Wood-chopping sound and floating shadow at a ranch house
A caller from Kelso, Montana, tells Art Bell about a night several years earlier when the caller and a girlfriend were alone in a large old ranch house. The caller reports hearing a wood-chopping sound outside, then seeing a tall dark shadow float across a propane tank toward them. The next day they found chopped wood scattered around the yard. The caller also reports hearing their mother's voice call them inside the house when no one was there. They say they think the home's earlier large family “were still there.”
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 52:09). Is this you, or someone you know? Ask for a correction or removal.
The story as told
The caller, who says they are calling from Kelso, Montana, tells Art Bell that several years earlier they lived on a ranch in a large old house that looked like an old southern plantation, with long pillars and five upstairs bedrooms. They say it had an old wood stove and that they chopped wood for it. The caller liked the house but found it spooky. One night their mother had to be away overnight, so a girlfriend stayed with them. After watching television until there was no more television, they went upstairs to the caller's bedroom on a summer, moonlit night and were talking and laughing. The caller reports hearing something outside by an old tree close to their window. At first they thought the wind had come up and was knocking limbs against the window, but when they looked, it was not that. The caller says they kept listening and recognized the sound as someone chopping wood. There was a woodpile outside the back porch. The caller and the girlfriend went downstairs, the girlfriend with a baseball bat and the caller with [quote withheld] and went out onto the porch. At the end of the porch was an approximately 500-gallon white propane tank. The caller says the chopping sound continued and was loud. Too scared to step off the porch, they stood there until the noise suddenly stopped. The caller reports seeing a long, dark shadow in the shape of a person, with head and shoulders, like a very tall man's shadow, floating across the propane tank toward them. They screamed and struggled to get back inside for about five minutes, then stayed awake all night. The next day, the caller says, they found wood that had been chopped and thrown all over the barnyard and yard. The caller also says that inside the home, three or four times, someone called their name in what sounded like their mother's voice, but no one was in the house. The caller says the old home had belonged to a large family who built it in the 1800s, and they think [quote withheld]
Reported events, in order
- 0:12
The caller says they lived on a ranch in a large old plantation-like house with long pillars and five upstairs bedrooms, with an old wood stove.
- 0:37
The caller says their mother had to be away overnight, so a girlfriend stayed with them. They watched TV until it ended and then went upstairs on a summer moonlit night.
- 0:59
The caller reports hearing something outside by an old tree close to their window. At first they think the wind is knocking limbs against the window, then see it is not.
- 1:14
The caller identifies the sound as someone chopping wood and notes a woodpile outside the back porch.
- 1:31
The caller and the girlfriend go downstairs, the girlfriend with a baseball bat and the caller with [quote withheld] and go onto the porch near an approximately 500-gallon white propane tank.
- 2:01
The caller says the chopping sound continues loudly, then suddenly stops. The caller reports a long dark shadow in the shape of a tall man floating across the propane tank toward them.
- 2:28
They scream and struggle to get back inside for about five minutes, then stay awake all night.
- 2:41
The next day they find wood that had been chopped and thrown all over the barnyard and yard.
- 3:34
The caller recalls other odd events in the home: someone called their name in what sounded like their mother's voice three or four times, but no one was in the house.
- 3:54
The caller says the old home belonged to a large family who built it in the 1800s, and says the caller thinks they were still there.
- 4:31
The caller says they were terrified and did not go outside until the sun was completely up and it was warm.
- 4:51
The caller says they still remember the event and can almost see it.
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· 1:14
A wood-chopping sound was heard outside the house with no visible source.
- observation· 2:10
A long dark shadow, shaped like a person, was seen floating across the propane tank toward the caller and the girlfriend.
- observation· 2:19
The shadow had a head and shoulders and looked like a very tall man's shadow.
- observation· 2:41
The next day, wood had been chopped and thrown all over the barnyard and yard.
- observation· 3:34
Someone called the caller's name in what sounded like their mother's voice, but no one was in the house.
- observation· 3:46
The voice sounded like the caller's mother.
- interpretation· 3:58
The caller says they think the home's earlier large family were still there.
- host statement· 3:28
The host states that teenage girls project things.
- host statement· 4:21
The host repeats that they project things.
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 detailed firsthand story with a concrete setting and sequence. The caller considered wind as a possible cause of the sound, but no one else backs up the story, and the claimed second witness does not speak. Ordinary explanations, such as a person on the property, fit parts of the events.
Evidence for and against
- Firsthand presence: [quote withheld]
- Concrete details: “500-gallon propane tank” and [quote withheld]
- A coherent sequence from sound to decision to investigate to shadow and aftermath.
- No date or location for the events beyond where the call came from. The ranch is not named.
- The claimed girlfriend as a witness does not speak on air.
- A person chopping wood, and a person seen in moonlight, could fit parts of the report.
- The labels showing who is speaking shift back and forth in the transcript.
- The host and caller overlap around the line “the noise stopped.”
- 0:12
- 2:19
- 2:41
What the model inferred (not said on air): My score weighs closeness to the source and specific detail. It also allows for the lack of anyone to back it up and for the likelihood that a person made the sound and shadow.
The story rests on the caller's word and a claimed second witness. The place the call came from is given, but the location and date of the events are not, and no physical evidence or recording is examined on air.
Evidence for and against
- Where the call came from: [quote withheld]
- A claimed second witness: a girlfriend stayed with them
- A claimed physical trace: chopped wood thrown around the yard the next day
- No second witness on air.
- No photograph, recording, or document examined.
- No outside check performed.
- It is not stated whether “Kelso, Montana” was also where the ranch was located.
- The year of the events is not given.
- 0:03
- 0:41
- 2:41
What the model inferred (not said on air): I place this in the range of 11 to 25 because a second witness is claimed and some concrete details are given, but nothing is independently checked.
The story builds from an unexplained chopping sound to a tall shadow moving toward the caller, followed by a frantic struggle to get inside and a sleepless night. The chopped wood the next day suggests something physical, but no contact or injury is reported.
Evidence for and against
- The unseen chopping continues and is described as loud: “only it's loud”
- The shadow moves toward them: [quote withheld]
- They scream, struggle at the door, and stay awake all night
- Physical aftermath: chopped wood thrown around the yard
- No physical contact or harm is reported.
- The host treats the story partly as a story and jokes about teenage girls.
- The main event is a single night rather than a long-running campaign.
- Tone and delivery are not considered. Only the content of the story is scored.
- The line [quote withheld] has an uncertain speaker.
- 2:10
- 2:28
- 2:41
What the model inferred (not said on air): Creepiness is a judgment about the story's content and mood, not about whether the events happened.
An old ranch house and a shadow figure are familiar motifs. But the wood-chopping sound accompanied by actual chopped wood scattered the next day, and a shadow floating across a propane tank, form a distinctive combination.
Evidence for and against
- Reported sound: [quote withheld]
- Reported shadow: [quote withheld]
- Reported physical aftermath: [quote withheld]
- An old spooky house is a recurring ghost-story setting.
- A dark shadow figure is a common ghost motif.
- The comparison with the rest of the archive is not made here. This is the provisional score based on content only.
- The published score may be adjusted after comparison with the rest of the archive.
- 1:14
- 2:10
- 2:41
What the model inferred (not said on air): A provisional score based on content only. Comparison with the rest of the archive may change the final published score.
Scoring confidence 0.78 · analysis confidence 0.80 · checked against outside sources: no · evidence available: The caller's firsthand spoken story; A claimed second witness who does not speak on air; No photographs, recordings, or documents examined. The originality score blends the model's score (58) 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.
- A person or people on or near the property could account for the chopping sound and the next day's chopped wood. The shadow could also be a person seen in moonlight. · The caller describes a woodpile, a barnyard, a 500-gallon propane tank, and a shadow in the shape of a tall man at night.
- Wind moving tree limbs against the window was the caller's first explanation for the sound, but the caller says they looked and it was not the wind. · The caller reports an old tree close to the window and at first thought [quote withheld] and was knocking against it.
- Poor light, or a cast shadow, could explain the floating shadow shape, especially because the caller says the moon was at a particular angle. · The caller says [quote withheld] and describes a long dark shadow across a white propane tank.
What stands out
The reported chopping sound is matched the next day by wood that was actually chopped and scattered, and the thing seen is a shadow rather than a solid figure. The story also includes a claimed voice like their mother's calling the caller indoors when no one was home.
Related stories
Matched by shared recurring details, categories, and wording.