4 corners Mystery Methane concentration

[SternWake]

 Back in 2002 I was driving x country from NE to SW, and stopped at Shiprock peak In NewMexico Overnight, parked right at the base of it.

While there was a distant trailer just visible in the distance visible with binoculars at that time, I was quite alone.  Overnight I was awoken to my Van rocking back and forth like there was a great wind happening, but there was not, or somebody rocking my Van back and forth, but the next morning revealed no footprints but my own anywhere around my Van.

I was fairly spooked during the rocking as it lasted quite a long time and was quite vigorous, more so than the easter sunday 7.0 earthquake from a few years back i experienced.  It is likely the most 'paranormal' event I have ever experienced as I could not explain it by any logical manner.

I did stop in the nearest town and ask about a possible earthquake but just got blank stares and head shakes.

On Yahoo news page I just saw this article

http://io9.com/whats-causing-this-weird-desert-hot-spot-nasa-spotted-1696510080

Perhaps I was sniffing too much methane and hallucinated the weird event.

 

[compassrose]

Two minor quakes near that day...

1.8 11km S of Beaver, Utah 2015-04-06 06:46:43 UTC-06:00
1.1 20km WNW of Kanab, Utah 2015-04-02 16:51:52 UTC-06:00

What you experienced may have been either too mild to show up OR a localized micro-burst of wind. Of course, living in Roswell, I have to add it could have been a weather balloon.

 

[flying kurbmaster]

Methane, perhaps the planet was passing wind and you happened to be parked over the vent hole, thank god, you weren't smoking at the time.

 

[highdesertranger]

you people are to much. highdesertranger

 

[SternWake]

A 1.8 earthquake  a hundred miles away likely could not be felt if I were wide awake sleeping on the ground.  This rocking was like parking sideways in 75MPG gusts, yet there was no wind.

 

[sephson]

No more methane!

[video=youtube]

 

[WriterMs]

Did you check for critter prints when you looked for human footprints?

I had an experience in central NM.. up in the Ft. Stanton area. About midnight.. my van rocked...hard. And then there was another round of something pushing on it. It was a moonless night outside but finally I was able to see the slight silhouette of the culprit. A young elk in velvet!

The flash on my camera didn't send him away for long. I dug out a hand-pump air horn and blasted that a couple of times. That did the trick for the night.

The next morning, I had bloody smears at a few places on my white van where he was rubbing his antlers. He had really liked my spare tire mounted on the back door, too.

I don't "think" there are elk near Shiprock, but maybe deer?

Or, it could just be a shift into an alternate universe for a few minutes.

 

[LeeRevell]

Here in sunny North Florida, there is a local legend regarding the "Wakulla Volcano". A plume of smoke is occasionally seen in the Apalachicola National Forest in Wakulla County, south of me. Sometimes it appears on clear days, with no storms or possibility of lightning causing a fire. It has been ascribed to methane catching fire in the fetid swamp, and to the possibility of peat catching fire and smoldering beneath the ground.
This has led me to using it as an excuse for the fact that my home area, west of town, tends to run several degrees warmer than the lower lying areas - I tell folks I live on a 'volcanic ridge'!
Strange winds are no stranger here either. We once had the "Great No Name Storm of March", which hit late one night, with the force of a hurricane! But hurricane season runs from June til November! This storm downed trees, dropped treelimbs, and caused damage to traffic lights in town and ripped a section of roof off our Civic Center in town.
I slept right through it, as it happened on a Saturday. I got up, put the TV on and saw reports of damage and devastation! Walked outside to see limbs and litter all over the neighborhood! But I was living down in a hollow, and winds tended to go right over us at treetop level. I never heard or felt a thing while sleeping! WEIRD!!
Such a sudden wind could have overturned vans and large trucks.

 

[akrvbob]

I get a newsletter from Natural Resource Defense  Council and ironically today's issue had a story on the very thing you are talking about. Here is a link to the story:

http://www.onearth.org/earthwire/methane-hot-spot-southwest

And here is a Satellite shot of Methane production around the country. You can see the extreme prodution near 4-corners:

 

[highdesertranger]

yeap now I understand, those New Mexico green chilies. I think I am going with chili verde for dinner. I report back later. highdesertranger