A Late-Night Drive Into a Town That Wasn't There
Remember those urban legends that turned out to have a kernel of truth? A viral story that spread across internet a couple years ago might just be one of them. What began as an anonymous user's account of a bizarre late-night encounter in Utah sparked a discussion about secret government facilities hiding in plain sight.
According to the original post, the story begins with a tired driver on a cross-country road trip through central/southern Utah. Around 10 PM, after a long day behind the wheel, they spotted a town's lights in the distance and decided to pull off for the night. The exit wasn't marked on their GPS, and there was no cell service, but the promise of rest was too tempting to pass up.
Photo Credit: expedia.com
What they found was something straight out of The Twilight Zone.
The town, accessed by a five-mile dirt road, seemed normal at first glance—almost too normal. The main street had every major fast-food chain imaginable and seven hotels, all fully lit but eerily empty. Smooth jazz played softly through the streets, despite there being no visible source or audience. The parking lots were vacant, and the sidewalks were deserted.
Things got stranger when they tried to get food. The KFC and Jack in the Box were fully lit and unlocked but completely empty. At McDonald's, they found their first signs of life: two visibly annoyed employees who served them what they described as "distinctly non-McDonald's nuggets and fries."
The hotel-hopping adventure that followed reads like a comedy sketch. Each empty hotel they tried was staffed by someone they swore they'd just seen working at McDonald's or another hotel. When they finally got a room at the Holiday Inn Express, they claim the check-in clerk was unmistakably the McDonald's cashier, who insisted it was actually his "brother."
The next morning brought more of the same: empty streets, the same staff members apparently rotating between businesses, and more off-brand fast food served through familiar chains. The story might have remained just another internet tale, except for what happened next.
As they left town, they noticed something telling: large metal fences converging on the dirt road, meeting at a motorized gate that closed behind them. When they regained cell service, they found themselves on a completely different highway than the one they'd turned off from.
Reddit user @tiwaztyrsfist offered what many consider the most plausible explanation: the driver had accidentally entered a government training facility. "Most of the major agencies (FBI, CIA, etc) supposedly maintain small fake, but fully built and realistic, towns for training exercises," they explained. "The people in town were base staff and they were all pissed off at him because they were gonna have to fill out long and tedious reports about a civilian getting onto the site."
This explanation gained credibility when another user, @phoenixonwheels, shared a specific location: "Piute Reservoir east bank. Military installation that is blocked on Google Maps. It's visible from 89, and the road south passes through a (Google Maps censored) security gate right before 62."
Piute State Park. Photo Credit: utah.com
The story struck a chord with many readers, including @axmxz, who discovered they weren't alone in being surprised by these facilities' existence. "I started telling this story to my military brat husband," they wrote, "and he was like 'oh like one of those fake special forces training towns?' ok are OP and I the only ones out of the loop??" (OP refers to the original poster of the story)
As @prudencepaccard pointed out, some of these facilities aren't even secret. The FBI maintains a famous training town called "Hogan's Alley" at their academy, though it's unlikely to serve midnight travelers any off-brand McNuggets.
Hogan's Alley. Photo Credit: fbi.gov
Perhaps the most entertaining take came from @derinthescarletpescatarian, who imagined the staff's perspective: "This is so much funnier from the POV of the staff. 'Sir, can't I just show him my ID and tell him to leave?' 'No, we can still salvage this. Put on the McDonald's uniform.'"
While we may never know exactly what happened that night in Utah, the story serves as a reminder that sometimes the truth is stranger than fiction. Somewhere out there, perhaps during your next late-night drive, you might pass by a town that looks perfectly normal—until you look a little closer.
For those intrigued by mysterious towns, America offers plenty of real ghost towns where you can experience a similar otherworldly atmosphere—minus the confused government agents.
St. Elmo, Colorado, just outside Buena Vista, still maintains a few inhabited buildings and becomes a popular tourist spot during summer months. In Montana, the mining town of Garnet welcomes visitors to explore its 30 preserved structures, including what were once thriving saloons, and even hosts an annual Garnet Day where you can experience 19th-century mining town life.
Perhaps most impressively, Kennicott, Alaska, has transformed from an abandoned copper mining town into a tourist destination since the 1970s, offering visitors a chance to explore its well-preserved structures near McCarthy. While you might not find any mystery McNuggets in these locations, they're all very much real and proudly marked on every map—and unlike our anonymous driver's experience, your credit card charges will definitely show up.
Just don't expect smooth jazz playing from invisible speakers.
Kennicott, Alaska. Photo Credit: travelalaska.com
