridor connecting Mobile and Tuscaloosa.https://t.co/3nzWrUaEuB
— WVUA 23 (@wvua23) July 9, 2024
Another commenter said they are familiar with that section of Alabama highway and that the stretch between the state line and Tuscaloosa is sparse in eastbound signage and services compared to the westbound lanes, and that locals sometimes warn unfamiliar drivers not to exit at night in rural Bibb County due to poor road markings and limited fuel.
"Every road looks alike, and you could end up running out of gas out in BFE Bibb County," the commenter wrote.
Another viewer spoke of the Love's gas station Lauren described near Exit 40 in Eutaw, Alabama. On this note, they recounted having experienced similar disorientation in that area with their own family.
No real paranormal explanation has been established. However, Lauren said she plans to continue being kind to strangers and, going forward, heed any warning that sounds urgent. Yes, even if it sounds as odd as this!
