Lost time or...

I wonder how scientists would explain this story I'm reposting below from the Ghost Theory website. I had a similar experience that I will post one day for which I have no 'rational' explanation whatsoever. This type of story fascinates me, with all the caveats about hoaxes etc because it suggests that our reality isn't always as it appears.

Lost Time Or Slip Into Parallel Universe?

It’s not often that I do two stories from MUFON in the same week, let alone the same month, but when a read the story below, I couldn’t resist.
This one has all sorts of possibilities from alien abduction to passing through a portal into an alternate existence. Of course there’s always the mundane and more realistic possibility that nothing of the sort happened, but it’s definitely a strange one.

This event took place in a 500 square mile area between Washington DC and I-83 North turn off on I-695. The specifics are as follows:
Location: I-695, I-83, Route 50 Maryland/DC
Case Number: 48463
Date of event: 06/26/13
Short Description:

We were travelling by car and mysteriously ended up 2 hours away in 15 minutes,, everything was very strange in area

Long Description:

Yesterday June 26th, 2013, approximately 9:37pm things became unexplainable with a logical explanation. Me and my teenage daughter were travelling back from a brief stay on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, we crossed the bay bridge and travelled North on 695 towards Route 83 North to Pennsylvania. On 695 travelling north, right around the area where there is an exit to 83 South, there was a sign that said 83 North 2 1/2 miles (as there has been for the past 33 years I have been travelling back and forth from Maryland to Pennsylvania). The last thing I consciously remember saying before things got really weird was “That is how you get to the Baltimore zoo” as we passed the exit to 83 South to Baltimore, We were preparing to bare right onto 83 North in a few moments as it is, I believe the next exit (or maybe the one after, but takes only a moment to get to once you pass 83 South). My 17 year old daughter was driving and I was assisting with directions so obviously we are sober, alert and paying attention. The next thing I consciously remember (and what seemed to be only a second to me), we are confused to find ourselves on the farthest left hand of the lane, rather than the far right lane (to prepare to bare right) where we were. There were concrete media strips and I noticed that on the right hand side, we had passed concrete media strips decorated with these beautiful stone bricks in various shades of brown and grey. That must be new, I say. Just then we see gas stations, hotels and fast food restaurants and I think to myself, we must have passed the 83 North exit, continued straight which should put us in the direction of Towson (and if you continue north on 695 to New York)…I believed at the time that we were just past our exit and just need to turn around, (I looked at my clock and only 15 minutes had passed since we saw 83 South exit). I go inside the first gas station and was told I am very far from my destination and receive directions that will take me approximately 2 hours to get back to 83 North…I think there must be a shorter way, we are only 5 minutes off course. I asked someone outside who gives us similar directions and says that we are about 2 hours away from our destination. When my daughter asked what town we are in we are told numerous times we are in “Washington, the district of criminals”. The gentleman advises us to not continue further on this road, it is very dangerous and that we will wind up in “downtown, district of criminals”…He says to follow him and he will show us where we can U-turn, which he does. As soon as we turn around we are surrounded by trees on both sides of the road. There were no trees there before, there were concrete median blocks for the entire trip and I couldn’t see the 4 lanes of traffic on the other side of the road, all of a sudden there are plush trees blocking both sides of the highway and we can no longer see the 4 lanes of traffic on the other side of the “median strips” which are no longer there. All of the signs are brown, road signs, route signs and there were no information signs (gas stations, restaurants, lodges)…all of the signs are brown… the road has a tan pavement (?)…a second later we are back on black pavement and the signs are normal (green for roads, symbols for different routes and streets with different colors, blue for information-gas, restaurant, lodges) not to mention, they were all the same cities we had just previously passed with brown signs. We see that we are by NASA…on route 50, in Washington, below Baltimore (?). We see a triangle shaped flying object flying low directly above the ground straight down the highway, over our car and behind us, it was travelling low and slow. Then a few minutes later, we see a diamond, or similar shaped flying object going from West to East with round lights on the outer surface spinning around the shape of the object that disappeared over the trees on the far left. It took us 2 or more hours to get home. I have looked at a map, and found route 50 in Washington. There is no way we could wind up there in 15 minutes from the area where we were and let alone any route from 695 directly to route 50…it definitely would take at least 1 hour and 45 minutes.

In order to understand the timeline, I went in and pulled the maps that I thought closest to what is described.
In map 1 – position 1, we see the start point of the story as they had just crossed the bridge heading north on I-695:

The progression, shown in map 2 – position 2 has them close to I-83, where they had planned to turn north toward PA:

To make clear the overall distance and route travelled, below we are shown an overview of the progression from position 1 to position 2. This distance in normal traffic can be covered in less than 30 minutes:

As the story continues, they were almost to the I-83 North ramp, when suddenly they found themselves in a strange, unrecognizable area. According to the woman, she had been taking this route for 33 years and essentially knew it like the back of her hand. Further, she claims she was in the passenger seat, directing her 17 yr old daughter as to where exactly to go. She also made it a point to say they were both alert and sober.
It wasn’t more than 15 minutes when they ended up on what they are told by several people at a gas station, is Route 50, headed south into Washington, “district of criminals” (position 3):

Very confused now, they ask for directions. When they are given instructions that include a 2 hour trip to get back on course, they are even more bewildered. So much so, that they reject the first set of directions and ask another person. They are sure that they couldn’t have possibly have taken a 2 hour detour in just 15 minutes. The new set of directions confirms the first and the lost travellers are officially in the twilight zone.
In map 5 (below), we can see just how far away they are from their original location. According to Yahoo maps, it would take over an hour to get back to that location. I assume those queried were more aware of real time when they quoted 2 hours. Remember though, the woman is animate about it being only 15 minutes since they were at I-83.

As if this can get any stranger, after an good Samaritan helps them get turned around and headed back in the right direction, they find themselves on a stretch of odd colored pavement with unnatural looking signs. This is only momentary however, as just as quickly, everything looks normal again, black pavement, green for roads and symbols they recognize. At this point the lost travellers see not one, but two odd looking triangular craft overhead. The first follows them straight down the road and hangs very low in the sky. A few minutes later another craft heads west to east and disappears over the trees.

It took our travellers over 2 hours to finally make it back home, with the surreal events of the day finally behind them.
So, what happened to these two women? Did they unsuspectingly slip into an parallel universe? They mentioned several strange occurrences during their experience that would lend to this theory. They know the route better than the DOT, but suddenly find themselves on a strange stretch of road. The locals encountered kept saying “Washington, district of criminals”. Why would not one, but at least two separate people say those words? Then, after turning around, they are met with road pavement they’ve never seen in such a color, not to mention the road signs which were also out of the ordinary for the United States. Then they seemingly head back through a portal or shift and are back in the world they know.
Was it an abduction scenario? Were they taken up, car and all into some sort of spacecraft that was sitting in wait of an unsuspecting lone highway victim? This would certainly explain 2 hours of lost time, would it not? It would also explain how they got to Washington from I-83 in 15 minutes.
As much as I’d like to believe something out of this world happened to them. It’s more likely that they both went into a semi-state of “highway hypnosis”. If this is the case, it would explain everything except the 15 minutes shown on the woman’s watch, the strange otherworldly surrounding and the craft flying overhead. Although, it could all certainly be part of the hypnosis and logically, even the UFOs could easily have been stealth aircraft.
Further, the driver was only 17 and driving in one of the most confusing highway systems in the country. I’ve heard more than one horror story about the “beltway area”.
While I can’t say for sure what happened, it certainly wasn’t an experience that can be attributed to speed of occurrence. The one factor that seems to resonate is the retelling of the story. It’s almost related in a dream sequence format. It’s as if the woman telling the story is still on the road.
I’d certainly love to read the theories on this from our readers, so I’ll stop right here.
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