During Open Lines George offered a 'trucker' hotline for semi drivers who have experienced strange things on the road. A Pittsburgh-based trucker recounted the time he saw a tall, hooded figure standing off to the side of the Pennsylvania turnpike. The caller believes the dark figure he saw may have been the Grim Reaper. A trucker named Duke shared his eyewitness account of a "black cylinder" hanging in the night sky along his I-10 route (west of Las Cruces, New Mexico). He said the object was being tracked by several helicopters and a fleet of vehicles on the ground, as well as scores of trucker-onlookers. Duke urged other witnesses to call into the program and share their stories.

Rick from Kentucky recalled seeing a demon staring into his window when he was a young boy. He described the creature as having a round bloody face, no neck or shoulders, rolled back eyes, and horns all over his head. Rick said to this day he never opens windows and has blinds covering every window in his house. Ed from St. Louis retold a story he read in a book about a rundown house with a locked door in the basement. According to Ed, a cleaning crew found the door, which had been shut for 60 years, and opened it to reveal a long tunnel and an awful stench emanating from within. Once inside the workers found and opened another door, the caller explained, where they encountered a figure standing 3-feet tall and wearing a woolen blanket. He said the thing in the blanket walked into the backyard, down the alley and was never seen again.

Bird Flu & Pythons

In the first hour, reporter and editor for Earthfiles.com, Linda Moulton Howe, presented an update on the spread and potential lethality of the avian flu. Linda said the current H5N1 strain is similar to the 1918 Spanish Flu, which started as a bird virus then mutated and killed millions of humans. According to her report, if H5N1 spreads through human-to-human transmission, within 6 to 9 months it will infect the entire planet. Read more here.

Linda also reported on the introduction of Asian Burmese pythons to the Florida Everglades. Linda said the snakes, which were intentionally released into the Everglades by their owners, have begun breeding and threaten to disrupt the ecosystem there. Read more at here.