On a pitch-black stretch of the Deep Playa, a Burner found themselves parked on a piece of art having one of those surreal, slow-motion conversations that only happen at night on the playa. They were alone — or so they thought — until a stranger wandered up and the two started trading small talk.
The chat took a left turn when the stranger said something unexpected: despite how movies portray extraterrestrials, it’s actually the aliens who are terrified of humans. Before the storyteller could dig in, the man went from philosophical to panicked — full-on hysterical and distressed. A passing participant tried to calm him, then quietly told the original Burner that maybe leaving would help.
They left. And like a lot of Burning Man tales, the details linger. Was it sleep deprivation, stimulants, a mental-health episode, or some earnest cosmic revelation? The thread of reactions was classic festival-floor analysis: some commenters chalked it up to drugs, others half-joked the stranger was an alien overwhelmed by humanity, and a few pointed to the familiar embarrassed scramble people get when they realize they said something wild while high.
This kind of encounter sums up the Deep Playa: equal parts eerie, communal, and human. You’ll get strange wisdom, weird energy, and the occasional crisis. It’s a reminder that the nighttime playa is a place of stories — and that staying aware, keeping your distance when someone’s clearly in distress, and getting them help when needed are basic playa survival skills.
Whether you keep it as a spooky anecdote or a cautionary note, moments like these are what festival lore is made of. They stay with you long after you’ve left the dust behind.
Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/BurningMan/comments/1p8ryzj/this_one_time_out_on_the_deep_playa/