Revolving sound, buckling walls, and oozing moisture in a Clayton, Victoria, home
A caller who identifies themselves as [quote withheld] in southern Victoria, Australia, relays a secondhand story on the international line. The caller says that about ten years earlier a distraught family in Clayton, Victoria, rang emergency services about a sound revolving around the perimeter of their large wooden home. Police who came reportedly dismissed the family. Then they heard the sound and saw the walls shake and bend, called for more officers, and never found its source. The call ends with thanks from the host and no resolution or stated cause.
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 2:37:59). Is this you, or someone you know? Ask for a correction or removal.
The story as told
Speaking on the international line, the caller identifies themselves as [quote withheld] and says they are in southern Victoria, Australia. The caller tells the host there are “two matters.” The host declines a fireball report because the night is devoted to ghost stories, so [name withheld] gives the second matter. [name withheld] says it relates to events [quote withheld] in Clayton, Victoria. According to [name withheld], a distraught family rang emergency services about a revolving sound going around the perimeter of a large wooden home. Police who came, [name withheld] says, thought the family was “a bit crazy” and suggested they have a cup of tea because it would all start again in fifteen minutes. The sound then reportedly began, and [name withheld] says the walls started shaking and bending as the sound revolved around each perimeter wall. The officer reportedly called other police, and a large number of officers came to try to work out where the sound was coming from. [name withheld] states that to this day no one knows how the sound was produced and that it was not coming from outside the wall. Answering the host's question, [name withheld] says the walls were buckling and that moisture appeared to be oozing out of them. [name withheld] calls it [quote withheld] The call ends with the host's thanks and the remark that he would have left quickly. [name withheld] gives no cause, no names of those involved, and no date beyond the approximate “ten years ago.” No firsthand witness speaks on air.
Reported events, in order
- 0:54
[name withheld] says that about ten years before the call, a distraught family in Clayton, Victoria, rang emergency services.
- 1:08
The caller reports the family was distressed by a revolving sound going around the perimeter of a fairly large wooden home.
- 1:19
Police who came reportedly thought the family was a bit crazy and told them to have a cup of tea, saying it would start in fifteen minutes.
- 1:29
The sound reportedly began, and the walls started shaking and bending as it revolved around each perimeter wall.
- 1:38
The officer reportedly called other police, and a large number of officers came to try to find the source of the sound.
- 1:48
[name withheld] says that to that day no one knew how the sound was produced, and that it was not coming from outside the wall nor from inside the wall.
- 2:05
Answering the host, [name withheld] says the walls were buckling and that moisture appeared to be oozing out of the walls as well.
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· 1:08
A family in Clayton, Victoria, was distressed by a revolving sound going around the perimeter of a wooden home.
- hearsay· 1:19
Police who came first thought the family was a bit crazy and predicted the sound would start in fifteen minutes.
- hearsay· 1:29
The sound began, and the walls started shaking and bending as it revolved around each perimeter wall.
- hearsay· 1:38
The officer called other police, and a large number of officers came to find the source.
- hearsay· 1:48
The source of the sound was never found. It came neither from outside nor from inside the wall.
- hearsay· 2:05
The walls were buckling, and there appeared to be moisture oozing out of them.
- host statement· 2:00
The host repeats the detail that the walls were actually buckling, as a question asking for confirmation.
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.
A specific place and a coherent reported sequence help. But the story is entirely secondhand, passed from a family to police to a hotline operator, with no names, exact date, or checkable record. The secondhand cap and the source-proximity component keep the score moderate.
Evidence for and against
- A named location and approximate time: “Clayton, Victoria” and [quote withheld]
- An ordered sequence in which the police first dismiss the report and then the sound reportedly starts: [quote withheld]
- The caller explicitly declines to claim a cause: [quote withheld]
- The caller is not a witness. [name withheld] is relaying a report through a hotline.
- No names, exact date, address, or documentation.
- No account of what the sound was compared to, and no recording or physical measurement.
- How many steps the story passed through before the caller repeated it.
- Whether the “revolving” quality is the family's description or the caller's.
- Whether the police version matches what the caller says they reported.
- 0:54
- 1:48
What the model inferred (not said on air): The score reflects my reading of the distance from the source (a hotline operator relaying a decade-old police report) against the story's internal detail and coherence. Nothing in it is backed up by someone else in the transcript.
The only support is the caller's word about what other people reportedly experienced. There is no document, recording, photograph, name, or checkable record, and no second witness speaks on air.
Evidence for and against
- A place and rough era are given: “Clayton, Victoria” and [quote withheld]
- No physical evidence is offered or examined.
- No one who took part in the events speaks on air.
- No record backs up the claimed police visit.
- Whether a police or emergency-services record from the time exists. Nothing in this part of the broadcast suggests anyone looked for one.
- 0:09
What the model inferred (not said on air): Placing this in the score band of 0 to 10 (“teller's assertion only”) is my judgment: even the witnesses are asserted rather than present.
An unexplained sound that circles a house while its walls flex and moisture seeps out is unsettling, especially with police reportedly unable to find the source. But there is no threat, no presence, and no harm to anyone.
Evidence for and against
- [quote withheld]
- [quote withheld]
- It remains “unresolved,” and no cause is given.
- No hostile presence, no injury, and no reported contact with anyone.
- The host's tone is conversational, and the caller calls it [quote withheld]
- No threat to a child or a sleeper is described.
- Whether the sound was loud, low, or rhythmic is not described.
- How the family reacted after the police left is not stated.
- 2:05
What the model inferred (not said on air): This is my estimate of the effect on listeners, based on the strange physical events described. It is a judgment about the story, not a claim about its truth.
The story centers on a sound said to travel around a building's perimeter while the walls visibly bend and weep moisture. That is an unusual combination rather than a stock figure or knocking story, though [quote withheld] is a familiar setup.
Evidence for and against
- [quote withheld]
- [quote withheld]
- The reported involvement of many officers trying to find the source.
- The general setup, unexplained sounds and movement in a house, is a common ghost-story setting.
- No distinctive figure, name, date, or object anchors it.
- Whether the “revolving” character is literal or a manner of speaking.
- The part of the published originality score based on the rest of the archive depends on data not available here.
- 1:08
What the model inferred (not said on air): The model score is my own judgment of the content. By the scoring guide, the published value blends it with a comparison against the rest of the archive, which cannot be made from this single part of the broadcast.
Scoring confidence 0.55 · analysis confidence 0.60 · checked against outside sources: no · evidence available: The caller's secondhand account (a caller relaying what a family and police reportedly experienced).; No firsthand witness speaks on air.; No photograph, recording, document, or physical trace offered or examined.. The originality score blends the model's score (72) 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.
- Building or plumbing activity in a wooden house, such as settling, heat-related movement, or water or drainage in the wall cavities, could produce creaking or booming sounds and visible moisture. · The caller specifies a “wooden home” and says there [quote withheld]
- A local source of vibration (machinery, a pump, traffic, or ground vibration) could be heard as a sound moving around a building. · The event is described as a “revolving sound” moving [quote withheld]
- Details may have changed as the story passed through several people (the family, the police who came, the hotline operator, and the caller) over roughly ten years. · The caller is relaying a report from [quote withheld] rather than describing events the caller saw firsthand.
What stands out
The strange event is not a figure or a voice but a sound said to travel steadily around the perimeter of a house while the walls visibly flex and moisture appears on them. Police were reportedly present and could not find a source. The story reaches the broadcast entirely through a hotline operator who was not there, not through anyone involved.
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