Dead Zone

This is the sort of thing I used to read about in Fortean Times' letters page.

Every day when I drive to work, I pass through a particular junction and stop at a certain set of traffic lights. Without fail, when the lights change and I come to set off, the engine nearly dies and I have to dip the clutch and slap the accelerator down to avoid stalling (which has happened once or twice). It happens too often to be a fluke; (me not pressing the accelerator hard enough) and it doesn't happen anywhere else. It's like a dead zone for combustion engines.

The environmental impact of me stamping on the juice at this particular point (not to mention the extra cost of petrol) notwithstanding, this is a genuinely odd phenomenon. I haven't yet tried asking other drivers at the junction if this phenomenon is affecting their cars or whether it is peculiar to my car or particular brand of motor. Perhaps there is some sort of electromagnetic interference caused by cables under the road (it is close to a river, too). Perhaps my car is geomagnetically attuned, like a pair of divining rods. Perhaps I just need a new exhaust.

Ten years ago I'd have blamed it on UFOs. I haven't noticed any lost time or a sore arse or any of the other things normally associated with alien abduction, so I think I can rule that out. Besides, UFO abduction is sooo last century darling. I can only assume it is some sort of secret government weapon designed to immobilise vehicles. This makes perfect sense as A: Nobody trusts the government, so it's obviously them and B: It clearly doesn't work properly. I wish it was a case for Mulder and Scully, but it's not really that involved is it? Still I'd like to know the cause.

Whatever it turns out to be, don't forget that the truth is out there.