Decemystery (2021) 9: The Flying Mist Mattress

Every now and then, I find it really fun to pick something out that’s really weird to cover. I’m pretty sure I’ve said that before, but I don’t care: it’s good to always remind people (and to tell newcomers to this blog). So for today, I want to cover something I found that’s called the Flying Mist Mattress. No real introduction needed; I think the name speaks for itself.

The Story

This story was found on the ObscUrban Legend Wiki, because that place is nothing if not a great host for things that make me tilt my head and go, “‘scuse me?” like a broken record player. As for where the wiki found the story, it originates from Weird N.J., and is coincidentally the story that’s listed just beneath the Dancing Underpants story that I covered last year. Maybe next year, I’ll cover the story that’s to the right of this one, the “Mysterious Lights of Slabtown Road”.

Hey Slab!

Anyways, our story takes place during the night in early November of 2001. A woman by the name of “Judy” was taking a friend of hers home from her daughter’s house. While traveling along Highway 36, which I believe is located in Monmouth County (which is in central New Jersey, not far from the coast). According to Judy, there was “light mist” and “no Moon”.

At some point during the drive, something flew over Judy’s car at a remarkably fast speed. She claimed the object had been “very close to” her vehicle, and flew in front of it before vanishing. She described it as being 2 feet (0.6 meters) thick and was a mere 3 feet (0.9 meters) off the road. It was also wider than her car, though I don’t know what kind of car she was driving.

It took Judy a little to muster up the ability to speak, but when she did, she asked her friend if she’d seen what she had. Her friend responded:

Square? White? Fast?

Judy responded in the affirmative, to which her passenger replied she too had seen it.

At this point, Judy realized she had seen what she believed: a flying mattress made of mist. Suffice to say, she was more than a little disturbed; both of them were in fact. Neither spoke a word about what they’d seen for the entire ride home, and it doesn’t appear she’s said anything else since she told Weird N.J. of her encounter. Information on this story is limited to the article on the ObscUrban Legend Wiki and the article in the aforementioned magazine.

So with that, the story ends. Yeah, kinda weird, but it seems that this encounter was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. The ghostly flying mattress came and went like a bolt of lightning (or some other metaphor involving something that just comes and goes). Though there are a few theories as to what it was, so let’s go over them!

Theories

1. A ghost

The first and perhaps the most obvious to non-skeptics is that it was a ghost. I’m not sure exactly why a ghostly mattress would exist on a highway, but I can only guess that it would be because someone died while on a mattress on that specific part of the road. I’ve heard of people “mattress surfing” and I’m sure that someone’s died while doing it, but I can’t find any records of such an event happening.

Still, it isn’t like inanimate objects haven’t been reported as being ghostly. I mean, just look at the dancing underpants story I linked above. Who’s to say that a mattress can’t be ghostly too? Maybe there was a car crash and there was a mattress in the car, and now someone haunts the roadway as a mattress.

Look, I’m trying to figure out how a ghostly mattress would work, don’t judge me. It’s really hard, especially when the theories are limited to just suggestions on the ObscUrban Legend Wiki and there’s basically no information available as the story. I’m doing my best, okay!?

2. A UFO

This one isn’t listed on the wiki, but I’m including it solely because it’s the first thing that came to mind when I heard the story. UFOs have been reported in all shapes and sizes: saucer-shaped, cigar-shaped, dorito-shaped, and a great many more shapes that I’m sure I’m leaving out. The idea of a mattress-shaped UFO isn’t exactly outlandish, though the fact this one was so small really makes you wonder how big these aliens would’ve been. Still, I thought it’d be worth mentioning, regardless if these things were alienlettes.

3. A strange weather pattern

This is a theory that’s put forward by the ObscUrban Legend Wiki and it’s one that I’m a bit… puzzled by. I think it’s saying that some mist might’ve been blown forward and was in the shape of a very large mattress, but I’m not sure how that would work. I mean, unless there was a lot more mist than Judy said there was, I don’t really know what sort of “weather pattern” this could be. If anyone can inform me of what this is referring to, I would greatly appreciate it.

4. It was made up

Never let it be said that you can’t be a skeptic, but I’m certain there are a fair few people who will read this story and be really skeptical of it. The idea of a flying, ghostly mattress is definitely something that would make some folks raise their eyebrows in suspicion. Given that this was a one-time thing and nobody else who’s driven down Highway 36 has reported anything similar is definitely cause for skepticism. Though given the lack of any sort of publicity to this story, I can only guess that there are skeptics.

5. Disney was filming its most recent direct-to-video sequel to Aladdin entitled Aladdin Goes to America to Defeat Jafar as he Attempts to Run for Governor of New Jersey

He lost because of foreign interference. #AuditTheVote

My Take

You know, I consider myself very open-minded when it comes to paranormal stories, but this one’s really got me asking questions. I know that there are one-time things when it comes to strange creatures or bizarre phenomena. However, with this one, I find myself really skeptical of the veracity. I think that maybe Judy and her friend mistook the mist for something else or were simply seeing things; maybe the light from the headlights, combined with the mist, caused an illusion that looked like a large mattress or something. I doubt this was an actual “flying mist mattress”.

Conclusion

Well, another mystery covered for this year’s Decemystery. We’ve still got a ways to go until the month’s over though, so until tomorrow: stay happy, stay healthy, and I hope to see you here tomorrow when we discuss something super cool! Tootles! =)