Footsteps and a felt presence on a gravel path at Custer Battlefield
A caller who gives their name as [name withheld], listening on KOMO from the Seattle area, says that about five years earlier they walked alone at the Custer Battlefield after their family had gone on ahead. The caller reports hearing distinct footsteps on a gravel path behind them, twice, with no one in sight. They later say aloud that they felt a definite presence. The host responds with his own assertions that battlefields and sites of violent death are haunted.
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 1996.mp3”, starting at 3:00:38). Is this you, or someone you know? Ask for a correction or removal.
The story as told
The caller, who gives their name as [name withheld] and says they are listening on KOMO in the Seattle area, tells Art Bell they had an experience at the Custer Battlefield about five years earlier (roughly five years before the 1996 broadcast). The caller says they went there with their family but had gone ahead to the battle site by themselves in the afternoon, and that they turned out to be the last person in the park. According to the caller, a ranger came up and said they would leave the gate unlocked so the caller could let themselves out.
The caller says they were standing near the mass grave site when they decided to walk a path over to where other men had been killed. The caller describes it as very quiet, with only the wind audible. While walking on the gravel path, the caller reports hearing a definite footstep directly behind them. They turned around expecting the ranger, but it was almost dark and they saw nothing. The caller says their heart leaped into their throat and they thought they must have imagined it. They say they started walking again and deliberately listened, then heard it again right behind them, a crunching, walking sound like a footstep on gravel. The caller says they stopped, and it took one more step and stopped. They report then calling out, asking if something was there and what it wanted. They say they never received any answer, but they could feel a very definite presence. The caller offers the view that there must be something about sites of real tragedy and violent deaths. The host agrees, calling battlefields haunted and citing Okinawa as an example. The caller’s part of the broadcast then ends.
Reported events, in order
- 0:15
The caller gives their name as [name withheld] and says they are listening on KOMO from the Seattle area.
- 0:22
The caller says they had an experience at the Custer Battlefield about five years earlier. They went with their family and went ahead to the battle site alone in the afternoon.
- 0:33
The caller says they turned out to be the last person in the park, and a ranger told the caller the ranger would leave the gate unlocked.
- 0:41
The caller says they were near the mass grave site and decided to walk a path to where other men were killed.
- 0:50
The caller describes the scene as very quiet, with only the wind audible.
- 0:56
The caller reports hearing a definite footstep right behind them on a gravel path.
- 1:01
The caller says they turned around expecting the ranger, that it was almost dark, that nothing was there, and that their heart leaped into their throat.
- 1:14
The caller says they thought they must have been imagining things.
- 1:17
The caller reports hearing the sound again while walking and listening, then stopping. It took one more step and stopped.
- 1:33
The caller says they asked aloud what was there and what it wanted, and received no answer.
- 1:43
The caller reports feeling a very definite presence.
- 1:48
The caller offers that there must be something about sites of real tragedy and violent deaths.
- 1:55
The host asserts that places of violent, unexpected death are haunted and cites Okinawa as an example.
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· 1:01
The caller says they heard a definite footstep right behind them on the gravel path, turned, and found no one.
- observation· 1:25
The caller says they heard the sound again while walking, that it crunched like a footstep on gravel, and that after they stopped it took one more step and stopped.
- observation· 1:38
The caller says they asked aloud what was there and what it wanted and received no answer.
- observation· 1:43
A line labeled as the caller (likely the same caller) reports feeling a very definite presence.
- interpretation· 1:48
The caller’s interpretation is that sites of real tragedy and violent deaths have something to do with the events.
- host statement· 2:03
The host states that places where many people have died violently and unexpectedly are haunted.
- host statement· 1:59
The host states, about Okinawa, that it is a haunted island.
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 firsthand story with a concrete location, an ordered sequence, and stated self-checks. It is brief and consists entirely of a sound with no independent support, and simple explanations involving an unseen source are not ruled out.
Evidence for and against
- Firsthand: [quote withheld]
- Concrete setting and sequence: [quote withheld] and [quote withheld]
- The caller reports checking for themselves: turning around, walking again and listening, stopping, and speaking aloud.
- The caller hedges rather than escalating: [quote withheld] and [quote withheld]
- Nothing seen, no second witness, no physical trace: the whole report is a sound and a stated feeling.
- The date is vague: [quote withheld]
- The simplest explanation (an unseen person or animal on gravel at dusk) is not addressed.
- One line describing the turn-around is garbled: [quote withheld]
- The line about the presence is labeled unclearly in the automatic transcript.
- 1:01
- 1:25
- 1:14
What the model inferred (not said on air): Estimates by part: closeness to the source about 20 (sole firsthand witness, brief); detail about 11 (named site, path, and time of day, but no exact date or checkable detail); internal consistency about 15 (consistent sequence, one garbled line); alternative explanations about 8 (an unseen person or animal is not excluded); caution in claims about 8 (what the caller perceived and what they inferred are mostly separated, with some escalation in the phrase “very definite”). The sum is about 62.
Nothing beyond the caller’s own word is present. No second witness speaks, and no photograph, recording, or physical trace is claimed or examined.
Evidence for and against
- A place name is given, which could in principle be checked: [quote withheld]
- No claimed witness: the family is said to have gone ahead, and no one is said to have been with the caller.
- No physical evidence claimed or examined.
- No precise date or record offered.
- Even the one detail that can be checked (the site) is not tied to a specific date or a documented visit.
- 0:22
- 0:33
What the model inferred (not said on air): Under the scoring guide this is the “teller's assertion only” range of 0 to 10. I place it at the top of that range solely because a named public site is given, though it was not checked and no outside check was performed.
A lone walker at dusk on a battlefield being followed by footsteps that answer their own stopping is genuinely unsettling. But there is no threat, contact, injury, or visual horror, and no escalation beyond the single encounter.
Evidence for and against
- [quote withheld] and [quote withheld]
- A setting of violent death is invoked: [quote withheld]
- Unresolved ending: [quote withheld]
- No figure seen, no physical contact, no harm reported.
- The caller repeatedly frames it as possibly imagined, and the host’s closing remarks are conversational rather than ominous.
- The “presence” line is brief and partly garbled.
- 1:21
- 0:56
What the model inferred (not said on air): Rated above a mild “eerie” anchor because the sound follows the caller and halts in step with them in a dark, remote location. Rated below “genuinely unsettling” (50) because nothing threatening, visible, or physical is reported.
The core element, footsteps following a lone walker and stopping when they stop, is a familiar ghost-story frame. The battlefield and mass-grave setting and the single extra step add a modest distinctive detail. Comparison with the rest of the archive is provisional, because the archive is still small and that part carries almost no weight.
Evidence for and against
- Distinctive detail: [quote withheld]
- A type of setting unusual for the archive: a battlefield mass grave site.
- Stories of footsteps following someone are a stock motif.
- No strange event beyond an unseen sound.
- Originality compared with the rest of the archive cannot be calculated meaningfully while the archive is this small.
- 1:25
What the model inferred (not said on air): Model estimate of 45 (familiar frame plus one distinctive detail). The published originality score would be that value at this early stage.
Scoring confidence 0.70 · analysis confidence 0.75 · checked against outside sources: no · evidence available: The caller’s firsthand story (live call, brief).; No documentation, recording, or photograph claimed.; No second witness speaks on air.. The originality score blends the model's score (45) 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.
- Another person or an animal moving on the gravel path out of sight in the dusk. · The caller describes a gravel path and a crunching sound like a footstep. The caller notes it was almost dark and that they had believed themselves the last person in the park, but does not describe looking for anyone off the path.
- Sound effects, such as an echo or reflection of the caller’s own footsteps, or wind-driven debris on gravel. · The caller reports the only other sound was wind, and that the second occurrence came while they were walking. The caller reports it continuing one step after they stopped, which they do not explain.
What stands out
The story involves no visible figure at all. The reported events are limited to footsteps that follow the caller and halt one step after they stop, plus a stated feeling of presence. The caller also reports speaking aloud to whatever it was and receiving no answer.
Related stories
Matched by shared recurring details, categories, and wording.