Ouija board session in a box canyon and a spirit speaking through a participant
A caller addressed as [name withheld] describes a 1982 Ouija board session in a box canyon with the caller’s friend [name withheld] and their wives. The caller reports that two women got answers. The caller was later told they had been chanting in an altered state. [name withheld] wrote pages in an unfamiliar script, and [name withheld]’s wife spoke in a low voice that the caller took to be a spirit. The caller says the spirit identified itself as an unburied Indian hunting party and that [name withheld] guided the spirits to cross over. The caller says a coworker later reported that the poster-tearing in their son’s room had stopped.
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 1:40:30). Is this you, or someone you know? Ask for a correction or removal.
The story as told
The caller says that about 1982 they had just remarried and were working a swing shift. Around Halloween the caller was talking with a coworker who said their son was putting psychedelic posters up in the son’s bedroom and that something kept tearing them off the walls. The caller asked where the coworker lived and learned it was close to the caller’s own home. Eight months later, on a summer night, the caller, their friend [name withheld], and their wives took a Ouija board in the back of the caller’s pickup truck. They parked in a deserted box canyon next to the housing tract where the coworker lived. The caller and their wife tried the Ouija board first, but the caller says it has never worked for them and they got nothing. [name withheld] and one of the women tried it and also got nothing. Then the two women tried it. They began asking questions and getting answers that there was a spirit there. [name withheld] made notes on a pad of paper. The caller says they then got a weird feeling, picked up a folding chair, went to the edge of a ravine, sat down, and felt calm. The next thing the caller knew, [name withheld] was shaking the caller and asking if the caller was okay. [name withheld] said [name withheld] had come over with a tape recorder and that the caller had been sitting there chanting really weird stuff. The caller said they did not know where it came from. [name withheld] then got a weird feeling, and they went back to the truck, where the women were shaken up. [name withheld] sat in the chair, still holding the papers, and began writing. [name withheld] wrote three pages of something the caller at first thought looked maybe Chinese and later thought looked like Lakota Sioux writing. The caller said they did not know what was going on, but they knew there was a spirit, something, and the caller said they should get out of there. As they packed the truck, [name withheld]’s wife, who was slight in stature, jumped out and stood with her arms flexed out to her side. Her voice came out low, and she spoke to them in English. The caller says they talked for a long time to a spirit coming through [name withheld]. What they found out, the caller says, was that a hunting party of Indians up in Fox Canyon had been ambushed by a rival tribe and not buried. Their spirits were lost in the canyon and haunted the housing tract as it encroached on the area. [name withheld] told them it was time to go home and to cross over, saying [name withheld] would guide them and that a person named [name withheld] would help them cross over. About a month later the caller talked to the coworker, who said they had no more problems in the kids’ room. The host told the caller they had done a good thing. The caller then asked for a fax number and asked whether the host had a blue picture of Charlton Heston or David Canary in his house. The host declined to comment and ended the call. He later described the story in terms of possession, automatic writing, and speaking in tongues.
Reported events, in order
- 0:07
The caller recalls that about 1982, around Halloween at work, a coworker said their son’s psychedelic bedroom posters were being torn off the walls.
- 0:26
Eight months later, on a summer night, the caller, their friend [name withheld], and their wives took a Ouija board in the caller’s pickup truck.
- 0:35
They parked in a deserted box canyon next to the coworker’s housing tract.
- 0:43
The caller and their wife tried the Ouija board and got nothing. [name withheld] and one woman tried and got nothing.
- 0:52
The two women tried the Ouija board and began getting answers that there was a spirit there.
- 1:02
The caller got a weird feeling, carried a folding chair to the edge of a ravine, sat down, and felt calm.
- 1:18
[name withheld] shook the caller and said [name withheld] had recorded the caller chanting weird stuff. The caller said they did not know where it came from.
- 1:42
[name withheld] got a weird feeling. They returned to the truck, where the women were shaken up.
- 1:51
[name withheld] sat in the chair and wrote three pages of what looked possibly Chinese, and later possibly like Lakota Sioux writing.
- 2:13
As they packed up to leave, [name withheld]’s wife jumped out of the truck, stood with arms flexed, and spoke in a low voice.
- 2:33
They talked for a long time to a spirit coming through [name withheld]. They learned of an ambushed, unburied Indian hunting party whose spirits were lost in Fox Canyon and haunted the housing tract.
- 3:03
[name withheld] told the spirits to go home and cross over, naming [name withheld] as a guide.
- 3:24
About a month later the coworker said there had been no more problems in the kids’ room.
- 3:38
The host said the caller did a good thing. The caller asked for a fax number and about a blue picture of Charlton Heston or David Canary. The host declined to comment.
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).
- hearsay· 0:07
A coworker said something kept tearing psychedelic posters off their son’s bedroom walls.
- observation· 0:52
The two women using the Ouija board began getting answers that there was a spirit there.
- hearsay· 1:18
[name withheld] told the caller the caller had been sitting and chanting really weird stuff.
- observation· 1:51
[name withheld] wrote three pages of an unfamiliar script.
- interpretation· 1:58
The caller later concluded the writing looked like Lakota Sioux writing.
- observation· 2:26
[name withheld]’s wife jumped out of the truck with arms flexed and spoke in a low voice.
- interpretation· 2:33
The caller took the low voice to be a spirit coming through [name withheld].
- hearsay· 2:48
The spirit said a hunting party of Indians had been ambushed by a rival tribe and not buried.
- interpretation· 2:54
The spirits were lost in Fox Canyon and haunted the housing tract as it encroached on their area.
- hearsay· 3:16
[name withheld] told the spirits to go home and cross over, and said [name withheld] would help them.
- hearsay· 3:30
The coworker later reported no more problems in the kids’ room.
- host statement· 4:01
The host described the story as possession and automatic writing.
- host statement· 4:12
The host also described automatic writing.
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.
The story is firsthand and specific about the 1982 setting, the four participants, and the order of the session. It is weakened by easy ordinary explanations for the Ouija board, the reported trance, and the change of voice, and by the caller mixing what they saw with their spirit explanations.
Evidence for and against
- Firsthand presence at the Ouija session and right afterward.
- Concrete details: 1982, a summer night, a box canyon, a pickup truck, a folding chair, a ravine, three pages, the Lakota Sioux comparison, and a named spirit guide, [name withheld].
- A story told in order that answers the host’s interjections without obvious contradiction.
- Unconscious muscle movement and expectation easily fit the Ouija board answers.
- [name withheld] told the caller about the caller’s chanting and calm state. This is not independently verified.
- The possession-like change of voice is not backed up on air and has an ordinary alternative.
- Some of the transcript is garbled, especially around the tape recorder and the housing tract.
- In a few lines the labels switch between the host and the caller.
- The caller says they do not remember everything the spirit said.
- 0:32
- 0:52
- 2:26
What the model inferred (not said on air): I weighed firsthand presence and a specific sequence against the strong ordinary explanations for the board and the voice change. No outside check was possible.
The only support is the caller’s word plus claimed but unexamined physical items: a tape recording of the caller’s chanting and three written pages. No second witness speaks on air, and the host examined nothing.
Evidence for and against
- Claimed tape recording of the caller chanting.
- Claimed three pages of writing produced by [name withheld].
- Four claimed witnesses to the session.
- No recording or paper was examined on air.
- No second witness speaks on air.
- The end of the poster-tearing is a secondhand report from a coworker.
- The transcript is unclear on whether the tape recorder was actually present or is part of a garbled phrase.
- No independent details about the canyon or housing tract are given.
- 1:18
- 1:51
What the model inferred (not said on air): This falls in the 26 to 40 range because physical evidence is claimed to exist but was not examined. Without an outside check, the cap is 50.
The story is truly unsettling: an isolated Ouija session at night, a reported trance with memory loss, automatic writing in an unknown script, a woman speaking in a low voice as a spirit, and unburied ambush victims. It stops short of threat, violence, or lasting dread.
Evidence for and against
- An isolated box canyon at night.
- Reported loss of memory of the chanting, and a calm trance state.
- A possession-like change of voice and posture.
- Unburied spirits and a haunting tied to a housing tract.
- No physical harm or hostile threat is described.
- The story ends with the coworker’s problem reportedly solved.
- Some frightening details are secondhand or interpretation.
- The change of voice is described but not conveyed in detail.
- The caller does not remember everything the spirit said.
- 2:26
- 2:54
What the model inferred (not said on air): This is a judgment of entertainment value, how unsettling the reported story is, not of whether it happened.
Ouija boards, automatic writing, possession voices, and unburied Indian spirits are familiar ghost-story elements. The story is made distinctive by the box-canyon setting, the reported memory loss for the chanting, the later Lakota Sioux comparison, the named guide [name withheld], and the separate poster-tearing haunting that reportedly stops.
Evidence for and against
- The box canyon and ravine setting.
- The Lakota Sioux script comparison.
- A spirit guide named [name withheld].
- The coworker’s poster-tearing bedroom haunting.
- The Ouija board and automatic writing are common motifs.
- A possession voice and unburied battle dead are stock elements.
- How new the story is compared with the rest of the archive was not worked out for this pilot, so the score is provisional.
- 0:32
- 1:58
What the model inferred (not said on air): This is an estimate based on the mix of familiar and distinctive details, not a comparison with the rest of the archive.
Scoring confidence 0.75 · analysis confidence 0.80 · checked against outside sources: no · evidence available: The caller’s firsthand story.; Claimed tape recording of the caller’s chanting, not examined.; Claimed three pages of automatic writing, not examined.; Claimed secondhand report from a coworker about the posters.. The originality score blends the model's score (60) 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.
- Unconscious muscle movement and group expectation could account for the Ouija board answers, especially because the caller and [name withheld] got nothing at first while the two women later got responses. · The caller says the board has never worked for them. The two women began getting answers after earlier attempts produced nothing.
- The caller’s weird feeling, the caller’s calm, and the chanting reported to them later could fit an absorbed or altered state, suggestion, or expectation during the session. This is not a diagnosis. · The caller reports a sudden weird feeling and calm, then is told they were chanting and does not remember it.
- The low voice and change in posture could have been produced by a person speaking in a different register or taking on a different manner. The spirit explanation is the caller’s reading of the event. · The caller describes [name withheld]’s wife jumping out, flexing her arms, and speaking in a low voice, which the caller takes to be a spirit coming through her.
What stands out
The story combines an apparent trance with reported loss of memory, automatic writing later compared to Lakota Sioux script, a spirit speaking through a woman in a low voice, and an attempt to guide the spirits to cross over. The later report that a separate poster-tearing haunting stopped gives the session a claimed ending.
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