Conference hydra::dejavu

    nope, but the cessation of automotive electrical functions (which
    naturally includes the engine) was a commonly reported UFO feature.
    As to continue crusing without loss of speed, got me.
    
    Dave

    Are there auto buffs out there?  In some automatics, if the engine
    quits, if you're going at a significant rate of speed, the drive
    will freewheel to prevent damage.  If the car were going straight
    (no turns necessary), any cessation of power steering might not
    be noticed.
    
    However, if the engine started spontaneously again, _that's_
    interesting.
    Steve Kallis, Jr.
    

    I had a bad battery cable that broke off at the terminal at an untimely
    moment (in a NYC traffic jam on a rainy night).  Everything died
    just as you mentioned, but we were stopped at the time. I don't
    know why everything stopped and then started up with your car. I
    wasn't so lucky.
    
    		Dave

    The unusual thing about this incident is that I had the car 
    checked out and they couldn't find anything wrong with it.
    I sold the car (wow, did I say 8 mos ago, how bout 20 months
    ago (I'm losing track of the years))over a year ago, and as
    far as I know, it's still running.
    
    Cynthia
    

    This is probably another "we'll never know for sure".  I'm not an
    automobile specialist (i.e., I'm a fair approximation to dead ignorant
    about how cars work) but as I understand it, if you kill and restore
    the power to the engine while its still turning at moderately high
    rev, it will simply start up.  In a sense this is what is happening
    all the time between spark-plug firings.  The purpose of the
    starter-engine is to get it reving enough.
    
    Without knowing much about how cars work, I can say that finding
    an intermittant fault (expecially a one time fault) in the electrical
    system is notoriously hard.  I've had an intermittant loose connection
    to one of my headlights since I bought my car a couple of years
    ago.  Every few months that headlight goes out for half an hour
    or so.  Unless the connection is grossly loose (it doesn't seem
    to be) or actually out when its checked, finding the problem would
    take a huge amount of effort.
    
    When the mechanic checked your car, its quite likely that (s)he
    checked likely connections by giving them a quick tightening to
    see if they were loose.  This might well have fixed the problem
    without him/her noticing it.
    
    			Topher

	This is a WAG, since I don't know all that much about the mechanical
aspects of cars.  A car generally has two sources of power - the alternator,
and the battery.  While there is inter-connection between them, it would
make sense the alternator drove the ignition system, while feeding the excess
to the battery, while the battery fed everything else, including being a
reserve for the ignition system.  If there were somehow a poor connection
from the battery, you would have lost most of your electrical system, while
the alternator continued to supply power to the ignition.  Also, power steering
is not electrically driven, and would continue to work as long as the engine
was running.

	Also, if the car was powered by a diesel engine, the electrical system
would be superfluous once the engine was running.

Mark

    	I'm no car expert but I have heard reference before to something
    called a fusible link. This from what I heard is basically like
    a big fuse in-line with the cars whole electrical system. It is
    usually located on the fire wall of the car. A loose connection
    at that could very possibly cause that type of symtom. The result
    of hitting a small bump or normal vibration could have re-established
    a connection in which case an automatic car can be jump started
    if going fast enough. I have personnally jump started an automatic
    by pushing it with another car to about 40 mph in neutral and then
    shifting to drive or 2nd. You can see for yourself next time your
    on the highway, leave the car in drive, turn off the ignition and
    then turn it back on and the car will start.
    
    BTW - I'm new to this notes file and know more about cars (which
    is'nt much) than I do about parapsycology and the like, but have enjoyed
    reading the file for about the past month.                 
    
    Keep up the good work.................RAYJ

    		hhhmmmmm.....
    
    jus out ta curiosity, was it a dodge... I know I have ghosts in
    the dodges I've owned. And they are known for the flakiness of
    electrical systems....

    re .8:
    
    More likely gremlins than ghosts.
    
    Steve Kallis, Jr.
    

  reply to 0.
  
  	Not meaning to start a scare on your part. Did you notice
  any lack of time from when the incident occured and when your
  car "resumed control". Like did you get home later than you normally
  would from where you where coming from? Just curious. If so I'll
  explain what the thoughts are on that.
  
  brian

    
    The car was a Chevy Malibu.
    
    Re: Time
        I can't say that I was too aware of what time had elapsed when
    I got home.  I think that the incident threw me for a loop, and
    I wasn't concerned with the time.  Sorry.
    
        Needless to say, we never had any problems with the car after
    that.  
        I'd be glad to hear your thoughts, though.
    
     Cynthia
    

    re .10, .11:
    
    I suspect the thought behind that is the "interrupted journey"
    hypothesis, where perhaps a lapse of time might have indicated that
    the subject was intercepted by beings with a higher technology,
    examined tracelessly, and returned without memories of the incident.
    
    Steve Kallis, Jr.
    

  Sorry for the delayed response. But .12 hit my hypothisis 
  on the head. The only really way to know if there was any
  lapsed time would have been if you remembered when you 
  got home. Also have you or your husband had any types of 
  dizziness or any unexplained bruises? Only trying to help
  you remember. But maybe remebering will only bring confusion.
  I would like to recomend a book on this subject but the
  title and author escapes my mind.
  
  brian

    	WHAT REALLY HAPPENED IS THAT THE DEFENSE COMPUTERS ARE BECOMING
    INTELLIGENT, AND WERE TOYING WITH YOUR CAR AT THAT TIME DURING AN
    ELECTROMECHANICAL SYSTEMS ANALYSIS OF THAT SECTOR.
    
    	NONE OF YOU, OF COURSE, WILL BE ALLOWED TO ESCAPE WITH THIS
    KNOWLEDGE.......
    
    			SKYNET/SAC-NORAD 9000
    			DATA TERMINATION 6-2536
    
    	
    	(The above header is just to fool humans into thinking this
    is a humorous note written by another human)
    

    IN REPLY TO 194.0,.1.....NOT ONLY HAVE MECHANICAL AND ELECTRICAL
    FAILURES OCCURED IN UFO ENCOUNTERS,BUT LOSS OF CONTROL OF SPEED
    AND STEERING WITHOUT ADVERSE EFFECTS ie.....accident etc....
    
    
    steve
    

	As someone who is not an expert mechanic but has spent many a
weekend ripping apart cars.....

	The battery and the alternator/generator are both power sources to the
engine but do not play separate roles in which parts they supply power
to.  The main function of the battery is to crank the engine (via the starter)
and supply some power to the distributor (which fires the spark plugs). Once
the engine is turning at idle speed or higher the alternator/generator
takes over. You can remove the battery of a running car and it will not die 
(unless the alternator malfunctions) and you will still have plenty of 
power to run the the real important things like your tape deck! :-)


	Two other possible causes for such a failure:

	EMP:  Electro-Magnetic Pulse

	EMP is a wave of electro-magnetic energy resultant from a large
release of energy near by.  The most common example of an energy release 
that can cause EMP is LIGHTNING (a more drastic example would be a nuclear
detonation!).  EMP is quite capable of raising all sorts of hell with engines
and other electro-mechanical devices such as computers!  I was driving my car
through a particularly bad lightning storm once when a bolt of lightning struck
about 1/4 mile away.  The engine, lights, etc.. went dead for about 5 seconds
( as well as leaving some spots in my eyes).  After about 5 seconds the car 
just continued as if nothing happened. This would be expected because the motor
is still turning.  The reason why the power steering continues to work is
because it is a mechanical unit only and is not effected by the EMP.


	This is not to say there was lightning near by but that some other
force may have caused a pulse which was large enough to knock out your engine.



	Another possibility would be if your car has electronic ignition. There
were some known problems with early electronic ignitions if someone was 
transmitting an extremely powerful radio signal nearby.  Such would be the
case if someone within a mile or so had a CB radio equipped with a high power
(and highly illegal) amplifier.  The result would be similar to that of the
EMP.  There were only certain frequencies that would cause this behavior and
I'm not sure but I'll bet they were in the 27MHZ range.



	I'll bet there are a lot of other possibilities such as an intermittent
connection (mentioned in an earlier note), etc... or maybe, just maybe, you 
entered the twilight zone!  :-)


Chris.