In the early 1950’s in Ohio, several truckers reported a brush with a masked motorist in a skeleton suit dubbed “The Phantom Of Route 40” by area newspapers.
From The Oregonian in March 1952:
Truckers Tell of Phantom
Dayton, O., March 7. A phantom skeleton is stalking truckers along the western Ohio stretches of U.S. route 40.
Truckers report actually seeing a masked motorist who wears a skeleton suit that glows in the dark.
For some time they have been keeping their experiences to themselves, not wanting to draw a horse laugh from police. But they soon found more than one driver wasn’t seeing things after conversations in roadside eating spots.
The phantom, according to the stories, likes to show up on the highway on stormy nights. He has been at it since before Christmas, and almost was caught once when three truckers closed in at the route 40 span over the Stillwater river.
The phantom’s favorite trick is to approach a rolling truck from the opposite direction, dim his lights normally, then put them out completely.
All lights go out about 150 to 200 feet from the surprised truck driver, who then sees a dim light come on inside the car. The sight of the phantom driver is described as “horrible looking.”
In this video, investigators talk to one of the last living truckers to have seen “the Phantom.”
The Phantom of Route 40 from seth distelzweig on Vimeo.
Sources:
Haunted Ohio