On March 20, 1993, a homeless woman named Clare Wibson was struck and killed by a truck on the Newell Highway through Australia's largest forest. The driver's official statement described her final moments in chilling detail: "She turned towards me, arms outstretched in a hugging-like gesture, and ran towards the truck. The last thing I saw was the white hair flaring out around her wild-eyed face and the expression was one of manic glee."

Since that night, hundreds of travelers have reported seeing an elderly woman with white hair and a shopping trolley walking the same desolate 120-kilometer stretch through the Pilliga Forest. Truckers who've never heard the legend stop in nearby towns to report an old woman on foot in the middle of nowhere. Some describe hitting a trolley on the road, only to find no damage and no wreckage. Others speak of a figure that appears in their headlights, arms outstretched, before vanishing into darkness.

This episode explores one of Australia's most persistent modern hauntings, from the 2006 ABC Radio Overnights broadcast that brought the legend to national attention, to the disturbing 1978 account by a caller named "Bongo" who claimed something far worse than the Princess walks the Pilliga at night. With over 2.5 million TikTok posts and countless witness testimonies spanning three decades, the Pilliga Princess has become embedded in Australian trucking culture and folklore.

Is she a ghost? A collective hallucination born from highway hypnosis on one of the country's most isolated roads? Or something that defies easy explanation?

Sources:

• ABC Radio Overnights broadcast (2006) - witness testimonies
• Daily Liberal and Central Western Daily - official accident reports (March 1993)
• Museum of Lost: "The Pilliga Princess" - comprehensive case documentation
• Coonabarabran Lawn Cemetery records - grave marker documentation
• True Hauntings Podcast, All Aussie Mystery Hour, Belief Hole Podcast - witness interviews
• "There's Something in the Pilliga" (2014, dir. Dane Millerd) - documentary evidence

Content Warning: This episode discusses homelessness, mental illness, and fatal traffic accidents.

Title Music: by Jesse Frank from Pixabay

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