A woman steps from a curtained closet and removes a crying child's skates
A caller on the first-time caller line says that at about four years old they were crying alone in their grandfather's house after adults put a pair of shoe skates on them. An elderly woman came out of a curtained closet, silently took the skates off, tied the caller's shoes, and tickled the caller's chin. Then she walked back into the closet, which the caller found empty. The caller says their grandfather identified her as “Grandma,” that at thirteen they recognized her in a World War II Army photograph, and that an aunt later explained their grandmother had been unable to speak because cancer had taken her throat.
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 1997.mp3”, starting at 4:57:45). Is this you, or someone you know? Ask for a correction or removal.
The story as told
The caller, on the [quote withheld] and with no name given, says the story starts when they were about four years old. Their father took them to visit their grandfather, who lived in the woods in a hand-built two-story clapboard house. The caller describes two ground-floor rooms: a kitchen with an old wood stove and a living room with a cold stove. The ceilings were low, and the wallpaper was old, striped, and flowered. Their aunt, then young and home from college, had a pair of shoe skates. She and others put them on the caller to push them around, and the caller began to cry. They set the caller on the couch and went outside until the caller calmed down. Sitting alone and sobbing, the caller says, they saw the curtain over a closet open. The closet had no door, only a curtain. An elderly woman walked out, dressed nicely, her hair in buns at the sides of her head, wearing a small brooch. The caller says they did not know who she was. She never spoke, but she smiled, helped the caller off with the skates, put the caller's shoes on and tied them, tickled the caller under the chin, and made a cooing sound. Then she walked back toward the closet, pulled the curtain, looked at the caller and smiled, and let it fall. The caller says they ran over at once and found the closet empty except for a couple of their grandfather's suits. When the others came back in and asked how the skates had come off, the caller says they described the woman. Their grandfather said “it's Grandma.” But the caller objected that the only grandmother they knew was their mother's mother, and the adults went quiet. The caller says that at thirteen, upstairs while their father went through a chest, their father pulled out an old Army photograph from World War II. The caller recognized their grandfather and the woman in it. The story was completed, the caller says, the day before the caller was married. An aunt from Wisconsin, to whom the caller told the same story, explained that their grandmother could make no sound because she was dying and cancer had taken her throat. She could only tickle her grandchildren under the chin and coo.
Reported events, in order
- 0:03
The caller says that at about four years old their father took them to visit their grandfather, who lived in the woods.
- 0:11
The caller describes the grandfather's two-story clapboard house: a kitchen with a wood stove and a living room with a cold stove.
- 0:34
Their aunt, home from college, had a pair of shoe skates. The caller says the skates were put on them and they began to cry.
- 0:47
They set the caller on the couch and went outside to wait for the caller to calm down.
- 1:11
Sitting alone, the caller says, the curtain of a closet opened and an elderly woman walked out, dressed nicely with hair in buns and a brooch.
- 1:29
The caller says she never spoke, but she smiled, took the skates off, and put the caller's shoes on and tied them.
- 1:39
The caller says she tickled them on the chin and made a cooing sound.
- 1:50
She walked back into the closet, looked at the caller, smiled, and let the curtain fall.
- 1:58
The caller says they opened the closet immediately and found it empty apart from a couple of suits.
- 2:06
When the others returned and asked how the skates came off, the caller described the woman. Their grandfather said “it's Grandma,” and the caller said it was not the grandmother they knew. The adults went quiet.
- 2:28
At thirteen, upstairs, the caller's father pulled an old Army photograph from a chest.
- 2:41
The caller says they recognized their grandfather and the woman in the World War II photograph.
- 2:54
The day before their wedding the caller told the same story to an aunt from Wisconsin.
- 3:06
The aunt told the caller their grandmother could make no sound because cancer had taken her throat, and could only tickle her grandchildren under the chin and coo.
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· 1:11
The caller says they saw a curtain on a closet open and an old woman walk out.
- observation· 1:23
The caller says the woman was dressed nicely, with hair in buns at the sides of her head and a small brooch.
- observation· 1:29
The caller says they did not know who the woman was.
- observation· 1:29
The caller says she never spoke, but she smiled, removed the skates, and put the caller's shoes on and tied them.
- observation· 1:39
The caller says she tickled them on the chin and made a cooing sound.
- observation· 1:58
The caller says she walked back into the closet and that the closet was then empty except for suits.
- hearsay· 2:09
The caller's grandfather said the woman was “Grandma.”
- observation· 2:41
The caller says they recognized the woman in an old World War II Army photograph of their grandfather.
- hearsay· 3:06
An aunt told the caller the grandmother could make no sound because cancer had taken her throat.
- hearsay· 3:18
An aunt told the caller the grandmother could only tickle her grandchildren under the chin and coo.
- host statement· 3:30
The host says the story bothers him and begins to give his own view of ghosts.
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 coherent sequence and several concrete details. But the encounter rests on the caller's memory from about age four, and the identifications that back it up are claimed, not independently available.
Evidence for and against
- A firsthand story of an event the caller says they experienced.
- Concrete details of the setting: how the house was built, the layout of the rooms, the wallpaper, the curtained closet.
- Concrete sensory detail: the brooch, hair in buns, the cooing sound, the chin tickle.
- The caller separates their own perception from the family's identification ([quote withheld]; “no, it's not”).
- No independent or on-air backing. The confirming statements are reported secondhand.
- The central memory dates from about age four.
- An ordinary explanation (childhood imagination, or a living person helping the caller) fits the reported actions reasonably well.
- No names or place names are given that could be checked.
- A garbled line ([quote withheld]) leaves the caller's exact position unclear.
- 0:03
- 1:29
- 1:58
- 2:48
What the model inferred (not said on air): My judgment rests on the level of concrete detail and the order of events in the transcript. It is offset by the age of the person remembering and the absence of anything that can be checked. The alternative-explanation part of the score is my assessment, not the caller's.
Only the caller's word is actually available. A photograph is described but not examined, and the family members who back the caller up do not speak on the air.
Evidence for and against
- The caller gives a detailed firsthand story.
- A physical item (an old Army photograph) is claimed to exist and to show the woman.
- Family members are claimed to have identified the woman and explained her silence.
- The photograph is not produced or examined on the air.
- No second witness speaks on the air.
- No names, dates, or addresses are given that could be checked.
- Whether the photograph exists or shows what is described is unknown.
- The aunt's explanation is reported speech only.
- 2:35
- 3:06
What the model inferred (not said on air): I place this in the range for claimed but unexamined physical evidence. Nothing in the transcript allows an outside check.
The reported encounter is gentle and caring, not threatening. The silent figure coming out of a closet and the empty closet afterward are mildly eerie.
Evidence for and against
- A figure appears from behind a curtain and later vanishes from an empty closet.
- The revelation that the grandmother's voice was lost to throat cancer is somber.
- The figure is described as smiling, helpful, and soothing to a crying child.
- No threat, harm, or lasting dread is reported.
- The transcript is unclear about how long the encounter lasted ([quote withheld]).
- 1:39
- 1:58
What the model inferred (not said on air): The score reflects the story's tone as told, comforting with an uncanny edge, and not any claim about what happened.
The frame is familiar: a figure appears and vanishes, and is later recognized in a photograph. But the specific details give it a distinctive shape: the skates, the curtained closet, and the explanation about the grandmother's lost voice.
Evidence for and against
- Unusual household detail: the figure removes a child's skates and puts the child's shoes back on.
- The figure's silence is explained within the story by throat cancer.
- The figure is recognized in a wartime family photograph.
- A ghost seen by a child and later identified in a photograph are common motifs.
- Vanishing into a closet and a family identification are stock elements.
- The published originality score is provisional while the archive is small.
- 1:29
- 3:18
What the model inferred (not said on air): The provisional originality score reflects a familiar frame with one or two distinctive details. The adjustment for comparison with the rest of the archive is minimal at this stage.
Scoring confidence 0.75 · analysis confidence 0.80 · checked against outside sources: no · evidence available: the caller's firsthand story; a claimed photograph, described but not examined; claimed family backing (the grandfather's identification, the aunt's explanation), not on the air. The originality score blends the model's score (55) 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 young child's memory of an imagined or dreamlike experience while upset and alone in an unfamiliar room. · The caller says [quote withheld] and describes sitting alone sobbing on the couch before the figure appears.
- A living person in the house came and helped the caller with the skates, and the memory was later filled in. · The reported actions are physical and ordinary: taking off skates, putting shoes on, and tying them. Other family members were at the house that day.
- A drowsy, half-dreaming state, if the caller had been lying down. · The transcript line [quote withheld] is garbled and too unclear to show where the caller was. If it is accurate, it would suggest the caller was lying down.
What stands out
The encounter is not frightening in the telling. The figure is reported to do an ordinary caregiving act for a crying child. The story ends not with a haunting but with a family explanation about the grandmother's lost voice. The figure's silence is itself explained within the story by throat cancer.
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