Phantom Hitchhikers: The Phantom Hitchhiker is a well-known and widespread ghost story. Reports of Phantom Hitchhikers (or other vehicle passengers, such as taxi cab or bus passengers) are reported from around the world, but seem to be most common to the United States. It most cases the legend runs like this:
A man is driving along a lonely back road late at night. He suddenly spots a woman, often dressed in white, standing at the side of the road. The man pulls over and offers to give the woman a lift. The woman accepts, and it just so happens her destination is the same town the man is heading to. The man then offers to drive the woman home. Along the way he may give her his coat, especially if it has been raining and the woman is wet. The woman is usually very beautiful, but very quiet and withdrawn and barely says another word. As they arrive at the woman’s home, the man turns to look at her and is bewildered to find she has vanished. Undaunted he continues to the address given. There he speaks to the residents of the house and is amazed to hear the woman was killed on this same night some time ago. The spot where the man picked her up was the location of her murder or fatal accident. If the man then goes to visit her grave, he will find his coat (if he had given it to her) draped across the tombstone.
There are many variations to this story with the details usually depending on the region. In Japan, for example, there are many stories of phantom taxicab riders. Hitchhikers are not the only phantoms reported. Ghost ships, cars, trains, monks, nuns, and animals have been reported the world over. Phantom travelers and vehicles usually only appear for a short time and vanish once a specific location has been reached. Most haunt only a specific area and appear periodically. In many cases the phantoms are harbingers of some sort of disaster or tragedy.