Boulders thrown around a camper on the Queets River
Caller [name withheld], from Graham, Washington, describes four men playing poker in a camper beside the Queets River. Around 1:30 a.m., rocks began landing around the vehicle for about three hours, along with grunts that he and Art Bell compared with a recorded “Sasquatch” sound. In the morning, [name withheld] says, large boulders lay in a circle around the camper, and it took two trucks to move them. He dates the event to 1975, says he has never returned to the spot, and offers no cause beyond “something awfully big.”
This clip comes from the source recording. AI chose where it starts and ends, so it may start or end a little early or late. The word-for-word transcript is not published. You can hear the source recording on the Internet Archive (file “Ghost to Ghost 1995.mp3”, starting at 1:48:18). Is this you, or someone you know? Ask for a correction or removal.
The story as told
[name withheld], calling from Graham, Washington, gives a firsthand story he dates to 1975, when he had just left the service. He says four men took two pickup trucks, one carrying a camper, to a spot up the Queets River on the west side of the Olympic Mountains, arriving at dusk. They sat in one camper playing poker. At about 1:30 a.m. they heard splashes and grunts from the river and assumed it was a bear. The grunts grew louder, they heard large rocks cracking against each other, and the sounds moved closer until rocks were landing outside the camper with a thud. All four agreed not to go outside. [name withheld] says the rocks whistled through the air, crashing beside the camper and into the water, for about three hours. He says the cry was close to a recorded “Sasquatch” sound Art had played, which Art described as like a man in horrible agony. They stayed on the floor of the camper and, he says, could not move. The crashing stopped about an hour before daybreak, around 4:30 a.m. When they opened the door, the second truck was fine, but huge boulders lay in a circle around their truck and camper. One truck pushing and another pulling were needed to move enough of them to get out. [name withheld] says the four still talk about it when they meet, that he has never gone back up there, and that it had to be something awfully big.
Reported events, in order
- 0:14
[name withheld] says four of them drove two pickup trucks, one with a camper, to a spot up the Queets River.
- 0:34
They arrived at dusk, and he describes the darkness there as total.
- 0:44
All four sat in one camper to play poker.
- 0:51
Around 1:30 a.m. they heard splashes and grunts from the river.
- 1:01
They assumed the noises were a bear in the river.
- 1:08
The grunts grew louder, and they heard big rocks cracking against each other.
- 1:21
The rock sounds moved closer to the camper, and thuds were felt on the ground outside.
- 1:32
The men agreed that nobody would go outside.
- 1:47
[name withheld] describes it as though someone outside was throwing huge rocks.
- 2:29
He says the sound of the voice was close to a recorded “Sasquatch” sound Art had played, echoing up and down the river.
- 2:38
He says the rocks whistled through the air, crashing beside the camper and into the water.
- 2:50
The crashing continued for about three hours.
- 2:57
The four stayed on the floor of the camper and, he says, could not move.
- 3:11
Around 4:30 a.m. the sun began to come up. The crashing had stopped about an hour before sunrise.
- 3:36
They opened the door and went outside.
- 3:45
He found huge boulders in a circle around their truck and camper. The other truck was fine.
- 4:08
It took one truck pushing and another pulling to move the boulders enough to get out.
- 4:21
[name withheld] dates the event to 1975, when he had just left the service, and says the group still talks about it.
- 4:50
They pushed the rocks aside and left, and he says he has never been back to that place.
Claims
Each claim is labeled as something the person telling the story noticed (observation), what they made of it (interpretation), something others told them (hearsay), or something the host said (host statement).
- observation· 0:14
[name withheld] says four of them drove two pickup trucks, one carrying a camper, to a spot up the Queets River.
- observation· 0:51
Around 1:30 a.m. he heard splashes and grunts from the river.
- interpretation· 1:01
He and his companions at first took the noises to be a bear in the river.
- observation· 1:08
The grunts grew louder, and he heard large rocks cracking against one another.
- observation· 1:21
The rock sounds moved steadily closer to the camper, with thuds felt on the ground outside.
- interpretation· 1:47
[name withheld] describes it as though someone outside was throwing huge rocks.
- observation· 1:52
He says he had wanted to call the previous week about the “Sasquatch sound.”
- interpretation· 2:29
He agrees the sound was close to the recording Art played and that it echoed along the river.
- observation· 2:38
He says he heard the rocks whistling through the air and crashing near the camper and in the water.
- observation· 2:50
The crashing continued for about three hours.
- observation· 3:00
The four men stayed on the floor of the camper and could not move.
- observation· 3:45
After daylight he found huge boulders lying in a circle around their truck and camper, while the other truck was untouched.
- interpretation· 4:03
He concludes that whatever caused it had to be very large.
- observation· 4:08
Moving the boulders took one truck pushing and another pulling.
- observation· 4:21
He dates the event to 1975, when he had just left the service, and says the four still talk about it when they meet.
- host statement· 2:20
Art Bell describes the recording used for comparison as sounding like a man in horrible agony.
- host statement· 4:16
Art Bell asks [name withheld] to swear the story is true, and [name withheld] answers that he does.
Scores, with reasons
An AI model gave these scores using a fixed set of scoring rules (scoring-v1). They are editorial judgments and rough guides, not the odds that anything paranormal happened. How scoring works.
This is a clear, specific, firsthand story with a consistent sequence and a stated date and place, which puts it above the typical brief caller story. It falls short of the higher range because nothing is backed up beyond claimed witnesses, and no ordinary explanation is addressed or ruled out.
Evidence for and against
- Firsthand participation: [name withheld] says he was inside the camper and went outside to see the boulders himself.
- Concrete specifics: approximate times (1:30 a.m., 4:30 a.m.), a three-hour duration, a named river and mountain range, a stated year, and the number of people and vehicles.
- The sequence is orderly, and he answers Art's questions without changing the story.
- He separates what he perceived from what he concluded, saying he does not know what it was.
- The three companions are claimed but do not speak on air, so nothing beyond [name withheld]'s word supports the story.
- No photograph, record, or independent report of the boulders is mentioned. The rocks were pushed aside and left.
- [name withheld] does not consider ordinary possibilities such as a rockfall from the cliff he describes.
- He tells it about twenty years after the stated 1975 date, from memory of a single night.
- For some lines it is not clear who is speaking (HOST? and the caller labels), though the thread of the story is clear.
- The boulder weight is garbled in the transcript ([quote withheld]), so the size claim cannot be used precisely.
- The three companions and what they remember now are unknown. Only [name withheld]'s word is available.
- 0:14
- 0:51
- 4:21
What the model inferred (not said on air): The component estimates are: closeness to the source 22 (direct participant), specificity 15 (times, place, date, and numbers, but few records that can be checked), internal consistency 14 (ordered and responsive to questions; the 4:30 a.m. sunrise detail is a minor oddity), alternative explanations 10 (a rockfall or an animal fits the sounds, but not the circle of boulders), and calibration 8 (he admits he does not know what it was but leans on the Sasquatch comparison). The total is about 69, adjusted to 66 to stay conservative without verification.
This part of the broadcast has [name withheld]'s word plus a few specifics that could be checked and claimed companions, but no physical evidence and no second witness on air. That puts it in the low range, in line with the usual level in the archive.
Evidence for and against
- The story supplies specifics that could be checked: year (1975), river (Queets), region (west side of the Olympic Mountains), and the caller's town (Graham, Washington).
- Three other witnesses are claimed to have been in the camper.
- No object, image, recording, or written record of the 1975 event is said to exist or to have been examined.
- The boulders were moved and the site left, so their arrangement cannot be checked.
- The claimed witnesses never speak and are not named.
- It is not stated whether anyone thought to photograph the boulders or tell anyone at the time. The lack of such evidence is inferred from silence in the transcript.
- 3:45
- 4:16
What the model inferred (not said on air): Under the scoring guide, claimed witnesses and unchecked specifics fall in the 11 to 25 range. The score is set at 18 because the location, date, and makeup of the group are given, but nothing was ever verified or produced.
The story builds long, unresolved dread: unseen heavy impacts around a small shelter at night, men lying on the floor for hours, and an ominous circle of boulders left behind. There is no comforting ending and no identified cause.
Evidence for and against
- Sustained threat: heavy rocks are heard passing through the air and crashing beside and behind the camper for about three hours.
- Something intrudes on a shelter: four men huddle on the camper floor because they fear a rock will hit them.
- The unsettling morning image of boulders arranged in a circle around the camper and truck.
- Art compares the voice to a man in horrible agony, [name withheld] agrees, and the sound echoes along the river. [name withheld] says the hair on his neck stands up.
- Nothing is reported as harmed or touched, and the men were not injured.
- The episode ends on a practical, almost comic note about needing a bathroom, and with relief at sunrise.
- No figure, voice, or presence is seen at any point.
- Emotional language in the transcript comes from [name withheld] and is used here only as part of the story, not as evidence about the events or about him.
- 2:38
- 2:50
- 3:00
- 3:45
What the model inferred (not said on air): It rates above “genuinely unsettling” because the danger goes on for three hours and the physical aftermath is left unexplained. It rates below the “frightening” anchors because no figure is seen and no one is harmed.
A familiar frame (thrown rocks and a Sasquatch-like cry at a night camp) carries one uncommon detail, a ring of large boulders around a single vehicle. The score sits slightly above a stock story rather than high.
Evidence for and against
- The aftermath is distinctive: large boulders arranged in a circle around one truck and camper while the second truck was untouched.
- The boulders took one truck pushing and another pulling to clear, a concrete physical detail rather than only a sound.
- [name withheld] ties the voice to recordings played on the show, making the comparison part of the story.
- Rocks or stones thrown at a structure, and Sasquatch-linked cries, are familiar elements in this kind of broadcast story.
- The setting, men in a remote camp hearing unexplained noises at night, is a common frame.
- The story is left without resolution, which is itself a standard ending.
- How new the story is compared with the rest of the archive cannot be judged from a single short call. Only the estimate from the content is given here.
- 3:45
- 1:47
What the model inferred (not said on air): Provisional score of 52. The comparison with the rest of the archive depends on how rare the motifs are and how much the story resembles others, and it is worked out separately. With a small pilot archive, this score should be treated as provisional.
Scoring confidence 0.72 · analysis confidence 0.78 · checked against outside sources: no · evidence available: [name withheld]'s own firsthand word on what he says he heard and saw; Three other witnesses claimed to be in the camper, none of whom speaks on air; No photograph, recording, document, or report of the event is mentioned; The boulders are said to have been pushed aside by the campers themselves and are not described as kept or examined. The originality score blends the model's score (52) with how rare the story's details are across the archive. This method is still provisional.
Ordinary explanations to consider
These are possibilities only. None is a finding about what happened.
- Rocks moving naturally: boulders falling or shifting from the cliff and riverbank, producing cracking and impact sounds through the night. · [name withheld] describes a cliff across the river of “huge boulders” and says the sounds moved closer over hours. Falling or loosened rock from that slope, or rocks shifted by water and an animal, could account for the cracking and impacts.
- A large animal, such as a bear, foraging in and around the river and loosening and moving rocks. · [name withheld] himself says [quote withheld] and grunts plus splashes fit a large animal in the water.
- A person or group throwing rocks at the camper as a prank or to frighten the campers. · [name withheld] says [quote withheld] A person or persons outside the camper could make the sounds of thrown rock, though [name withheld] gives no motive, sighting, or later admission.
What stands out
The story is almost entirely about sound, with heavy rock impacts around a small camper over three hours. It ends with a claimed physical trace: large boulders arranged in a circle around one truck and camper while the second vehicle was untouched. [name withheld] links the cry he heard to Sasquatch-type recordings discussed on the show rather than to a ghost or a dead person.
Related stories
Matched by shared recurring details, categories, and wording.