Personal Thoughts On U.S. Highway 666

This highway was originally numbered 660 because it was a branch of U.S. Highway 60. Then, in 1926, highway 60 was shifted farther south and the original routing was numbered 66. Subsequently, highway 660 was now a branch of highway 66. As a result, it was renumbered 666. When it received this designation, I am sure highway officials never dreamed about the firestorm it would create in the future. This number is mentioned in the Bible as being "the number of the beast." Many religions attach a negative connotation to the number and several Indian religions do as well. In Navajo culture, the number 6 is unlucky and 666 means three times as unlucky.
  However, alot of mysterious things have happened on U.S. Highway 666. Is that because of this highway's former designation or was it a coincidence that these things happened on a highway that was once signed with "the "number of the beast?"
    For example, there was once a flaming semi-truck that was barreling out of control on the highway. These things have happened elsewhere around the country and probably around the world, too. Yet, when the truck finally went off the road and crashed, no evidence of a driver was ever found. Nothing! The nearby desert was searched. Nothing! No footprints led away from the cab of the burning truck. I believe this happened sometime in the mid 1970s. This was probably "mythified" into the story of the Mad Trucker that hated life and deliberately tried to run people off the road.
  There was a roaming pack of wild dogs on the highway once, probably more than once. I do know that a man that was changing a flat tire on the side of highway 666 and he was attacked by a pack of wild dogs. The legend of the "Hounds of Hell"most likely grew from this incident.
  There are numerous cases of strange disappearances along the highway and mysterious loss of time that do give me pause and make me wonder. Such as the man that took 5 hours and 15 minutes to drive from Shiprock to Gallup, which is a distance of 93 miles. That should take 1 1/2 hours. The man had absolutely no explanation for this. There are many other cases where it would take someone  about 3 hours, sometimes 4 hours, to drive that same distance and they had no idea why it took them so long. Many of the disappearances could be the result of criminals abducting people that stopped for some reason or they could be the result of someone breaking down and then walking off into the desert and perhaps got lost or dying of thirst. But there are also alot of strange disappearances that do not fit this pattern at all and remain a mystery to this day. Strange disappearances have happened on other highways as well, but these highway were not numbered 666.
There are cases of a driver picking up a hitchhiker, usually female, and then letting the hitchhiker off 20 or 30 miles down the road and then somehow that same hitchhiker would be standing beside the road many miles later and there is no way he or she could have gotten that far, that fast.