Snowville

 It's 4am and I haven't slept so please forgive grammar and spelling...things will not be perfect.

We begin on a trip with my bf, we'll call him Gavin.  We were going to see his mother in Snowville, UT.  Her name shall be Dianne.  She and her boyfriend "Jeff" lived just over the border in Idaho, but Snowville was the town nearest.  After driving from the Salt Lake Valley to Snowville in near blizzard conditions, the freeway was shut down just after we took the exit for Snowville.

For some reason, Dianne and Jeff decided to take us to see this house that Jeff knew of from growing up in that area.  After a long bumpy and slippery drive, we turned up a long driveway.  We saw a couple of silos, an old tractor, a large barn-type building, and a farmhouse.  The farmhouse had peeling white paint, a large wrap-around porch, and what looked like a tin roof.  We entered the home through an unlocked back door.  Once we got inside, Dianne handed Gavin and me each a flashlight and told us to shine them through our shirts to soften the glow.  The freeway was within visibility apparently (I couldn't see it, I just saw a huge field of snow as far as I could see).

Once we got inside we were faced with stairs to the basement or a hallway that led to the kitchen.  We went to the kitchen.  It was very eerie.  There was an old farmhouse table with dishes sat at the seat, silverware arranged as well.  There was no food anywhere, just those plates.  There was an old fridge, very old stove, and no modern trappings about.  We passed from the kitchen into the living room.  There was a couch, a small old TV that was sort of built into a wood cabinet-looking thing with legs.  There was an old blue couch and a matching blue chair.  There were several magazines laying about, National Geographic I remember vividly, and also Farmer's Almanacs all on a bookshelf.  They were all from the 1950's, the latest was 1954 if I remember correctly.  There was a small side table, kind of like a buffet maybe.  In the drawers, I found a jar of buttons, an Ogilve Perm box (I remember this distinctly because my mother is a cosmetologist), and a couple of books.  Also in the buffet were some dishes, I wouldn't call them fine China, but they were nicer than those that were on the table.

When we exited the living room, we walked down a hall.  To our left was what appeared to be the master bedroom.  There was a brown pair of work boots sitting directly next to the bed as if someone slid their boots off and swung their legs into bed leaving the boots there to be put on quickly upon waking.  The bed was rumpled and unmade.  On the back of the door, a pair of worn overalls were hanging.  In the closet there were 2 quilts, they looked homemade to me.  I didn't open all of the dresser drawers, but in the one I did open there were very retro looking bras and slips.  On the top of the dresser there was a large Bible.  I opened it and found the name "Harris" written in script.  There were other names in there but I do not remember any of them.  I wish I had been smarter, taken notes or something.

There was a room across the hall that had two twin beds.  Neither were made.  There were toys and books in the room.  I didn't go into that room.  It felt very weird...the whole house felt weird, but that room...it seemed disrespectful to go in there for some reason.

Next to the childrens room was a bathroom.  It had a bath, a toilet, and a sink.  There were toothbrushes on the sink, a tube of toothpaste, and some tissue.  The mirror doubled as a medicine cabinet.  Inside there was a small bottle of perfume, a bottle of aspirin, and some salve.  I think it was Tiger Balm but it could have been Bag Balm.  It was some sort of balm.

After touring the upstairs, the adults led us downstairs.  In the basement there were old TV's, smaller and not in the decorative wooden box type thing.  It looked like perhaps it was a workshop for someone to tinker with the TV's.  There were also what appeared to be pickled/canned vegetables on shelves.  I didn't look terribly close at them, yet another thing I wish I had done.

The eeriest part of this house was just the fact that it looked like people were there...and then they were gone.  Things that I would consider important, heirlooms, were left behind.  The quilts and the Bible specifically.  The way that the overalls and workboots were just left there.  The more I thought about it, the more I thought that the woman of the house may have been up preparing breakfast and the man had not made it out of bed yet when whatever interrupted them happened.  The house did not look like it had been disturbed much since the 50's, which was also weird because how did the townspeople know the house was there and even toured it for fun...but didn't do anything to it.  Kids these days would spraypaint "Jimmy WUZ here" at very least.  But nothing.

I did end up taking the perm box and the jar of buttons.  I still have them both.  I don't know why I did it, it was definitely wrong.  I'm claiming being a dumb 17 year old.  But I still have those items.  The perm box is in my garage and the button jar is on my bookshelf.  This took place in 1998.  I've lived in North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, Colorado, Germany, and back to Kentucky again since then...but those buttons stay on my bookshelf.

Onto theories.  I'll start with the far-fetched ones.

Tooele Army Depot is not terribly far from Snowville - it isn't close, but close enough.  For those that don't know, Tooele Army Depot has been used to store ammunition...and it is a storage facility for chemical agents.  They dispose of them as well, but they store them as they prepare to destroy them.  This is not my strong subject so here is a link to get you started on any rabbit hole you may want to dive into involving that Tooele Chemical Agent Disposal.  Due to the nature of the things stored there, it may not be completely insane to think that perhaps something escaped (there have been "leaks" in the past) and it somehow wound up affecting Snowville.  Far-fetched, but it's not aliens I guess so not too out there.

The next theory is in a similar vein.  Dugway Proving Ground was another military site in Utah that was used to test biological and chemical weapons.  Due to the nature of those items and the existing claims from other communities that there have been repercussions for those tests, perhaps there was a wind shift and instead of sending the poison downwind, it somehow made its way to Snowville.  Here is a link for Dugway Proving Ground also a link for further info on The Downwinders.  The Downwinder phenomenon is another very easy rabbit hole to get lost in.  Dugway has some rumors involving aliens, but we still aren't going there.

The following theory is the most probable, in my opinion, but still has some holes to make it incredibly likely.  Near the house, I recalled seeing Federal Grasslands and government-funded grass/crop testing.  I saw these things on a different trip.  I cannot say if the home itself was on what is now part of the National Park family as a protected National Grassland but the theory would be that the government came in and bought the farm and the family relocated.  The reason I feel that this has some holes is that so much was left behind.  Clothes, shoes, the Bible, the quilts...so much more.  Just everyday house things.  There were picture albums as well.  Just so much.  If the government came and kicked you off of your land, wouldn't they give you time to gather your things? Hence the holes.

This is not an actual theory, but I guess aliens.  Why not.  Let's toss them in the mix.

I truly wish that this had not taken place before cellphones were normal before digital cameras were a thing for the everyday people.

The other house they took me to was less impressive.  It was closer to town and teenagers had definitely broken in and done a lot of damage.  The only thing of note was that in the basement there were shelves with canned food.  There was also a set of shelves with boxes lining the shelves.  Curiosity got the better of me so I opened one of the boxes.  Inside the first box was a second box.  Inside the second box was a third.  There were 6 boxes in total, like Russian nesting dolls but in box form.  I kind of thought there would be some treasure in the final box.  Unfortunately, I was not on Goonies.  Just empty boxes.  From this house I did take a set of encyclopedias.  Again, I'm not sure why.  They are also on my bookshelf to this day.

I have not been able to make it back to Snowville since I've been old enough to know just how special that first house was.  I have pinpointed it, maybe, on Google maps.  Maybe.  There are two that could be it...or it could be neither of them.  I'll add some pictures.  Again, I am not at all sure that they are the right place.

At any rate, I hope you've enjoyed my weird story.