(Buckle up, buckaroos. This is gonna be a long one.)

Back in 2016, I was up late in my room during the summer working on something on my computer. My parents and siblings were asleep in their rooms, so the whole building was silent and all lights were turned off except for the glow of my monitor.

Out from the side of the building where my window faced was a medium-sized fenced-off field where a couple of horses usually roamed around, with another road on the other side of it. They were there again this night, so I occasionally stopped to look at them. I like horses.

I was drawing some stuff while listening to music with only one earphone, as I always like to make sure at least one ear is free for listening. The song I was listening to ended, and with both ears fully cleared I was able to hear something strange.

You know that sound submarine radar things do (I think they're called SONARs)? That sort of "bloop" noise they make when scanning for something? I faintly heard it outside of the window. It sounded distant but it was very noticeable, especially with how quiet my neighborhood becomes at night.

I took off the one earphone I had and looked out the window in confusion. I wasn't near the ocean, and it was about 1:00 AM. Being a small town, traffic doesn't usually pass by often at that hour. Strangely, the horses were gone, which made me feel a bit lonely.

A little creeped out, I moved my curtains back into place and went back to my computer. I was settling back into my seat when I noticed the sound was getting louder. Not super loud, but it was much clearer than before. I froze in place and listened.

I then heard the sounds of wheels moving over dirt and an engine. After about ten seconds, the pinging remained consistent but whatever vehicle was outside had stopped, leaving only the engine running. I couldn't tell how close the vehicle was to my home so I put the computer to sleep to make my room was completely dark and I went to the window.

I peeked through a small opening in the curtains to see the car parked on the other road, the one across from the field. It's headlights were on for a second before both they and the engine stopped, and the pinging finally ended. I tried to see if anyone was inside but it was too dark, and the car was parked too far away.

I tried to study the vehicle for any clues as to why it was there. It was a white van, with what seemed to be a scratched off logo on it's side. But I was much too far away to make out any details other than that. So I just stayed still and observed.

There was absolutely no movement for about 40 seconds. I felt really uneasy at that moment. I remembered horror movies where this sort of stuff happened, and I tried to calm myself with the knowledge that he was both far away and probably unable to see me.

I was startled from my frantic thoughts by the engines starting. Despite the fact that his headlights were back on, I was still unable to see anyone in the driver's seat due to the darkness. In order to continue back from the road he was previously driving on he had to swivel his car around in a grassy patch. I knew that movement would cause his lights to shine on our building so I ducked under the curtains. When the light had passed, I got back into position and watched him drive away. The pinging never started again that night.

I went to my bed and sat for a bit. I was thoroughly creeped out and confused. I thought over all the reasons he could be there: dumping something, just taking a break from the road, maybe picking up a package that was somewhere near there. I was most disturbed by the fact that he might've been there to observe us, since we we had the closest occupied building to that road. And another question remained: why the pinging? I guess he liked the sound of it. White noise.

The next morning I went over to the spot they had stopped and found nothing. I brought my old doggo along as well, hoping she'd sniff something out. No luck. I told my parents about it and they were slightly intrigued but quickly forgot about it, to my annoyance. My siblings acted similarly. That night, I stayed up late again and tried to listen for it again. Nothing. I was relieved yet slightly disappointed, to be honest. I continued my listening pattern for about 4 days and then gave up.

After a few months we ended up moving to a new home further in town. I haven't seen anything like that ever since. I looked it up and it seems it's occured to a few others as well. Theories vary, with some saying drug runners were delivering and others saying it's some sort of radio detection thing or whatever? That's all beyond my comprehension. It's just a fun little spooky story to tell people sometimes.

Reading some of the stuff on this subreddit makes my story feel unimportant in comparison. I wasn't being actively targeted or followed, to my knowledge. But it still makes me pause for a moment and think of how mysterious things can be in our world. I hope you enjoyed it :D