(Airport Lounge, Anywhere) Today, a new report published in Forbes Magazine has the business world on the defense as the article describes an elaborate world of business travel all predicated on the concept of forever being followed by some sort of entity out for your blood. For those familiar with the film It Follows, you will know exactly what we are talking about. For those who aren’t, we’ll explain further, but the main takeaway is that close to 93% of all international business travel is done simply to appease a supernatural force and not to actually drive revenue to employers. What does this mean for the future of traveling salespeople? Only time will tell.

The original article states that the study to find this information was conducted over the last 10 years. And while the proposed idea for the study was simply to find out how truthful traveling business people were about their expense reports and travel costs, they discovered a complex web of deception keeping the entire industry afloat.

Here is a quick excerpt of one conversation with a traveling salesman named Daniel Flashes that first caught the reporters’ eye.

Reporter: So why do you travel so much? It seems like with your products flying off the shelves, there would be no need to fly as much as you do. And yet, last year you were on a flight at least once ever week.

Daniel Flashes: I have to keep moving. I can’t stay in the same place for too long. Even if I try to go out and make friends, maybe even meet someone and take them home, I know it’s only a matter of time before I have to get moving again. At this point its just part of my life.

Reporter: But what are you looking for with all of this travel?

Daniel Flashes: It’s not what I am looking for, it’s what is looking for me. Back in college, I met someone at a club and went home with them. It was just a one night thing. Then, the next day, I was walking home from the library and noticed a professor of mine trailing behind me. I paused for a second for him to keep up so I could chat with him, but then I saw that there was no light behind his eyes and that he was coming straight for me. I started running and, well, I guess I never really stopped.

As the study went on, more and more stories like this kept coming up, dating back almost 80 years. This really casts the entire industry in a new light knowing exactly how much money and time is spent trying to avoid this singular entity that doesn’t seem to want anything.

There are a few reports of traveling salespeople trying to retire in peace, each ending with their body being found just weeks later, unable to outrun what was coming for them.

All this is to say – if you have someone on your team who travels for work, you should talk with them and see if they really need to be flying so much or maybe they just need to finally confront this entity. You’ll be surprised to find out exactly what they’ve been up to.